Date: March 31, 2026
To write a great textbook is an extraordinary skill. The text must be accessible, yet retain depth and scholarly accuracy. It must also be engaging for the easily distracted student. Yesterday, I was presented with a copy of Melody D. Knowles’s new book Bible and Film (with one chapter written by Ian Mills). It is a truly great textbook.
The world of film and theology continues to grow. The act of listening to Bible stories has been replaced by the act of both listening to and viewing them. We often assume that the primary control on a story’s content is the biblical narrative itself. However, Melody Knowles shows that the filmmaker and the anticipated audience play a vast and important role in shaping how that narrative is represented.
As one moves through this book, each chapter introduces a contrast. For example, Chapter Four places three films about King David in conversation: David and Bathsheba (1951), King David (1985), and Red Davi – O Filme (2012). The first, starring Gregory Peck and Susan Hayward, focuses on David’s interior life and includes complex and troubling racial stereotypes. The second centers on David as king and his power struggle with Saul. The third is a twenty-five-hour telenovela from Brazil in which, as the genre requires, the emotional lives of men and women take center stage. One finishes the chapter with entirely fresh thoughts about the biblical story of David and the power of our cultural lens in interpreting it.
I am delighted to have this book. I recommend that you buy a copy as well.
The Very Rev. Ian S. Markham,
Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary and the President of The General Theological Seminary.