As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“Series creator Dallas Jenkins told RNS The Chosen LLC and Angel Studios had ‘different ideas of how to interpret both the contract and what’s going to sustain us in our future.’” - RNS
“Whether it’s accusations of bad writing and acting, heavy-handed messages or the demonizing of non-Christians, such movies always seem to be a lightning rod of passionate disagreement.” - R.Unplugged
“the docudrama explores medical and scientific evidence, common types of NDEs, and the impact on people who report having these experiences.” - Reasons
“Though a Zo translation of the Bible was completed in 2019, it hasn’t been printed in Myanmar yet, and many of the Zo are unable to read. This translation of JESUS provides a way for Zo speakers to have access to the story of Jesus in their language in a format they can understand.” - RNS
“This Wednesday, November 3, for one night only, the movie ‘The Most Reluctant Convert: The Untold Story of C. S. Lewis’ will be in cinemas nationwide.” - Alcorn
“The sequel ‘God’s Not Dead 2’ opened much weaker than its 2014 predecessor, trailing the top grossing ‘God’s Not Dead’ in per screen earnings by 72 percent, according to Box Office Mojo statistics.” BPNews
After reading part one of this two-part series, and seeing all the good things accomplished by Christian films, one might wonder if anything could or should be wrong with them or if any negative aspects could or should overshadow the positive ones.
In January 1954, Youth for Christ Magazine, in the article “Who’s Who in Religious Films,” spotlighted key people and organizations involved in Christian film production. Around this same time, A.W. Tozer wrote “The Menace of the Religious Movie” in which he opposed the use of Christian films to portray spiritual or biblical dramatic performances. Youth for Christ was in favor of Christian films because of the decisions for Christ that accompanied them. However, they also recognized that there was opposition and sought to quell it by highlighting the positive aspects they saw with Christian films.
Below is a summary of the “Who’s Who” article presenting the justifications and rationale of those involved in and supportive of Christian films at that time.
C.O. Baptista was credited with pioneering the Christian film idea in the late 1930s. Baptista said that while using an object lesson during Sunday school “he suddenly caught a vision of what that same object lesson could do if presented as a motion picture in churches.” Baptista produced dramatic films, sermon-type pictures, and animated films. Reportedly, “hundreds of professions of faith” resulted from the showing of just one of his dramatic films.
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