Every year before Easter on the History Channel we are subjected to a wide variety of programming that focuses around “religious” topics. This year some of the offerings were: Jesus’ Arrest, The Devil’s Bible, a series on the Seven Deadly Sins, Banned from the Bible I and II, Bible Battles, God vs. Satan, The Quest for the Lost Ark, The Exodus Decoded, Crucifixion, and, my personal favorite—UFO’s of the Bible. I will admit to watching these shows; they hold a strange fascination for me. But often I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Does a program like UFO’s of the Bible show that people have an avid interest in all things religious and biblical? Or does it show that people have an easier time believing in alien abductions than in miracles or true experiences of God?
To be fair, some of the shows do present some interesting information and occasionally even accurate information. But I am not sure that I like the attempts, in so many programs, to ‘prove’ various parts of the Bible. One example of this is the Exodus Decoded which tries to show the physical basis for the plagues in Egypt. If you want to read an excellent review of this particular show go to a blog by Professor Christopher Heard at http://www.heardworld.com/higgaion/.
I would love to study the Seven Deadly Sins, the apocryphal books (which were “banned from the Bible), the Exodus, the details of Jesus last days, the miracles and God visitations in the Bible, etc. with folks. So if you are in my congregation, let’s chat. If you aren’t, then we might find a way to chat anyway!
On another topic: if you are looking for a good book try out Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt and Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana, both by Anne Rice. Yes, the same woman who wrote the Vampire books. She had a conversion and has written these incredible books about Jesus. The first takes place when Jesus is a young child of 6 or 7, the second when he is about to begin his ministry. They are fiction, but they use excellent historical research and take an orthodox view of Jesus as the Christ. They are also very well written; they do not present a boring and pious view of Jesus, but a portrait that is believable and deals with what it would be like to be “fully human” and “fully divine.” And, yes, I have both books if you want to borrow.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I to have noticed much religious programming on tv during the last couple of weeks. As much as I love to read books that have been suggested by my Pastors, or watch religious movies at bible study, I tend to be critical of religious television programming. While much of the information provided in religious programming is very interesting, I usually find myself scratching my head and wandering where it came from. I can read the same story in the bible and not get all of the trivial "facts" that the producer of the program came up with.
ReplyDeleteI am also interested in studying the Seven Deadly Sins, the apocryphal books, miracles and God visitations in the Bible. We have a lot of studying to do.
Cool Blog Pastor Martha. I am glad to have you at Spring Valley United Methodist Church