Movies And The BibleSample

Denzel Washington Brings Love for Bible to the Big Screen

As one of the most accomplished leading actors in Hollywood, Denzel Washington has earned a significant amount of capital with film executives, directors, and screenwriters alike. Washington has often used that capital to embrace (and sometimes shape) scripts that included biblical themes and Bible quotes.

One of the earliest examples can be found in The Hurricane (1999) in which Washington portrays a real-life boxer named Rubin Carter who was falsely imprisoned 20 years on a triple murder conviction. In a scene with a character named Lesra, who helped Carter win his freedom, he explains what their names mean and uses Bible verses for context. Lesra is short for Lazarus (“He who has risen from the dead”), which prompts Carter to quote John 11:43–44. Rubin means, “behold a son,” which invokes the story of Jacob and Leah and the celebration of their firstborn child Reuben in Genesis 29:32.

Then, in the film Man on Fire (2004), Washington plays an alcoholic bodyguard named John Creasy who is hired to protect a wealthy Mexican businessman’s daughter. In a scene with the head sister at the girl’s Catholic school, Washington’s character (who ironically goes on a violent mission of revenge later in the film) quotes Romans 12:21:

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” 

It was in the post-apocalyptic film The Book of Eli (2010), however, where the Bible makes more than the occasional cameo. In it, Washington plays Eli (a blind man whose name pays homage to the priest and judge from 1 Samuel) whose job is to protect the only remaining copy of the King James Version Bible 30 years after a devastating global war. Eli faces off against a powerful man named Carnegie who seeks to wrestle the Bible away from him and use it to control the people. 

There are many dramatic moments and even more fight sequences. In one particular scene, Eli quotes Genesis 3:17–19 before defeating a group of armed men in a bar brawl. He later quotes Psalm 23 to a young woman named Solara (Mila Kunis) who accompanies him on his harrowing journey. Then, towards the end of the movie, while dictating what turns out to be a Braille version of the Bible, Eli starts from the beginning with Genesis 1:1–3. Finally, in the epilogue, he quotes an apropos verse from the New Testament:

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).

In an interview with ChristianCinema.com, screenwriter Gary Whitta explained that Washington brought his biblical knowledge into the scriptwriting process.

“I spent a lot of time going through the Bible to find passages that Eli could quote at appropriate moments,” he said. “Denzel found a bunch as well because he’s a Christian man. He’d come into script meetings with the script in one hand and the Bible in the other. He found all these parallels, and had Post-it™ notes all over the place because he'd been up all night finding these things."

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Washington welcomes biblical dialogue in his roles. He has expressed his admiration for the Bible in numerous interviews including a GQ piece where he revealed that he reads it every day.

“I started, I don't know how many years ago, just reading the Bible from cover to cover,” Washington told Beliefnet. “And started with the New Testament and went back to the Old Testament, and went back to the New Testament . . . So that's how I start my day every morning.”