A major cinema chain in the UK has rejected a short film showing how the Bible gave hope to soldiers during World War One.
The film was made by Bible Society to coincide with the centenary of the World War One Armistice to demonstrate how the Bible continues to give hope a hundred years on.
The film, called 'Wipe Every Tear', is less than three minutes long and opens with black and white footage of soldiers in the trenches.
It then shifts to people in various professions reciting God's promise of a new Heaven and a new Earth in Revelation 21, a popular passage for Remembrance services.
Bible Society had wanted to run the film across 125 screens at Empire Cinemas but the chain turned the film down on the grounds of its religious content.
Cinema advertising company Pearl & Dean said in an email to Bible Society that Empire Cinemas had the right to refuse religious or political adverts.
'The reason for this is in the contracts with our exhibitors, they get veto over any sort of religious or political ad. I am sorry to deliver this news, but unfortunately they do get final say,' said Pearl & Dean's email, according to The Guardian.
Paul Woolley of the Bible Society said he was 'saddened by the decision not to show the film.
'The Bible is not a "religious" document, just for Christians or just for "religious" life; it's a book for everyone,' he said.
'It's an historical fact that the Bible was a core part of a British soldier's kit and that, to many, it was a source of hope.
'Of course Empire Cinemas is free to decide what they want to show or not. But we are saddened their customers won't get a chance to reflect on the role of the Bible, past and present.'
