Andrew Jenson
Argonaut
This is the year many are calling the year of the Bible — albeit, for different reasons. The most pertinent reason touted by the mainstream media is that a surprisingly large number of Biblical movies are hitting the silver screen over the course of 2014. Among these films are “Son of God,” “Noah,” “Exodus,” “Heaven is for Real” and “God’s Not Dead.”
For the most part, these movies aren’t like the Christian movies released in recent years such as “Courageous,” “Fireproof” and “The Christmas Candle,” which have been low budget and never had the benefit of having big names attached to them.
That all radically changed this year.
These Biblical films are not just receiving epic, big screen treatment, which hasn’t been seen since Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments,” but they are similarly tied to big Hollywood names.
Russell Crowe, Anthony Hopkins, Emma Watson, Darren Aronofsky, Ridley Scott, Christian Bale, Sigourney Weaver, Randall Wallace and Greg Kinnear are among the many people involved in these upcoming films.
What does this mean for Hollywood? After all, this is a serious splurge into Biblical stories. It certainly seems like people at the top of the Hollywood system are paying attention to the Christian market — to the point they are bombarding us with films.
I doubt this means anything in the long run. Christians have always been at odds with Hollywood, and always will be. People within this system seek to profit off the Christian market says nothing about a possible change in the direction of movies toward more wholesome, Christ-centered pictures.
This only signifies that their eyes are open to what can sell in the current American environment. Hollywood has simply widened its range — this year at least.
I have serious reservations about these films, precisely because Hollywood elite will be producing them.
There’s no doubt these films will do well at the box office. However, Christians should take these films with a grain of salt.
These aren’t the films of the DeMille or Charlton Heston era. You can be sure that these films have been influenced by both worldly and reformed Christian ideals — much like “Courageous” and the “Left Behind” movies.
This is not to say these upcoming films will be terrible, but it’s just possible they may present questionable theology. After all, most of these films are coming from Hollywood. What more can be expected?
Granted, these are only movies, and the people involved have a difficult task of not only keeping true to the Biblical accounts and Christian beliefs found in them, but also making them enjoyable to watch. Everyone, particularly Christians, should be able to enjoy them, as with “The Ten Commandments.”
But, we should also be able to view these movies primarily through the lens of Scripture, not the world.
Again, it’s fantastic to see Biblical epics being released on the silver screen, but beware of the worldly ideas bound to sneak into these pictures.
Andrew Jenson can be reached at [email protected]