Court Refuses to Block ‘Temptation’ : Film: The Supreme Court lets stand a ruling that Martin Scorsese’s fictionalized version of the life of Christ is protected by free-speech rights.

The Supreme Court today refused to block any future showing of the movie “The Last Temptation of Christ,” rejecting an appeal by three Pennsylvania residents who say it is blasphemous.

The court, without comment, let stand a ruling that the fictionalized version of the life of Jesus Christ is protected by free-speech rights.

Michael Greb, Paul Metzger and Betti Logan sought to bar distribution of the movie or force changes in its title and script to remove all references to Jesus. They described themselves as lay ministers and worshipers of Jesus Christ who believe the Bible is “the final and authoritative word of God.”

They said “The Last Temptation of Christ” portrays Jesus as “a morally degenerate human being possessed by Lucifer and living in an environment filled with sex, perversion and pornography.”

“The movie essentially vilifies and burlesques Jesus Christ and taunts and harasses his followers,” they said.

A state judge in Pittsburgh threw out their suit in 1988. The dismissal was upheld by a Pennsylvania appeals court that cited a 1952 Supreme Court decision giving motion pictures broad free-expression protection. The high court ruling struck down a New York law that permitted the banning of “sacrilegious” movies.

“The Last Temptation of Christ,” directed by Scorsese, opened in the United States in August, 1988, to mixed reviews, amid unusual security and intense controversy.

Thousands of Christians furiously objected to the film, saying it depicted Jesus as filled with doubts and lust.

Protesters particularly objected to scenes in which Christ, while being crucified, dreams he marries and has sex with Mary Magdalene and lives his life as an ordinary man.

But proponents said the film illustrates the central mystery of Christianity, showing a fully human Jesus wrestling with doubts and temptation, then rising above them to accept his role as God’s son.