the timboucher experience

One of the most interesting iconic differences between the Catholic Church and various Protestant denominations is their treatment of the crucifix. While Catholic crucifixes always show Jesus nailed to the cross, most Protestant ones do not. The idea is that they are trying to focus on the resurrected Jesus and how his resurrection freed us from bondage - thus the empty cross. I tend to wonder though if this largely discarded image of the Suffering Christ isn’t on the rise, and if so, what does that mean?

Probably the biggest clue of all in this direction is Mel Gibson’s bloodfest, The Passion of the Christ. While I never actually saw it, I’ve read and heard enough to know that it was pretty damn gruesome, and in some respect, that seems to have been the purpose of it. A gross-out flick with godly intentions. Since then I think this image of the Suffering Christ has been catapulted violently back into the mainstream.

So what’s the deal with the Suffering Christ? Why did Protestants decide not to focus on this aspect of the story in their iconography? I tend to think it has to do with guilt. If your focus religiously is on a story about a dude who was really great but got the shit kicked out of him for you, it’s gonna make you feel pretty bad. Like you don’t deserve for him to have gone through all this earthly torment. But if you subtly shift the focus of this story, it makes a world of difference. If you basically say, “Yeah, we know he was hurting and that he died, and we appreciate that. But what we really dig even more is this whole thing about him coming back alive and on top of the world.” It’s the same story, and even the same message, but by shifting the focus, it becomes about the jubilation of redemption, rather than our pretty much useless guilt over His suffering.

It shouldn’t come as any big surprise that Mel Gibson is actually a Catholic. Not a Roman Catholic mind you, but an offshoot of that, the Traditionalist Catholic Church. According to a Yahoo Answers site, Gibson is quoted as saying:

”I go to an all-pre-Vatican II Latin mass. There was a lot of talk, particularly in the ’60s, of ‘Wow, we’ve got to change with the times.’ But the Creator instituted something very specific, and we can’t just go change it.’

Traditionalist Catholics basically prefer the Catholic Church before it tried to update itself to the times during the 1960’s. Either way, the Catholic Church, as you remember, never took Christ down off the cross. He’s still up there, suffering, hanging between life and death. Many Protestant groups were offended by Gibson’s Passion, though this was not widely reported in the media. They basically see his obsession with the Suffering Christ as unhealthy and bordering on idolatry. From a page on that:

[The crucifix] leaves Jesus in the most defeated, humiliated, and shamed position possible, which was only momentary, and only 2000 years ago. [...] It humiliates and shames the Lord Jesus Christ, by leaving Him in the posture where Satan wants Him!

Another site on the differences between Protestant and Catholic icons says:

Catholics present the crucifix as in this way because they believe Christ continually suffers for our sins (transubstantiation of the actual blood and body of Christ consumed at each communion.) and the cross is a reminder of His terrible death on the cross for the atonement of our sins. Protestants display an empty cross as a symbol that Christ died for our sins and rose again; therefore, He is no longer on the cross paying for our sins because His death paid the price in full. The elements of the communion table are only symbolic reminders.

It’s a little like what we were talking about yesterday with the Star Wars series. Catholicism by focusing on Christ’s suffering is a little more like the upcoming Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. In it, darkness rises to power and almost triumphs. Protestants, by focusing on the great stuff that happens after that with the Resurrection are more like the original first Star Wars movie, Episode IV: A New Hope. It’s the same story, but with a different focus. And it turns out that your focus makes all the difference in the world - or the universe, as the case may be.

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