False messiahs, false gospel

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Friday, January 12th, 2024. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: another faith-based movie debuts in theaters this weekend. Last Friday, we talked about how faith-based movies filled an important niche at movie theaters in 2023. But the movie that comes out today takes the genre in a different direction.

Here’s arts and culture editor Collin Garbarino to talk about The Book of Clarence.

COLLIN GARBARINO: Director Jeymes Samuel has said he loves Hollywood’s Bible epics from the 1950s—movies like The Robe and Ben-Hur. But Samuel is also a British rapper and musician who goes by the stage name “The Bullitts.” His new film, The Book of Clarence takes these various interests and mashes them together in a swords-and-sandals hip-hop movie about faith that centers on the black experience.

MUSIC: [Hallelujah Heaven]

The Book of Clarence takes place in A.D. 33, and the opening scene depicts the crucifixion of a number of criminals. One of them is Clarence—played by the talented LaKeith Stanfield. The movie immediately flashes back to tell the story of how the movie’s hero came to this painful fate.

CLARENCE: I’m Clarence. I’m not a man without faults. I played the cards I was dealt.

Clarence is a hustler and minor drug dealer on the dusty streets of “Lower Jerusalem.” He’s got ambition, but that ambition puts him sideways with a local mobster known as Jedediah the Terrible. Clarence has just a few days to repay Jedediah the money he owes him or face some terrible consequences.

ELIJAH: Clarence, it’s him.

CLARENCE: Jesus of Nazareth.

After seeing Jesus of Nazareth walk through Jerusalem, Clarence gets some inspiration. Though Clarence doesn’t actually believe in God, he decides to embrace religion.

Clarence decides to pose as a messiah. He gives fake sermons and stages fake miracles. Maybe messianic pretensions can get Clarence the money, power, and influence—as well as the girl—he desires.

The Book of Clarence is an irreverent comedy made in the spirit of Monty Python’s Life of Brian. But most of Samuel’s satirical updates focus on what it means to be black. In this story, all the Jews of Jerusalem are black, while the Roman occupiers are all white. Black British actor Nicholas Pinnock plays Jesus as a wise and somber man with super powers. White British actor James McAvoy plays Pontius Pilate as a Roman leader who is relatively uninterested in the various messiahs of Jerusalem, but who nonetheless continues systematic oppression when called upon.

PONTIUS PILATE: If you give me Jesus of Nazareth, I will let you walk free. And I will give you power. Wealth. You’ll be somebody.

The duplicitous Clarence gets caught in the middle, and in the process he learns something about faith.

The movie The Book of Clarence is a little like its main character. It defies expectations and easy explanations. It mocks sacred cows. It revels in absurdities and anachronisms. And it gets its PG-13 rating by replacing first-century Jewish society with present-day urban black culture. We get depictions of smoking and drug use and plenty of strong language. There are also a couple of scenes reminiscent of a nightclub that feature suggestive dancing. But even without those elements, the beatings meted out by the Romans would have justified the rating.

CLARENCE: I’d die before I gave him up to Rome.

PONTIUS PILATE: Then death it is.

While The Life of Brian used its comedy to subvert religion, Samuel hopes his satire will inspire faith. Despite the irreverence and inappropriate content, there is a sincerity at the heart of The Book of Clarence. Jesus’ apostles might seem dimwitted, but the gospel writers also portray them that way. And John the Baptist might be portrayed as a sharp-tongued no-nonsense preacher who doesn’t tolerate religious fakery, but that seems spot on too. Samuel offers sly critiques of charlatan preachers of the prosperity gospel whose first priority is their own prosperity. The filmmaker really wants the audience to take Christianity seriously as they watch Clarence embark on a journey from faithlessness to faithfulness. And we actually get a startling depiction of the suffering and sacrifice required to follow Jesus.

I don’t doubt the sincerity of Samuel’s faith, but I feel like the content of the faith he offers in this movie leaves something to be desired. Clarence does plenty of bad things, but there’s not really any emphasis on sin. He’s just a guy who’s trying to figure things out.

JOHN THE BAPTIST: Clarence, in spite of your selfish ways, there’s a beautiful soul in there somewhere.

Part of his journey is exploring the connection between belief and knowledge. Samuel suggests that ignorance, rather than sin, is humanity’s true problem, so what we need is more enlightenment rather than redemption. But if Jesus isn’t offering redemption, then what is he doing in this movie? Samuel says that through faith in Jesus we learn that those dreams of ours that seem out of reach might be attainable after all.

Despite some amusing scenes and strong performances, the gospel according to The Book of Clarence is a far cry from “the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.”

I’m Collin Garbarino.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.