American Gospel – Christ Alone: Challenging, Empowering, Overwhelming

This movie was selected by my patron supporters over at the Cinematic Doctrine Patreon. Support as little as $3 a month and have your voice heard!

American Gospel: Christ Alone has been a word-of-mouth juggernaut in Christian circles both online and offline. I remember the impact it had on social media Reformed groups back in 2018, and I even remember when my pastor was recommending it at the pulpit during morning announcements. It was crazy. Now, in 2020, it’s landed on Netflix and you would think it was American Gospel: Christ Alone’s second coming, as groups online and offline have been praising its successes.

Through-out the episode we talk about balancing an appropriate appreciation of the documentary alongside healthy critique, how American Gospel: Christ Alone has both an excitement and frustration within its response to the prosperity gospel, and in our closing section, which runs quite long this time around, Daniel shares at length his first-hand experience with the prosperity gospel, and reveals how deep its damaging roots have entered the American culture.

Featuring talking heads with Matt Chandler, Paul Washer, and Benny Hinn’s nephew Costi Hinn, American Gospel: Christ Alone explores the core question of Christianity – “What is the Gospel?” – and juxtaposes the gospel proposed in Scripture against the gospel proposed by popular western televangelists. In doing so, it shines a light on real-life accounts from several prosperity gospel survivors and the dangers that lurk around every corner when misunderstanding and twisting the word of God for monetary gain.

American Gospel: Christ Alone is Rated TV-PG. IMDB doesn’t have a detailed certificate, so I’m going to run off what Netflix describes in their certificate: suicide, substances, and language. It features Costi Hinn, Paul Washer, Matt Chandler, Mark Dever, Justin Peters, Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, Bill Johnson, and Todd White. Directed by Brandon Kimber. American Gospel: Christ Alone is currently available on Netflix.

Consider supporting Cinematic Doctrine on Patreon! As a bonus, you can gain access to a once-a-month movie poll where you decide a movie we discuss on the podcast, early unedited episodes of the podcast, and merch!!

Melvin Benson is the Founder, Editor-In-Chief, and Lead Host of Cinematic Doctrine. Whether it’s a movie, show, game, comic, or novel, it doesn’t matter. As long as it’s rich, he’s ready and willing to give it a try! His hope is to see King Jesus glorified as far as the east is from the west!

Cinematic Doctrine is available on iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, and other major podcast apps.

Better Off Dead – Teens Are Absurd – Cinematic Doctrine: A Movie Review Podcast Hosted by Christians

Send us a Question!PATREON MOVIE DISCUSSION:This movie was selected by our Patreon Supporters over at the Cinematic Doctrine Patreon. Support as little as $3 a month and have your voice heard! Shirleon & Kathryn join Melvin to talk about a much-loved 80's cult-classic comedy; Better Off Dead! Are teen years really like that? Can we enjoy the comedic work of someone controversial? Did everything work? Tune in and find out!Topics:Editor's Note: No Patreon Exclusive discussion! But, I do intend to trim this episode down from its original 1:21:19 length, so if you want to hear the UNCUT version, tune in on Patreon here!Kathryn feels Better Off Dead is a movie that people will hate if they despise being uncomfortable.For Shirleon, the film was too "kitchen sink": fully of ideas but nothing to do with them.The comedy progressively becomes more absurd with each passing scene.If the comedy doesn't work for someone, there isn't much in terms of narrative to hold on to.Talking the Dan Schneider problem.Being a teenager is hard, even if teens are irresponsible.As always: the ending.Recommendations:A Sincere Warning About The Entity In Your Home by Jason Arnopp (2015) (Short Story)The Brainrot Apocalypse (a DIY survival guide) (2025) (YouTube)Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie (2025) (Movie) Support the showSupport on Patreon for Unique Perks! Early access to uncut episodes Vote on a movie/show we review One-time reward of two Cinematic Doctrine Stickers & PinsSocial Links: ThreadsWebsiteInstagramLetterboxdFacebook Group 

1. Better Off Dead – Teens Are Absurd 50:12
2. I Can Only Imagine – A Monumental Song, A Serviceable Movie 01:11:52
3. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – Ambitious and/or Bloated 01:11:03
4. Spider-Man: Brand New Day – w/ Daniel Braindead on Consequences and Growing Up 01:14:54
5. Sunset Boulevard – Resilience, Belonging, & the Impact of Film 01:10:15