The Theological Configurations of the Cinematic Portrayals of Jesus, Muhammad, Rama, Krishna and Buddha.
In the world of science there has been almost no research into the theological configurations of the portrayals of Jesus, Muhammad, Rama, Krishna and Buddha in cinema. Indeed, there are some investigations into the theological backgrounds of the cinematic images of Jesus, in particular in the United States of America and in Germany, but not a comparative and intercultural approach to all these personalities. The theological configuration of the portrayals of Muhammad, Rama, Krishna and Buddha has not received much attention in scientific publications up to today. This is remarkable, as the influence of cinema is probably larger than the impact of books. Some examples: The Jesus Film, produced in 1979, has been seen now by more than 25 million people. The TV series about Rama, one of the prominent figures in Hinduism, has also had an audience of millions. So, a Hindu in the Caribbean country of Guyana once remarked that Hinduism would have disappeared from the country when there had not been screened films originating from India. This research will investigate the portrayals of the central personalities in the movies and the character of the faith in these persons. In addition it will examine the relationship between the portrayals and the various currents within the religions concerned, the significance of the use of films with respect to the propagation of faith and the repercussions it arouses within its own religion. For especially in the world of Islam and in certain circles of Protestantism the film is very controversial because of the ban on images in these religions, but the Buddhists are also very reserved about making films of the Buddha. It is possible that due to the large impact of cinema the need comes up to develop a kind of ‘iconic hermeneutics’. (A.W.J. Houtepen, Theologen op zoek naar God: twintig portretten van katholieke theologen uit de tweede helft van de 20ste eeuw, Zoetermeer: Meinema 2001, p. 161-165) It is evident that this investigation has both intercultural and inter-religious aspects
dr. F.L. Bakker, Utrecht University (UU)
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