Don’t be offended by The Life of Brian, it’s a great Christian apologetic

It’s 45 years since Monty Python’s The Life of Brian caused outrage among some Christians, who took offence at its mockery of Christ. But the Bible is full of people mocking Jesus – and God uses it all for his glory, says Samuel Tarr

The UK has recently entered the 45th year Anno Brian. Released on the 9 November 1979, when The Life of Brian premiered it was met with irreverent delight and lengthy ticket lines on the one hand, and indignation and picket lines on the other.

But where The Life of Brian once sparked outrage from the Christian right, today it is the politically correct who are more likely to take offence. The “Loretta” scene in particular has come under fire (“I want to be a woman – It’s my right as a man!”). Humourless puritans to the left of me, humourless puritans to the right, John Cleese may argue.

Whether taking offence is rooted in devotion, resentment or insecurity in one’s beliefs is not for me to say. But perhaps there was something that Cleese’s critics missed back in 1979. The mockery of Christ goes right back his lifetime. Yet there is a thread of irony running through the New Testament in which it is always turned to his glorification.