TY - JOUR
T1 - Moving Texts
T2 - A Hermeneutics of the Gospel According to Hollywood
AU - Clogher, Paul
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 President and Fellows of Harvard College.
PY - 2018/7/1
Y1 - 2018/7/1
N2 - The Hollywood Jesus epics re-visualize the gospel story against the anxious backdrops of secularization, cultural pluralism, and moral skepticism. While these epics are often derided for their lack of theological insight, cultural awareness, or aesthetic taste, this article argues for a re-appreciation of the genre's internal pluralism and hermeneutical significance. Focusing on Cecil B. DeMille's The King of Kings (1927) and Nicholas Ray's King of Kings (1961), it reflects on the epic as a tradition-forming moment in the Jesus story's reception. Both DeMille and Ray offer competing interpretations of Jesus, thus illustrating how the genre functions as a site of christological and hermeneutical reflection. Against this backdrop, I argue for a reinterpretation of the genre and, further, proffer a hermeneutical exploration of cinema more broadly as a central moment in the dialogue between Christianity and popular culture.
AB - The Hollywood Jesus epics re-visualize the gospel story against the anxious backdrops of secularization, cultural pluralism, and moral skepticism. While these epics are often derided for their lack of theological insight, cultural awareness, or aesthetic taste, this article argues for a re-appreciation of the genre's internal pluralism and hermeneutical significance. Focusing on Cecil B. DeMille's The King of Kings (1927) and Nicholas Ray's King of Kings (1961), it reflects on the epic as a tradition-forming moment in the Jesus story's reception. Both DeMille and Ray offer competing interpretations of Jesus, thus illustrating how the genre functions as a site of christological and hermeneutical reflection. Against this backdrop, I argue for a reinterpretation of the genre and, further, proffer a hermeneutical exploration of cinema more broadly as a central moment in the dialogue between Christianity and popular culture.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85050636184&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/S0017816018000160
DO - 10.1017/S0017816018000160
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85050636184
SN - 0017-8160
VL - 111
SP - 382
EP - 400
JO - Harvard Theological Review
JF - Harvard Theological Review
IS - 3
ER -