The Bible Miniseries Review: Part 2

Great Warriors.

Movies are the new vernacular in America. People quote lines from movies to each other; new releases are highly anticipated; people are more likely to have seen the movie than read the book. So I looked forward to seeing what Hollywood might do with the story of the Bible. They said they would be true to the spirit of the book…

It makes a pastor nervous to point people to a resource out of Hollywood that isn’t available for preview. Will it be inaccurate? Will it push false doctrine? Will it be contrary to Biblical morality? These episode reviews are meant to give a brief pastoral perspective on those topics.

The goal of Bread for Beggars using this miniseries is to push people back into their Bibles to read these accounts after seeing them artistically portrayed. Hopefully, the visuals will help provoke thought and lead us to Scripture that our understanding might be deepened. Don’t forget to use the reading guide provided at the Faith Lutheran website, as a resource for your devotional reading.

The second episode of The Bible Miniseries featured the great warriors of Israel’s history: Joshua, Samson, Saul and David. As expected, the series delivered many action scenes and dramatic renderings of some the Bible’s great battles. It was an entertaining episode.

Was it accurate? Yes and no. One could point out plenty of little inaccuracies. For example, when you see Joshua praying before the Ark of the Covenant, you might get the impression that it sat out like a water cooler under a canopy at soccer camp—not entirely accurate. But that isn’t entirely the point of the series either.

There were a number of times they took events out of order or pulled multiple events into one scene. They summarized often. Does that make it inaccurate? I felt it was more like the hit medical show in the 1990s, ER. During an interview, a cast member was asked if the medical practices on the show were all accurate. The star replied, “Yes, but sometimes we show medications working instantly, where in reality they would take thirty minutes to cause that effect.”

Is this for children? The rating is TV14. Take that seriously. The violence is usually off scene, but there are significant amounts of it—mostly true to the biblical account, and often understating the violence. While the Bible recounts acts of violence, seeing them portrayed might be traumatic for children. Some words offend the ear, as when Rahab is called “whore” in this episode. The word jars modern ears, but it’s a fair description of what she was, and that term is used by default in the English Standard Version of the Bible.

Joshua and Jericho

The miniseries took liberties with the dialogue, but I really appreciated how they showed the fear in the hearts of the people before the advancing Israelites. Seeing Exodus 23:28 portrayed that way deepened my understanding of how God kept his promise. I also liked that they didn’t lesson the miraculous nature of God’s victory over Jericho.

Samson

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Saul and David

My favorite section of the episode depicted the reign of Saul and rise of David. While the show made many large battles seem small, what they really captured well was the charisma of David and the paranoia of Saul. To see that dynastic struggle play out on the screen made me ready to pull out 1 Samuel and read that whole section again.

Another great aspect of the episode was how they introduced Uriah and Bathsheba early. Chronicles tells us that Uriah was one of David’s Mighty Men, so we know that he was a hero of war, and a confidant and companion of David. They brought out that David did it to a friend.

Conclusion

I found the episode very entertaining. If I would fault the series, it would be in what it doesn’t say. While it depicts the events of the Bible, missing is the reason for the event—that they all play a part in God’s plan to save the world. The most poignant Gospel reference came from Nathan when he said, “Even though you are weak, God loves you, David.” I still like it better the way the Bible says it, “The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.”

That is precisely why we recommend that you take some time this week to see the reasons behind these great events, by using the devotional reading guide.

I pray that this movie drives you to Scripture that the Spirit might deepen your faith.

For a printable version of this review click here.

What did you think of The Bible Miniseries: Part Two? Join the The Bible–Bread for Beggars Discussion Group to share your thoughts and questions.

Download this week’s reading guide: Reading Guide Week 2–March 10.

Be sure to check out more The Bible Miniseries: Resources.