Chateau Lloyd

Whenever overt Christian themes are included in popular entertainment, there is always a risk that the project will veer into heresy if not blasphemy.  The key question is whether it is intentional, and how damaging it actually is.  Minor simplifications for kids' programs are fine, because the point is to give them wholesome entertainment that makes them think more about God and their faith.

I've watched a couple of seasons of The Chosen and while it was bumpy at first, I liked it.  I'm holding off on watching the rest until the series ends, which just seems prudent, however I'm fine with people who are watching it in 'real time.'

I haven't seen new animated The Greatest Story Ever Told, but it gets high marks and did well.  I see the success and popular impact of both of these films to be a victory for Christianity and a welcome change to popular entertainment and our culture.

This is why I think German Saucedo's column in First Things is way off base.  It's one thing to pick apart various elements of theology or think that production quality in a given show is poor, but his larger point seems to be that we shouldn't have Christian-themed entertainment at all, effectively ceding control of the culture to degenerate secular materialists.

Some would argue that, whatever their imperfections, these shows and movies are valuable tools of evangelization. It is said that one-third of The Chosen’s 280 million viewers are not religious. But I would argue that the good they do in introducing non-believers to the gospel is outweighed by their distortions of the gospel narrative. Reading the Gospels is not—should not be—easy or entertaining. The sobriety of the written word challenges us. For the evangelists set down no fluff, only what God wanted us to hear. [emphasis added]

This whole line of argument begs the question - how does one get children (or the larger public) interested in reading the Gospels in the first place?  Maybe by telling their story in an easy to understand format?

I've touched on this before - American culture was far healthier when big-screen epics based on the Bible were regular features.  Movies like Ben Hur and Quo Vadis helped underpin the Christian foundations of the nation.

Saucedo is presumably a Catholic, but he's making essentially the old Protestant argument that icons and religious art are a waste of money and the funds should instead be used for the poor.  Instead of an elaborate cathedral, people should just pray in a room with four bare white walls and a cross.

But what about religious artists?  What about people who want to create religious stories and share their faith?  I don't think it enters Saucedo's thought that there are people who want to make music and movies to glorify God, and that without that, they would not be fulfilled or following their vocation.