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Another Perspective
The Bible: Beyond the Pale
The History Channel’s inaccurate, relativist treatment of the Good Book.
Ever since medieval mystery plays, the Bible has offered a lucrative playground for show business. The Good Book’s engrossing stories and a guaranteed audience provide the ingredients of success for a profession wedded to ratings. Believers rightly approach these attempts with trepidation. After all, not a little Christian blood has been spilled over the correctness of artistic forays into the spiritual. Jews and Muslims, Abraham’s other children, even ban such projects altogether.
It is sensitivity to these issues that makes the brazen approach of the History Channel’s mini-series The Bible so lamentable. Rarely does a program manage to cheapen its subject matter so effectively without being intentionally satirical. Replete with summer blockbuster narrator and scenes, a strung-out one-dimensional narrative, and a promiscuous use of artistic license, the creators of The Bible have a lot for which they can be held accountable.
For starters, religious profiteering is crassly on display. Besides making possible the memorable phrase “The Bible, brought to you by Walmart,” the show is accompanied by multiple advertisements with a religious angle: from ChristianMingle.com (find God’s match for you) and the smartphone Bible App, to Joel Osteen’s latest book and even a plea spot from CatholicsComeHome.org. This combines with a pitch for local churches to purchase The Bible’s accompanying study kits and books, of course written and produced by the series’ creators.
One could just about ignore the marketing if it weren’t for a disturbing factor that renders the creation positively dangerous: a complete disregard for what is actually in the Bible.
This is a consequence of the show’s scope. Being in an almighty rush to get through its material, the first episode speeds past the Pentateuch in a breathless two hours. To accomplish this on budget, the producers obviously had to be selective regarding the text. To fit the disparate stories into some kind of narrative, they obtusely invented scenes and dialogue. Lot’s wife becomes a contrary nag who doesn’t like Abraham and wants to live in a city (Sodom will do), so she convinces Lot to leave against Abraham’s wishes. Later, when the Israelites are slaves, Pharaoh’s son has an inferiority complex and gets a scar from a tussle with the adolescent Moses, who didn’t know he was a Hebrew until the peevish youth blurts it out in anger.
These narrative sandwiches combine with an annoyingly needless alteration of details. Abraham, who should be Abram to begin with, actually encourages Lot to go his own way (c.f. Gen. 13:8); Abraham is the one told to name their child Isaac, not Sarah; the lamb eventually sacrificed in Isaac’s stead should be a ram caught by its horns (production couldn’t find one for the right price?); Moses should have a speech impediment and a wife from the Sinai, to name a few obvious changes. The result amounts to a streamlined mix of fact and fiction that manages to make the Bible seem like bad reality television, its characters worthy candidates for Big Brother or Survivor (all with British accents, to add the needed exoticism).
This precedent of telling half-truths and stringing along fairy-tale narrative chains is precisely what makes the television series so toxic: post-literate society can now glibly say of the Bible as it has increasingly of literature in general: “I didn’t read it, but I did watch it on TV.”
Sadly that seems to suit the purposes of producers Mark Burnett and actor Roma Downey of Touched by An Angel fame. In an interview on Context with Lorna Dueck, the couple gave their tell-all concerning this latest project.
Burnett sets the bar: “Many people hear different kinds of calls. If you’re a believer, it’s a call from God. If you’re a non-believer, it’s an instinctual call, you know, the question is who answers that and is willing to go forward and who’s willing to take the risks. Nobody likes to fail, but I’ve got news for you—if you’re not willing to fail, you won’t do anything. And that’s all I’ve done.”
Whether this radical sort of relativism stands up to reason, Burnett finishes the interview revealing why he felt free to liberally work over the Bible: “There’s a little difference there sometimes when there’s different ways to explain the Bible: one’s kind of like telling you—don’t do this, don’t do that and it’s kind of threatening. I don’t think it’s the most helpful way. The other is the more loving way of—here’s why it’s the most important story.…They’re realizing—we’ve humanized our story. It’s not told from a distancing, lecturing point of view with one-dimensional characters. These are real people who really lived this.”
Wife and co-executive producer Roma Downey backs Burnett up: “We’ve tried to make it gritty and real and authentic and all of our casting too, and the way that we’ve told the story so that you can find the place where you can relate to the character, which is very important that (as Mark says) we weren’t preaching, that it didn’t come across as something holy and distant, that you could appreciate the lives. This was a tough place that these people were living in.”
It’s not surprising that vacuous statements like this make for a vacuous production. As someone once put it, you can judge the tree by its fruit. The true misfortune will come when people mistake this production for the real thing, but that will suit the devil’s purposes well enough. Why go to the trouble of telling lies when half-truths work so much better? It breathes new meaning into the Greek word for “actor.”
Image courtesy Trounce.
About the Author
Jackson Adams is an editorial intern at The American Spectator, a former teacher, ski instructor, and political campaigner, and a graduate of Theology from the University of Oxford.
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Appleby| 3.8.13 @ 6:26AM
I watched the first installment and it was even worse than this rather confused essay would have you think. Did you know Sodom was destroyed by NINJAS? For no particular reason? And that Lot's daughters, who were children (the originals were not) escaped with their mother and father, instead of being tossed to the homosexual crowd outside Lot's house who wanted to have sex with his visitors (not knowing they were Ninjas)? And that was only one story.
Oh, and when Ishmael (ancestor of the Muslims) and his Mom were booted out of the camp because Sarai (not Sarah) didn't want any competition for her son, they were dismissed with a wave of the hand, "God promised Abram (not Abraham) they'd be okay" and never heard from again. The affair of the Golden Calf? Missing in Action. Even the escape across the Red Sea (it was the Reed Sea actually, a different place altogether) was lifted from Spielberg's cartoon version of the story of Moses -- probably more famaliar to their audience than the actual story, by this time.
This is trash, and the worst of all is the praise from people who think it isn't -- because this nonsense is what's being taught in their churches.
Appleby| 3.8.13 @ 6:27AM
There are many, many good stories in the Old Testament -- what we used to call "Cracking Good Yarns" -- and I was fortunate enough to learn them in Bible College, where a mandatory Old Testament course was taught in a Theatre in the Round by a professor who was a master story teller and actor who didn't cheapen the material but really made it clear that these were stories every bit as good as anything we'd see in the movies (and a lot more violent and explicit, in the middle Sixties, than most of what we could see in the movies) and they had a point. Oh, and by the way, they clearly show that what's going on in today's "Mideast" isn't much different from what's been going on for the past 8,000 years or so.
TLP| 3.8.13 @ 3:33PM
Contest at yesterday's Homecoming Dance.
C'mon Appleby.
I'm inviting you to The Contest.
We're Open all Weekend.
Join us.
It's Fun.
SALLYFARRAR| 3.14.13 @ 2:29PM
There are some very good Bible stories available on DVD (amazon.com) that subscribe far more closely to Scripture and are far more Biblically accurate than this new, watered down production.
