Mel making peace with the ADL?

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As long as this film purports to be a depiction of the Passion according to the Gospel, the only way to address Abraham Foxman's concerns would be to not show it at all. However, that is censorship. If Gibson yields on this point, then may come the day when no Christian pastor would be allowed to preach the Word from the pulpit for fear of offending many. But then, the Word is an offense and stumbling-block, anyway.

Foxman seems to rely on the word of man rather than the Word of God when he puts his trust in the Second Vatican Council ruling of 1965 which "absolved" Jews of a collective responsibility for the crucifixion. The point is, Foxman would be better advised to read the NT. It does not teach of Jewish collective responsibility for the crucifixion. Instead, the collective responsibility belongs to all mankind.

Here's what Matthew's Gospel says:
"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation." (Matt. 23:29-36, KJV )

How to understand "this generation"? Does that mean "race, kind" in the sense of "those exhibiting common characteristics or interests" (BDAG)? Or does it mean "the sum total of those born at the same time, expanded to include all those living at a given time and frequently defined in terms of specific characteristics" and meaning "generation, contemporaries." (BDAG; see Mt 11:16; 12:41f; 23:36; 24:34; Mk 13:30; Lk 7:31; 11:29‚Äö 32, 50 for similar uses) According to this last, "Jesus looks upon the whole contemp. generation of Israel as a uniform mass confronting him." (BDAG)

The Greek is instructive for determining what is really meant. The Greek New Testament has "thn genean tauthn" according to which the noun "genean" is modified by the adjective "tauthn." The article, noun, and adjective are all feminine singular and accusative. What then does "tauthn" mean? "Tauthn" is the FSA of "houtos" and means "this, this one." Thus, the adjective makes reference to something that is "here and now, directing attention to it. " (BDAG) In other words, the KJV text might well have read, "Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this here generation." Collective guilt down through generations? Matthew's text does not support that.

John's text presents the interaction between Pilate and the Jews thus:
"When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him. The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid; And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer. Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priest answered, We have no king but Caesar. Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away." (John 19:6-16)

From this, it may be construed that when John says "Jews" he is pointing to the presidents of the Sanhedrin and their assistants (see the GNT John 19:6); this remains true till the end of the Gospel. (It is the high priests who speak out and who reject INRI. (Jo 19:21)) Yet, this reference of John's does not include members of the Sanhedrin such as Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea because they believed. (See John 19:38-39)

So, then, what about Gibson and Foxman? Make peace? Definitely. It is the right thing to do. It would have been far better had Foxman not taken such an adversarial stance without first seeing Gibson's completed film, but centuries of persecution have served to create vigilance. This doesn't excuse Foxman, nor does it make his requests for script alterations anything but untenable. If The Passion is true to the Gospel, then the film must depict reality as presented by the NT writers. Uncomfortable? Yes. But political correctness was not in vogue back then. As for the Christian community, we need to remember that all mankind shares in the collective responsibility for the crucifixion. Christ died pro nobis, for us.