Many of you have commented or asked about the new series on the History Channel, “The Bible.”
I would encourage you, if you are going to watch any of this program, to do so with an open bible. I think you will be surprised at the liberties taken by the producers – things we may even take for granted since we forget some details of bible stories if we don’t go back and check them.
Illustrations that help to bring to life what the bible says are not wrong in themselves. There is nothing wrong with trying to paint a picture of what things might have looked like. Nevertheless, programs like “The Bible” regularly either go too far in invention or simply contradict the bible.
We recorded the first episode on our TiVo, and we almost wore out the pause button as I would say, “ok, pause it. Is that what really happened?” or “Did the bible say that?” or “The bible actually says the opposite, doesn’t it?” For example, in order to make the separation of Abraham & Lot more dramatic, there was a wife to blame, separation was Lot’s decision, and “Abraham” was against it. Biblically, Abram was the one who told Lot to separate and it wasn’t all a woman’s fault! Then, in Sodom, the angels were portrayed as needing Lot’s help and begging him to let them in. The bible states that Lot was the one who begged the men to come to his house! Those angels didn’t need Lot to rescue them!
There were so many of these inconsistencies and corrections, that I wonder if shows like are worth watching at all. If they get us to open our bibles and check the facts, though, then I guess it is worth watching! Krista and I watched with the girls and an open bible, and I think that was time well spent…even if the first hour of the show took us 2 hours to get through with all that pausing and discussion!!!