I highly recommend THE BIBLE COLLECTION in which each story is given 90-120 minutes per title. (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dvd-bible-collection/10551574)
The cast is stellar...Martin Landeau, Ben Kingsley, Richard Harris, Alice Krige, Jonathan Pryce, Frank Langella, David Suchot, Barbara Hershey, Gary Oldman and many more.
My personal favorite, JOSEPH.
http://www.amazon.com/Joseph-B.....ds=joseph.
I do find the History Channel's production to be very well done without any "lame special effects" ;-) but my first bit of concern was the way Moses was inaccurately portrayed as a fist pumping, rather arrogant, cocky man when the Biblical description of him is as "the meekest, most humble man on the face of the earth" (Numbers 12).
In fact, my favorite reading of the story of Moses is how the wilderness years (forty, in fact) seasoned him, changed him, matured him, humbled him from an arrogant, spoiled prince of the palace into the meekest, most humble man on earth.
Wonderfully inspiring for any of us who are experiencing the wilderness and long, dark nights of the soul these days.
TLP| 3.8.13 @ 10:30AM
Don't ever forget whom, and WHAT the History Channel is.
It's Left Wing, from the get go. It all Global Warming, all the time. It's the Higg's Bosan, and the Haydron Collider. It's Charles Darwin and Natural Selection: Unless there's a Spotted Owl or a Snail Darter or - Gaia forbid - A Polar Bear living nearbye. Then Natural Selection goes out the Window, the same way that the SUN does when talking about the Temperature and Climate Changes that have been happening since Earth "accidentally" took shape.
It's a warm spot in their hearts for Glaciers, and a Blind Eye to the Millions of Metric Tons of Greenhouse Gasses and Debris that are throw up to the Atmosphere each year, by Volcanic Eruptions, because Eveyone knows that it's Barbecue Grills and Cow Farts that are slowing Cooking the Planet.
And, now it's The Bible Cliff Notes, as remembered by Lenny Bruce's agent.
You can't tell the Story of The Holy Bible with the Evelyn Wood approach of looking at every other word. And we should have Learned Something about "Creative Liscence" from Hugo Chavez Buttboy - Oliver Stones' - "JFK"
I loved all of the Old Bible Movies. Although, I could never square "The Duke" in The Robe". It always sounded like he was leaving out a word there, at the end.: "Truly, he was the Son of God" (Pilgrim).
With this one, I keep expecting the Plywood Sets to fall over while I'm watching it.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 3.8.13 @ 12:23PM
You misspelled "The Greatest Story Ever Told".
TLP| 3.8.13 @ 2:51PM
Contest at yesterday's Homecoming Dance.
TLP| 3.8.13 @ 3:35PM
I actually included The Greatest Story Ever Told, but I had to scrap it, due to space.
Kingofthenet| 3.8.13 @ 12:57PM
I personally like my History more accurate then those movies you listed, so I vote for 'Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure' and 'Back to the Future'
TLP| 3.8.13 @ 3:37PM
Apparently, IGNORANCE truly is Bliss.
At least where the Kingofthenuts is concerned.
Ralph Novy| 3.9.13 @ 10:39PM
Only someone to the right of Genghis Khan and Adolf Hitler would consider the History Channel "left wing."
Congratulations, TLP.
You're now right up there with the most idiotic, autocratic humans on the face of the earth.
Go back and finish elementary school, TLP, and then perhaps continue contributing here, eh?
C. Vernon Crisler | 3.8.13 @ 12:07PM
This is the same channel that gives us Bigfoot and UFO visitations. What can you expect?
(BTW, I don't agree that the Red Sea crossing took place at the so-called Reed Sea.)
Al Adab| 3.8.13 @ 12:58PM
C:
Likely crossing place was actually the strait of Hormuz (very shallow, narrow and with islands) which would then place the people in Midian now part of Saudi Arabia. Interestingly a notable mountain in the area is known to Arabs as Jebel al Lawz or mount of the law. I doubt however that the Saudis would like to admit the Hebrews were ever there.
Kingofthenet| 3.8.13 @ 1:56PM
How the hell did they get from Egypt to the strait of Hormuz? Your talking a distance of like 2,000 miles?
Al Adab| 3.8.13 @ 5:06PM
My mistake. Strait of Tiran on entrance to gulf of Aqaba, I misspoke. Thanks for catching it. Embarrasing.
IzeHavitt| 3.10.13 @ 12:31AM
You're right. There is actually a land bridge there.
C. Vernon Crisler | 3.8.13 @ 7:03PM
I believe the Red Sea in question was the Gulf of Suez, and the starting point was at Gebel Atika ending on the other side at Ayun Musa, a crossing of about 13 miles.
Depending on context, the Bible uses the term "Red Sea" (yam suf) to refer either to the western Red Sea (bordering Egypt, i.e., the Gulf of Suez), or to the eastern Red Sea (in the land of Edom, i.e., the Gulf of Aqaba).
In some cases, Hebrew "suf" refers to "reeds" but literal or root meanings cannot always provide reliable geographic indicators. For instance, in Numbers 33:10 the term "Red Sea" (yam suf) refers to eastern Red Sea, the Gulf of Aqaba. In addition, the New Testament writers ascribed the Israelite crossing to the western Red Sea (Acts 7:36, Hebrews 11:29, using "eruthra thalassa" (red sea) to translate the Hebrew yam suf). The authority of the New Testament seems decisive to me.
I think the reason translators want to trranslate "yam suf" as referring to the
northern marshes is simply because they are attempting to downplay the miraculous and provide a naturalistic explanation for the crossing. I don't think Christians have this option.
Gueppebarre| 3.10.13 @ 9:16PM
Lot's daughters did escape from Sodom with their father and mother - Gen 19:30. Best to get your facts right if you are going to be critical (rightly so, but error dilutes your criticism). Better get to Sunday School, Appleby...
Darin| 3.8.13 @ 6:51AM
The editorial license taken is somewhat to be expected, but the blatantly wrong parts mock God's Word. In addition to what's already mentioned, Sarah should have been Sarai (God later changed her name to Sarah). I was also surprised to see no mention of Joseph.
Sadly, Christians are so hungry for anything they are accepting and even praising this work. I watched last Sunday, but I doubt I'll watch more.
Stephie| 3.8.13 @ 7:19AM
We didn't care for it either. Won't return for any further episodes, will instead just read the Bible ~
This is what the churches think they need to get new and younger people into their congregations. We now have a "contemporary" service in our PCUSA church. It's so offensive to me but seems to attract the younger families which was the intent. If we don't, the church will cease to exist.
How sad.
TLP| 3.8.13 @ 11:23AM
How come when I look at this kid's Picture. I keep expecting his Head to Spin all the way around.
Kingofthenet| 3.8.13 @ 1:12PM
Well Stephie, can you blame them? Seems God has been MIA for the last couple thousand years, very peculiar isn't it? Considering how 'active' it was before that, Supernatural events were apparently a dime a dozen in ancient times, then NOTHING, not a peep, almost seems the WHOLE thing is just one big Fantasy Story, Nah couldn't be that...
