Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

[Steven Champeon <schampeo AT hesketh.com>]

on Tue, Feb 24, 2004 at 03:31:07PM -0500, David R.Matusiak wrote:
> From a purely editorial POV, where did that extra "The" come from in  
> the title?  Wouldn't it be "The Passion of Christ" instead of "The  
> Passion of The Christ"??

No, Jesus was "the" Christ (for Christians, anyway); "christ" just means
"anointed one", after the practice of anointing the head of a newly
crowned king. "Messiah" also just means "anointed one". Think of it as
an elegant shorthand for "king", and the article makes sense as a
prefix, especially if your religion only admits the existence of one
king. Like Elvis, who also had oily hair, at least in most of the movies
I've seen.

So, if you're so insecure in your beliefs that you think it's necessary
to insist on the exclusivity of your particular king's kingness, you
make sure the redundant article is in there, so your christ isn't
confused with the tens of thousands of other kings that have been
anointed since the dawn of time. It may also just be out of ignorance,
or a desire to make the title sound more, oh, I dunno, sophisticated or
ancient or something...

And "passion", in this context, just means "suffering", or sitting back
while others torment you. It's closer to patience than to heated emotion.

-- 
hesketh.com/inc. v: (919) 834-2552 f: (919) 834-2554 w: http://hesketh.com
Book publishing is second only to furniture delivery in slowness. -b. schneier