A leap of faith, in its most commonly used meaning, is the act of believing in or accepting something intangible or unprovable, or without empirical evidence.[1]
It is an act commonly associated with religious belief as many religions consider faith to be an essential element of piety.
The phrase is commonly attributed to Søren Kierkegaard; however, he himself never used the term, as he referred to a leap as a leap to faith. A leap of faith according to Kierkegaard involves circularity insofar as a leap is made by faith.[2]
In his book Concluding Unscientific Postscript, he describes the core part of the leap of faith, the leap. "Thinking can turn toward itself in order to think about itself and skepticism can emerge.
But this thinking about itself never accomplishes anything." Kierkegaard says thinking should serve by thinking something. Kierkegaard wants to stop "thinking's self-reflection" and that is the movement that constitutes a leap.[3]
He's against people thinking about religion all day without ever doing anything. But he's also against external shows and opinions about religion and in favor of the internal movement of faith.[4]
He says, "where Christianity wants to have inwardness, worldly Christendom wants outwardness, and where Christianity wants outwardness, worldly Christendom wants inwardness."[5]
But, on the other hand, he also says, "The less externality the more inwardness if it is truly there; but it is also the case that the less externality, the greater the possibility that the inwardness will entirely fail to come.
The externality is the watchman who awakens the sleeper; the externality is the solicitous mother who calls one; the externality is the roll call that brings the soldier to his feet; the externality is the reveille that helps one to make the great effort; but the absence of the externality can mean that the inwardness itself calls inwardly to a person-alas, but it can also mean that the inwardness will fail to come."[6]
Leap Of Faith the Movie
The "most dreadful thing of all is a personal existence that cannot coalesce in a conclusion,"[7] according to Kierkegaard. He asked his contemporaries if any of them had reached a conclusion about anything or did every new premise change their convictions.| Leap of Faith | |
|---|---|
Leap of Faith original theatrical poster
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| Directed by | Richard Pearce |
| Produced by | Michael Manheim David V. Picker (Gospel songs and choir produced by George Duke and choir master Edwin Hawkins.) |
| Written by | Janus Cercone |
| Starring | Steve Martin Debra Winger Lolita Davidovich Liam Neeson Lukas Haas |
| Music by | Cliff Eidelman |
| Cinematography | Matthew F. Leonetti |
| Edited by | John F. Burnett Mark Warner Don Zimmerman |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release dates
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December 18, 1992 |
Running time
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108 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $23,369,283 |
Leap of Faith is a 1992 American dramedy film, directed by Richard Pearce and starring Steve Martin, Debra Winger, Lolita Davidovich, Liam Neeson and Lukas Haas.
The film is about Jonas Nightengale, a fraudulent Christian faith healer who uses his revival meetings, in Rustwater, Kansas, to bilk believers out of their money.
Plot summary
Jonas Nightengale (Steve Martin) is a faith healer, loosely based on televangelist Peter Popoff, who makes a living traveling across America holding tent revival meetings and conducting purported miracles.He is helped by his friend and manager Jane Larson (Debra Winger) and an entourage of fellow con artists.
Their bus breaks down in the fictional Rustwater, Kansas, a town with a 27 percent unemployment rate that is in desperate need of rain to save its crops.
Learning they will be stuck in Rustwater for days waiting for replacement parts to come in for one of the many big trucks of their fleet, Jonas decides, in an effort to cut some of their losses while the truck is being repaired, to hold revival meetings despite the town's small size.
Early on Jonas meets Marva, a waitress in a local café. She rebuffs his persistent advances.
Local sheriff Will Braverman (Liam Neeson) is skeptical and tries to prevent his townspeople from being conned out of what little money they do have. After seeing the excessive pageantry of the first show and the counting of money by the team on Jonas' tour bus, Braverman decides to investigate Jonas' past.
He learns that Jonas, claiming to have been born in a humble log cabin in the Appalachians, is in fact Jack Newton, a native of New York City.
Between the age of 15 and 18 he lived a life of crime, including petty theft and drug possession.
Braverman shares this information with the townspeople who have gathered for another tent revival. Jonas storms off the stage, soon returning to successfully spin Braverman's report, leaving the crowd more energized than ever, much to Braverman's exasperation.
Jonas also gives back the collections for the day, saying he could not take their money in good conscience knowing that they doubted him and that if his faith was strong God would send them a sign.
He also has his crew secretly plant an additional $60 among the crowd, setting up the believers for a miracle the next day. The next morning, the huge crucifix forming the backdrop of the revival tent with Jesus' eyes normally closed is found to somehow have his eyes opened.
A shocked Jonas, in front of all the townspeople and numerous television cameras from the region's network affiliates, proclaims it a miracle which is amplified as townsfolk who had money planted on them reveal their unexplained fortunes.
Throughout all of this is a subplot involving Jane and Braverman, who find themselves falling for each other. She becomes enchanted by Braverman's simple farm life and his interest in butterflies.
However, after Braverman's disclosure of Jonas' past Jane breaks off their budding relationship. They soon, however, meet again and Jane confesses to Braverman that she is tired of manipulating people.
