Some Passion defenders say attacks are mostly from people who just don't like Christianity. Many Christians simply believe their faith reflects God's will better than modern Judaism.

"Some people are saying, 'Either you cannot tell the Christian story because it clashes with my story or you must accommodate the Christian story to make it less repugnant to my story,'" said the Rev. Richard John Neuhaus, editor of the conservative religious magazine First Things.

But that's not the point, Mr. Briskman of the Anti-Defamation League said.

"The issue is not about Jewish sensibility," he said. "The issue is whether this movie can be used the way Passion plays have been used historically, in a way that is hurtful to the Jewish community."

Sensitivity guidelines

Dr. Swidler, the Vatican and others have developed guidelines for presenting Passion plays that are more sensitive to Jews. Mr. Gibson has not said whether he consulted any of those guidelines.

Will any of them be reflected in Mr. Gibson's film? Those who have seen early versions disagree. Pogroms in the past don't necessarily demand changes now, Father Neuhaus said.

Simple zero tolerance runs counter to a theology that believes in the inevitability of imperfection and the possibility of change and redemption, said the Rev. Richard John Neuhaus, editor of the

conservative Catholic journal First Things.

"There's something profoundly unnatural about that. It goes against everything we know about human nature," he said.