Mel Gibson recently appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience and discussed his upcoming film, which serves as a sequel to his 2004 acclaimed film The Passion of the Christ. Depicting the events following the resurrection, he aims to shoot the picture in 2026, describing it as “an acid trip.” This comes alongside another rumored film by Martin Scorsese, concerning the earthly life of Christ, yet another film by recluse auteur Terrence Malik titled The Way of the Wind, as well as on the heels of the massively successful Angel Studios’ series, The Chosen. Jesus has been portrayed on screen numerous times, sparking endless debates surrounding the accuracy and authenticity of such depictions. However, the question too rarely asked is, should He be portrayed on screen at all?
This issue is larger than what can be discussed here, but I believe the discussion needs to be had nonetheless. As Christians continue to push back into the public square, in both politics and art, these are the fundamental questions which need to be asked so that we know where we stand. Is there anything that we do in this world that God does not care about? Is He neutral on whether we put His only begotten Son on screen? If we are truly reformed, we must answer that God is not neutral on any issue in His creation. Therefore, we must seek out His position, and make it our own.
In order to avoid an immediate accusation of legalism, here comes a qualifier—I would not argue that Christians who watch such portrayals of Jesus on screen are necessarily sinning, merely that they are in danger of falling into that sin, perhaps unintentionally, of worshiping a false version of Christ. My goal here is to raise questions about how Christians ought to think of films and television programs which feature our incarnate Lord. What issues does such a portrayal of the God-man pose for media creators and audience?
One facet of this issue is that for so long Christians have been deprived of quality films and television which reflect any semblance of their worldview with any respect at all. So, as a consequence, when a film or TV show comes along that seems to fill that void, believers tend to latch onto it without thorough consideration of the larger implications or issues with the media. Add to this that in recent years there has been an uptick in films centered around Christian values which are of higher quality than we are accustomed to when compared with Christian films of the past. This article has no intention of examining films containing Christian messaging or themes, but specifically media directly involving Jesus.
As Christians, we do not have a legalistic and clear teaching about images of Christ the way Muslims do regarding Mohammed. The question posed here is not, “Is there a rule in the Bible against portraying Jesus in art?” The answer to that, I believe, would be, no. A commonly sighted passage, intended to justify simple prohibition, would be the second commandment (Exodus 20:4). However, there is debate over whether this prohibition of graven images applies to depictions of Jesus.
Now we come to what I believe to be the central issues and questions that arise when considering Jesus in art. We all have a mental image of Christ, generally informed by various forms of artwork which depict Him. All of these mental images are inherently false however. The way in which God chose to reveal Himself is through the Word. Christ became incarnate in a time when there was no ability to capture His image perfectly, so that we would have a lasting, accurate image of Him. So, to some degree, we must admit that God did not want us to have an image of Christ. (To those who would put forth the ‘Shroud of Turin’ as an authentic example of such an image, I refer you to N. D. Wilson’s material on the subject.) When we create images of Jesus, we are inherently creating a false version of Him. When it comes to film and TV versions, the issue is even more pronounced.
In media, we begin dealing with a human actor playing Christ, who was fully God and fully man. While we may look at someone like Jim Caviezel or Jonathan Roumie as talented actors, delivering compelling performances, they are, by their nature, incapable of even remotely accurately portraying Christ. Add in inevitable inaccuracies due to script writing, the best we are likely to produce are pale imitations of an individual’s imagined version of Jesus.
The danger in all of this is highlighted by what someone said to me regarding The Chosen—“Now that is a Jesus I could follow.” Filmmakers may have the best of intentions when crafting their art, but if the art leads a viewer to desire to worship that which is by nature a false version of Christ, what actual benefit remains? Further, if even the best intended creations are fundamentally flawed, what does that say about art that is created by those with bad theology, selfish intentions, or those that simply do not think about the consequences of their work?
In all we do as Christians, we must examine if that behavior or action pleases God. Many times we trivialize and minimize choices we make because, to us, they aren’t that meaningful or important. Scripture teaches us otherwise about the nature of our Creator. If we are consistent in our belief that God cares about every detail of His creation down to feeding the birds (Matthew 6:26), then it must follow that he cares about what we watch, what we create, and about images of His Son. As the church throughout history works through every aspect of theology, this will be an issue we must consider amongst numerous others that we previously thought to be irrelevant.
