Discussing
The character missing from History’s Bible

I don't own a TV so am unable to watch this show, but I've really been enjoying all the different reactions to it. Yours is no different, and I think the concerns you raise are important ones.

As I think about this, it strikes me that the relationship between the Biblical characters and God is much more intimate than the relationship between (say) Moses and Joshua. And it's one that involves us in an intimate way, too, because we know at least one person in the God relationship very well ourselves. Because of that, it's a particularly difficult one to tell. Think about how much harder it would be to write a story about a favorite uncle and share that story with your family, as opposed to sharing it with strangers who didn't know your uncle. Your grandma, kid sister, and other family members will all know your uncle and expect to see something of your uncle in that story, but the uncle they expect to see reflected won't actually be the same person. Throw into that mix the problem that lots of people have relationships of varying depths with God, much more so than with a human. It would be very hard to tell a story to the audience size you need for mass entertainment that got into that relationship and did it in a way I think we'd be satisfied with. Too many people expect too many different things of God, so having him as anything more than a voiceover, making him into a true, dynamic character that would resonate with everyone watching it, would be very hard to do and very upsetting if done badly.

(As a fanfic writer I have something of a relationship with the fictional characters I write. And I run into a similar problem when I look at how other fanfic authors just get "my" Faramir or Celeborn or Frodo wrong, or *gasp* how Peter Jackson completely mutilates the character. And obviously that's nothing compared to the relationship I have with God.)

That doesn't answer the problem you raise, which I think is a genuine one. But I think it also points to how utterly personal the kind of scenes you long for are, and how they have to play out at a personal level. Perhaps this is an area where we need to be writing the script for our own personal vision of those moments?

I've heard a lot about History's "The Bible"--including encouragements from excited Christian friends and coworkers to watch" "'Hollywood' is finally taking the Bible seriously! Right...?"

I've resisted watching, however, for the same reason I no longer want to watch the Harry Potter movies: I read the Harry Potter books before the movies came out. But now that I've seen the movies, I've gone back to the books and realized that my experience with them is not nearly so rich as it was. Events the movies left out now seem strange and disjointed when I see them in print. My formerly vivid imagination of the Hogwarts world has now been replaced with images of Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson. I honestly can't even remember how I pictured Dumbledore or Hagrid before Chris Columbus and David Yates (re)painted the picture for me. And my worry is that the same will happen with the Bible, if I let it.

Now, I'm not saying that watching this documentary is bad, or that I'm more of a purist than you for not watching, or any of that nonsense. What I am saying, though, is that we need to be careful who we allow to interpret scripture for us. The Italians have a saying: "the translator is a traitor." It sounds a lot cooler in Italian (case in point?), but the principle still holds in English: you always rob a text of something when you translate it--whether that translation is from ancient Hebrew to modern English or from the printed page to the silver screen.

Leaving God out seems like a rather glaring (intentional) omission--one that the real Bible refuses to make. So maybe this is just one of those cases where not all publicity is good publicity. Or maybe it's just another case where we resign ourselves to the reality that the movie is never as good as the Book.

Respectfully, I am inspired to respond to your article.
Your frozen TV dinner may be a starving man's feast.

I would remind you not to be spoiled with your good fortune, and appreciate that many are starving for the word of God.

I see this series is an invitation to sit at the table with God, and to feed the soul, and inspire a desire for more.

Somehow, you missed these points, and instead complain that the food is not good enough for your already fattened heart. Is this how you live?

Ron,
You really summed up some of my thinking well. I am really enjoying the retelling, but something seems to be missing and I have my trusty marked up version of the real Bible close by while I am watching.
My heart really wants this to impact our culture with the power of God as demonstrated in the bible; instead it keeps feeling like another Hollywood production.

I really don't get why anyone even makes any art that will appeal to christians today. Nothing will ever be good enough. Come on-this was made basically out of kindness. There was no reason it was made except for good will from a man and his wife who wanted to give back and spread the gospel. Nothing will be exactly right. We will all see how we would have done this instead of that-included this story and cut out another. How about we just use restaint and be glad this story is being told and they are doing a good job of keeping it as it was written. People don't like "Fireproof" cause the acting is bad and it is cheesy and too simplistic. Then "Blue Like Jazz" hires good actors and tries to tell a real story-the author's actual testimony-and watered down already-but it is too real. They should have taken out the language and this part or that part. Nothing is good enough. I don't even know why anyone is trying-oh-maybe they are trying to reach the lost-lucky for them we will be here to attack them every time they try.

I think this discussion highlights how complex it can be to create art, especially when working off some kind of external absolute, or truth. When I saw my first John Grisham movie I didn't care for it, because it differed from my experience reading "The Firm". And any Christian art, like any other human endeavor, is going to be flawed and incomplete. These are problems, but I believe they are problems worth having. A far greater problem would be to give up on the prospect of using the arts to communicate grace and truth. Struggle on!

I think the good side to this documentary is that it might spark an keen interest and curiosity for those that don't know Christ. I hope that that those that watch question the documentary and read the Bible for themselves and maybe they will see the missing character (God) through reading.