The Jesus Film Project by Campus Crusade for Christ International:
A Description and Critique
by Loren L. Johns

Overview

• Produced by Campus Crusade for Christ and John Heyman (Grease, Passage to India, Heaven Can Wait, Marathon Man, Odessa File)
• Produced in 1978 at a cost of $6M; opened in U.S. theaters in late 1979
• Originally a brainchild of Dr. Bill Bright in 1950
• U.S. Distribution: Warner Brothers
• Limited commercial success in U.S.: in 2,000 theaters with "several" million viewers
• Language statistics: Jesus is now in 606 languages, with 256 in process
(Click here for a list of the languages into which it has been translated.)
(Click here for a listing of the current statistics.)
• Jesus has been shown in 233 of the 234 countries of the world.
• Total number of "Jesus film teams" around the world: 3,156
(Click here for a listing of the current statistics.)
• As of July 2, 2000, 121,481,585 have indicated that they have made a decision for Christ as a result of viewing this film. (Estimates of decisions for television showings after 1986 are not included.)
(Click here for a listing of the current statistics.)
• The film project's official web site now claims that 3.6 billion people worldwide have viewed this film (number includes multiple viewings).
• "Project" web site: http://www.jesusfilm.org/
• The history of the Jesus film project
• Products offered by the Jesus film project
• Opportunities to support the Jesus film project
• View the entire film online! (requires RealPlayer; or order the videocassette or DVD) in one of these languages: Afrikaans, Amoy, Arabic (Standard), (Common) Bengali, (Muslim) Bengali, Cebuano, Chinese-Cantonese, Czech, Dutch, Egyptian Colloquial Arabic, English, Western Farsi, French, Standard German, Greek, Hakka, Hausa, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Malayalam, Mainland Mandarin, Marathi, North African Arabic, Western Panjabi, Western Pashto, Polish, Portuguese (Portugal), Portuguese (Brazil), Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Shanghainese, Sindhi, Slovak, Castillian Spanish, Latin American Spanish, Sudanese Arabic, Tagalog, Tamil, Telegu, Thai, Turkish, Ukranian, Urdu, Uzbek, Vietnamese, and Zulu.
• Listen to the audio version (via RealPlayer or order cassettes or CDs)
• Join the Jesus film project team, either as a volunteer or an employee
• Jesus film project list of related links
• Recent press releases of the project

Producers’ Criteria Regarding Historical and Theological Accuracy

• "All of the action and virtually all of the words spoken by actors and narrator alike were taken directly from the Gospel according to Luke." [But the film begins with the prologue from the Gospel of John scrolling across the screen.]
• The film must be as archaeologically, historically, and theologically accurate as humanly possible. [But no attention is given here to the recent findings of historical Jesus research--not even to the insight of Albert Schweitzer, who perceptively argued in 1906 that modern attempts to reproduce the life of Christ usually succeed better in portraying the author's own ideal self, rather than the historical Jesus in all his strange otherness. Note, for instance, that the Jesus of this film looks suspiciously like a warm American Evangelical.]
• The presentation must be unbiased, acceptable to all as a true depiction of Christ’s life. [I.e., it must not offend anyone, including those who benefit from the status quo?]
• The film story must appeal to all ages.
• The script must be easily translatable into virtually any language on earth.
• The film must be of theater-viewing quality and effective with both urban and rural audiences worldwide.

• At a showing of the film to 1,000 refugees from Mozambique at a camp in South Africa, an unnamed man interpreted the film to the refugees as the film was being shown. "Between reel changes (there are four reels and three changes) he told them why it was important that Mary be a virgin and how only a supernatural man could be God" (April 1998 letter).
• "When they [audiences] realize He has taken upon Himself the punishment for their sins to satisfy the justice of His holy Father, they are deeply moved and affected" (April 1998 letter).
• "Mozambique was a nation in absolute chaos. Civil war had degenerated into total anarchy. Marauding soldiers and Marxist rebels were fighting each other. Even worse, they were routinely raiding villages and robbing, raping, and killing any person they encountered. And, Mozambique was gripped by a cruel famine. Millions were dead or dying. ... Shimmering waves of heat rose in the distance. ... Gritty red dust hung in the air. ... [Jesus Film Partners Willie and Marie Erasmus] were overcome by the stench of human excrement. Even worse was the sea of emaciated bodies and the empty, hopeless looks in the eyes of the people. They heard tale after tale of misery, like the young mother who had fled Mozambique with her children, but was eaten alive by a lion before she could make it to the camp. Her two children survived, only to be confronted with this Hell on Earth--their hopes for a better life dashed" (April 1998 letter, emphasis original). The answer to the personal trauma experienced as a result of this crisis appears to have been the Jesus film.

• "One of the greatest evangelistic success stories of all time."
• Every 13 seconds, someone indicates a decision to receive Christ as his personal Savior as a result of seeing the film.
• Full-time and volunteer teams, currently numbering "over 1,300" [earlier reported as 2,223], take the film into both urban and rural areas using 389 different translations of Jesus.
• In 1997 Berry Fiess, director of Field Information for The JESUS Film Project of Campus Crusade for Christ International, claimed that 1,120,977,663 people in 219 countries have viewed the film as of July 1, 1997, most in their own language. However, on February 20, 1998, the project's web site indicated that 830,000,000 people worldwide have viewed this film (http://www.jesusfilm.org/index.html) and in the organization's April 1998 fund-raising letter the number of countries was reported as 218.
• 46 million people have indicated a decision to accept Christ as their personal Savior and Lord as a result of seeing this film (April 1998 letter).
• The film’s real success story is not how many have seen it, but how many will see it in the coming years.

• Campus Crusade hopes to return to Albania, where rioters looted and burned the warehouse holding the resources for the now-canceled Project AERO outreach, destroying an estimated $120,000 worth of Jesus film equipment and prints, among other things.
• Campus Crusade is trying to raise $1.25M to finance 1300 "film teams" to show Jesus to millions of people with the hope of reaching every person on earth by 2000.
• Campus Crusade has found that "one person can receive Christ as Savior and Lord" "for every dollar you send." "This means your $30 gift today would help lead one person to Christ every day for the next month!" Just line 'em up and send them through! Mass production at its best!
• The February 1998 mass mailing by Paul Eshleman, Director of The JESUS Film Project, invites those who hesitate to give to consider, "[Addressee: place name here], imagine leading someone to Christ every single day for the next 30 days ..." The letter then says, "As incredible as it sounds, you can do exactly that. In the next 30 days, you can help 30 individuals to faith in Christ. You can do it by giving a simple, straightforward, tax-deductible gift to The JESUS Film Project." No fuss, no real sacrifice, no accountability needed. Avoid all the messiness of friendship evangelism, avoid the discomfort of the cross: just send in your money and let the film do the work.
• The April 1998 fundraising letter says, "As you know, we've found that for every dollar you send, one person can receive Christ as Savior and Lord. So, would you consider a gift of $100 to help lead 100 people to Christ? Or, would you pray about a gift of $250 to help introduce 250 to Christ?"

Dr. Loren L. Johns is Academic Dean and Associate Professor of New Testament at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, Indiana.

Page maintained by Loren L. Johns, mailto: LJOHNS@AMBS.EDU
Last updated 3 August 2000.