I believe there is enough of the teachings of Jesus in this movie (some truths spoken in the universal language of music) to lead one closer to God. At least this was my experience and I have experientially learned that experiential learning is far more valuable than anything else. Was not Jesus a rebel against the traditional religion of authority He grew up with? The protagonist here certainly displays that disposition, symbolically representing the society-rebellion movement of an earlier decade that dared to challenge the Establishment by peacefully proclaiming the liberty of their individuality and the right to freely choose non-violence over violence. Jesus was also into non-violence and non-traditional methods of teaching. He was a cool dude who never scared people with threats of fire and damnation. Many concepts that were never taught by Jesus got absorbed into Christianity long after He had risen from the dead, this resurrection, by the way, certainly being an important plot point in the gospel of Matthew that was unfortunately omitted from this film (perhaps for commercial considerations since not everyone believes Jesus conquered Death hence the difference between men and women of faith who believe without seeing and those who choose to see only with their material eyes believing nothing that transcends the reflection of mere light on empty objects before their hollow gaze). And although Jesus displayed a genuine respect for the sacred writings passed down from previous generations, He never paused to let short-term consequences deter Him when His hour came to proclaim the new teaching that God was not only the Father of Israel but also the Father of every man and woman including the wrongdoer (and this all-inclusive declaration of spiritually liberating non-exclusivity whereby all of us are God's kids threatened the Chosen People concept of the Jews and even this quasi-comical portrayal of events did not leave out what happened after that happened).