IzeHavitt| 3.10.13 @ 12:47AM
You've noticed that, too, eh?? Well, it's perhaps He's had a good reason.Think about it: He went to incredible lengths to give His only begotten Son to die for us, then has to resurrect Him from the dead, and ascend Him to heaven. Then after the 1st Century Church, they allow Christianity to become mingled with Greco- Roman mythology and make of none effect the revelation of both the Old Testament and the mystery.Salvation by grace gets replaced by salvation by works. The ministry of reconciliation gets replaced with the persecution of the Jews. So what has taken place since then is NOT the real deal, sincerity not withstanding. And what basically followed was one war after another. With all that as a record, I guess if I'm God, I might get tired of dealing with these people, too, and decide to let them continue to bumble their way through their lives without Me, since for most, it's merely lip service anyway.
Kingofthenet| 3.10.13 @ 1:09PM
Well the Invisible and the Non-Existent look VERY much alike.
Doctor_X| 3.8.13 @ 7:41AM
I'd like to quote Revelation 22:18-19 I would apply it to the Bible as a whole, not just to Revelation
I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book,and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
Ryan| 3.8.13 @ 8:51AM
I believe the canon is "closed," but what allows it to be ascribed to the Bible as a whole, and not John's particular prophecy?
Al Adab| 3.8.13 @ 1:05PM
Paul in both Gal. 1:8 and 2Cor 11:4 warns against any other gospel but the one he preaches "even if an angel from heaven" were to give it. Frankly that warns believers to beware of false teaching from any and can actually call into doubt the revelations of both Mohammad (BPOH) and Joseph Smith to say nothing of lesser sects.
TLP| 3.8.13 @ 3:39PM
You left out Black Jesus.
Contest at yesterday's Homecoming Dance.
Gueppebarre| 3.10.13 @ 9:22PM
Sorry, Doc, but the book of Revelation applies it to itself, so your application means nothing.
I do not believe the words of the Bible should be trifled with, but I refrain from using Rev 22:18-19 to support my thinking.
Arnie| 3.8.13 @ 8:00AM
Christianity:
The belief that some cosmic Jewish zombie can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him that you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree.
Makes perfect sense.
Ryan| 3.8.13 @ 8:40AM
Try this:
The belief that an all-powerful, perfect Creator, Whose very without Whom nothing would exist, Who defines "Good" by His being and actions,
Who cannot tolerate imperfection and sin, as it is an affront to His goodness and places something else above Himself, gave His own life so that His creation can be made perfect again - instead of destroying it and starting afresh.
Arnie| 3.8.13 @ 8:52AM
Oh yes, how convenient. The god relieved us of our debts of sin (to him), by making his own son die, which was himself anyway. And now, all those Christians can be bad, but as long as they repent and accept Jesus, they go to heaven.
What a wonderful "get out of jail free card".
Makes perfect sense.
By the way, are disputing what I wrote in my previous comment? I mean, that is in the Bible, is it not?
Do you believe in unicorns, leviathans, dragons, and multi-headed beasts too?
Or do you just choose to believe the parts of the Bible that YOU WANT to believe?
Ryan| 3.8.13 @ 9:02AM
Not a "get out of jail free." You underestimate the idea of how we are changed - salvation does not free us to sin, but allows us to fight the sinful nature inside of us, to desire instead to please God.
Your previous comment was hyperbolic, incomplete, mis-interpretive (sorry, no better word, I think there) and nit-picking as bad as you are claiming Christians do - if not worse.
"unicorns, leviathans, dragons, and multi-headed beasts" - Items that Biblical detractors tend to grab onto old misinterpretations.
Arnie| 3.8.13 @ 9:13AM
Oh really! So you mean there are somethings lost in translation? Do you mean that what you read is not the true word of God, because no one has the originally copy?
And if those are incorrect, how do you know everything else is?
Sorry, but you can not pick and choose what to believe or not. If you say the Bible is the word of God and true, then believe it.
But if you admit that some of it is false, incorrect or incomplete, then it might occur you that some other things are false too.
And you might want to wonder why all of the Christian holiday just seem to fall around the same time of Pagan seasonal holidays. The early church had to sell Christianity to Pagans and therefore kept their traditions, but just put Christian "clothing" on them so to say.
Plus, they early Christians told fantastical stories about reviving the dead and performing miracles.
Do you believe in the resurrection of the dead?
Ryan| 3.8.13 @ 9:21AM
I didn't say "lost in translation." I said "misinterpreted." There's quite a difference. Historically, little, if anything, was lost in translation - too many old copies are floating around that were too near the time of the original manuscripts.
Many well-meaning Christians believe that the Bible is true and inerrant, and believe in remarkably opposite meanings of the same verses.
I believe Christ was resurrected from the dead, and that His conquering death will result in those who believe in Him one day being resurrected. It's miraculous and outside of any scientific norm.
I don't disagree that many Christian holidays are - as we put it - "redeemed" pagan holidays - but keep in mind that Jewish holidays are in a similar state and time periods as well, and their holidays were quite numerous as well.
Arnie| 3.8.13 @ 9:56AM
"Many well-meaning Christians believe that the Bible is true and inerrant, and believe in remarkably opposite meanings of the same verses."
Which is to say that people believe what they want to believe, and they are not believing in the Truth.
And how does one misinterpret this:
"And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died."
In Isaiah 34:7 it is written, "And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls, and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness."
Malachi 1:3 states: "And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness."
Of course, really good writing comes with excellent descriptions. But what can we expect from fireside tales of an ancient people that were uneducated, and had vitually no knowledge of the scientific, or distant world.
But we do know that there are no kangaroos, wombats, or koalas in the Bible. I wonder why that is? Why did God forget to mention those fantastic creatures?
Ryan| 3.8.13 @ 10:40AM
The fiery serpents were a miraculous occurrence. No scientific explanation there.
Isaiah 34:7 is easy if you google the issue.
http://www.apologeticspress.or.....rticle=195
Actually quotes Isaac Asimov - "The Hebrew word represented in the King James Version by “unicorn” is re’em, which undoubtedly refers to the wild ox (urus or aurochs) ancestral to the domesticated cattle of today."
"Tannin/Tannim" is a little more vague, but the principle appears the same - "dragon" is a big animal....not necessarily the fire-breather you're trying to make it out to be.
Maybe there are no Australian animals in the Bible because most of the Bible takes place in the Middle East?
Ryan| 3.8.13 @ 10:44AM
And your description of the OT as "fireside tales of an ancient people that were uneducated" shows an ignorance of how the Hebrew oral tradition worked, which wasn't just repeating stories - they were memorized in a very specific way, with little - if any - parts lost. The way it was done was akin to making an exact copy of a book. There was general academic surprise, for instance, at how little differences there were when the Dead Sea Scrolls were found and the oldest copies which were on hand (which were done several hundred years later).
Your complaints make a certain amount of sense, but I don't believe you have really researched what you are talking about. Most similar complaints about the Bible actually have a LOT of reasonable answers.
