Movies

Chris Pratt Compares Himself to Jesus Amid Religious Backlash

CHRIST, PRATT

“Two thousand years ago, they hated him too.”

Chris Pratt
REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

There’s a long-running debate among pop culture devotees over which of the major Hollywood Chrises (Pine, Pratt, Hemsworth, or Evans) is superior. But Pratt, who notably pivoted from goofy Parks and Rec star to Marvel superhero/Arnold Schwarzenegger’s son-in-law, is almost certainly the most divisive, or at least the most vocally God-fearing.

Pratt—who, you may remember, once said in an MTV Movie Awards acceptance speech that “God is real and God loves you”—addressed the backlash he’s gotten for his religious beliefs on the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 red carpet last week.

“That’s nothing new, you know?” Pratt told Page Six. “That’s the way it is—nothing new. Two thousand years ago, they hated him too,” he added, in reference to Jesus Christ.

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“If I was of this world, they would love me just like that, but as it is, I’ve chosen out of this world. That’s John 15:18 through 20,” Pratt also told the outlet, explaining that he was quoting a Bible verse.

Pratt, who has also caught flack for his seemingly Republican politics over the years, told Esquire in 2012 that he converted to Christianity when he was a teenager after a man stopped him and a few friends on their way to buy booze. “He was like, ‘I stopped because Jesus told me to stop and talk to you. He said to tell you you’re destined for great things,’” Pratt told the mag at the time. “My friends came out and I was like, ‘Hey, I’m gonna go with this guy.’ I gave my soul to Jesus within, like, two days.”

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