If you’re like me, you grew up with a healthy diet of singing vegetables. VeggieTales started with just two Bible college guys dabbling in animation. But the iconic children’s show quickly defined an era, teaching Bible stories and moral lessons to every household in the country—whether or not you came from a Christian family.

The 1990s and early 2000s were ripe with Christian entertainment projects—from Bibleman to 3-2-1 Penguins, to Hanna-Barbera’s The Greatest Adventure. The Left Behind books were making waves, and Dreamworks Animation’s The Prince of Egypt became what SyFy would one day call “the greatest animated film of all time.”

And yet today we’re seeing vastly different and far more expansive stories.

Twenty years ago, Christian entertainment was mostly limited to children’s television and Kendrick Brothers films. But today we’re seeing an explosion of “Bible projects” across formats and demographics—and it’s just getting started.

Historic origins of today’s biblical fiction

This trend started with the History Channel’s ten-episode miniseries, The Bible (2013). Despite its controversial creative liberties, the show’s producers were sincere. Not to mention, the show was beautifully made. On its heels came God’s Not Dead (2014) and Mom’s Night Out (2014) in quick succession.

At the time, I thought, “The bar is finally being raised for Christian film.”

Enter Dallas Jenkins and The Chosen. Through an innovative production model and a record-breaking crowdfunding campaign, the acclaimed biblical drama about Christ’s disciples seemed to give Christian creatives permission to break into an industry once considered a shadowy place one should never go. Film and media were finally seen as the mission fields they’ve always been, and fantastical stories were no longer a waste of time that would better be spent door-knocking.

Angelic opportunities from little studios that go big

Much of the credit should be given to Angel Studios, who has sponsored many promising media projects since 2017¹. Though the studio is owned by the Latter-Day Saints organization (that is, Mormons), it’s become a platform for biblical Christians to safely promote projects that would never have darkened the door of a “progressive” Hollywood studio.²

The Angel Studios streaming service lists almost thirty projects, including Sound of Freedom, Bonhoeffer, and The Wingfeather Saga, with more in investment stages. Upcoming projects include Axiom (a sci-fi retelling of Moses) and Gabriel and the Guardians (an anime inspired by the Old Testament). As the studio’s reputation grows, so does the projects’ casts and crews, with Gabriel featuring voices like James Arnold Taylor and Matt Lanter (Star Wars: The Clone Wars) and the animation studio responsible for X-Men ‘97 and Invincible.

But Christians are creating even outside Angel’s sphere. Journey to Bethlehem changed perceptions of Christian film even within Hollywood itself, and this year Dallas Jenkins’s The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is shocking analysts with its “hold” data in theaters after a strong debut. Next year, an independent animated film about Christ’s followers, Light of the World, is set to hit theaters, but already has a large following on social media.

Evangelical entertainment finds expanding markets

But this new renaissance extends further than just film.

With the rise of indie board and video games, we now have crowdfunded projects like Andrew Lowen’s epic, Deliverance, a dungeon-crawler-style board game reminiscent of Frank Peretti’s Darkness novels.

Oasis Family Media acquired Enclave Publishing three years ago, joining forces on Jan. 1, 2022. (Oasis is also a title sponsor of Lorehaven and its podcast.)

In the video game industry, Gate Zero allows players to travel back in time to first-century Israel and explore events from the New Testament in an open-world fashion.

In the book world, Enclave Publishing is committed to producing quality faith-based speculative fiction.

On the performing stage, the Logos Theatre has been traveling the country with their life-sized puppets to locations like Museum of the Bible and Ark Encounter. Recently, Logos announced via Facebook that they’ll perform The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, which will be their third Narnia production.

What are the reasons for this “resurrection” of Bible media content? This may relate to the staggering increase in Bible sales for 2024 and college campus revivals that have broken out across the country, or a changing demographic in America. Or maybe it’s the reverse, and the notable improvement of Christian entertainment is drawing people to ask more questions about faith.

To reach any people group, one must speak their language. For better or worse, America’s language appears to be entertainment—and that language is driving our culture. Historically, some Christians have shied away from fiction, preferring to interpret Philippians 4:8 as a warning against imaginative storytelling. But as someone who’s always had a heart for the arts, I’m finally seeing a change, and it’s just getting started.