Arnie| 3.8.13 @ 11:30AM
"Most similar complaints about the Bible actually have a LOT of reasonable answers."
Yes, but your miracles do not. Essentially, you believe in magic, and magical creatures.
I mean really, how come no miracles have happened recently. Why doesn't God just have dragon fly over Cleveland today? Get my point.
Ryan| 3.8.13 @ 11:35AM
Miracles, by definition, are supernatural in origin. They were intended for a specific purpose at a specific place and time - to prove Christ's claims and aid in spreading the apostles' messages. That time ended essentially with the passing of the apostles.
If a dragon flew over Cleveland, you would still find some sort of "reasonable" explanation for it. Christ's miracles were still ignored by a lot of people in His day as well.
Arnie| 3.8.13 @ 11:55AM
Oh jeez, you guys have a cop out for everything, don't you.
Ryan, so you are admitting that you think some magic happened about 2000 years ago (or earlier) but hasn't happened since. And God only chose to show a very small number of people, many of whom can't get the same story straight, in only a small part of the Middle East. But he never attempted to show all the other people from around the globe, because.....that makes no sense. That would have saved him/us a lot of time and trouble, no?
And then, his message had to be spread by lies about reviving the dead and healing the sick with magic, and also spread through war and intimidation, and the threat of death, torture etc..
And here we are today. And we have the Mormons, which is an obvious racket, and founded by a dubious American with a dubious story with a hat and stones.
What makes you think the original Christian stories don't have a similiar origin like the Mormons?
It's funny, the bible talks of the sky going dark, essentially some type of eclipse when Jesus was supposed killed. But there Romans at the time that tracked these events throughout the empire. But yet, they fail to mention that one.
Al Adab| 3.8.13 @ 1:07PM
Good effort Ryan but shake the dust off your feet. Arnie is a committed believing Leftist. His faith in power and the perfectability of men blinds him to the Truth
Ryan| 3.8.13 @ 1:33PM
Eh, maybe I can at least open his eyes to some of the complaints he bears.
Ryan| 3.8.13 @ 1:36PM
Not so much a cop-out; it's generally considered a scriptural position that the miracles of the time were for that specific time and place. "Signs" as it were, of Jesus proving He is Who He said He is (the lame walk, the blind see, etc, as foretold by OT prophets).
He left His apostles and those who would come after to bring the message to the globe - we were specifically charged with that at the end of Matthew. Obviously there were plenty of people who got it really wrong - but wrong method does not mean the message is wrong - that we sinned and God gave of Himself to rescue us from it, because we could not meet His perfection on our own.
gene| 3.8.13 @ 3:15PM
For those who believe, no explanation is necessary. For those who disbelieve, no explanation is possible.
TLP| 3.8.13 @ 3:41PM
Stop arguing with him, and just PITY him, like the rest of us do.
BackToBasics| 3.9.13 @ 9:07PM
Arnie, Ryan,
This video has descriptions about the fiery serpents among other things:
http://www.wnd.com/2013/03/chu.....in-sermon/
Job| 3.8.13 @ 12:23PM
From a cubicle somewhere in the Libverse:
Hi, Arnie. What's happening? Uh…we have sort of a problem here. Yeah. We need to talk about your Zombie statement.
Yeaaaah. Did you get that Dinosaurs are the big prehistoric lizards memo???
Mmmm...yeah. You see, It's just that we've discovered a dragon is a flying lizard and "science" advocates snakes evolved from something that has limbs. Did you see the memo about this you can google Draco lizard and verify that there are flying lizards?
So if you could go ahead and try to remember that from now on, that'd be great cos our propaganda spinning has to be consistant. All right!
Arnie| 3.8.13 @ 12:31PM
HA!
So you believe the ancient people of the Middle East saw a dinosaur?!??! ROFL...LOLOLOLOL
Did they have some them like pets, like the Flintstones?
Well, at least you admit dinosaurs existed, but you might want to look up when. Hint: millions of years before man was around.
I've actually been told by some hard core Christians that all the archaeological evidence of dinosaurs was planted by the devil to deceive us. I'm not kidding. The folk you guys actually run around with are not exactly the sharpest knives in the drawer....
Job| 3.8.13 @ 1:36PM
hmm life has a weirdness about it sometimes, i'm usually only funny twice a day but i'm glad i made you roll on the floor and i can almost immagine you cackling, right on.
On another hand I am a crackpot and believe that there was a dragon in Eden and if you wanna call it a dinosaur that's your business.
I'm very comfortable with this Zombie mythology too mind you but i gotta bone to pick with you. I think I'm going off the deep end a little more now because i'm leaning toward believing in perpetual motion too because your mouth is running non stop and the law of conservation of matter and energy states that it should eventually stop but life has a wierdness about it.
TLP| 3.8.13 @ 2:52PM
Contest at yesterday's Homecoming Dance.
gene| 3.8.13 @ 3:20PM
Trying reading about the behemoth in the Bible. The nonbelievers and the super-liberals translate this to be an Elephant or a Hippo.
With a TAIL like a CEDAR tree?
I think not. There are even cave paintings of the Brontosaurus. To disaregard all the evidence is UNscientific. Yes that's right. You are engaging in ideology not facts.
Ryan| 3.8.13 @ 3:25PM
Ummmm...no such thing as a Brontosaurus....
gene| 3.8.13 @ 4:47PM
Now I have to take typing lessons to make a point? Talk about the forest and the trees! 0:-D
TLP| 3.8.13 @ 3:42PM
Contest at yesterday's Homecoming Dance.
Butch| 3.8.13 @ 2:17PM
Arnie, what you have written are the same old tired sound bytes we've all heard a thousand times before. Musta been five "talking snake" letters to the editor in the paper this morning. Tell Media Matters to get you some fresh sound bytes; those old ones are started smelling several years ago.
Brubaker| 3.8.13 @ 11:56AM
Arnie, you have serious issues. Did some priest get a bit too friendly with your nether region when you were younger?
Arnie| 3.8.13 @ 12:11PM
Ha! That was actually funny Brubaker.
But no, I avoided the church like the plague. Only young beautiful girls attempted that successfully.
But you do bring up a good point. The suppression of sex within religious circles usually causes these perversions to come out in the most heinous ways against the most innocent of people.
Yes, criminal acts of sexual deviance towards children are another reason why religion should not be taken seriously, nor should we trust, at least male, religious leaders. Like that freak from Colorado Springs, or about half the Catholic church.
C. Vernon Crisler | 3.8.13 @ 12:13PM
You speak of "criminal acts of sexual deviance towards children." I'm curious as to what moral code you are using to condemn such acts.
Arnie| 3.8.13 @ 12:23PM
Common sense.
Did you have to actually be taught that that was bad?
Yikes.
Ryan| 3.8.13 @ 1:29PM
Who defines "common sense?"
Job| 3.8.13 @ 12:28PM
You're right Arn Gay predators of the Cloth and other occupations is a big problem.
