The Fourth Wise Man (with Jonathon Fessenden)

Almost Good Catholics

Jonathon Fessenden, theologian and editor of Missio Dei, invited me to talk about The Fourth Wise Man, the 1985 film based on the 1895 Henry van Dyke novella, The Other Wise Man. It was a tale I had known as a children’s story, but it was a delight to learn more about it, to watch this movie (a few times), and to share this discussion with Jonathon. Martin Sheen plays Artaban, a Persian astrologer, a magus (one of the magi), who is following the star to the birth of Christ. But he arrives too late and spends the next thirty years pursuing Jesus, always one step behind, but always in His footsteps.

The first link below is to the movie itself (71 minutes) on YouTube:

• The film, The Fourth Wise Man, on YouTube, also on Formed, and on Amazon.
• Our video of this discussion on the Missio Dei website and also on YouTube.
• Henry van Dyke’s eulogy for Mark Twain from the New York Times.
• Henry van Dyke’s poem, “Time Is.”
• Henry van Dyke’s The Other Wise Man on Wikipedia.
• Jonathon Fessenden on Almost Good Catholics, episode 37: Catholic Movies, Pt. 1: Silence and The Scarlet and the Black
• Jonathon Fessenden on Almost Good Catholics, episode 49: Catholic Movies, Pt. 2: The Mission and A Man for All Seasons
• Jonathon Fessenden on Almost Good Catholics, episode 58: The Book of Job: Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?

Krzysztof Odyniec is a historian of Medieval and Early Modern Europe; he is also the host of the 'Almost Good Catholics' podcast.

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