# The Best Summary I've Ever Seen of Christian Movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 30, 2015, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-summary-ive-ever-seen-of-christian-movies/718905 "2015-04-30T17:10:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-summary-ive-ever-seen-of-christian-movies/718905/61 "2015-05-04T14:44:44Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > c) Message before art: Its pretty clear the people that make this stuff start off with a message they want to convey, and than make a movie around that. This is almost always a bad idea\*. That’s probably 90% of the problem with Christian media in general. It’s main (and usually sole) selling point is that it’s “Christian”, not that it’s well written, acted, painted, played, etc… It’s a sort of shorthand for a certain sort of overtly religious and saccharine version of whatever media or art form is in question. There’s a significant chunk of the Christian population that seems to overlap with the more conservative denominations (S. Baptist, Evangelical, etc…) that tends to eat that kind of thing up, regardless of quality, because of the perceived message and an expected level of “wholesomeness”. And they tend to foist this stuff off on their children, whether they want it or not. So what you get is a bunch of sub-standard bands, movies, TV shows, and novels which sell relatively well due to the sole fact that they’re Christian, not that they’re actually good. That’s not to say that there aren’t some decent acts in that crowd- there are, but they usually end up going mainstream and getting shunned. Amy Grant and Jessica Simpson are two good examples of this. Contrast all this with artists who set out to be good first, and put their message second. U2 and C.S. Lewis are a couple of artists who come to mind as extremely Christian, but who aren’t making it their main selling point. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-summary-ive-ever-seen-of-christian-movies/718905/62 "2015-05-04T15:39:24Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > When _The Last Temptation of Christ_ came out, I was a member of a fundamentalist Christian church. The movie was very poorly received by most of the people I knew in that sphere, because it strays from the depiction of Jesus in the Gospels, and, in particular, because it depicts Jesus having been married to Mary Magdalene (and there’s a sex scene between the two of them). > > There were a number of [vehement protests](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Temptation_of_Christ_%28film%29#Release) against the film when it came out, and it’s apparently still banned in several countries. In short, it’s a movie about Jesus, but most of the audience for the “Christian movies” that the OP describes would likely never willingly watch it. Absolutely. Jesus of Montreal would, I think, be similarly un-appealing to fundies. In my opinion, though, “movies made specifically to appeal to fundies” is a different category from “Christian movies”. To my mind, at least, “Christian movies” = movies with an explicitly Christian theme - ones that explore Christianity, and especially, grapple with the very notion of what Christianity is ‘all about’. Many of those will, of course, be _deeply_ offensive to fundies. Some of them will be pretty good as movies, though. “Movies that appeal to fundies” as a category is likely to contain movies that are universally bad. Another historical drama that is ‘all about’ what it means to be Christian (and in particular, the nature of redemption in Christian terms, and a Christian’s proper response to violence and oppression) is _The Mission_. It’s truly excellent - in fact, one of my favorite movies of all time. Interestingly, it doesn’t pose any particular answers. > **[The Mission (1986) ⭐ 7.4 | Adventure, Drama, History](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091530/)** > > 2h 5m | PG For disclosure, I’m not Christian, myself. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-summary-ive-ever-seen-of-christian-movies/718905/63 "2015-05-04T16:00:15Z")
“The Mission” is indeed quite an excellent Christian movie. I’ll also nominate “Of Gods and Men”. [Of Gods and Men (2010) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1588337/) ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-summary-ive-ever-seen-of-christian-movies/718905/64 "2015-05-04T17:22:22Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > But the movie was based on a book - which was widely considered “the most influential Christian book of the 19th century”. > > It was the first work of fiction blessed by the Pope! 😃 Can you get any more Christian than that? > [Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben-Hur:_A_Tale_of_the_Christ) An important difference between the silent and sound version of the film is that in the former, Ben-Hur goes through a genuine spiritual conversion at the end. In the latter (the more famous one, with Chuck Heston), it’s sort of implied but never explicitly depicted. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-summary-ive-ever-seen-of-christian-movies/718905/65 "2015-05-04T17:25:07Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Heck, a few of the Superman movies might qualify. Shameless blog plug: Jesus Christ Superman. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-summary-ive-ever-seen-of-christian-movies/718905/66 "2015-05-04T17:27:00Z")