Arnie| 3.8.13 @ 12:33PM
Yes, it is actually. Millions of children have suffered in the past, and millions more today suffer because of religion.
And not to mention all the religious BS they have to learn just to get brainwashed.
Job| 3.8.13 @ 1:25PM
Don't you mean, all that BS the Gay predator has to learn to pretend to be a Priest just to get near little boys.
TLP| 3.8.13 @ 2:53PM
Contest at yesterday's Homecoming Dance.
gene| 3.8.13 @ 3:27PM
Obviously Arnie has never been at Protestant service where there is a sermon on the wife's body belonging to her husband and the husband's body belonging to the wife, etc. etc as the verse goes.
Yes, a rip roaring sermon on SEX, which is
A-Okay and Hunky Dory with all listening to the sermon as long as it is "Marital Relations" and not fornication outside of marrage. Healthy, acceptable, "the marrage bed is UNDEFILED", and all the people in the Church fine with it.
Yes, this man really needs to hear a GREAT Christian homily on SEX in marrage. Maybe then he would not be suffering from "Foot in Mouth" disease and saying religion suppresses sex. It just ain't true.
Has he said anything in this chain that is factual?
TLP| 3.8.13 @ 3:43PM
Contest at yesterday's Homecoming Dance.
Kingofthenet| 3.8.13 @ 1:19PM
Arnie, i am kinda leaning towards Zombie myself, at first I thought the 'Reanimated' Jesus could have been a ghost or some other sort of Specter, but the whole Doubting Thomas thing has me convinced, it could ONLY be the unholy festering corpse of the recently dead. Too bad the Disciples didn't know you HAVE TO DESTROY the HEAD to kill them.
Teflon93 | 3.14.13 @ 3:13PM
Atheism: the belief that because you don't understand something, it must not exist. Cf. solipsism.
SilkyWiley| 3.15.13 @ 2:18PM
Clueless. Fighting with your strawman fundamentalists must get you off. Have a discussion with Hindu rishis. If you want to understand the new testament, read Paramhansa Yogananda's masterpiece. The Second Coming of Christ.
Northern Rebel| 3.8.13 @ 8:09AM
I suppose that the Burnett's defense would be, that they are hoping to attract the young minds of children whose parents are like Arnie, and have never been exposed to the Good Book.
It's probably a frighteningly large percentage, in secular America.
Arnie| 3.8.13 @ 8:37AM
Actually my parents took me to church. But by the age of 6, I realized the book was full of fairy tales and imaginary creatures.
Funny how that doesn't dawn on some people.
The Only Good Democrat| 3.8.13 @ 10:19AM
We see what you put your faith in. Unsustainable spending, African American incompetents, Hispanic incompetents, white incompetents, permanent racial grievance, fakeIndians, gigantic corrupt government, "broken window" schemes, Chevy Volts, wind farms, high speed rail, ludicrous green energy schemes, decaying bankrupt cities, various thugs and crooks, anal "sex", broken families, voter fraud. If I wanted to be terse I would have just said the progressive movement. Oh yeah, you are a man of reason.
Arnie| 3.8.13 @ 10:31AM
Funny, you Christians, or God, didn't heal the sick and poor.
It was science (which you guys have opposed for centuries) and progressive policies that made modern medicine possible, and accessible.
It's funny. Europe has way more atheists than the States, yet they take care of their sick, poor, and homeless way better than you American Christians.
That must make you feel like *sshole.
Ryan| 3.8.13 @ 10:47AM
Yep, all those atheist hospitals, agnostic adoption agencies, etc....
And it was actually the Church which encouraged scientific thought through most of history, particularly after the Renaissance. Most of the "church as opposing science" issue is just bad history.
Arnie| 3.8.13 @ 11:36AM
Ryan, I always come across this when I talk to Christians. I understand your point. There were SOME christians and some churches that encouraged scientific research. But there were many also, that especially before the renaissance that absolutely despised it, and its conclusions. Because it challenged many of their basic notions of the universe and world, or it had a percieved threat to their authority. This is not in dispute.
Even today, christians are passing laws about abortion based on idealogy, and not science. Many are opposed to the idea of evolution being taught. This is what I am talking about, and this type of behavior has been going on since the time of the Romans.
Ryan| 3.8.13 @ 1:32PM
Actually, it was the Church's position from the papacy to support scientific research. The usual one that is brought up is Galileo, but he was condemned not for his conclusions, but because he was a backbiting jerk about the whole thing.
I would suggest that it's both science AND religion that show us that a child is alive from conception and deserving of the right to life; It's humanist philosophy that honors personal selfishness above all else which believes a child can be murdered in the womb.
gene| 3.8.13 @ 4:55PM
If someone supports your views than you must be a great supporter of Eugenics. People with genetic markers for Heart Disease, colon cancer, dwarfism, hemophelia, diabetes, on and on would be cared for, BUT NOT allowed to reproduce. Thereby eliminating most genetic diseases in one generation. Also close down many clinics, nursing homes, hospitals etc. Survival of the fittest. Be like Margaret Sangar who started Planned Parenthood, who believed in the FORCED sterilization of inferior races to include Africans and Jews. Yeah, subtract all the racial nonsense and stick with the genetics and medical problems. IF you believe in Evolution without any Creator, then you MUST support humans taking control of their Evolutionary Process. No room for compassion here. Just the facts.
Soooooooooooooooooo Are you a supporter of all this. If not WHY?
The Only Good Democrat| 3.8.13 @ 11:10AM
I listed a whole bunch of things that you have endorsed and you want to talk about more of your fantasies. Go figure. Europe is already dead. It is an unproductive welfare state that can't protect itself, doesn't reproduce and has invited a very unfriendly bunch of immigrants that do reproduce into its various unsustainable countries. That is not going to end pretty. All those atheist feminists in burkas will be somewhat amusing though. All these decades of raising total wimps doesn't give one hope that they will ever defend themselves. The old European atheists have murdered lots of folks, I will give them that. When they put their minds to mass murder their wasn't anybody better. Now they just murder babies, their own. Oh yeah, you are a man of reason.
Arnie| 3.8.13 @ 11:46AM
Well your list is complete B.S.
But let me tell you what you conservatives endorse:
Facism, racism, violence, war and all the spending that goes with that, support for authoritarian regimes as long as they are "America's" thug. No respect for privacy, you want the government in everyone's home and bedroom. Bigotry. Ultra nationalism, wealth inequality of a massive scale, blame the poor for everything, adore rich assholes, corrupt government, cronyism, suppression of the vote, theocracy, plutocracies, oligarchies, jack booted colonialism (of the darker people of the world). You guys want to tax the poor more, and tax the rich leass. War profiteering. Unadulterated capitalism, crony capitalism, ignorance, and rewriting of history to fit your contempory world view. And most of all, you don't care if your Republican leaders MAKE the government nonfunctional and inept.
Is that enough for you?
