The Bible on the Big Screen: A Guide from Silent Films to Today's Movies

by J. Stephen Lang

Starting with mini-Passion stories from the 1890s, this work takes readers through blockbusters and busts, miniseries and Mel Gibson, covering film plots and characters based on the Bible. It gives movie buffs film credits, running times, and release dates and answers questions about motives for making the movies, critics' reactions, and more.

Genres: Media Tie In, Nonfiction, Religion, History

304 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2007

About the author

J. Stephen Lang is the author of the bestseller The Complete Book of Bible Trivia and sixteen other books, including 1,001 Things You Always Wanted to Know About the Bible and 1,001 Things You Always Wanted to Know About the Holy Spirit.

Reviews

[Darrell]

This was a very thorough examination of cinema's treatment of the Scriptures. It combines two of my passions: the Bible and movies. If you are remotely curious about either, give this book a looksee.

[John Kennedy]

The book contains new material on a fascinating subject matter of the Bible and Hollywood coming together. The thorough historical overview from the silent film days shows that that profits often drove the reasons for the movies being made in the first place. Some of the best movies about Jesus--Jesus of Nazareth and The Gospel According to Matthew--were directed by gays. Lang laboriously tells where the movies are off base and on target compared to the Bible. The author goes on and on with detailed descriptions of scenes that sound more like a term paper than a popular book. He also tends to repeat himself, including half a dozen references to Jesus being about 30 years old when in ministry.