> [@MovieMogul](#): > > An important difference between the silent and sound version of the film is that in the former, Ben-Hur goes through a genuine spiritual conversion at the end. In the latter (the more famous one, with Chuck Heston), it’s sort of implied but never explicitly depicted. [digression] Just coincidentally, I say literally yesterday a reference to the original silent version in a totally different context! Apparently, the sea battle they depicted in it was insanely violent - it was touted as an example of how violence has always been a major part of the movies, in a minidocumentary I saw concerning the _Dirty Harry_ series. Of all the totally obscure things to arise … and I still haven’t actually seen the silent version. Now, I’m kinda curious. [/digression] ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-summary-ive-ever-seen-of-christian-movies/718905/67 "2015-05-04T17:40:42Z")
> [@MovieMogul](#): > > An important difference between the silent and sound version of the film is that in the former, Ben-Hur goes through a genuine spiritual conversion at the end. In the latter (the more famous one, with Chuck Heston), it’s sort of implied but never explicitly depicted. On the other hand, Jesus’s death in the later one heals the leper mother and sister. Which is pretty pro-Christian when you think about it ;). ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-summary-ive-ever-seen-of-christian-movies/718905/68 "2015-05-04T17:45:10Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > In my opinion, though, “movies made specifically to appeal to fundies” is a different category from “Christian movies”. > > To my mind, at least, “Christian movies” = movies with an explicitly Christian theme - ones that explore Christianity, and especially, grapple with the very notion of what Christianity is ‘all about’. > > Many of those will, of course, be _deeply_ offensive to fundies. Some of them will be pretty good as movies, though. I think what the OP had in mind as “Christian” movies (note the quotation marks) are movies that market themselves as Christian movies, are released by Christian studios, are marketed toward Christian (and, more specifically, Evangelical Christian) audiences, and are sold in “Christian bookstores.” While I’m not familiar with the “genre” myself, I imagine [these are the sorts of movies that are meant](http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/easy_find?event=EBRN&N=1111712+5401&Ne=1000000&Nso=1&Nu=product.endeca_rollup&Ns=product.number_sold). ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-summary-ive-ever-seen-of-christian-movies/718905/69 "2015-05-04T17:49:37Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Contrast all this with artists who set out to be good first, and put their message second. U2 and C.S. Lewis are a couple of artists who come to mind as extremely Christian, but who aren’t making it their main selling point. Er, what? Going to disagree with you on Lewis. He was a fine writer, but Christian apologetics was the focus of pretty much all his non-academic work. The Narnia books are explicit Christian allegories - in the last one, Aslan shows up as the Lamb of God, and tells the Pevensies that they must seek him under a different name in their world. The space trilogy is about angels trying to redeem the Earth. This is why Tolkien didn’t care for Lewis’ fiction - he hated allegory. Even though _The Lord of the Rings_ is suffused with Tolkien’s Catholic values (a critic once described it as an extended essay on the metaphor “God is light”), he wrote simply to tell a story. IMO, that’s why it’s better than Narnia or the space trilogy. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-summary-ive-ever-seen-of-christian-movies/718905/70 "2015-05-04T18:25:04Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I think what the OP had in mind as “Christian” movies (note the quotation marks) are movies that market themselves as Christian movies, are released by Christian studios, are marketed toward Christian (and, more specifically, Evangelical Christian) audiences, and are sold in “Christian bookstores.” While I’m not familiar with the “genre” myself, I imagine [these are the sorts of movies that are meant](http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/easy_find?event=EBRN&N=1111712+5401&Ne=1000000&Nso=1&Nu=product.endeca_rollup&Ns=product.number_sold). Fair enough; if that is what is meant, it isn’t surprising that there are few examples that are truly “great” (or even “reasonably good”). To my mind, it isn’t so much that the budgets are small, or that the genre has a niche market - what matters is that there can be no real challenges. The movies are simply spoon-feeding the audience what they want to hear. A great movie is generally one that challeges the viewer in some way. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-summary-ive-ever-seen-of-christian-movies/718905/71 "2015-05-04T19:13:11Z")
