Why I’m a fan of The Book of Eli

The Book of Eli isn’t the kind of movie Christians recommend. It’s rated "R" and it’s gritty–I mean really gritty–filled with the language, violence and immorality that keep Christians away from the box office. It doesn’t present the gospel and it’s neither family-friendly or feel-good. But here’s why I’m a fan (not in spite of my Christianity, but because of it.)

The Book of Eli isn’t the kind of movie Christians recommend. It’s rated "R" and it’s gritty–I mean really gritty–filled with the language, violence and immorality that keep Christians away from the box office. It doesn’t present the gospel and it’s neither family-friendly or feel-good. But here’s why I’m a fan (not in spite of my Christianity, but because of it.)

1. It demonstrates the influence of God’s Word. Thirty years after war and environmental disaster wipes out most of society, a lost generation has grown up without any influence or knowledge of the Bible. The world without Scripture is violent, without moral boundaries and ruled by the strongest and most savage. A sub-theme runs through the movie showing that even those with access to the Bible miss its power if they don’t live out what they know.

2. It shows God’s sovereignty and power. The movie’s premise is based on the God who exists, is sovereign and is active on earth. And it’s not just any ‘god’, but the God of the Bible. He has the power to protect his own in effective, miraculous and purposeful ways.  He prevents His Word from passing away (Mt 5:18).

3.It assumes that God is involved in the world.The Book of Eli doesn’t even ask whether God is present, whether He’s distant or caring, whether He’s paying attention or not. It moves forward from the position that, yes, God is here, He sees and He’s doing things in the world. He orchestrates events, plans far in advance, cleans up messes and protects His own. He guides people–even those who don’t know him. He puts people together, shelters them, gives them wisdom and motivations and
productivity. He calls people who don’t know anything about Him, and He introduces Himself to those people out of His initiative alone.

4. It presents a hope of redemption. One of the purest distinctives of the Gospel is hope. Most post-apocolyptic movies have little hope, or hope based on the power of a small band of survivors. In The Book of Eli, hope doesn’t rest in the resiliency of humans, or healing power of time and mother nature, or lessons learned about the evils of war. The movie puts hope where it truly rests: in God’s Hands. No matter how dark the world becomes, no matter how long the shadows of evil linger, the darkness cannot blot out the Light. It is God who creates the structure on which society will be rebuilt.

The Book of Eli, starring preacher kid Denzel Washington, probably isn’t something most Christians will see (or even should, if they’re sensitive) because it’s just too gory. But there’s a whole culture out there that will see it because of all that Hollywood gore. And in the midst of what they think is just a good movie, they’ll unexpectedly receive some great theology.