Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ is destined to become one of the most viewed as well as one of the most controversial movies in the history of film. Some have hailed it as “a film of overwhelming power and passion” which “draws us toward Christ’s full humanity like no film before” and as “a bold statement of faith” “through which God has spoken.” Others have characterized the film as “anti-Semitic,” sadomasochistic,” “pornographic,” “one of the cruelest movies in the history of the cinema,” and “a gory bloodbath.”Does Mormonism’s unique theology of the atonement and its access to modern scriptures about Christ gives Latter-day Saints a unique perspective on this film? Are Mormons as polarized as other believers about this presentation of Christ’s last hours? Given that Gibson’s film will be seen by an astonishing number of viewers worldwide, what is likely to be its influence and legacy?

Robert A. Rees, Wade Major, Miles Romney