Is _Dogma_ a christian movie? I liked it. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-summary-ive-ever-seen-of-christian-movies/718905/72 "2015-05-05T00:55:52Z")
Hank Hill’s comment on Christian rock comes to mind here: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/8TsL0DO-c1E/hqdefault.jpg "The Truth behind Christian Rock: according to Hank Hill (Season 8 Episode 2: Reborn to be Wild)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TsL0DO-c1E) ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-summary-ive-ever-seen-of-christian-movies/718905/73 "2015-05-05T14:48:21Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I think what the OP had in mind as “Christian” movies (note the quotation marks) are movies that market themselves as Christian movies, are released by Christian studios, are marketed toward Christian (and, more specifically, Evangelical Christian) audiences, and are sold in “Christian bookstores.” While I’m not familiar with the “genre” myself, I imagine [these are the sorts of movies that are meant](http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/easy_find?event=EBRN&N=1111712+5401&Ne=1000000&Nso=1&Nu=product.endeca_rollup&Ns=product.number_sold). Most likely. In many evangelical circles, specifically the independent baptist segment it is strongly encouraged that members not go to the movies. Schools like Bob Jones and others associated with the movement have it in their code of conduct that students not go to secular movies and they do take disciplinary action if you do. So the only ones they end up watching are the very specifically “Christian” ones that have a message. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-summary-ive-ever-seen-of-christian-movies/718905/74 "2015-05-05T18:09:23Z")
> [@MovieMogul](#): > > An important difference between the silent and sound version of the film is that in the former, Ben-Hur goes through a genuine spiritual conversion at the end. In the latter (the more famous one, with Chuck Heston), it’s sort of implied but never explicitly depicted. Let’s see how they do it in the remake coming out next year. Jesus is going to be a bigger character in that one than he was in the 1959 Heston version. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-summary-ive-ever-seen-of-christian-movies/718905/75 "2015-05-05T18:37:59Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Er, what? Going to disagree with you on Lewis. He was a fine writer, but Christian apologetics was the focus of pretty much all his non-academic work. The Narnia books are explicit Christian allegories - in the last one, Aslan shows up as the Lamb of God, and tells the Pevensies that they must seek him under a different name in their world. The space trilogy is about angels trying to redeem the Earth. > > This is why Tolkien didn’t care for Lewis’ fiction - he hated allegory. Even though _The Lord of the Rings_ is suffused with Tolkien’s Catholic values (a critic once described it as an extended essay on the metaphor “God is light”), he wrote simply to tell a story. IMO, that’s why it’s better than Narnia or the space trilogy. I’m not disagreeing, but I’m saying that Lewis wasn’t writing for an insular market of believers, so he wrote good books, or rather his books were good enough to be successful in spite of their religious themes. Contrast this with say… Tim LaHaye & Jerry Jenkins who have written hundreds of books (literally!) aimed at this insular market. I haven’t read any, but the fact that only one series has seen the light of secular day, I have to conclude that they’re some unholy combination of glurge and bad writing. That’s what I was getting at- the market pressure for excellence isn’t there because of this insular “Christian” market, whether it’s literature, music, art, or whatever other substandard crap you slap a cross on and call “Christian” and sell to that market. