THOUGHTS ABOUT HISTORY CHANNEL'S "THE BIBLE"

"And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen." (John 21:25)

Last night was the Finale of the five part mini-series "The Bible" on The History Channel. (I understand that program will be repeated tonight at 8:00 Eastern on Lifetime.) "The Bible" was produced by Mark Burnett (famous for "Survivor" and several other shows) and his wife Rona Downey (who played Monica the Angel on "Touched By an Angel"). Each week's ratings were very good, and a couple of the episodes racked up what could be truly be considered blockbuster ratings. I saw all but about ninety minutes of the entire series. (Incidentally, it's being released on DVD and BlueRay tomorrow.)

My understanding is that the entire television series was filmed in Morocco on a pretty small budget. I was a little disappointed in some of the ways the producers portrayed the Bible stories, but overall I think they did a good job. My sister commented that she was very disappointed that there was nothing of the story of Joseph from the Old Testament. I am also disappointed they left that out entirely, but it had to very difficult to fit the entire Bible into just ten hours. Stories about Joseph of the Old Testament, Deborah, Gideon and others just did not make the cut. I got a chuckle out of the guy who played Abraham because I thought he looked like Ernest Borgnine! Many people who watched the part about Abraham going up to Mount Moriah to sacrifice Isaac were disappointed that Sarah followed them up there in the television show, because in reality that did not happen. I was surprised that Samson was played by a black man. In reality it is very unlikely that Samson was black. In all fairness, the guy who played Jesus (who did a good job, overall) was a bit too light-skinned and Gentile looking for me. The raising of Lazarus from the dead was nothing like it's described in the Bible. On the other hand, they did a good job with the Feeding of the 5000; and the crucifixion (very graphic) and resurrection scenes as well as the conversion of Saint Paul were very well done.

The series is meant to be an introduction to the Bible and not the last work on it. I am thrilled that so many people watched! Overall, I'd give the series a "B". On a positive note, it's one of the best things that's appeared on television in a long time!