Book That Was Basis for Extrabiblical Scenes in Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ" Movie Announced as DVD Released

Anvil Publishers of Atlanta, Ga., is distributing to reviewers advance copies of a book that influenced more than 40 scenes in Mel Gibson's popular 2004 movie "The Passion of the Christ." Advance copies are being distributed as DVDs of the Mel Gibson movie are released.

ATLANTA, GA (PRWEB) August 31, 2004 --- Coincident with the release of the DVD version of Mel Gibsons epic 2004 movie The Passion of the Christ" on Aug. 31, Anvil Publishers of Atlanta, Ga., is distributing galley proofs of a new edition of the book that was the basis for many scenes in the movie.

Anvil will publish a new edition of "The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ" on Feb. 9, 2005 (Ash Wednesday). The book includes a 100-page introduction by Atlanta author Noel Griese that links more than 40 scenes in the Gibson movie to the 1833 German classic.

People who saw the movie will recall a Roman centurion named Abenadar who functions as the 'right-hand man for procurator Pontius Pilate," said Griese. Abenadar is an extrabiblical figure drawn straight from the pages of 'The Dolorous Passion.'"

The book was first published in Germany in 1833. Based on the visions of an Augustinian nun named Anne Catherine Emmerich, it was written by German romantic poet Clemens Brentano. He sat by the nuns bedside for six years recording her visions, regarded as some of the most spectacular in the history of Christianity. Brentano spent the years from the death of the nun in 1824 to 1833 working on the book. When published, it outsold even Goethe in Germany and quickly became an international best-seller. Readers marveled at how an uneducated peasant woman, even though a stigmatic, ecstatic and inediac, could have been privy to such profound visions.

Griese, the author of 11 books, says of Abenadar, According to Emmerich, he was converted to Christianity as a result of his presence at the crucifixion. She says he took the Christian name Ctesiphon, and became an evangelist."

There is a historical record of a first-century St. Ctesiphon, according to Griese. This Ctesiphon accompanied the apostle James the Greater into Spain, where he helped to evangelize the Spanish at Verga. Later, when James was martyred in Jerusalem, Ctesiphon took his body back to Spain."

According to Griese, among the 42 extrabiblical scenes in the Gibson movie based on Emmerich are the following:

-- One of the thieves crucified with Jesus is named Gesmas. The thieves, while not named in the Bible, have variously over time been identified in apocryphal material as Dismas and Cestas, Dumachus and Titus, Joca and Matha and Nismus and Zustin. Only Emmerich identifies the bad thief" as Gesmas.

-- Judas flees Jerusalem and hangs himself over the putrid remains of a flyblown animal. According to Emmerich-Brentano Ch. 14, Overcome by these terrible thoughts Judas rushed on, and reached the foot of the mountain... It was a dreary, desolate spot filled with rubbish and putrid remains... Overcome by despair Judas tore off his girdle, and hanged himself on a tree which grew in a crevice of the rock...."

About Anvil Publishers

Established in 1999, Anvil publishes and distributes a list of more than 1,200 titles. Offices are located in Tucker, Ga., in the Atlanta suburbs.

About the book

Title: "The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ after the Meditations of Anne Catherine Emmerich as told to Clemens Brentano / with an Introduction by Noel L. Griese"

Nonfiction

Pub Date: Feb. 9, 2005 (Ash Wednesday)

360 pages, casebound and paper

ISBN: 0-9749721-2-6 (case) 0-9749721-1-8 (paper)

US $26.95 (case), US $16.95 (paper)

Published by: Anvil Publishers, Inc., P.O. Box 2694, Tucker, GA 30085-2694

Contact information: Kathie Splinter, marketing and fulfillment manager, email: info@anvilpub.com; phone: 770-938-0289, 1-800-500-FLAG (3524); fax: 770-493-7232; web: www.anvilpub.com

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