Like most people raised in the church, I grew up watching many Bible movies, from feature films to TV show adaptations to Hanna-Barbera cartoons. In 2022, I began writing Bible movie review articles, which led to watching dozens more Bible movies for research. I also watched a fair share of movies inspired by biblical events, like The Little Drummer Boy or Ben-Hur. Many times I was helped by resources like the websites Bible Films Blog and Decent Films that mentioned little-known Bible movies I should seek out. Recently, I compiled a list of all these Bible movies (or near-Bible movies) I watched. Counting TV and animated projects, I had watched between 100 and 120 adaptations of Bible stories.

Obviously, not all of these adaptations were great. Some, I liked very much, and they were not always the movies I expected to like (like Barabbas, an underrated biblical epic that pushed me to think about faith and predestination in new ways). Others I sampled and quickly discarded (like The Story of Joseph and His Brethren, too slowly paced and poorly scripted to hold my interest). A few amused me in ways the filmmakers maybe didn’t intend. For example, Noah’s wife doesn’t have a name in The Bible: In the Beginning, so Noah just calls her wife (“But wife, we can’t start that until the ark is finished...”). As I joked to a friend, you would think we had invented giving names for women before we invented ship-building, but not according to this movie.

In all seriousness, the experience was educational even when the movies did not meet my expectations. Many times, even the flawed Bible movies surprised me and challenged me to read the Bible better.

Here are some things I’ve learned along the way about Bible movies, including my recommendations for great ones.

Further Reading: Top 5 Bible Movies about Abraham

Photo Credit:©GettyImages/Nanci Santos

Like the 2022 BibleStudyTools.com article on that year’s most-read Bible verses, this article does not just feature the verses. We will look at the full chapter context in which each verse appears to consider the full message. We will also consider what application the verse has for us today.

So, as we near the end of the year, let us consider what the Bible has to say.

Photo Credit: Unsplash.com

Jesus may not be the most portrayed historical figure in movies. That honor may go to Napoleon. However, Jesus is unquestionably in the top five, especially if you factor in animated Bible movies. There have been movies that used the Gospels verbatim. There have been movies that told completely fictional stories about him. There have even been some interesting movies that placed Jesus in a new setting (what would Jesus be like if he came to earth today?)

The following is a list of 10 excellent Jesus movies from across the spectrum. All of these movies stick fairly close to the biblical account of the life of Jesus, but not all of them are your typical Sunday School fare. Some are great for kids learning Jesus’ story for the first times. Others are for adults who want to reflect on what they may have missed about Jesus’ teaching. Each has interesting insights and even a few surprises.

Each entry contains links indicating the movie’s rating, whether it is recommended for small children (Maybe indicates a movie with some elements that might make it best for teenagers and up), and where to watch it on streaming services.

Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/carlosphotos