It is the most influential book in the the Western World and the best selling book in all of human history. For thousands of years, people have killed for what is written on its pages. Wars have been fought and societies have risen and fallen because of its teachings. Even today, world leaders pay homage to it whether they believe it or not. Roughly a third of the world's population, more than 2 billion people, consider themselves adherents of this book. It is, of course, the Bible and it is the subject of a new History Channel mini-series.( http://www.history.com/shows/the-bible)
To say it is a monumental task to capture this book in a mini-series is like saying that Jaws was a fish and the moon is just a rock. The Bible is so full of stories, life-lessons, history and prophecy that it can't ever be fully captured by a television production, no matter how great the budget. When you add to this the fact that its stories are so well-known and its text is so revered, it would seem like a Mission Impossible assignment for any filmmaker to receive. To tighten the noose around the filmmakers' necks even more, we need to remember that in our politically correct world it is not prudent to talk too much about God or to ever get too religious...especially if you want to appeal to a broad audience, as is the case with television.
Well...now that the parameters have been set and we know what the creators of the mini-series are up against, how did they fare? As of this writing, only one episode of The Bible mini-series has aired. The story starts with Noah on the Ark recounting the creation story as it is told in Genesis and it progresses through the stories of Abraham and Moses. Episode one concludes with Joshua taking the city of Jericho. For a two hour show that is interrupted by commercials, the first installment in the series covers quite a bit of territory. Of course, it glosses over a lot. It also expects the viewer to be familiar with the material...for example, a rainbow is shown during the Flood sequence, but it is never explained to be God's promise not to bring another flood. As I watched this, I couldn't help but wonder if someone who didn't know the stories would have understood these touches.
The Bible mini-series also had other more theological subtleties that I'm not sure many viewers would get...like when Abraham was talking to God and the figure of God was Jesus, who we will see in a future episode. Theologically speaking, the series creators were of course saying that Jesus and God are one and the same and they have always been so, but will the average viewer catch that? I don't know.
At this point, I can't render a verdict on the entire series because I've only seen one episode. But I can say that I am duly impressed by the scope and quality of the production. I am also respectful of the task the filmmakers have before them and appreciative of their faithfulness to the spirit of the text. Lastly, I am thankful that they chose to take this on. Every generation should have a television or motion picture collection of Biblical epics to call their own. In my estimation, its an important guidepost for our society. Hopefully, its ratings will be good enough to make other Hollywood filmmakers sit up and take notice. To quote Cecil B. DeMille's most famous work, "So let it be written, so it shall be done."
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