I appreciated Rabbi Samuel N. Gordon’s “Different reactions to Mel Gibson’s movie” (Voice of the people, March 7), concerning “The Passion of the Christ.”
One thing he missed is that Christians, whether Roman Catholic or traditional Catholic, mainline Protestant or Evangelical, confess their faith in the formulation of the Apostles’ and Nicene Creed.
Both creeds name Pontius Pilate as the villain responsible for the death of Jesus: “He suffered under Pontius Pilate” (stated in the Apostles’ Creed), and “He was crucified under Pontius Pilate” (stated in the Nicene Creed.)
Neither of them say anything about suffering under Caiaphas the High Priest, or under the Jews.
The earliest Christians, among which the creeds emerged, perhaps knew who was to blame.
And perhaps the Gospel accounts of the Passion were not at liberty to blame the Romans for fear of censorship or reprisal and destruction of the Holy Scriptures.
If Gibson is a true Christian, he should know better than to portray Pilate as helplessly under the control of the Jews.
