“The New Testament is the testimony of believing people,” says the liberal theologian Schillebeeckx. “What they are saying is not history but expressions of their belief in Jesus as Christ.”

In bygone centuries, an unorthodox vision like Martin Scorsese’s might have prompted heresy trials and burnings at the stake. Perhaps even a quick crusade mounted by ragtag armies. In the summer of 1988, the preferred methods of resistance are picket lines, economic boycotts and angry appearances on talk shows. If…