Sunday, March 03, 2013

The Gospel According to the History Channel

So tonight the History Channel airs the first part of its mini-series, "The Bible."

*sigh*

I just hate seeing the Bible put on screen.  It's almost never done well; small budgets, dramatic compromises, and theological compromises are rampant.  Miracles are explained away, scripture is misunderstood, and Hollywood directors try to spice things up.  Specifically, I'm skeptical that these producers (of "Survivor" reality-show fame) will be able to tell the story without exaggerating the drama to super-Biblical proportions.  They manipulate reality for dramatic effect every day – how will they be able to convey scripture without embellishment?

But I'll watch, because I know other people will.  If it's great, it'll be a blessing to have a visual reference point for people new in their faith.  If it's cheesy, misguided, and inaccurate… well, I need to be up to speed on that too because people will have questions.  It will be valuable in coming years to be able to recognize when someone is drawing a conclusion from something they saw on television versus something they may have actually read in the Bible.

It'll also be worthwhile to watch this with my older boys and have them help me fact-check the episodes.

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