What exactly is a “Christian” movie? For those who have read this blog before, that is not a new question. Check out Sitting on my Christian Couch to see one example. The problem is really about what “Christian” means. Is it a point or an agenda? Is it something that is owned by a follower of Jesus? Is it simply the person who follows Jesus? People label things “Christian” all the time. Christian music is probably the biggest example. Is that simply music produced by a Christian? More Christian music exists than we think if that is the case. Typically what people mean is that the idea or point of the movie, music, etc. is a Christian idea or concept. For the sake of discussion, we will accept that for now.

Now that we have that out of the way, does Book of Eli present a Christian message? No.

This is not a movie about Christ or written by Christians, as far as I know. It is simply a movie about the Christian’s book—the Bible. It might be about God, but I doubt it. I think God shows up just to help the story rather than for us to focus on Him. In the movie, the bit parts and the starring roles are reversed. God plays the bit part, and humans will get the Oscars. Although I doubt God would show up to get His Oscar even if He got one.

I think it is a good movie, just not a Christian one.

“Christians” bloggers are asking this same question, but many of them have different reasons for questioning. They want to know how all the violence, hacking and shooting, could possibly be “Christian.” I would just recommend they read their Old Testament again this year and pay attention to the violence. It is not absent. Is Eli any different than Ehud who kills a king in one of the most powerful descriptions of violence I have read? Judges 3:12-30

Certain things in our culture are vitally important; those things that will help humanity become better. That is the point of the movie. If the gospel is what they were trying to preserve at the exclusion of everything else, then it might be a Christian message. Would anything be different in the story if we replaced the Bible with the Koran? I don’t think so. The only difference is that Christians would reject it as non-Christian. The story would make the same point and in the end the Koran would have been placed on the shelf next to the Bible.

This movie is about what matters—about what is precious. That is a good discussion. I enjoyed the film. It convicted me of many things that I needed right then and there. Let’s talk about that.

Tomorrow we will look at what does matter. See you then.

Tags: Bible, Book of Eli, Christian, violence