A Polite Bribe pulls back the veil on that history revealing the true account of the parties and politics that gave birth to Christianity, including Paul’s bitter conflict with James the brother of Jesus and the original apostles. The fateful results of that “battle of the apostles,” is an untold story that is at last coming to light.
-James D. Tabor
Chair, Dept. of Religious Studies and Professor of Christian Origins, UNC
Robert Orlando is by far the most knowledgeable and probing filmmaker I have dealt with in connection with films on Jesus or Paul. He has read widely, knows the different perspectives on Paul, his letters, and the cast of scholarly characters. While maintaining a broad spectrum of views on Paul, he will surely produce the most ‘down-to-earth’ Paul that we have yet seen on film.
-Richard Horsley
Distinguished Professor of Liberal Arts and the Study of Religion
University of Massachusetts Boston
Robert Orlando has an amazing knowledge not only of Paul, but also of Pauline scholarship. What matters most, however, is the fact that he retains a healthy critical attitude to the apostle that balances the extent to which he too, like so many others, has fallen under his spell.
-Troels Engberg-Pedersen
Professor of the New Testament, The University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Robert Orlando is the most well-read, knowledgeable, and passionate film-maker ever to tackle the Apostle Paul. Because Orlando combines mastery of his subject with such eye-catching artistry and creativity, he succeeds in making a film that both illumines its subject and pleases the eye.
-Pamela Eisenbaum
Associate Professor of Biblical Studies and Christian Origins,
IIiff School of Theology, Denver Colorado
This is not your ordinary life of Paul. Not a triumphant apostle of the gospel of Jesus Christ, but one who suffered set-back after set-back throughout his career, often in the form of opposition from the church in Jerusalem. Despite all that, he nevertheless remained faithful to his apostolic ministry to the gentiles. But despite all forms of opposition, Paul remained faithful to his God-given task of announcing what God has done for all peoples, Jew as well as gentile, in his act of grace in Jesus Christ.
-Paul Achtemier
Union Theological, VA
Robert Orlando combines a thorough knowledge of Paul’s letters with a deep sensitivity to the issue of Jewish-Christian relations in the first century. His movie promises both to bring the historical setting to life and to draw the viewer into it. No doubt so compelling an experience will enable us all to read the texts with new eyes and thus better grasp their true significance.
-Gerd Lüdemann
Professor of the History and Literature of Early Christianity
, Geor-August-University Göttingen, Germany
Robert Orlando promises a breakthrough film on Paul. He combines real expertise and creativity in film-making with a sophisticated knowledge of the New Testament and the Pauline literature within it. No one has previously been able to combine these talents before. His film will be the first to capture an audience and still remain accurate and informative.
-Alan F. Segal
Professor of Religion
, Barnard College, Columbia University
