The 25 most iconic films about religion in cinematic history

Right from the start, you know Ben Hur is a religious movie, since it's the story of a Jewish man being persecuted for his faith. What makes this more than another faith-based film is the story of Hur's journey to freedom, which William Wyler directs with the kind of intensity that once defined biblical movies. 

A movie about Scientology directed by Paul Thomas Anderson? Brought to the screen by legends Joaquin Phoenix and Phillip Seymour Hoffman? Of course this was going to be on our list. 

Let my people go...see this movie! Cecil B. DeMille brought the story of Moses to the big screen like we'd never seen it before. It's got a number of sets, visuals and effects that would change the course of movies. The parting of the Red Sea alone is worth the price of admission.

You know the song, but do you know the story? The Best Picture winner sees a runner who will not race on the Sabbath, but who will go onto to win a bigger race down the line. Inspiring, emotional and altogether wonderful, Chariots of Fire is still worth racing to the theater to see. 

Audiences loved this tale of a "prophet" (played by Ben Kingsley) and his devotion to Hinduism.The movie treats him like a saint, which for many people in the audience, he is.

The family at the heart of Ordet has a lot going on. They've got a son who thinks he's Jesus, another son who wants to marry an atheist and a father who is the last remaining Protestant in the village. The movie sees them dealing with these issues in their house and the nearby countryside. It's a cinematic miracle — a movie with almost no action that leaves you in a state of rapture. 

How far would you go for your faith? It's the question at the center of Steven Spielberg's movie, which sees an entire religion persecuted for their faith. While we have some qualms with this one, we can't deny that Spielberg's heart is in the right place. 

The mood. The imagery. The chess match with death. Everything about The Seventh Seal is biblical. From the characters who pray to God to the characters who dance with death, this is a dark take on religion. Ingmar Bergman asks questions like a kid in Sunday school, but doesn't want to know the answers. He's happy to wallow in the uncertainty. 

Under the Tuscan sun! It's the mashup between Nora Ephron and monks that you never knew you needed. Watch as a group of monks move to the Tuscan countryside where they frolic, cook and find love...in the form of God. It's the most scenic movie on our list and one of the most moving. 

The best cult movie of all time? Maybe. A great movie about religion and religious sacrifice? Definitely. Everyone who loves horror should visit this part of the British Isles, where a detective gets mixed up in a cult.

NBC aired this five-hour movie over the course of five installments, each of which tells the story of Jesus Christ. It's been shown in churches around the world as the ultimate telling of his story — on screens, that is. Nothing can compare to the original text, but this movie does a great job transferring it to the screen.

The Passion of the Christ made tons of money at the box office and almost no money at concessions. Imagine eating a box of popcorn while Jesus is nailed to the cross. It's a gritty take on his death, which sees the man get tortured for three hours.   

Who knew a movie about a human sacrifice could be so lively? The Passion of Joan of Arc has the power to move mountains, to move you to tears and to move you to become a better person. It's the story of Joan of Arc, who was burned at the stake for her beliefs. Carl Theodor Dreyer gives her story the spark it deserves, while Renee Falconetti makes sure you never forget the character's face. 

Au Hasard Balthazar is a religious movie that doesn't really feel like a religious movie. A donkey bears witness to the horrors around him like an animal messiah. It might sound like a farce, but Robert Bresson guides the film like a shepherd guides his sheep: with a swift hand, a loving eye and a love for all things nature. 

Andrei Tarkovsky is one of those directors who just can't miss. All seven of his movies are great, even the ones that sound boring. When you are dropped into 14th century Russia, you might roll your eyes at the thought of spending three hours with a guy like Rublev. But the movie around him is so gorgeous, so poetically mesmerizing, that you can't help but follow him everywhere he goes. 

A movie set in the Alps and shot by Terrence Mallick? What's not to love? A Hidden Life would be one of the great travelogues if it weren't for the battle between Christians and Nazis. 

A lot of Martin Scorsese movies could go on this list, but Silence tops them all. The Last Temptation of Christ may have had a great cast, but Silence has the feel of something greater. It has the feel of movies like Ordet and St. Francis, which inspired this story of priests in the Japanese forest.

Aside from the aliens and slime, this is a movie about religion. Mel Gibson plays a pastor who loses his faith when his wife dies in a car accident, but finds it again with the help of his sons. M. Night Shyamalan points his telescope past the stars and toward the heavens, which is a rarity in science fiction.

In the first film in CinemaScope, Richard Burton plays a general in charge of crucifying Jesus. He wins the messiah's robe in a game of dice, which changes his life forever. It's a colorful, whimsical epic that spins a popular story into something new. 

Terrence Mallick directs this monumental epic with a star-studded cast, including Sean Penn, Woody Harrelson and Jim Caviezel as the protagonist who grapples with the line between war and religion. It's more about the battle between good and evil than the battle between the Americans and Japanese, which is what gives this movie its sparkle. 

Was the title Driving Miss Daisy already taken? Philomena takes a story we've seen a thousand times and gives it a religious twist. It's the story of a woman (Judi Dench) whose baby was taken from her at a convent and her attempt to get him back. Along with Steve Coogan's journalist, they head out on the road for a mismatched adventure. 

If you like movies like Almost Famous and Dazed and Confused, this throwback is a good match. A bunch of hippies find God where they least expect it: at a rock concert, on acid, while the best musicians in the world wail away on their guitars. It's basically a pamphlet for Christianity, but that doesn't mean you can't have fun while watching it. 

Famed screenwriter Paul Schrader offers one of the most unforgettable portrayals of faith in this art-house classic. This is not the pamphlet for religion you might be expecting, but the exploration of grief that defined his screenplay for Taxi Driver. You can imagine Travis Bickle becoming Ethan Hawke's pastor if he survived and went to church the next day, becoming a loner at his parish. 

If you'e not particularly a fan of religious movies, I urge you to watch The Two Popes. With Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce in the title roles, some nice Vatican scenery and some really great jokes, this movie will make you a believer in the genre.

Spoiler alert: a man escapes. It's right there in the title, but that's not going to stop you from sitting on the edge of your seat as a man makes a break from prison. Robert Bresson gives his escape a religious twist, as he prays to God for help along the way.