Christianity in the Movies

Since the days when Christ and His apostles walked the earth, His Church has experienced a rich history.  Competent teachers, authors, lectures, presentations, and the written word can be invaluable aids in gaining a better appreciation of that history.

When the subject matter of any film is historical, audiences should be alert for over-the-top use of poetic license; film can at times distort our understanding of history. Despite such limitations, films can whet people’s appetites by encouraging them to delve into history and how it has been influenced by Christianity.

Summarizing or even highlighting the main events of 2000 years since apostolic times is impossible in a short article.  Here I hope to sketch, at best, a superficial (but faithful) summary, while pointing to films of value for understanding Christianity and its influence on history. I am aware that I may have inadvertently picked some films of arguably less significance than others, but I have linked my choices with corresponding reviews.

First Millennium of Christianity

In her first millennium, the Church, born on Pentecost, was to see the blood of innumerable martyrs; the rise of the desert fathers and monasticism; a move from being outcast to being embraced (for better and for worse) by the Roman Empire; and the development of formal creeds responding to heresies, while defending the sanctity of human life and marriage/family.  A phenomenal mind of that first millennium belonged to a one time heretic: Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD). His conversion owed much to the tireless prayers of his mother Saint Monica. There is a great movie about his life:

Restless Heart: The Confessions of Augustine

At the end of the first millennium, the Church ruptured into West and East (Roman Catholicism vs. the Eastern Orthodox Churches). Pope Saint John Paul II called these the “two lungs” of Christianity. Yet, that great Holy Father did not live to see the reunification of East and West for which he prayed and for which we still wait.  And our siblings in the East have long been subject to atrocities about which we know little in the West. The following movie is a gripping story about the Armenian genocide (~1915-1922):

The Promise

Second Millennium of Christianity

 The second millennium brought expansion of the Church; attempts to defend the holy places; the rise of monarchies and feudal life; the fracturing of the Church; exploration of new “worlds” as well as God’s continuing to bless His Church with outstanding saints to model holiness for us.

Unfortunately, reflections on the second millennium frequently feature widespread misinformation about the Crusades (~1095-1291); the Inquisition (13^th to 17^th Centuries); the so-called Protestant Reformation (16^th Century); and the Church’s relationship with Galileo (17^th Century).  This misinformation is likely to result in excessive criticism of the Church

(Note: I highly recommend Professor James Hitchcock’s book, The History of the Catholic Church: From the Apostolic Age to the Third Millennium, to gain an understanding independent of the popular biases.)

Two incredibly popular saints of the second millennium were Saint Thomas Becket (1118-1170) and Saint Francis of Assisi (~1181-1226), both of whose lives have been featured in film:

Becket

Francis of Assisi

While English Protestantism may be more politically than theologically based, the exploits of King Henry VIII (1491-1547) left permanent marks on Christianity in both the old and new worlds. Among his misdeeds are his shameful mistreatment of Queen Catherine of Aragon, and the executions of Saints John Fisher and Thomas More (1478-1532) as well as other Tudor relations:

The Six Wives of Henry VIII

 A Man for All Seasons

In 2001, many missed the irony about the date of September 11; it had symbolic significance as the date of a historical defeat of Islam by Christian armies.  Yet, the history of the Battle of Vienna (9/11/1683) is crucial to understanding what has been taking place in the past two decades. The following movie tells the story:

The Day of the Siege

Also, since the American and French revolutions in the late eighteenth century, the world has seen incredible changes often wrought by violence.  There is a fascinating movie concerning a comparatively unknown event from the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) in which the Catholic “San Patricio Brigade” switched sides and fought on  behalf of Mexico:

One Man’s Hero

There are so many tales of saintly heroism in the 20^th century that I must limit myself to just a few movies:

The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (1917)

For Greater Glory (Faith v. anti-Catholicism in 1920s Mexico)

 There Be Dragons (Opus Dei is born amidst the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939)

Often forgotten too is the heroism displayed by some Catholics amidst atrocities preceding and during the Second World War:

A Hidden Life (Bl. Hans Jaegerstatter)

 Sophie Scholl – The Final Days (Anti-Nazi White Rose Resistance Movement)

 The Sound of Music (2013 version)

Under the Roman Sky (Pope Pius XII)

Third Millennium of Christianity

In these early days of Christianity’s third millennium, we still find ourselves mired in scandals rooted in the last century of the last millennium.  Though responsible for her own wrongdoing, the Church’s children too often listened to voices which cast aside her own God-given wisdom about social justice and marriage/family. This last film is about some of the godless people who have influenced our modern world for the worst:

A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

Conclusion

In sum, these films present a deep truth about history: both salvation history and Church history remind us that our God remains always ready to welcome us back when we are truly sorry for our sins.  He has never abandoned us!  Let us turn to Him once again and fully embrace His love.