Over 60 Jesus films: watch them with discernment
Argentine author Damián Sileo's book covers more than sixty productions about Christ; the challenge is to watch them without settling for a tailor-made version.
An article in Altar7 announces the release of the print edition of "Jesús y el Séptimo Arte," by Argentine journalist Damián Sileo, a book dedicated to more than sixty films about Jesus.
More than sixty ways to tell the same life. That already says something about us: some people know Jesus first from a movie rather than from a gospel. Which version shaped you?
The screen is a pulpit: it can preach the Christ of the gospels or a Jesus made to fit the box office. What I expect from a book like this is discernment: not telling me which release to watch, but how to watch it.
«The screen is a pulpit: it can preach the Christ of the gospels or a Jesus made to fit the box office.»
There's something more. Biblical cinema has become a genre with a budget and conversation on social media. That has a good side: faith comes back to the table. And it has a risk: that we confuse a two-hour emotion with discipleship.
What cinema does achieve
I recognize a big win. Cinema can show Jesus' life with streets, sweat, shared tables and frightened men. It can give flesh back to what we read in print, and make someone who has never opened the Bible ask who that man was. That's worth something.
Nor do I set out to measure any filmmaker's faith. A director who doesn't believe can honestly tell part of the story. Paul wasn't scandalized by others' motives: "What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice" (Philippians 1:18, ESV).
The risk of a tailor-made Christ
The other side weighs just as much. Every script decides what to show and what to hide. There are versions where Jesus comes off as a likable, tolerable teacher, and along the way the cross, the resurrection and the call to repent fade away. Sometimes there's no bad intention: two hours aren't enough for the whole Gospel.
The problem is what happens afterward. If you met Jesus first on a screen, that image stays with you as the official one. And when you open the biblical text, you measure what you read against what you saw. That's why John wrote: "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God" (1 John 4:1, ESV).
Three questions before you hit play
You don't need to become a film critic. These three are enough:
- Who is Jesus here? The one who calls us to deny ourselves, or one who hands out useful advice?
- What was left out? That's usually where the real message is.
- Who are you going to discuss it with? Watching it alone, on your phone at two in the morning, leaves the image without any counterweight.
And keep your Bible close. A movie can whet your appetite; the text is the bread. If a scene moves you, go to the passage, compare, note what doesn't add up and bring it to your small group or your pastor.
Now I'm asking you seriously: what movie about Jesus marked you, and what did it show you? Tell me. And if you know someone who's choosing their next biblical series, share this column with that person.