The Only Good Democrat| 3.8.13 @ 12:46PM
Fascism, as in socialism of the nationalist variety with a corporatist economic model, no that would be you. Racism, as in a permanent grievance culture and using race to achieve power, no that would be you. Support for authoritarian regimes, I hate to break it to you but it is Obama that stands with Egypt, Iran, and any other thug in the world as long as they hate America. No respect for privacy, you are even willing to tell me what kind of light bulb I must have, you think it is important to brain wash my children into the unhealthy idea that anal "sex" is a reasonable option, you want to provide abortions for my teenage children without my knowledge, you my friend are into every room of the house. Obama lives like the rich that you hate, he hobnobs with the rich you hate, he takes kickbacks from the rich you hate while throwing a jobless economy at the young and poor and you think you have accomplished something with your impotent words. The poor pay no taxes people like John Kerry, Al Gore, George Soros make tons of money on these bad times through schemes invented and pushed by fascists like yourself. If you take progressivism to its obvious endpoint it ends in Detroit where there are no Republicans causing the dysfunction, only big mouths like yourself. Oh yeah, you are a man of reason.
Job| 3.8.13 @ 2:34PM
Many aver that a UN Agenda is the best planet wide constitution that men can devise and many see it as foretold end time inefficient leviathan organization hampered by a very unrealistic politically correct complex code that will make murder and mayhem common.
Now you think the Republicans are worse than the Democrats but I suspect that is because the Republican base is further away from endorsing yielding US sovereignty to the UN body than the Democrat base is. Might I ask if you support Agenda 21?
Kingofthenet| 3.8.13 @ 2:49PM
Agenda 21 is some UN relic from the 90's, regarding 'Sustainable Communities', all it seeks to do is get the Human Concentration in an area to a certain point to make things like light rail and shared utilities economically viable.
Job| 3.8.13 @ 2:52PM
yes or no will do
Bill8472| 3.8.13 @ 4:19PM
Yeah, we don't support anti-American thugs. Well, we didn't do that before Obama, I guess I should say.
Tom Kyba| 3.8.13 @ 11:48AM
So you don't like the Bible. Fine. You choose to start by being sarcastic. From other posts it's obvious you have to start any debate by being snotty. Fine.
You knew they were fairy tales by AGE 6? Stroke stroke stroke yourself, gently down the stream. Are you sure you didn't intuit this before you were even born? Perhaps your pre-conciousness realized it while floating around in it's Jungean dream dimension before settling into an embryo.
I'll bet you're also one of those Soros lickers who's the greatest businessman in history, like the fairy-tale so many of your fellow brown-nosers try to pawn off here.
Pathetic.
Arnie| 3.8.13 @ 11:57AM
Yes, I am a snot Tom. I was keener and smarter than you apparently at the age of six. Sucks to be you.
Kingofthenet| 3.8.13 @ 12:47PM
You can STILL do ANY Good Christian Thing without a faith in a God, but the truly evil and deranged things like the Inquisition or Islamic Jihad are ALL things a secular person wouldn't dream of doing.
The Only Good Democrat| 3.8.13 @ 1:56PM
The secular murdered a hundred million people in the 20th century. They are really in a class all by themselves. When they achieve autonomy it always ends in death camps. Islam is in second place with their murders in the conquest of India but it took them a lot more years to murder tens of millions of people. In our own culture the murder of over 40 million babies is a sacrament of the secular culture.
Kingofthenet| 3.8.13 @ 2:05PM
Might as well said many killers wear shoes= if you wear shoes your close to being a murderer.Stalin and Mao, may have killed a lot of people, but to say that it was their 'lack of Religion' that made them do it is preposterous.
The Only Good Democrat| 3.8.13 @ 5:44PM
They bragged of being secular and governed by science. They murdered as if there was no God or consequences for their actions. They are the end point for the morally vacuous world you wish for.
Bill8472| 3.8.13 @ 4:18PM
No, a secular person wouldn't think of burning about 5,000 people over about 5 centuries for the sake of saving their souls.
A secular person would starve 60 million people to death for the sake of industrialization of a backward economy, and putting 30 million people in labor camps because they don't believe that there is such a thing as "the New Soviet Man" or "the Great Leap Forward." And all those tens of millions would be murdered between 1917 and 1990, a period of less than 75 years.
c. j. acworth| 3.8.13 @ 8:35AM
A few years ago people were asking me if I had seen "Passion of the Christ". I said "No, but I read the Book."
Ryan| 3.8.13 @ 8:41AM
Actually, it was decent. Protestants were claiming it too Catholic, and Catholics claiming it too Protestant - which means the balance was decent. It brought forth the reality of the Gospel - and what it cost Jesus - well.
Ryan| 3.8.13 @ 8:42AM
Food for thought - any Bible story that does not point to the overarching idea of the Gospel - man's sin, Christ's death and resurrection - is incomplete at best.
Ryan| 3.8.13 @ 8:42AM
Food for thought - any Bible story that does not point to the overarching idea of the Gospel - man's sin, Christ's death and resurrection - is incomplete at best.
Nancy in NC| 3.8.13 @ 8:44AM
The jury is still out for me. I watched and didn't think it was that bad. It's a movie, and until we get to the New Testament it's still uncertain as to the spin. Just the fact that none of the other channels would show it says something about our culture. It may be the only exposure some will have to the Bible.
Sure, it's not perfect...I never think the movie is as good as the book.
TLP| 3.8.13 @ 2:53PM
Contest at yesterday's Homecoming Dance.
LarryK| 3.8.13 @ 8:49AM
The omissions in the stories can be somewhat excused trying to tell the story of the "Old Testament" in 5 hour; however, the glaring errors are inexcusable. It is Abram/Sari not Abraham/Sarah. I'll not watch any subsequent episodes.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 3.8.13 @ 8:52AM
Of course, this is just the TV version of the Bible. Those who know Hollywood recognize that the small screen productions occupy a lower rung on the ladder of importance than the big screen. Having run out of original ideas some time ago, and having played out the string of comic books and old TV shows, expect the screenwriters to plumb the pages of the Good Book for fresh material.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 3.8.13 @ 8:53AM
Coming soon: Oliver Stone’s “ Genesis”.
Chapter One: The Garden
In the Stone version, it is not Satan who appears as the snake to tempt Eve to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge (after all, the Left greatly admires Lucifer, as Alinsky revealed). Instead, the reptile is the representative of the capitalists who wish to challenge the socialist utopia created by God and his wife, Gaia in the province of Eden. Having eaten the apple of advantage, Adam and Eve are tossed from their idyllic environment into a world of chaos and competition.
Adam emerges as the chief capitalist. Cain does not really slay Abel (he is, after all, really his brother’s keeper), Adam kills him to intimidate the uppity Eve in order to establish the patriarchy, and places the blames of Cain so that he alone will maintain control of all corporate assets. God, who is not as sharp as his all-knowing wife, falls for Adam’s deception, and casts Cain out, furthering Adam’s scheme.
Cain returns with a divinely inspired M203, and in a massive orgy of violence, reclaims the Garden, avenges his dead brother, and dethrones Adam, setting up the next chapter.
