28 March 2013 by Adeline Lum CM –
Over 70 million viewers have watched ‘The Bible’ mini-series shown in the History channel, according to Breathcast, a Christian news portal.
Having premiered on March 2 on the History Channel, ‘The Bible’ is an epic five-week series, where the final episode will be aired on Easter Sunday, featuring the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The show starts at 7 pm and will run on Sundays for five weeks, where each episode would have two or three stories from the Scripture.
Emmy-winning producer Mark Burnett who is the director for reality TV shows such as ‘The Celebrity Apprentice’ and ‘Survivor’ together with his wife, former cast of ‘Touched by an Angel’ Roma Downey directed the show. In addition, Hans Zimmer known for composing the suspenseful scores of blockbuster films, the most recent one of ‘The Dark Knight Rises’, would also direct the background music of ‘The Bible.’
A movie led by prayer, Downey told Christian Post that they only found the cast for Jesus six weeks before the filming began and Portugese actor Diogo Morgado is called as a ‘beautiful person.’ Downey herself will be casting as the mother of Jesus.
Although it is shown in the History channel, Outreach mentioned in its website that ‘The Bible miniseries is not a documentary, it is a scripted, acted docu-drama filmed on location in Middle East and Morocco.’
And to ensure the accuracy of the film, hundreds Christian scholars and advisors as reported by Outreach have endorsed the film, including Rick Warren, pastor and author of the ‘Purpose-driven Life’; Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family and also Joel Osteen, senior pastor of Lakewood church in United States to name a few.
Nevertheless, just as any good films, there were also critics on the film. In Guardian, a columnist posted that ‘The Bible series is worse than reality TV’ saying that ‘characters are one-dimensionally good or evil, and the dialogue is so wooden Jesus could’ve carved a table out o fit.’ A bible scholar, Rev Wil Gafney, also gave her feedback about the methods of filming. In 9gag, a website known for its funny and sarcastic insinuation, made fun of Satan in ‘The Bible’ looking like Barack Obama.
The Bible series, though may not paint the Bible in a consensually accurate way, do ignite a new interest of reading the Word. Although we believe that the picture paint a thousand words, we cannot deny that in reading the Bible, the Words paint the real picture.
In my opinion, the negative remarks to ‘The Bible’ are minute for a Bible-reading person, given its evangelical potential. How many efforts can touch 70 million people around the world? A vivid picture of the Bible, I do commend the efforts made and realized by Mark Burnett and Roma Downey.
Watch a video clip of the Bible miniseries:
Note: This article was written based on a consolidation of information reported in the articles below. For further information, please refer to the articles below.
Reference for article:
http://breathecast.christianpost.com/
http://www.bibleseries.tv/the-bible-mini-series-on-the-history-channel/
http://theadvocate.com/features/faith/5296658-123/facets-of-faith-march-2
http://www.outreach.com/the-bible/about.aspx
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/mar/25/history-channel-the-bible-series-is-reality-tv
http://www.wilgafney.com/2013/03/11/black-samson-white-women-on-the-history-channel/
For more information on ‘The Bible’, please visit http://www.history.com/shows/the-bible
Reference for pictures:
http://www.bibleseries.tv/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/dvd_slider.jpg
I am Wil Gafney, the biblical scholar you misidentify as male in your piece. You may want to correct your piece.
Hello Rev Wil,
Thank you for reading our article and correcting it! We have made the correction and we hope that this website edifies you.
Blessings,
Adeline Lum
Thank you for the fast correction. Blessings to you.