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-summary-ive-ever-seen-of-christian-movies/718905/76 "2015-05-06T03:10:44Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I’m not disagreeing, but I’m saying that Lewis wasn’t writing for an insular market of believers, so he wrote good books, or rather his books were good enough to be successful in spite of their religious themes. > > Contrast this with say… Tim LaHaye & Jerry Jenkins who have written hundreds of books (literally!) aimed at this insular market. I haven’t read any, but the fact that only one series has seen the light of secular day, I have to conclude that they’re some unholy combination of glurge and bad writing. > > That’s what I was getting at- the market pressure for excellence isn’t there because of this insular “Christian” market, whether it’s literature, music, art, or whatever other substandard crap you slap a cross on and call “Christian” and sell to that market. Ah, I see what you mean. In fact, I’ll take your point farther and say that Lewis was _specifically_ writing for non-Christians. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-summary-ive-ever-seen-of-christian-movies/718905/77 "2015-05-10T21:27:41Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > handsomeharry, you’re talking about this episode: > > ["Insight" Jesus B.C. (TV Episode 1976) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0611432/) > > of this TV series: > > [Insight (TV Series 1960–1984) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053510/) > > which was produced by Paulist Productions: > > [Insight (disambiguation) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insight_(TV_series)) > > I can’t find that episode on Youtube, but it seems to be possible to download it from other websites. Paulists, that’s it! Also, thank you for the links. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-summary-ive-ever-seen-of-christian-movies/718905/78 "2015-05-10T21:29:48Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > Yes indeed! > > Some of the very best art to be found in America can be found in rural churches. > > I plan to make a tour of the Churches of the South in the hope of examining pre Civil War art work. I’ve been led to believe that some of it is just superb. > > If things pan out as I believe they will, I hope to write a book titled, "Wonderful Art Work of Pre-Civil War Southern Churches in America. I expect it will contains some beautiful artwork and hope that other people will enjoy it as much as I hope to enjoy doing the photography. Go for it! I’m down for a copy. ---
**Author:** ![NinthAcolyte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ninthacolyte/32/13676_2.png) [@NinthAcolyte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinthAcolyte)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-summary-ive-ever-seen-of-christian-movies/718905/79 "2015-05-10T21:58:38Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Around 1999, I attended a conference that had a seminar called “Why Christian Music Sucks”. It was about music, but pretty much applies here as well. It suggested that: > > 1. The talent pool is way smaller, since there are less super-dedicated Christians in the world than there are non-Christians. It was a numbers game. > > 2. There was a lack of heavy scrutiny and criticism. Christians, in the speaker’s view, were hesitant of heavily critiquing Christian artists because it would look like they were attacking their ministry. I’d add my pet theory that mainstream Christianity in the 50s-90s maintained a staunch “Rock n’ Roll is the devil’s music” position, a position you still see in a lot of churches to this day. Churches having publicly and repeatedly cut themselves off from what would become the dominant musical force of the coming decades, Christian rock music has struggled to break back in - all the innovation already happened without them. ---
**Author:** ![Gerald\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Gerald\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gerald_II)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-summary-ive-ever-seen-of-christian-movies/718905/80 "2015-05-10T22:54:16Z")
> [@MovieMogul](#): > > Christian Fundies are often hung up on content–bad words, especially–so they can’t embrace a spiritual message if it’s surrounded by “secular” elements. My mom and sister are perfect examples. They need Hallmark production values with squeaky clean, one-dimensional characters, requiring little imagination and plenty of spoon-feeding. Same here. But I’ve saw one Hallmark Christmas movie that was pretty good, at least for the niche it was trying to fit into. A charismatic lead and a nice story. The ending was way too perfect, but I enjoyed it overall. The “Christian” movies discussed in this thread seem almost offensive at times. The one with Kevin Sorbo seemed incredibly bad. I did however have a teacher in college that tried to convince the class there was no God, focusing on one student in particular. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-summary-ive-ever-seen-of-christian-movies/718905.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-summary-ive-ever-seen-of-christian-movies/718905.md?page=5)