TLP| 3.8.13 @ 2:53PM
Contest at yesterday's Homecoming Dance.
Arnie| 3.8.13 @ 9:19AM
Here's a good joke for you guys:
What's the difference between a cult and a religion?
Answer: The size of the congregation.
Ryan| 3.8.13 @ 9:22AM
Technically true, actually. Christianity started out as what was considered a cult of Judaism. Usually we use "cult" to mean "WAAAY out of orthodox thought," and it's usually reserved for anyone claiming Christianity that denies what amounts to the Nicean Creed.
gene| 3.9.13 @ 7:54AM
If someone supports your views than you must be a great supporter of Eugenics. People with genetic markers for Heart Disease, colon cancer, dwarfism, hemophelia, diabetes, on and on would be cared for, BUT NOT allowed to reproduce. Thereby eliminating most genetic diseases in one generation. Also close down many clinics, nursing homes, hospitals etc. Survival of the fittest. Be like Margaret Sangar who started Planned Parenthood, who believed in the FORCED sterilization of inferior races to include Africans and Jews. Yeah, subtract all the racial nonsense and stick with the genetics and medical problems. IF you believe in Evolution without any Creator, then you MUST support humans taking control of their Evolutionary Process. No room for compassion here. Just the facts.
Soooooooooooooooooo Are you a supporter of all this. If not WHY?
John Barney| 3.8.13 @ 9:26AM
Mr. Adams is obviously only an intern with TAS, and, how clearly that comes through. His criticism is, to use one of his own words, vacuous.
Mr. Adams picks at the use of Abraham over Abram, but never offers any constructive criticism. Perhaps he could have been there for the Isaac shoot and brought along a ram.
Mr. Adams your little piece is at most just spindly.
Grzmlyk| 3.8.13 @ 10:14AM
So you counter his criticism with a cheap ad hominem attack? How does that establish the superiority of your critical prowess over his?
To the extent that all critics avoid the risks of creating art in the first place (it IS much easier to tear down what has been created than to create something in the first place, which tenet is holy writ in the liberal bible), their perspective should always be taken with a grain of salt as the highly-tendentious, unavoidably prejudiced tracts they are.
But that's not to say one doesn't have the right to voice one's opinion or that people shouldn't hear it; in fact, society relies upon these influencers for better and worse.
Clearly we live in a marketplace of ideas that values the critic. We tend to pick one whose sensibilities align with ours and then use his or her reviews as a guide to the decisions we make as to how we spend our time and money.
And what criticism would be "constructive" anyway? The thing has already been broadcast; it's not like they're going to change it based on what any critic has to say. Critics aren't morally bound to tell filmmakers (or authors) what they SHOULD have written or how they might improve the offering; it is their job to render their admittedly subjective opinions on the finished product.
Grzmlyk| 3.8.13 @ 10:15AM
And, as I say, I saw five minutes of this piece of dreck and didn't know whether to laugh or be appalled. I settled on appalled.
But that's par for the course for the ever-increasingly sophomoric History Channel.
Grzmlyk| 3.8.13 @ 9:54AM
I felt a moment of anticipation for this series. Then I caught about 5 minutes of it - the part where the Israelites are driven to the shores of the Red Sea and Moses parts it.
That was all I could take. Talk about schlock!
Bible movies/stories tend toward the cheesy anyway - even supposedly skilled depictions. But this stuff is unmitigated CRAP.
What a surprise. The History Channel bottom feeding? Say it ain't so!
Edward Cropper | 3.8.13 @ 10:07AM
The natural man cannot comprehend the things of the Spirit because they are Spirit taught.
Attacks on Christianity are as old as Christianity itself. To the Spiritual Minded they are meaningless, have no value what so ever and in no way lessens the truth of the Gospel. If the Lord Jesus is Who He said He was what chance does any Devil or mortal have fighting against GOD and His Word?
Christ conquered death, hell and the grave these inane attacks are laughable.
TLP| 3.8.13 @ 3:47PM
Contest at yesterday's Homecoming Dance.
Harry the Horrible| 3.8.13 @ 10:28AM
I am sure the series stinks on ice; I don't care - I have read the entire Bible a couple of times, and will, no doubt, read through again several more times.
On thing I can say, though - if they wanted to make series that makes "Game of Thrones" look like children's TV, they should make a miniseries out of the book of Judges.
Grzmlyk| 3.8.13 @ 11:01AM
I'm curious - why don't you care whether it stinks or not?
Do you mean you don't care because you're watching it regardless of its quality, or that you don't care because you're not watching it?
Job| 3.8.13 @ 1:49PM
if they wanted to make series that makes "Game of Thrones" look like children's TV, they should make a miniseries out of the book of Judges
truth meter hits ten
TLP| 3.8.13 @ 3:47PM
Contest at yesterday's Homecoming Dance.
Chazael| 3.8.13 @ 10:40AM
I can't disagree with the author's observations, although I will be watching the next episode.
However, as we watch with our children, we will aslo be pointing out the errors, the parts not in the Bible, as well as the parts left out of the program. Just as we did in the first episode.
It is a good opportunity for review of the Bible for them as well as a good lesson and good practice... to test everything by the scriptures.
TLP| 3.8.13 @ 3:48PM
Contest at yesterday's Homecoming Dance.
Mick Lee| 3.8.13 @ 11:10AM
For those who hold the conceit that they know better than others, there is the practice of “fundementis transgressi”. That roughly translates: “Up your nose with a rubber hose, Fundamentalists! I am going to show you how wrong you are about the Bible you think you know so much about while insulting you at the same time”.
Well, supposedly a good time to be had by all! The problem is many Christians of a decidedly non-fundamentalist bent will be appalled as well. One doesn’t have to believe in the completely literally meaning of each passage of Scripture to be dismayed. Most Christians of an “orthodox” favor have a “high view” of Scripture: that is they tend to be respectful of the historical/critical scholarship of the Bible while believing Scripture is inspired by God Himself—the Bible is human and divine at the same time. As such, whether before believers or non-believers, the Bible must be read and shown carefully and faithfully.
The tragedy is that neither Christians nor Jews have any control what others do with “our” Scriptures. Welcome to America—as they say. Such is a cost for living in a free society.
But as the sainted Buckley once said: that one is free to do “X” is one matter—however, whether it is honorable to do so is quite another.
obadiah| 3.9.13 @ 12:19PM
and then there's the sainted paul who wrote "All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient." my general impression is that the sainted paul didn't believe that words on a page were commands of god.
Joe D.| 3.8.13 @ 11:46AM
You are correct. The Devil much prefers half truths. They deceive so much better. I feel for this couple. When they face the real God it will not be fun. I did note a lot of the errors in this movie, just like Charles Hestons, Moses in the Ten Commendments.
Kingofthenet| 3.8.13 @ 12:23PM
IF you are going to 'suffer' at Gods hands, would it not be more humane to go straight to the Devil and save the additional suffering?
