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The Church hopes everyone will want to follow the footsteps of the Savior through the stony paths of Galilee or the narrow streets of Jerusalem, or watch the tragic scenes in Gethsemane, in Pilate's courtyard, and on the hilltop of Calvary.
To make this possible, Church leaders have created free Bible videos that are being made available to the public this holiday season on a new web site, Biblevideos.lds.org.
"They will be a free gift to all from the First Presidency," said President Henry B. Eyring, first counselor in the First Presidency.
President Eyring announced the project on Dec. 4 during the First Presidency Christmas Devotional, held in the Conference Center in downtown Salt Lake City. During his address, he shared a nine-minute video that included scenes from the videos that will bring "feelings of light and the joy of angelic visitations that marked Heavenly Father's gift of His Beloved Son as our Redeemer."
The high-quality videos are based on the King James Version of the Bible and are faithful to that text, President Eyring explained. The text of the scriptures and photos also accompany the video scenes.
The Church produced the videos and has made them available to the public "solely for the purpose of helping more people understand and appreciate the matchless life of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Savior of the world," according to the web site.
The Church filmed 47 scenes this fall at its new Jerusalem movie set in Goshen, Utah, (www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/60343/Biblical-scenes-emerging-in-Utahs-own-land-of-Goshen.html) and has plans to film more than 50 additional scenes next year. The first six films are available now in English, Spanish and Portuguese. Eventually every video will be posted to the web site, where they can be downloaded.
"Like the scriptures which these short films follow faithfully they may seem to you quiet," President Eyring said. "Your faith and the Holy Ghost will create the emotion these world-changing events deserve."
Most the videos are three to five minutes in length and are intended for easy viewing and sharing. A free mobile app, which offers an interactive way to watch and read key accounts from the New Testament, will also be available before Christmas.
"We intend for these videos to be used freely by individuals, families, and groups," said Elder Lynn G. Robbins, executive director of the Church's Media Services Department. "We want to help our own members strengthen their faith in Jesus Christ, and we offer this freely to other churches who may wish to use these videos in a similar way. The message of the Lord Jesus Christ needs to be shared as widely as possible throughout the world."
He said the hope is that Bible videos "will help people to visualize what they have only been able to imagine, and to more deeply feel the truths of the New Testament as they witness the Savior's life and not just as they read about it."
"Hopefully, there will be entirely new insights into the Savior's character that will help viewers feel of His love and inspire them to want to be more like Him," Elder Robbins said.
