Fr. Andrew Greeley writes a review of The Passion and illustrates his complete lack of understanding of Catholic teaching.
Greeley says, get this, that Jesus didn’t die in an expiatory sacrifice for our sins. He died to show His common cause with humanity’s suffering.
Gibson showed his hand in his interview with Diane Sawyer when he said that because the gates of heaven were closed by the sin of our first parents, Jesus had to suffer to open them again. This metaphor, which my generation heard often in grammar school, is a poor adaptation of the teaching of St. Anselm, who proposed that the suffering of Jesus paid the blood price to satisfy God and free us from our sins. Anselm’s theology is not Catholic faith. It has caused a lot of misunderstanding among Catholics who absorbed it in their youth.
This isn’t Catholic teaching? “They are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.” (Romans 3:24-25)
On a re-reading of Greeley and considering what you write, Michael, I will change my opinion and say that I agree with you and with Greeley on this point. Thanks for the clear explanation.
And thank you for the kind words about my blog.
If Greeley were bound by the seal of the confessional, he would already be breaking the seal by writing about this in a book.
Are you guys sure Andrew Greely is a priest? He seems unfamiliar with the basics of Christianity. There was no “Fr.” in the by-line.