Citizen Jerry| 3.8.13 @ 12:04PM
And the vacuous production gave way to vacuous discussions on the Bible. More than once, Bill O'Really claimed many of the Old Testament stories were purely allegorical, because there's never been a whale (or a fish) capable of swallowing a man.
Ralph Novy| 3.9.13 @ 8:52PM
And the target of that would be ... ?
Kingofthenet| 3.8.13 @ 12:15PM
I think Bushmaster should have Jesus as their spokesman, I can see the commercial now:
You have Jesus walking down a tranquil lane with an Ar-15 slung casually over his shoulder, stopping here and their to heal the sick children, then he says, sometimes you need to reach out with LOVE, as he cures a cute little girls blindness, looking in the distance he spots a Roman Patrol, he methodically 'Racks Up' the Ar-15, sometime you need to reach even further...with the pain.
RonRonDoRon| 3.8.13 @ 1:26PM
"a pitch for local churches to purchase The Bible’s accompanying study kits and books, of course written and produced by the series’ creators"
Yes, I'm sure there was a terrible shortage of good Bible-study materials on the market before these folks stepped up.
Bill8472| 3.8.13 @ 4:12PM
I don't like the show particularly for several reasons (it's like the Reader's Digest of Bible movies, the people are filthy and hairy, especially their hair, they skip over some important stuff, etc.), but it's a hell of a lot better than the half-time show at the Super Bowl or Dancing With the Stars, with the crotch shots and the nasty songs.
Guimo| 3.8.13 @ 4:22PM
Arnie, celibacy has little to do with sexual perversions. Many married men have sexually abused their own children as well as others.
Bill8472| 3.8.13 @ 9:52PM
While remaining celibate?
Interesting concept...
darcy| 3.8.13 @ 6:23PM
This is just too silly. Are we really going to get our theology from The History Channel?
Bill8472| 3.8.13 @ 9:51PM
You get better Christian history and more detailed Old Testament history from the Jews like Sam Goldwyn, Louis B. Mayer, and Daryl Zanuck, who knew you could only expect to make money if you told a good story and told what people knew when the story was familiar to them.
Kingofthenet| 3.8.13 @ 9:55PM
I particularly liked "Fiddler on the Roof"
Biff| 3.10.13 @ 10:15AM
Before you ask that question, have you any idea how many people receive news/political "truth" from The Comedy Channel?
Doplar| 3.9.13 @ 11:36AM
I could not agree more with your every sentiment Mr. Adams. I tried watching this fiasco. Gave it about 30 mins hoping it would eventually pull me in. But it just kept pushing me away. I don't think that I or anyone else knows how the folks of that day really thought and experienced the world and God except of course for the Bible narrative we've been given.
If you can't reproduce it - and I don't think anyone can - then leave it and me alone with your lame attempts. Of course I don't have to watch it. So, I won't. :-)
obadiah| 3.9.13 @ 12:12PM
Looks like the juiciest parts of Joshua and Judges are up next. A wild climax stars the tribe of Benjamin when they rape the traveler's concubine and he cuts her body into pieces that are sent to the other tribes.
JONVIL| 3.9.13 @ 2:34PM
Appalling! Either none of those involved in this production have ever read the Bible or it is a deliberate distortion of God's word.
GIGO
Ralph Novy| 3.9.13 @ 8:33PM
"The Bible beyond the Pale?"
LOL
Quite to the contrary, "The Bible" was assembled WITHIN "The Pale." (Council of Nicea, Eusebius, 325, etc.)
What sort of nasty jest was that, Mr. Adams?
Never mind.
I detect that you have no idea of what I'm talking about -- and that you have no idea of what YOU were talking about.
Read, sir!
Think, sir!
THEN -- and ONLY then -- write.
Biff| 3.10.13 @ 10:11AM
If I didn't know better, I swear the director was Michael Moore...
Rich D| 3.11.13 @ 12:51AM
Ralph Novy| 3.9.13 @ 10:39PM
Only someone to the right of Genghis Khan and Adolf Hitler would consider the History Channel "left wing."
---
How does one get to the LEFT of Hitler?
Teflon93 | 3.14.13 @ 6:50PM
Rich..you forget that Hitler's claims to be a good socialist have been tossed down the memory hole.....
Teflon93 | 3.14.13 @ 6:50PM
Rich..you forget that Hitler's claims to be a good socialist have been tossed down the memory hole.....
Mnestheus| 3.11.13 @ 5:48AM
Awesome , TLP-- you are the greatest living example of what reading TAS can do for the intellectual life of the nation.
Murl| 3.11.13 @ 2:52PM
This author said what I was thinking. My wife couldn't understand why I was so physically disgusted with this attempt at televising the Bible. Too many half-truths and made up story lines to even comment on here. "The (Burnett) Bible" fails on all fronts.
klesb| 3.14.13 @ 1:47PM
Anyone who believes anything on the History Channel is actual history needs to rethink that belief!
I found, years ago, that if you were actually there, or have read first-person accounts, that what is presented is actually fiction - presented as historical fact. And, worse, fiction with a definite (and distorting) political slant.
avafromtexas| 3.14.13 @ 2:44PM
The History Channel is owned by Disney. I did some research after I heard my husband repeating the lie about the destruction of S&G being b/c of "inhospitality, not homsexuality" after watching "The Bible" on the History Channel.
"..... Walt Disney owns hundreds of TV, radio, magazine, cable, publishing, and internet outlets. Interestingly, Walt Disney also owns the History Channel. Did you know that the Walt Disney corporation is working relentlessly to promote acceptance of homosexuality? And they have billions of dollars and hundreds of media outlets to do it! "
http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Basics/sodom.htm
I've removed The History Channel from our TV guide on Dish.
Teflon93 | 3.14.13 @ 3:11PM
Ooh, Quin's not gonna like this...
USC1962| 3.14.13 @ 11:22PM
The Bible miniseries seems to me to be one sword fight after another, at least so far. The only biblical idea that stands out is God's promise to Abraham. So much richness is missing!
SilkyWiley| 3.15.13 @ 2:01PM
Bless their little pea-pickin' hearts, they did the best they could. Literalists probably see the monumental spiritual work in just this way. Actually this is almost as bad as the video that got Obama and the muslims in such an uproar. Christians being such a forgiving lot, they will let this massacre of the scriptures pass. Sad that so many will think this is what the bible says, but you know, this too shall pass and for those of the spiritual bent, they will read it and know the truth.
yankeewest| 3.15.13 @ 11:42PM
"The Bible".....Veggie Tales for adults.
betzinva| 3.17.13 @ 12:26AM
Ideally, there would be 5000 hours to attempt a decent docu-dramentary of the Bible. Given the way the comments on this site have played out, perhaps these producers managed to perform at a higher standard than the criticism implies. They have engendered a discussion of the Bible....something that can not seem to be done without the artifice of criticism, denigration and/or dismissal. You may not like the production values or the fast-forward nature of the story telling, but folks are noticing. That alone may turn out to be worth it's weight in gold....from dross.