Rating: 
Summary: Misguided (even if it may be well-meaning)
Review: I agree totally with the reviewer from San Francisco (Feb 27, "Well Meaning, I Think, But Misguided")I agree that Gibson was well-meaning but presents misguided interpretation, speculation and opinion as truth.
I agree his movie and book are based on the doctrine and dogma of the Nicene Creed, fabricated in the 4th Century to elevate the status of the Christ and Christianity for the then-new "Holy Roman Empire." And that doctrine was indeed used to justify many centuries of theocratic imperialism, oppression and cruelty we now call the Dark Ages.
I agree that the same doctrine is used now to justify the bigotry of the Religious Right, which claims that "only by accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior can you receive salvation," because "Jesus died for the sins of humanity." And the Religious Right does indeed use it to claim that everyone must agree and march in lock step with them or else be damned to eternal hell. I agree it's really a question of why Jesus did what he did, and it WAS NOT to justify religious bigots and hypocrites who claim only they know The Way and anyone who disagrees is "in league with Satan" (as the leaders of the Christian Right claim). And it WAS NOT to create a religion for imperialists who seek worldly wealth and power and live by the sword (gun and bomb).
I agree the real truth is that Jesus allowed himself to be arrested knowing he would face death to show us a perfect example of the loving and forgiving pacifist and martyr, who would rather judge not, resist not evil, love his enemies, and turn the other cheek. THAT is real Christian doctrine.
I agree that in contrast with that, the doctrine about Jesus "dying for our sins" and being "the only source of salvation" makes little sense, if you really think about it. After all, our sins are certainly our own, and we certainly live with the consequences of our sins. And our salvation is in asking for forgiveness from God, repenting, and being blessed with the feeling of being forgiven by God.
I agree we should question the dogma of the Nicene Creed, and question if the gospels as we now know them are true to the actual teachings of Jesus. I agree they were probably embellished and redesigned by the writers of the gospels when the oral tradition was finally written down between 40 and 70 years after Jesus died. I also believe certain things may have been added to the gospels in the 4th Century to justify and suit the purposes of the "Christian" emperor Constantine who lived by the sword and ruled the then-new "Holy Roman Empire." I also agree that those addition or revisions created a man-made doctrine designed to justify the building of a theocratic empire that holds all other religions as false.
I too believe in the Golden Rule of Jesus, which is the true core principle of Christianity. I do not believe he ever said or implied in any way that "unless you believe in me you will suffer eternal damnation in hell." I think that is the doctrine of hypocritical men that Jesus warned us about. And the idea that only by professing belief in Jesus as Lord and Savior can you receive salvation is a big part of that false doctrine. I too learned that from the messenger for the Spirit of truth that Jesus said would come, and in my heart I am certain it is true.
Rating: 
Summary: It Is As It Was ( ok...ok I plagiarized this quote!)
Review: This is a great keepsake for the best and most moving movie I have ever experienced. What else can you say? You know, you hear this and that about mental and physical stress, pain, etc.; traumatic encounters people experience in their lives? And you think, "How Horrible!" Nevertheless, you do not really or cannot imagine just how traumatic these situations are (or can be) ... unless you experience it or (to, of course, a lesser extent) you are told in great detail the situation of what a person went through.
For years, I have always seen these beautiful pictures of Jesus during the "last 12 hours of his life". And knowing what happened, but never really thought about all the suffering and pain he went through. This movie and book PUT IT INTO PERSPECTIVE. I thought more of the situation and, during the movie, cried for the first time in years (a couple of decades - I believe). What an impact! Ole Mel made me come to the realization of what our Christ went through ... and (indirectly made the point) don't you forget it! In-Your-Face reality check. Our Christ is Great! It just makes you mourn profoundly for all our transgressions we have made against Him.
He experienced ALL the pain of all the world's sins, from the start to the finish of time. This is an amazing weight of burden to bear. My sins alone would literally crush me. It is all so incredible.
By the way, I love people who bash this book and movie, like the two inconsiderate readers' (on March 3, 2004) from Boise, ID and Houston. You can tell they made up their minute minds long before they saw the movie or read this book. Then they have the gall of not adding their names. Sort of like working in the shadows, behind the scenes, anonymously cloaked in secrecy... sort of like their master (who was in the movie, walking around in the background).
Rating:
Summary: Faithful and true
Review: Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" is the movie of the year, a passionate account of Jesus' sufferings on the world's behalf that most certainly IS faithful to the Gospels. (Pay no attention to the pompous "reader from Houston" whose review headlined "Short on facts, long on dogma" challenges the accuracy of the King James Bible. Where are the footnotes for the research he alleges to have done? Pay no attention to anyone who condemns this film or the book who refuses to sign his/her name to their review. And certainly pay no attention to someone who comments on a book or film based on Scripture who then recommends some nonsense about aliens. Aliens are nothing more than demons - fallen angels - out to decieve the "uneducated masses" of whom "reader from Houston" is exhibit A.) If Mel Gibson's film moved you, the accompanying book will have the same effect.
Rating: 
Summary: The Legend, the myth, the fiction of the Passion
Review: Yahweh, the mysterious Old Testament God of both the Jews and Christians, was really a minor Canaanite deity named El Shaddai (a conclusion Sumerian expert Zecharia Sitchin also mentions), and that the name Yahweh was invented in the OT book of Exodus to cover up his real name, because of its embarrasingly shaky Ugaritic pedigree. Further research reveals Psalm 104 to be the Egyptian Hymn to Aten, and the whole compilation of Jewish and Christian myth is little more than a concatenation of mistranslated Egyptian and Sumerian history redacted into a politically advantageous document upon which the passing of the centuries has conferred, for want of rigorous academic analysis, the majestic aura of divinity. In "The Christ Conspiracy, Acharya writes that many religious precepts Christians assume come from the Bible came from Zorastrianism, including the concepts of heaven and hell; the use of water for baptism; the savior born of a virgin mother; personal immortality and the single life of every human soul; and the final tribulation before the Second Coming.
