Outline to Son of God
the terrific 2014 movie (20th Century Fox)
“Son of God” is one of the better Jesus movies available for Sunday School. (See video clip below.)
- The portrayal of Jesus is warm and reverent.
- The action and dialog move quickly.
- The script sticks pretty close to the scriptures, blending material from the four Gospels.
- The typical dialect is “British” but not “King James.”
- The scenery appears to be historical and the production values are good, not cheap.
- The movie has a few flaws, but then, don’t they all.
There are 36 scenes or chapters in the Son of God DVD menu. Our outline lists what's in each scene and includes a follow-up question for each scene. They also help you know what's in the movie and where its found when you view the movie online or download it for viewing.
If you're watching the movie ONLINE (renting through Amazon Prime, for example,) the guide will help you know where you are in the movie.
Guide Updated: 2020
A number of lessons and Writing Team lesson sets here at Rotation.org recommend using a clip from Son of God. Our Outline will help teachers and lesson planners see what stories are in the movie --as not all of the Gospel stories are found in this one.
At Home Viewing By Families
Using the Outline, we created an "At Home Guide to the Son of God Movie" that families can use to watch and discuss the movie. It's attached to this post!
The movie is 2 hours and 20 minutes. For some families, that's a nice evening event. Others may want to break it into two or three viewings. The At Home Guide has those options.
Age Range
Most of this movie is suitable for children,* youth, and adults. Certain parts of the movie may be too intense for younger* children. Use the guide and have your remote ready
*The author of the guide notes: The trial and crucifixion scenes are too intense for children under the age of (about) 8. Certainly, they should be prepared in advance and debriefed afterward as these are pivotal scenes in the story of Jesus and to our faith. In the beginning of the movie, there's a thankfully quick and murky scene about Herod's killing of the innocents, and there's a short scene of Roman violence against the people of Jerusalem. The scourging, nailing, and scene with Jesus on the cross are emotionally and visually dramatic, without being gratuitous. They are "appropriately difficult" to watch. One way to handle them with younger children is to FREEZE FRAME the movie on a "less stressful" portion of a difficult scene and discuss what's going on, then FF past the rest of the scene as you wish. Appropriate depictions of violence and our emotional responses to it should not be avoided if the child can process it (understand why) and you are there to help them do that. Children who are emotionally or intellectually not ready for it or unable to deal with it should not watch it, or only see the less graphic sections so that they are not sidetracked in what is an otherwise vital part of the Gospel story.
"Son of God" vs "The Bible"
“Son of God” was filmed by the same company that made “The Bible” mini-series in 2013. Some of the scenes in “Son of God” are also found in “The Bible.” However, some Jesus scenes in “The Bible” were not used in “Son of God,” or have been edited. For example, the scene of Jesus' Temptation is not in “Son of God,” but it is in “The Bible.” At the end of this outline, we've included a LIST of the Jesus scenes only found in “The Bible.”
In many ways, Son of God is a better movie than The Bible, especially when it comes to telling Jesus' story.
YouTube clip preview of a scene from Son of God. https://youtu.be/HaS-9AP96gE
