American Gospel: Christ Crucified

This documentary examines how the central message of Christ crucified has been softened or reshaped within much of contemporary American Christianity. It argues that cultural accommodation and popular preaching have often traded the offense and substitutionary nature of the cross for more palatable versions of the gospel—prosperity, therapeutic, or moralistic frameworks that minimize divine justice, human sinfulness, and the costly nature of atonement.

Featuring interviews with pastors, theologians, and critics, the film contrasts biblical teaching about sin, judgment, and redemption with modern reworkings of the gospel and invites viewers to wrestle with uncomfortable truths about suffering, sacrifice, and divine holiness. Its tone is urgent and polemical, aiming to provoke reflection and a re-centering of Christian proclamation on the scandal and hope of Christ’s crucifixion.