BOWDLERIZING JOHN

Terry Lane finds that Mel's Jesus movie teaches us one thing: that we must avoid The Gospel of John at all costs!

From beginning to end, the fourth gospel is an anti-Jewish tract. Perhaps it is intended as an argument that Christianity is not simply a Jewish sect, but a brand new, superior religion. Anyone looking for a libretto for an oratorio or a screenplay for a film should avoid John's gospel. While John, whoever he might have been, was probably not an anti-semite in the racist sense of the term, he was certainly anti-Jewish, rather like a Protestant might be anti-Catholic. And the catastrophic fact of the matter is that this gospel, presumed to be "the Word of God" by Christians, has caused more misery and suffering than any other book ever written.

Both Jews and Palestinians have reason to rue the day John took up his stylus to write.

Christians have a tendency to mine the gospels for quotable quotes, rather than reading the books as biographical narratives. They avoid confronting the bits that make them squirm.

But the Gibson epic might make people read John as a life story of Jesus and his enemies and ask what is to be done with it in the 21st century. It will take some exegetic wizardry to make it palatable.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."

Yes, venomous words from the Gospel of Love that ought to make anyone squirm.