And thousands of years before the time of the so-called Jesus, there are these interesting facts in the legend of Horus of Egypt: he was born of the virgin Isis-Meri on December 25th in a cave/manger with his birth being announced by a star in the East and attended by three wise men; he performed miracles, exorcised demons and raised El-Azarus (El-Osiris) from the dead.
Horus also walked on water and delivered a "Sermon on the Mount." He was crucified between two thieves, buried for three days in a tomb, and resurrected. He was "the Fisher" and was associated with the Fish, Lamb and Lion. Horus was called "the KRST," or the "Anointed One." And these Savior events and stories were attributed to many besides Horus long before the alleged time of Jesus, names such as Buddha, Krishna, Mithra, Prometheus, Apollo, Heracles and Zeus, and many more. The legend of saviors just like Jesus had been around a long, long time before Jesus.
Some insist Christianity is a completely plagiarized religion. The first four Gospels which are the sole foundation of Jesus's existence didn't even show up until around the 4th century. And some of the forgery is so bad that they forgot to check their history with such small items like Nazareth not being in existence in Palestine at the time of Jesus.
"The Four Gospels were unknown to the early Christian Fathers. Justin Martyr, the most eminent of the early Fathers, wrote about the middle of the second century. His writings in proof of the divinity of Christ demanded the use of these Gospels, had they existed in his time. He makes more than 300 quotations from the books of the Old Testament, and nearly one hundred from the Apocryphal books of the New Testament, but none from the four Gospels. The very names of the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are never mentioned by Justin " do not occur once in all his writings," wrote John Remsburg in "The Book Your Church Doesn't Want You To Read."
Christianity, like most religions, was set up to disempower people and control them. It was set up as a political vehicle. Sell people on their unworthiness and guilt and you can control them. This story is neither historically accurate nor true.
Rating:
Summary: A Beautiful Expression of Christian Faith
Review: This was a beautiful, though incredibly disturbing portrayal of Christ's Passion which can hopefully be a bit of an antidote to those who have lost track of Jesus' death as a real, visceral thing. Having said that, here are a couple shots at silly reviews for this book. As far as Jesus never talking about hellfire for those who reject Him, Here's Matthew 11: Woe on Unrepentant Cities 20Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. 21"Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. 23And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths.[4] If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. 24But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you." Also, does "None can come to the Father but by me" ring any bells? Well, not to modern revisionists, of course, but its in my Bible. Which, by the way, does not have "10,000 errors" in it, that's a rather foolish statement... nor is the KJV the most accepted translation these days, or the most accurate, nor does confusing an asherah pole with a grove of trees somehow mean that orthodox doctrine is confused. By the way, the canon was approved nearly unanimously by a spectrum of Bishops, from Arians to Gnostics to Orthodox... people who say otherwise confuse history with popular novels.
Rating:
Summary: Great Movie, It Really Moved Me
Review: If you liked the Madmax and Lethal Weapon films, you'll love Gibson's latest action thriller. It's a lot bloodier, and will really get your adreneline going. I would rank the action and torture scenes right up there with the original Halloween and Friday the 13th movies. In fact, Gibson has rounded up the most talented effects artists in Hollywood to create the most realistic torture scenes ever filmed. It is so realistically bloody and violent, I would have to say that it is one of the greatest movies ever made. And even though the movie explicitly lays the blame for Christ's death on the Jews, Mel's profound statement on the Diane Sawyer Happy Hour that we're all kind of responsible, should clear things up in that area, I guess. Oh yes, and it also stays loyal to the scriptures, which I like.
I've never read the bible, but you know, people who love the movie are all saying it stays true to the scriptures, so there you go. I guess that one small section of the scriptures that talks about Jesus getting the bloody pulp beat out of him is what the movie covers, and apparently covers it quite accurately, according to all of the in-depth theological research I did on the internet last night.
Rating:
Summary: Great book and a great movie!
Review: The photos were very high quality and the book layout is gorgeous. A definite keepsaver for years to come. I was equally impressed by the page quality. Very nice texture and beutiful construction of the themes as it went along. Bravo Mel Gibson, love what you did! Brian Kortmeyer
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful companion to the movie
Review: I saw the movie last Friday and bought this book yesterday as a companion resource to the movie. The pictures are even more heartbreaking than the movie in some ways, in that the pictures are still and you are confronted with the detail in static form of each stage of the accusation, condemnation, beating, and crucifixion of Christ. As well, the book is mostly true to the Gospel, in that it includes direct Scripture with associated scenes. If you were moved by the movie, you will be moved by the book and treasure it as a reminder of Christ's love for us.
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Keepsake Of The Movie
Review: Personally I was traumatized by the movie because Jesus is very personal to me. I know for a fact I'll never sit through that movie again (even though I recommend seeing it). I was interested in getting something to remember my experience by, other than the ticket stub. The still photos are directly from scenes from the movie and while still graphic, are easier going down than the movie theater experience. I suggest, if you're afraid to see the movie because of the violence, get this book (the next best thing). It comes with a little Bible story as well to go along with some of the photos.
Rating:
Summary: it's great
Review: I think it,s a very interesting book for christians and also for people who like amazing biographies
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