A new documentary exploring the creation of the New Testament is arriving at a moment when younger generations are showing a revived interest in faith and Scripture.
“I could not have looked two years ahead and seen the interest in the Bible that we see now,” filmmaker Erin Zimmerman told Fox News Digital. “Last year, Bible sales were up 22%, and this year they’re up 36%. I couldn’t have planned a more perfect time for this film to come out.”
Zimmerman, a four-time Emmy-nominated director, is the creative force behind Oracles of God: The Story of the New Testament, a new CBN Films documentary examining how the New Testament was written, preserved, and passed down through history. The film will screen in theaters nationwide on Nov. 2, 3, and 5, and will later be available via streaming and DVD. It is the second installment in Zimmerman’s five-part series on the origins and evidence of Scripture; the first, which focused on the Old Testament, debuted in 2023.
While living in Israel in 2017, Zimmerman said she felt called by God to produce a documentary series that approached Scripture from a “pure” perspective—one that avoided the “secret” or “mistranslated” portrayals she believes some secular productions have emphasized. She describes Oracles of God as the New Testament’s “origin story,” showing how the Gospels and epistles came together and why those early accounts of Jesus and the apostles remain deeply relevant today.
The production faced major challenges, including delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023. Yet Zimmerman views the timing as providential, saying the trials strengthened her faith and deepened her bond with her Israeli crew. She added that she couldn’t have predicted how, just two years later, a wave of renewed spiritual interest would sweep through popular culture.
The film’s release comes amid a surge in faith-based entertainment, from Amazon Prime’s House of David to the enduring success of The Chosen. Bible sales have also risen sharply—jumping 36% in September alone, following the assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, according to The Wall Street Journal. The paper previously reported a 22% increase in 2024.
Zimmerman believes the turbulence of recent world events has left many young people “searching for peace.” Figures like Kirk, she said, have inspired them to explore Christianity as a source of meaning and direction. “They’re seeing Charlie Kirk on TikTok and seeing all the times he quoted the Bible—how he was calm and happy,” she explained. “I think something about that really appealed to them, and they said, ‘I don’t have that in my life.’”
Zimmerman also emphasized that Oracles of God is the most accessible film in her series, addressing common doubts about the Bible’s accuracy. Drawing on scholarly and historical evidence, the documentary demonstrates how early Jewish and Christian scribes preserved Scripture with “great care and reverence.” Thousands of surviving Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, she said, serve as powerful proof of its reliability.
The next installment in Zimmerman’s series, titled Creating the Canon, will focus on how the individual books of the Bible were selected and compiled.
Zimmerman hopes audiences will leave Oracles of God with a deeper respect for the sacrifices made to preserve the New Testament—and confidence in the authenticity of its message. “Every apostle but John was martyred,” she said. “And John was thrown into a pot of boiling oil and survived it, according to historians. They, and those after them, gave their lives for this Word and to keep Jesus’ story alive.”
Oracles of God: The Story of the New Testament will play in theaters nationwide on Nov. 2, 3, and 5, before becoming available for streaming and DVD release.
