Filmmakers have made dozens of movies about Jesus since the invention of the motion picture camera; one of the earliest was “The Life and Passion of Jesus Christ” in 1903.
These projects are not just pieces of art telling the story of who Jesus was. “Rather,” writes the Rev. Matt Rawle, “for good or ill, these films become religious statements about what having faith in Jesus means.” Rawle is the pastor at The Well United Methodist Church near New Orleans, Louisiana. In his book, Hollywood Jesus, he contends that these films can tell us a lot about today’s culture.
“Movies offer us a snapshot of how Jesus was understood in a particular time and place,” notes Rawle. “In other words, films offer us the Jesus of ‘now’—whenever ‘now’ might be. ‘Ben-Hur’ offers a picture of the 1950s; ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ is a slice of the ‘70s; and ‘Son of God’ presents a 2010 view of the Messiah. ‘The Last Temptation of Christ’…doesn’t so much show us a picture of the late ‘80s as it offers a curious question—‘What if?’”
You can watch Jesus films like those listed here in theaters or through video-on-demand (VOD) platforms like Netflix, iTunes, etc. These have not been evaluated in regards to Wesleyan principles, so you might talk to a pastor or check other sources if you have questions about the content.
Read more at this link.
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