Among the classic
biblically-based films out of Hollywood, and the first to show Jesus’ face, The Greatest Story Ever Told
(1965) is a highly idealized rather than realistic depiction of the Gospel
story. Only when Jesus is on the cross does emotion show on Jesus’ visage; even
the horrendous suffering from the torture leading up to the crucifixion is not
shown. The Christology is thus idealized, with Jesus’ divine nature impacting
his human nature even though the two natures are theologically distinct. Because
the film was the first to show Jesus’ face, it could be that depicting Jesus’
human nature in its fullness, absent sin of course, would be too much for a
film made before the social upheaval that began in 1968 in the West to depict.
The main drawback in depicting Jesus in such highly idealized terms is that it
may be difficult for Christians to relate to Jesus in emulating him by carrying
their own proverbial crosses in this fallen world. The main upside of the
almost Gnostic idealization is that the theological point that the Incarnation
is of the divine Logos, which in turn is the aspect of God that created the
world, is highlighted. Reflecting David Hume’s concern, I submit that
transcending (rather than denying) the anthropomorphic “God made flesh” to
embrace God as Logos—God’s word that creates—more fully captures the insight of
Pseudo-Dionysius, a sixth-century theologian, that God goes beyond the limits
of human cognition, perception, and emotions.
The full essay is at "The Greatest Story Ever Told."
