The Theology of Cinema: Kingdom of God

“When the kingdom really comes, it’s as if the thing you lost and thought you’d never find again is you.”

As many of you may know, I have a background in the academic study of theology, a B.A. in religious studies from the University of Virginia and a Masters of Divinity degree from Yale. So it is only natural I bring that perspective to how I view and understand movies and screenwriting.

Let me be clear, when I say theological, I mean it — in this context — in a secular way. How does that make sense?

The word “theology” is a combination of two Greek words: “theos” which means God and “logos” which means word. So theology is words about God. What if for this series we think of God as a metaphor for an explanation for the big questions of life? Thus, theology as words about the meaning of life. Broadly speaking that is one dynamic movies hit on consistently, characters forced to confront their values, behaviors, and world views related to who they are and how they should act.

In this respect, movies and theology wade in very much the same thematic waters. As Andrew Stanton noted about Lawrence of Arabia in this TED Talk, how the central theme of that story is the question asked of the Protagonist “who are you,” that issue exists at the core of perhaps every movie, an existential exploration of a character or characters’ self-identity. So, too, with theology.

Also, movies tend to be about characters at critical junctures in their lives, facing a journey from the Old World into a New World where through a series of challenges and lessons they undergo a significant metamorphosis. Sounds an awful lot like a conversion experience to me.

Thus, it is only natural there will be a lot of crossover of theological themes in movies. But while a theological theme in a movie may have a religious or spiritual connotation, I am more interested in exploring such themes metaphorically to find the widest value possible for screenwriters at large.

By working with this non-religious take on the concept, we can avail ourselves of numerous powerful theological themes in screenwriting regardless of whether our stories are secular or non-secular.

Today: Kingdom of God.

We think of kingdom as being a place, ruled by a monarchical figure. In both the Old and New Testaments, there is a use of the term kingdom referencing a holy place, where God rules in a transcendent realm. Indeed, we find many references in the New Testament to the “Kingdom of Heaven” which is in some ways interchangeable with Kingdom of God, underscoring a celestial locale.

However, there are two uses of kingdom of God in the Bible that have an intriguing connection to the craft of writing. An example of the first is Mathew 3:1–2: “In those days John the Baptist came to the Judean wilderness and began preaching. His message was, ‘Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.’” Here we have a sense of the kingdom in terms of time, it is coming and in the near future.

The second take on the term comes from Luke 17:20–21: “One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, ‘When will the Kingdom of God come?’ Jesus replied, ‘The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs. Nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the Kingdom of God is within you.” Here we have a sense of the kingdom in terms of proximity, it is inside each one of us.

If we look the concept of the Kingdom of God/Heaven in a metaphorical way, both that it is coming and it is inside us, we have a new way of thinking about the Hero’s Journey, specifically the Call to Adventure.

The Call arrives from the future — “The Kingdom of Heaven is near” — beckoning the Heroine to leave their Ordinary World and onto the great adventure of their lives.

And yet this Call is not arbitrary, but rather intimately connected to what lies within the Heroine — their Core Essence, Authentic Self, True Potential, what screenwriters often call Need. In other words, “The Kingdom of God is within you.”

Frederick Buechner says this of the Kingdom of God:

“It is not a place, of course, but a condition. Kingship might be a better word… As a poet, Jesus is maybe at his best in describing the feeling you get when you glimpse the Thing Itself — the kingship of the king official at last and all the world his coronation. It’s like finding a million dollars in a field, he says, or a jewel worth a king’s ransom. It’s like finding something you hated to lose and thought you’d never find again — an old keepsake, a stray sheep, a missing child. When the kingdom really comes, it’s as if the thing you lost and thought you’d never find again is you.”

Here again, another way of envisioning the Hero’s Journey: The Protagonist ventures forth, facing obstacles and tests along the way which lure and compel that Need which lies within to come forth into conscious being. By doing so, the Protagonist claims the power and authority of their kingship enabling them to defeat the Nemesis and achieve Unity.

The kingdom of Heaven is near. The Call to Adventure is just there moments away for the Protagonist after we type Fade In.

The kingdom of God is within you. The power of metamorphosis lies inside the Protagonist, ready to be awakened.

The upcoming journey will challenge the Protagonist to the limits of their being, trials and tests, and in the end if they succeed, it is because in large part they have moved into a new state of being… one we can think of as kingship.

For more articles in the Theology of Cinema series, go here.