Kevin Costner Gives Rare Insight Into His Faith: “It’s Been So Much A Part Of My Life”

Kevin Costner opened up about his faith and religious beliefs in the latest ABC special Kevin Costner Presents: The First Christmas.

Considering that the 70-year-old actor acted as the narrator for a TV event focusing in on the birth of Jesus, it was safe to assume that Costner is a believer. But he hasn’t ever really shared much about his faith, and apparently saw this two-hour special detailing the first Christmas for ABC as the perfect opportunity to disclose his religious beliefs and upbringing, as he explained to Deseret News:

“I was raised in a church. I haven’t probably proclaimed that to the world, but anybody who knows me, knows that. It’s been so much a part of my life – religion that has spread around this world. I’ve been a part of all kinds of stories, but to be able to narrate the birth of Christ, it seemed appropriate to me, given my history with the church.”

Costner walked the audience through the story of Mary and Joseph and the miraculous birth of Jesus, which is often represented in nativity scenes. In fact, the Yellowstone actor said that his first ever performance was at the age of four, and he had the role of one of the shepherds at his church’s annual nativity play.

That anecdote let the world know that he’s been a believer for most of his life, and he shared that he’s truly believes in the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, even if he doesn’t always know how to defend against those attacking religion:

“You choose to believe. I choose to believe – that doesn’t mean I know how to defend it when someone can come at me from different directions.”

Believing in the face of opposition is what faith is all about.

It certainly sounds like Kevin Costner is very grounded in Christianity, and he went on to explain how much the Christmas season means to him. That’s part of the reason why he decided to get involved with this retelling of the story of the first Christmas.

In the eyes of Costner, with everything else going on during the holidays, it can be easy to forget the real reason for the season. The actor hopes he’s doing his part to lead others to Jesus, and the miraculous Christmas story that started it all:

“We’re bombarded with a lot of things about Christmas. There’s these kinds of things that assault us. A lot of things get a lot of red and a lot of green, and there’s a lot of lights… sometimes we forget about the story a little bit.

‘The First Christmas’ offers viewers an opportunity to to just stop and reflect. (We) tried to put it into the best perspective we could, and put it in, that we did as an offering. I think there’s always a place for that, where we slow down for a second.”

Kevin Costner Presents: The First Christmas premiered live on ABC on December 9. If you missed it, the special is now streaming on Hulu and Disney+.The post Kevin Costner Gives Rare Insight Into His Faith: “It’s Been So Much A Part Of My Life” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.