The Gospel, Hollywood-Style
Religion professor Adele Reinhartz offers a thoughtful study on biblical themes in Hollywood movies with Scripture on the Silver Screen. By focusing on just a dozen key films, and by narrowing the book's examination to the ways the Bible is portrayed in those films, Reinhartz's study is clear, concise and absorbing. For some of the films, the biblical connection is explicit in the narrative itself (e.g. the role of the Book of Ruth in Fried Green Tomatoes, a story about women's friendships), while for others, the Bible's role is more subtle and symbolic (e.g. the "Fall" and the exile from Eden depicted in Pleasantville). Reinhartz's tone is typically full of praise for the films discussed here, but she also includes a final chapter on movies that got it wrong—those that, like Nell or Pale Rider, offer misleading or superficial understandings of scripture. (Westminster John Knox, $24.95 224p ISBN 0-664-22359-1; Oct.)
How do the "Jesus films" compare to the canonical gospels? In Reading the Gospel in the Dark: Portrayals of Jesus in Film, religion professor Richard Walsh explores movies such as Jesus of Montreal, Shane, Godspell and The Greatest Story Ever Told. He argues that Jesus films are cultural and ideological products, and he arranges them into five basic eras, showing how they reflect the tensions and hopes of different periods of the 20th century. The book's tone and language can be academic at times, but Walsh's insights into religion and popular culture are often fascinating. (Trinity, $18 paper 224p ISBN 1-56338-387-X; Oct.)
On Silence
Silence is golden, says Christina Feldman in Silence: How to Find Inner Peace in a Busy World; it is also elusive. In this attractive coffee table book, Feldman offers a history of silence; teaches readers how and why to cultivate it in their lives; and explores its spiritual "fruits," such as self-knowledge, inner peace and strength, serenity and fresh perspectives. The book is wonderfully designed, with more than 230 color photographs and some unusual design elements. The text, which draws heavily on Buddhism and meditation techniques, is also surprisingly substantive and reflective for a book of this format. (Rodmell, $19.95 paper 256p ISBN 1-930485-03-4; Oct. 31)
