As a novel, a play, two silent films, and a wide screen spectacular, Lew Wallace's Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ set the standard for the religious epic, inaugurating an amazing series of firsts in American popular culture. Published in 1880, the novel tells the story of Judah Ben-Hur, a young, aristocratic Jew, and his encounter with Jesus of Nazareth. The book begins with the Messiah's birth and then moves ahead 30 years to Ben-Hur's reunion with his boyhood friend, Messala, now a Roman officer. The latter's contempt for Jews, however, ends their friendship. When the Roman governor's life is threatened, Messala blames Ben-Hur, unjustly condemning him to the galleys and imprisoning Ben-Hur's mother and sister. As pirates attack Ben-Hur's ship, he manages to escape. Returning to Judea, he searches for his family and also raises a militia for the Messiah. Meeting Messala again, Ben-Hur beats him in a dramatic...