Faith Is from God! - "The Bible" Miniseries - Episode 3

I continue to spend parts of Monday watching the latest episode of “The Bible” miniseries on the History Channel, recorded the night before. As I wrote last week, after watching the first two episodes my expectations by now are rather low, due, in part, to the dramatic dwelling on less import characters (e.g., Samson and Daniel) and the skipping of very important Biblical stories and character (e.g., Jacob, Joseph, Hannah, and King Solomon).

Given that the producers begin each episode with a disclaimer that this is a dramatic “adaptation” of the Biblical narrative, it seems futile to me to criticize the liberties they took in reshaping and inventing parts of the story. After all, each and every movie about the Bible, is an adaptation. One could even argue that the Bible in itself adapts Old Testament stories to make them fit the points that New Testament writers try to make.

Another widespread objection to the miniseries has been that it unclear who is the intended audience of the films. For newcomers to the faith, it would be difficult, indeed, to follow the script. Too many events are packed into the five episodes for anyone not very familiar with the Bible to understand the connections. Episode 3, for example, covered the following events:

· King Zedekiah
· King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the conquest of Jerusalem, and the killing of King Hezekiah
· Daniel in Babylon (3 men in the fiery furnace)
· The Jews in exile in Babylon
· King Cyrus defeats the Babylonians and sets the captives free (Daniel in the lion’s den)
· The Jews return to Jerusalem
· The Roman occupation of Palestine (some five centuries after the return from exile)
· The Jewish uprising in Galilee and crucifixion of the rebel fighters
· The angel Gabriel announcing the birth of Jesus to Mary
· The birth of Jesus
· King Herod, the wise men, and the slaughter of the infants in Bethlehem
· The flight of the Holy Family to Egypt
· John the Baptist and his murder by King Herod
· Jesus' Baptism by John
· Jesus tempted by Satan
· Jesus calls Peter as a disciple

All this in 2 hours, interrupted by a great number of commercials! How can anyone not already familiar with the Bible follow the storyline?

Again, many of the scenes were ripe with violence, so much in fact, that did not let my own daughter watch the films. Is it really necessary to show how King Nebuchadnezzar gouges out the eyes of King Zedekiah before dragging him off into captivity? What does this scene contribute to the storyline?

Given that I already addressed some of those issues previously, I want to move on. Today, I wish to talk about are some of the theological underpinnings of this project that I find questionable from a Lutheran theological perspective.

Each retelling of the Biblical story, whether in preaching, in writing, or in film, begins with a plot. Each retelling begins not with stringing together as many stories as one can, but with a conscious or unconscious principle by which the narrator of the story organizes his or her material.

For the makers of the “Bible” miniseries this organizing principle is “faith.” Hero after hero, the miniseries tells of peoples’ faith in God in the face of adversity. Abraham is willing to sacrifice his son, just because he has faith in God. Moses is willing to challenge Pharaoh and lead his people to freedom, because he has faith in God. Samson, Joshua, and Daniel are successful, because they have faith in God. All these heroes succeed in their mission, in result of their publicly professed faith (even Samson who sacrifices himself for the sake of his people succeeds in his mission). On the other hand, all those individuals who do not have faith (Lot’s wife, King Zedekiah, King Nebuchadnezzar) end up either dead, prisoners of war, or insane. In short – faith in God, if it is professed publicly, leads to success in life. There it is! Period.

One really good scene that illustrates this emphasis on faith was part of episode 1, right before Moses and the Israelites crossed the sea. In that scene Moses kept on yelling, “Keep the faith, be faithful, keep the faith, etc…” However, in the book of Exodus we read,

“And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” (Exodus 14:13-14)

This seems subtle, but it really is not. The kind of faith that is praised in the miniseries tends to be faith that is self-generated and a faith that at times does even not have a direct object. The Bible, on the contrary, shows us how God gives signs and promises which “grant” faith. According to the Bible, faith is from God; it is not generated by us.

One of the special features of the Lutheran faith is that we don’t believe that our story with God begins with us. We don’t believe that the most important aspect of our relationship with God is that we reach out to God, have faith in God, and then profess that faith publicly before others.

On the contrary – Lutheran theology begins with God. Lutherans confess that God is the One who loves His creatures so much that He himself reached out and initiated relationships – whether the relationship with Noah, with Abraham, or Moses, or with you and me today. God is the One who reveals Himself to humans. God is the One who initiates a covenant. God is the One who fights for us. God is the One who becomes incarnate in the person of Jesus. God is the One who lets Jesus die and raises him from death. Whatever we do as God’s creatures follows what God first has done for us, not the other way around.

I wish to thank the producers of this miniseries that – in watching three episodes – I was able to clarify for myself a little bit more where I stand. I now believe a bit more consciously in a God who, among many other gifts, also gave me the gift of faith, the ability to trust in Him and His guidance. Whatever the “Bible “miniseries might suggest to us viewers – I do not believe that publicly professed faith guarantees success. I better leave such ideas to the proponents of the “prosperity gospel” (i.e., the doctrine that financial blessing is the will of God for Christians, and that faith, positive speech, and donations to Christian ministries will always increase one's material wealth).