From the Greatest Story Ever Told to Jesus of Montreal to Shane, the figure of Jesus has made repeated - and varied - appearances in American cinema. In Reading the Gospels in the Dark, Richard Walsh brings 'Jesus films,' the canonical gospels, and American culture into conversaton with one another. The discussion begins in the theater with the lights down low and the Jesus=films on the big screen. Walsh's commentary starts with the films themselves and the American Jesus(es) portrayed therein. Ironically, while we do not expect Jesus-films to 'get Jesus or the gospels right,' they do cast light on interesting literary and mythical features of the gospels - and on American culture.
