Film Analysis: Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory

Although Protestantism is a major religion in the United States, there is enormous diversity within the individual faiths. Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory is a film that analyzes these breadth of differences, specifically in Evangelicalism, due to cultural, racial, and geographic factors. This results in the lack of a single church and coherency, unlike Catholicism, which is much more united. The film then highlights how Evangelicals adapt and contribute to a more modern society, and consequently how their goals as a religious organization changes. The narrator travels to various areas of the country where motives of various churches are vastly different. Despite this, every denomination in the movie has a similar sense of devotion to their respective missions. Although the movie is outdated, it contains factual information that helps one define the true meaning of American Evangelicalism.

This “mission” became obscure in the 20th century, when certain denominations used Protestantism as a vehicle to advance their own goals. For example, with the arise of mass media and the television, a new term was coined to describe the televangelists. These ministers broadcasted themselves and spread their gospel, which seemed brilliant as a way to reach more people. This was not the case, however; infamous pastors such as Robert Tilton claimed that he could heal sinners in a revelational way. He accepted vows of hundreds of dollars, asserting that these “material blessings” were ordered by the New Testament. Televangelists such as Tilton adapted to materialism to essentially scam people out of their