Dueling Evangelists

Dueling Evangelists
 
Reconverted Catholic (was a Catholic, then wasn’t a Catholic, and now is a Catholic) Tom Allen writes in his introduction to A Guide to the Passion: 100 Questions About The Passion of the Christ: “As someone involved in the distribution and marketing of the film, I noticed early on the fervor with which many Protestant communities were preparing to use the film for evangelistic purposes. Websites sprang up featuring downloadable materials about Jesus and the gospels. Marketing companies began churning out posters and flyers promoting the film and their own faith communities. Tracts poured into circulation making the case for Christ as the key to peace and happiness in life. Yet, for all the sophisticated evangelization strategies, the irony is that our Protestant brothers and sisters cannot adequately speak to many of the issues and questions the film evokes because the film is so distinctly Marian, so obviously Eucharist, so quintessentially Catholic--as is the New Testament.”
 
Although he couldn’t be more wrong about the latter, I can testify as an ex-Roman Catholic, he has the film’s message pegged correctly.
 
T. A. McMahon