How to Crucify your God according to the BBC

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Sunday March 16, 2008 04:10

by fancy that

Tonight the BBC will air the first part of their 2008 "Passion" drama in which Simon Elliott the production designer has chosen to depict a "historically accurate" crucifixion as possible. ""He was probably put on a crude wooden gibbet and made to stand in a loose, foetal position. It was fiendishly designed."" says Mr Elliott who admits his work might offend Christians who like the traditional nails through the hands & feet image of a muscular sort of chap who manages to just hang there without suffocation or his hands being ripped apart.

Pretty gruesome stuff you'll agree. You might even believe in it. In which case you ought jam the BBC switchboard tonight & write letters using the trusty name "disgusted".

The viable crucifixion uses nails through the arms & holds the body in foetal position

......"While acknowledging that his ideas are likely to upset Christians, Mr Elliott argued that the position so familiar to churchgoers was only one of a range of methods used by the Romans in crucifixions.

"It is a minefield, as everyone has such strong feelings about it. Our portrayal is based on lengthy research." In particular, he said they had been influenced by the discovery of a crucified skeleton, which was found near Jerusalem in 1968 and is the only such archaeological find.

This led them to believe that Christ could well have been crucified on a T-shaped gibbet, with his arms above his head and his legs tucked up and under him so that his chest was crushed and he died of asphyxiation. Instead of having nails through his hands, they could have been driven through his arms.
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The Passion has already proved controversial for appearing to exonerate Judas and Pontius Pilate for their roles in the Christ's death.

But Mark Goodacre, associate professor of religion at Duke University, who advised the producers, defended the decision to put forward an alternative representation of the crucifixion. "The Romans used a number of ways to crucify people and this was one of the most common and effective methods," he said.

"The makers wanted something that wasn't the typical image that would surprise the viewers. This is not an attempt to be iconoclastic, but to get people to look again at the events surrounding his death." He added that he thought the Bible did not actually explain in any detail the form of crucifixion employed.

Paula Gooder, a New Testament scholar, said that the traditional image had become important to Christians in understanding what the crucifixion was about.

"They have clearly decided to go for this option because it's unusual and will jolt viewers and challenge them about their assumptions," she said.

"Their portrayal causes a problem as it seems to ignore what the Bible says."

In the Book of John, Jesus says to Thomas: "Put your finger here; see my hands."................

________________________________________

Of course it's not really important how he died. & if you believe in it all you can't go getting upset about it really. Because you know he rose from the Dead. That's why he is famous.
If you do get offended on the other hand you're really beyond understanding middle east peace processes, secularism in the XXI century, the challenges of marketing BBC drama in a society where most people of faith are muslim & forget the violent Buddhists.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/mar/16/bbc.television
http://www.colerainetimes.co.uk/news/Nesbitt-stars-in-3...83.jp

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Comments (5 of 5)

You might scoff now, but 35% of US fundamentalists believe in Endtime Prophecy.......

Sun Mar 16, 2008 21:46

So far they've quite happily fitted both Soviets & the collapse of the Soviet empire as well as the emergence of supposed globalised terror networks like Al Qaeda into their interpretation of Apocalypse. But.......Who are the violent Buddhists?

Will you want till Tibetan terrorists get the bomb & nuke Beijing to take the threat of radical Buddhism seriously? These people want to install a theocracy based on notions of reincarnation & absolute power by divine right in one the prettiest states which can offer young Chinese people a home, living space & future beyond the exploitative ghettoes of the western world.

silly

by 5555

Sun Mar 16, 2008 21:38

wow paul youre an iconoclast!!!

Jesus Was A Hothead

by Jerry Cornelius

Sun Mar 16, 2008 21:37

Jesus opposed the Imperialist occupation of his land.

A Cross Isn't Just For Easter

Sun Mar 16, 2008 21:07

Dont throw away your crucifix after Easter. It has 1001 uses. Jesus used to work out on his.

That man on the Gibbet looks like a Buddhist monk.

by disgusted

Sun Mar 16, 2008 20:17

Jesus had long hair & a beard. Jesus isn't newsworthy but Buddhists are. Here's an interview in video format with the Dalai Lama from the BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/avdb/news/world/video/15900...ct=50

The Dalai Lama is well upset as pictures of Tibetans on the looting rampage attacking their Han minority neighbours property and homes are beamed around the world. As the Tibetan ethnic cleansing rage spreads to Sichuan, sa reported by the RTE the Dalai Lama has appealed for an end to bloodshed & that China admits there's a problem. But being a clever political fox has withdrawn his support for the Beijing olypmics in 2008. Meanwhile the Chinese admitted there was a problem and warned a declaration of martial law in Tibet which came into force at 3pm Irish time.

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How to Crucify your God according to the BBC

Comments (5 of 5)