That’s a great way to boil down the white Evangelical modern mindset, isn’t it?
I think they’re probably both, since they believe that they are making good arguments that will sway people. But yeah, a lot of it is aimed at reinforcing the flock.
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Clearly you haven’t seen “Fist of Jesus”.
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Made by an atheist!
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I thought Dead Man Walking was a good example of a “Christian” movie that made a genuinely convincing and nuanced argument against the Death Penalty but obviously that was coming from a Catholic perspective rather than an Evangelical one.
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The Machinist is a must!
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I’m from Italy. We have Don Matteo, where Terence Hills acts as a priest who solves crimes way better that the cops in Gubbio. So basically gubbio is like Midsomer. Quite camp but watchable.
Then sometimes you find a saint biopic in primetime, and I have to say, some of them are quite interesting. like the st John Bosco biopic mad in 1988 Don Bosco San Giovanni Bosco 1988 di Leandro Castellani - YouTube with Patsy Kensit and Ben Gazzara.
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Hell it inspired a terrorist attack in Paris by a Christian fundamentalist group that set fire to a movie theater — while people were inside watching the film. Just like Jesus would have wanted, I guess?
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A “Christian” film I found much later in life: The Shoes of the Fisherman
An early 60s epic drama that was generally entertaining, and best so when it focused on international and church politics.
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potty humor
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I found the parts about the inner working of the Vatican interesting.
I am a fan of Anthony Quinn and it features Oskar Werner who I recognized from Farhenheit 451.
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Pretty much the same here (ever since The Guns of Navarone) although I find it impossible to separate him from his negatives, i.e., beat up his newlywed wife when he found out she was not a virgin; and a very problematic actor to work with as his fame grew (same with Werner who vociferously carried himself as The Great Thespian.)
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I’ve found that many of the ‘Christian’ movies that don’t grate on my nerves are ones that get called ‘subversive’ or ‘un-Christian’ by certain subsets of the religion. We went to see “The Last Temptation of Christ”, which was being loudly picketed by one of the more fring-y Christian groups; IMHO it made a reasonable case for what Christ was giving up by fulfilling God’s plan. Didn’t fly with that group, however.
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It just occurred to me that The Exorcist, one of the greatest movies ever made, is a “Christian” film.
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Isn’t that true for almost any horror film that focuses on demonic possession, especially those that are “based on a true story” (such as the Conjuring films?)
Maybe not “based on a true story”, but Constantine certainly has some things to say about Christian theology.
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I think it depends on intent. The Exorcist was meant as a serious-minded exploration of faith, and was both written and directed by devout Catholics (Blatty in particular). Most other horror movies working in this subject are only there for the scares, and don’t have any interest in religion other than as a plot device.
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I forgot about that one, haven’t seen it in years.
Gotta put it on my watch list.
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I am currently reading “Christianity, the first three thousand years” and the takeaway for me so far is that the entire history of the Christian faith has been one of enforcing orthodoxy.
I would go down to the local Arian church to ask them what they think, but they were all murdered in the 4th century.
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You could ask the millions of protestants maybe… or the many variants of Orthodox Christians… etc… You know, all the Christians who are around today who bucked catholic orthodoxy?
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