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There are some Christians who avoid seeing movies because they fear polluting their souls. Other Christians see every movie, convinced that nothing can harm them. If you know either of these types, The Message Behind the Movie. How to Engage with a Film without Disengaging Your Faith by Douglas M. Beaumont is for you.
As Barbara Nicolosi wisely observes in the book’s Foreword, “We believers are supposed to have our eyes trained on ‘the signs of the times’ as open doords for evangelism. The movies are ‘the signs’ of our times.” Mr. Beaumont’s goal is to eqiup Christians for reading the signs from a Christian world view in order to engage in what he calls “cinevangelism” – using movies as communicators of current thought that can aid my understanding and conversing with contemporary culture.” (26-27)

He begins by explaining the structure and purpose of storytelling, including the story’s suppositions. Mr. Beaumont then introduces the reader to a means for evaluating and discussing movies – religiously, philosophically, theologically, and scripturally. He concludes by answering the question, “What Should we Then Watch?”

Cinevangelism is demonstrated through Mr. Beaumont’s extensive discussion of several popular movies – Batman, Matrix, Contact, and The Da Vinci Code.

The Message Behind the Movie should accomplish the author’s hope – to help you “become a more thoughtful movie watcher  “and to equip you to “use movies as a way of engaging your non-Christian friends with the gospel.” (159)