Film Comment: Paul: The Emissary

The film, Paul: The Emissary, was produced in 1997 by TBN Films (Trinity Broadcasting Network) for broadcast on TBN.  It is a fictionalized recounting of the life of Saul of Tarsus (modern Tersoos, Turkey),who became known as Paul the Apostle.

Saul was a highly intellectual Pharisee who made his personal living as a tentmaker (Acts 18:3).  He was very zealous and ambitious and participated enthusiastically in persecution of the rapidly growing Jewish sect known as “Christians.”

Paul: The Emissary depicts numerous events from Paul’s life: the stoning of Stephen (Acts 6 and 7); Saul’s conversion experience (Acts 9, 22, and 26); Paul’s beating and imprisonment; , Paul and Silas confront the slave girl possessed by a demon (Acts 16:16-21); an eartquake releases Paul and Silas from their chains (Acts 16:25-35); Paul’s appearance before Festus and Agrippa (Acts 25:13-26, 32);  and others.

There are problems with the film which are quite obvious. 

1.     The acting is very uneven, but the actor who portrayed Paul is the highly accomplished and respected Garry Cooper (over seventy-five film and television credits), so the main character of the film is powerfully depicted (with a British accent!).  Some of the other actors are clearly less skilled than Cooper and numerous regional and national accents are on display.

2.     The special effects are quite rudimentary and detract from the film.  The computer graphics are quite obvious.

3.     The brutality of the world in which Paul lives is clearly shown.  While not as graphic as many horror films, there is gore, which might offend some viewers.

4.     Paul, in prison, writes his letters while alone, which he may have done, but he is known to have used a scribe named Tertius (Romans 16:22)  I believe that he used a scribe because of his “thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7)  which I think may have been carpal tunnel syndrome, a painful condition afflicting the hands and wrists.  Untreated, the condition causes pain and numbness in the wrists and hands and can eventually render the hands useless.  Carpal tunnel syndrome would make handwriting very difficult.  Paul seems to almost laugh as hto his writing very “large letters.” (Galatians 6:11).

Paul: The Emissary is a well-intentioned and doctrinally orthodox short film (only 54 minutes) which I am sure you will enjoy because you are familiar with the main points of the story, but I doubt that it will have much appeal to unbelievers.