Irrespective of how one may feel about Gibson's movie The Passion of the Christ, the man must be credited for causing many people to reconsider the meaning of Christ's death. Since the release of the movie, thousands of books and articles on the manner and meaning of Christ's death have been published or posted on Web sites.

This book has two major objectives. The first is to provide the information necessary to help people distinguish between what is biblical and what is unbiblical in Gibson's portrayal of Christ's passion. The second objective is to help Christians of all persuasions more fully appreciate the centrality, necessity, and achievements of the cross. May a thoughtful reading of this book lead many people to appreciate more fully the passion of Christ as His passionate love to redeem us from the penalty (Gal 3:13) and the power of sin (Titus 2:14) through His sacrificial death.