Book That Was Basis for Mel Gibson's "Passion of Christ" Movie To Be Introduced at SEBA Bookseller Show in Atlanta

"The Dolorous Passion," a German classic by Clemens Brentano and Anne Catherine Emmerich that served as the source for many scenes in Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ" movie, will be introduced to booksellers at the Southeastern Booksellers Association convention in Atlanta Sept. 8-10

ATLANTA, GA (PRWEB) September 9, 2004 -- Anvil Publishers will introduce a new edition of the book that was the basis for many scenes in the Mel Gibson "Passion of the Christ" movie to booksellers at the Southeast Booksellers Association (SEBA) conclave at the Cobb Galleria on Sept. 10-12.

Anvil will publish the 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. Griese will be signing advance copies of the book at the Georgia Writers booth at SEBA.

"People who saw the movie will recall many scenes they think came from the Bible that in fact came from this book," said Griese. "Take the scene of Judas hanging himself outside Jerusalem over the carcass of a flyblown animal. That scene is drawn straight from the pages of 'The Dolorous Passion.'"

Griese, who has been on over 200 radio stations this year, is also using talk radio to introduce the book.

"The Dolorous Passion" was first published in Germany in 1833. Based on the visions of a stigmatic, ecstatic and inediac nun named Anne Catherine Emmerich, it was written by German romantic poet Clemens Brentano. He sat by the nun's bedside for six years recording her visions, regarded as some of the most spectacular in Christendom. Brentano spent the years from the death of the nun in 1824 to 1833 working on the book. When published, it outsold even Brentano's friend Goethe in Germany and quickly became an international best-seller.

The new edition of "The Dolorous Passion" will be Griese's 12th book.

He says of another figure in the Gibson movie, Abenadar the centurion who oversees the scourging and crucifixion of Christ, that "According to Emmerich, Abenadar 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 Christian named 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 more than 40 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.

* A soldier named Cassius/Longinus pierces the side of the crucified Christ to assure his death. While a mention of a soldier piercing the side of Christ on the cross appears in the Gospel of John, the soldier is not identified. The name Longinus comes from apocryphal material, and three separate locations, including the Vatican, claim to be the repository for the lance of Longinus. It is Emmerich who identifies the soldier as the pagan Cassius, later the Christian Longinus.

About Anvil Publishers: Established in 1999, Anvil publishes/distributes a list of more than 1,200 titles. Offices are located in Tucker, Ga.

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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