The making of Jesus

Christian Century, June 6, 2001 by John Dart

More than two decades after its original release, Bright's movie has become not only the most-translated film ever, but perhaps the most-viewed movie in history. As of April 1 this year, 4.04 billion people had seen Jesus, as reckoned by the statistics-minded Jesus Film Project, the Campus Crusade arm created for Eshleman in 1985. Films and videos in 654 languages were in hand at that point, and another 278 translations were under way. The project's goal is to put Jesus into at least 1,154 tongues.

More than 1,000 mission agencies and denominations--nearly all of them theologically conservative--have employed the film. Roman Catholic, Nazarene and Salvation Army mission officials are among the latest signing agreements. Close to 140 million people have made "decisions for Christ" after seeing the film, which ends with a low-key "altar call" segment. Thomas Trask, the Assemblies of God top administrator, commends the film for its "clear salvation message," and others see it as a way of telling about Jesus in a straightforward manner. "Non-threatening; nonintrusive," is how a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention describes the film.

FEW, IF ANY, mainline denominations utilize the film, partly because Campus Crusade officials prefer to work with theologically compatible partners. In addition, according to Jonathan J. Bonk, editor of the International Bulletin of Missionary Research, some mainline mission agencies are uneasy about using a North American-made film featuring a white Jesus, or "cannot believe that the film is much more than a hokey piece of promotion ... for Campus Crusade."

Evangelical critics have similar reservations, said Bonk, as well as a concern about "whether a film, any film, can have the capacity to communicate the gospel without reference to local contexts." Bonk added, however, that there is "a great danger of being unhealthily patronizing by ignoring what the viewers themselves have to say about the film."

Eshleman addressed the issue of whether the film itself is patronizing in a speech in January at the Overseas Ministries Study Center, in New Haven, Connecticut, where Bonk is director. "Many people today still live in a first-century culture," he said. "They fish and farm for a living. Many wear sandals; a wealthy man is someone who owns an ox-cart. The illustrations used by Jesus are extremely relevant."

A shorter (83-minute) video of the Heyman-produced film has been circulating widely in America for the past decade. The impetus for this version came partly from pastors like Jack Hayford of the 10,000-member Church on the Way in Van Nuys, California. He said most of his congregants invited friends into their homes to show the video around 1990 and recorded hundreds of "first-time decisions for Christ."

The San Bernardino-based Jesus Video Project, begun in 1992, invites church groups to buy huge quantities of the videos for under $5 each and give them away, usually through the mail. An Alabama campaign mailed 1.8 million copies, and a similar campaign is planned for South Carolina this summer. Smaller mail blitzes have already hit southern Vermont, the Salem area of Oregon, and central Illinois, among other locales. When videos arrived in mailboxes of heavily Jewish Palm Beach, Florida, in May 2000, however, some public backlash arose.