He makes it clear he would like a permanent relationship with her if she will stay.
Meanwhile, Jonas can't understand why Marva won't date him. Marva points to her brother Boyd who walks with crutches following an auto accident in which also their parents died. Marva explains that doctors couldn't find anything physically wrong with him, so as a last resort she took him to a faith healer who subsequently blamed it on Boyd's supposed lack of faith.
Marva now detests faith healers, having had one blame her brother for his own psychosomatic disability.
Boyd comes to believe that Jonas can make him walk again. He goes to the revival and implores Jonas to heal him. Jonas finishes the show while pretending not to notice the boy, but is compelled to return to the stage after the crowd begins to chant "one more."
Jonas spins the expected failure to heal Boyd by blaming Braverman, who is present, saying that if a failure occurs, it will be due to Braverman's skepticism. Boyd walks to the open-eyed crucifix and touches the feet of Jesus Christ.
He drops his crutches and begins to walk unassisted. The awed crowd sweeps the stage. After the show, an enraged Jonas rails to Jane that he was conned and that Boyd upstaged him. Jane doesn't believe it was a con.
The production crew are thrilled with all the money that came in as a result of Boyd being healed and want Boyd to join the show. A clearly annoyed Jonas reluctantly agrees and stalks off the bus. Jane follows him out and they argue.
After the revival, Jonas enters the empty, darkened tent and mocks the crucifix and Christianity. Boyd walks in while Jonas talking. Boyd thanks Jonas for healing him, but Jonas insists angrily that he did nothing.
Boyd says it doesn't matter, that the job still got done. Jonas accuses Boyd of being a better con artist than he himself. Boyd wants to join Jonas on the road, telling him a lot of ways he can help out exist and promising to earn his keep.
Jonas agrees to meet Boyd the following morning, implying Boyd can come. Then Boyd's sister Marva arrives. She sends him out of the tent saying that people are looking for him. She thanks Jonas, who tells her that he will not be meeting her brother Boyd the next morning.
He asks her to tell Boyd that "just because a person didn't show up doesn't mean that the person doesn't care about them." referencing a set up earlier in the movie where Jane defended Jonas by telling Braverman the story of a five-year-old Jonas waiting in vain for four days for his mother to return, for many years while living in an orphanage holding steadfast to the belief that one day she indeed would.
Jonas leaves the tent and sees the crowd that has gathered just outside of it, many praying, some sleeping in groups, and others feeding the crowd that has gathered. He packs a bag and departs alone under the cover of darkness, leaving behind his silver-sequined jacket with an envelope for Jane containing his ring that she had long coveted.
Braverman and Jane drive to Jonas' motel room and find him gone.
Jonas hitches a ride with a truck driver bound for Pensacola, Florida. When asked by the driver if he is in some kind of trouble, Jonas replies that probably for the first time in his life in fact he is not.
As they continue to ride along, the drought threatening the crops, the centerpiece of the town's economy, comes to an dramatic end in a miraculous downpour.
Jonas laughs heartily, the film ending with him riding off into the sunrise loudly thanking Jesus.
Selected cast
- Steve Martin — Jonas Nightengale
- Debra Winger — Jane Larson
- Lolita Davidovich — Marva
- Liam Neeson — Sheriff Will Braverman
- Lukas Haas — Boyd
- Albertina Walker — Lucille
- Meat Loaf — Hoover
- Philip Seymour Hoffman — Matt
- M. C. Gainey — Tiny
- La Chanze — Georgette
- Delores Hall — Ornella
- Phyllis Somerville — Dolores
- Troy Evans — Officer Lowell Dade
Production
The movie was filmed in Groom, Texas, and Tulia, Texas, though parts of the movie were filmed in Plainview, Texas, where the town water tower still has the fictional town mascot painted on the side. Martin became the film's leading actor after Michael Keaton quit the production.[1]Musical adaptation
On April 11, 2006, Taylor Hackford announced that he would be making his directorial debut on Broadway by bringing the film to the stage as a musical.The score was written by Alan Menken with lyrics by Glenn Slater. Hackford chose Leap of Faith even though he had previously been offered the opportunity to bring his film Ray to the stage. "What got me here was Alan Menken's score and how it so beautifully fit the book," Hackford said.[2]
According to an article in the January 20, 2010 New York Post, Hackford is no longer the director of this project.[3]
The Center Theatre Group presented the musical at the Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles, with Rob Ashford as director and choreographer.[4]
Performances began on September 11, 2010, with an official opening on October 3, 2010, running through October 24, 2010. Raul Esparza played the role of Jonas Nightengale (originated by Steve Martin in the film) and Brooke Shields played the role of Marva (originated by Lolita Davidovich in the film.[5]
The musical began previews on Broadway at the St. James Theatre on April 3, 2012, and opened on April 26, 2012 before closing after only 20 performances.
Direction was by Christopher Ashley, choreography by Sergio Trujillo, a revised book by Warren Leight, with a cast featuring Raúl Esparza as Jonas Nightengale, and Jessica Phillips as Marla.[6]
Source: Wikipedia.org
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