Yale Ph.D. Dubs 'Passion of the Christ' 'Pagan' ANN ARBOR, Mich.-- No, he's not talking about the hefty box-office receipts, pewter nails, or excessive gore, though these are all symptoms. He's talking about the idea, blazoned on www.ThePassionoftheChrist.com, that "dying was Jesus' reason for living." "The God of Gibson's film is a bloodthirsty God," says Dr. James Cook, 15-year religion professor at Oakland Community College in Farmington Hills, Michigan. "This supposedly loving heavenly father wants a human sacrifice to appease his wrath. That's not ethical monotheism. That's not the Jewish idea of sacrifice as token of repentance for sin. That's...
