My Name is Paul

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During Lent, we were sent several films to review and some have taken longer to finish than others.  Today I’m clearing the deck a bit and sharing about My Name is Paul, from Word Films, is a retelling of the story of Saul’s conversion from persecutor of the early Christians to Paul, one of the great evangelists for the early Church. 

 

About My Name is Paul

My Name is Paul is set in an apocalyptic dark future where Paul is hate-filled and intent on finding and destroying Peter, a Christian and the enemy of his leader. In an accident he is blinded and Ananias, who follows "The Way," prays for him. His sight returns taking him off his hate-filled course and he learns to live and love "The Way." Now he has to find Peter but his former leader and the government against "The Way" conspires to use him to get to and destroy Peter and the movement.

My Name Is Paul has a suggested retail price of $16.98 and can be found online and in retailers such as Walmart.   The film has the Dove "Family-Approved" Seal for ages 12 and up (most likely for the violence, implied and shown, in the movie.)

Here’s the trailer to get a better sense of the film:

 

 

 

Our Thoughts about My Name is Paul

I had 2 of the boys watching with me and each of us had mixed feelings about this film.  They liked the edgier feel to the film, but at the same time thought some of the acting was stilted or the videography crew was working too hard to make it appear edgy.  But, the bigger complaint I had from them is that they can’t see how you can have the Acts of the Apostles take place 2 millennium after Jesus really came and walked the earth.  They were able to find the parallels (both in characters and plot) with Scripture.

That being said, I still enjoyed the movie for the most part even with the flaws mentioned.  There is enough of an edge to appeal to the more modern audience, yet the storyline follows Scripture with a few differences. For example,  Paul in the movie is a loyal agent / assassin for the new world order who is seeking to eradicate The Way and acquire a map to a salt mine reportedly in Peter’s possession rather than the real Paul, a Jew who persecuted early Christians as he had not come to see that Jesus fulfilled the prophesy.

I loved seeing how they handled persecution of Christians (followers of The Way) and showed how the current regime left any things resembling organized religion in ruins.  We did discuss how many the film makers were not just trying to take a familiar section of the Bible and transport it to a different time and place. Instead, this could be taken as a future time of intense persecution of Christians where history repeats itself in many ways.  In the end, the story shows that hope is still alive and all things are possible through Christ.

I can see this film being a good introduction to discussion with teens or adults who either want a fresh look at things or maybe have not really delved into Scripture.  The persecution of Christians is NOT something living hundreds or thousands of years in the past.   If nothing else, watching this film with my teenagers provided me a great opener for discussing how the tides have changed even in the United States of America so that Christians are finding it harder and harder to openly live their faith.

 

What are your thoughts about remaking part of Scripture into a different setting?

What’s one of your favorite Christian movies?