Best Christian-themed movies?

by far

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Loves me a good religious discussion... I never implied that Judaism has no relation with Christianity. I've said several times now about how books in the OT establish the prophecy of the Messiah, which Christians feel Jesus fulfilled.

It would be better said that Christianity embraces Judaism (the OT) as a prelude or prerequisite to Christianity, while the opposite is not true - Judaism does not view Christianity as a part of its religion, not just due to the differences of belief, but more to the timeline of how and when the two religions unfolded - the foundation for Judaism as it still stands today was established centuries before Christ's birth.

We can look at it this way - the Jewish scripture was written and completed long before anyone knew the name "Jesus," and since that completion, no sequels or new books have been added on (from a Jewish perspective).

Again we're talking about a timeline here - yes, Moses' spirit was supposedly present at the Transfiguration, but Jesus wasn't present during Moses' life (and sure, we could get all philosophical and say that Jesus is God and God spoke to Moses, so Jesus spoke to Moses - but that would be a completely Christiancentric look at the book of Exodus where there is no mention of Jesus, or God impregnating a virgin, taking the form of man and sacrificing himself to martyrdom so He could be resurrected to provide salvation to all mankind).

All I'm questioning here is: does the movie The Ten Commandments have any Christian themes in it - and it does not because the story of Moses (we can say the book of Exodus) took place before Christ existed and it is not one of the OT stories that even contains prophecies about the Messiah.

My top five would likely be....

Going My Way (1944)
Sister Act (1992)
The Nun's Story (1959)
Silence (2016)
The Green Mile (1999)

That is true. However, Judaism does embrace the Messiah, they just don't believe He came about through Jesus.

No. Christ existed long before Moses. Judaism is the foundation of Christianity and therefore from a Christian perspective, the story of Moses and the Ten Commandments is thoroughly Christian. Granted, Jesus isn't known by name. The New Testament is hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is revealed in the New. There are many passages in the Old Testament that speak of the Messiah (the first being Genesis 3:15). According to the Christian faith, the God of the New Testament is the same as for the Old Testament. One God, one faith, one baptism. Christ cannot be divided. He was God then and He's God now. That is the Christian faith.

"Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am." - John 8:58

That is the Christian faith.

But you're looking at one OT story through Christian goggles... with a Christian perspective on the Bible as a whole. But the Ten Commandments story existed long before there was a Christian perspective. Thus, there really are no ideals specific to Christianity in that story outside of the fact that Christianity adopted those same Ten Commandments from the Jews, (but if you can think of any that are specific Christian themes, I'd love to hear them.)

Again, it's a story that is Judaic-themed, depicting one of the most important stories of the Torah. It's got an imperfect yet powerful leader, it has God showing the Jews that they are His chosen people, it's a story of achieving freedom from bondage, it shows the enemies of God's people getting their asses kicked, it's a journey towards a promised land, it shows God's wrath when faith is put in idols and it's the telling of the first official set of laws set down by God for man.

But it's also about a very brutal & vengeful God who inflicts catastrophes and kills the innocent among his chosen people's enemies, and many of their enemies as well. The only aspects of salvation (the crux of Christianity) is one of salvation of the Hebrews out of bondage & slavery - it's an earthly salvation as opposed to the kind Jesus is said to offer.

If you choose to see Christian themes in the movie, that's fine, but if so, then you are applying them to it because they aren't in the movie, nor do I believe were they intended to be by the movie's makers. If I remember correctly, the movie wasn't made to incorporate Christian themes - it was made to tell the story from Exodus.

As to Genesis 3:15 being the first Messianic prophecy, I know what the Christian scholars say, but it's a matter of interpretation (as are most prophecies). But that one's a real stretch as to referring specifically to Mary & Jesus, when it could just as easily be read as being a metaphor for man's perpetual spiritual battle with evil, or even man's fear of & enmity towards snakes (and vice versa).

Nice. The Green Mile is a personal favorite from me but I didn't include it in the poll because, while it clearly has some themes of Jesus it's not a completely purposeful allegory in that regard.

I'm a Christian and I find this movie hilarious. Blasphemy or not.

Judaism and Christianity alike. Moses made it very clear that there is only only God.

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord." - Deuteronomy 6:4

This teaching carried on with the New Testament. There is only one God. Just because Jesus isn't mentioned doesn't mean it isn't doctrine or that it isn't Christian. It wouldn't make sense for Christians to not embrace the Old Testament as part of their faith since the one God is author of both the Old and the New Testament. The whole purpose of the Old Testament was to prepare for the coming of Christ. The Ten Commandments are still used as a guide for an examination of conscience. The Old Testament doesn't belong to the Jews, but to all those who believe.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made." - John 1:1-3

So, since Islam, as one of the three Abrahamic religions, also embraces parts of the Judaic OT, including the story of Moses, would you call The Ten Commandments an Islamic-themed movie?

Once again, one philosophy accepting another's piece of history does not retroactively alter the past to say the original philosophy contains themes of the latter. Instead, it is Islam that has adopted some Judaic themes, whereas, in Moses' time, Islam and all its themes were unknown and wouldn't even be conceived until almost a millennium later .

You can say the OT belongs to anyone who wants to believe in it, and I'd agree, but that doesn't mean that movies that tell the story of Moses have Christian themes (unless movie makers made a version specifically to place them there - like if you added a scene where the burning bush tells Moses, "In the future I will send my only begotten son through a virgin and he will die on a cross only to be resurrected, and the deliverance of my chosen people from bondage shall only be a precursor to the ultimate salvation granted the souls of all mankind when the Messiah comes from out of your people and his name shall be called Jesus.")

Again, if the movie The Ten Commandments is a "Christian themed" movie, what are those themes that are specific to Christianity? Monotheism is not specific to Christianity as it's believed by several religions (and some even take issue that the concept of the Trinity should exempt Christianity from being considered monotheistic... to the point where certain Christian sects reject the Trinity - one of its major tenets among the religion's larger sects - to maintain that it is monotheistic).

Jesus.

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Legend! Thank you for getting the thread back onto movies, Mark.

The Conjuring 2 is also a Christian theme movie and it’s an amazing flick if you like horror.

How so? I cant remember it. I didnt notice it in Mother either - I was too entranced by the look of it and Jen Lawrence who I just thought the camera absolutely adored.

There are older movies that are Christian based





Even some not so old

I remember this one because Alexander Siddig is in it..

And Knights fighting for the Holy Land is Christian based.

I've seen those oldies, no doubt countless times s a kid, and I have kingdom of heaven here. Any good, MG?

Kingdom of Heaven is one of my favorite English speaking films

There are so many that could be considered good... .

I even consider this a great Christian themed film

Thnks for that. Might watch it tonight.

How about Perfume: The Story of a Murderer? In retrospect he represents jesus to me.

Many dont like The Passion of Christ. They say it doesnt show the truth but do we really know what really happened? I think its pretty truthful to begin with and Im a mother and this is one of the most powerful scenes in the film.. its hard not to cry during this scene because it shows true love of a parent to a child..

@Dani8

I will private you the films that way I dont blow up this thread on Christian films