The Bible on The History Channel

Lavern08

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Did anyone else watch it, and if so, what did you think?

There were some inaccuracies and quite a bit of liberties taken with the accounts (as I understand them), but I thought the overall production was very good.
 

CrastersBabies

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I wanted to watch it and will probably do so on a rerun. Even though I'm not a Christian by any stretch, I enjoy the stories for literature value. Some great stuff in there.
 

angeliz2k

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I only saw a few minutes of it--my roommate wanted to watch something else. I know they took some liberties for the sake of dramatizing the stories--for instance, the hand-to-hand combat between Moses and Pharaoh's son (Ramses?). Unless I'm not remembering correctly, that isn't in the Bible.
 

Stiger05

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I was disappointed at what they left out. I know they have a lot to pack into four episodes, but I'd hoped they would've told some of the less commonly recounted stories, like Jacob wrestling with God, and his relationships with Leah and Rachel. We've seen the story of Moses--if anything I think that's a point they could have brushed over. Don't get me wrong, it's an important part of the story, but "The Ten Commandments" pretty much covered it already.

They did take some liberties (angels fighting with swords in Sodom? Sarah's perspective of Abraham and Isaac) to make the story flow, but they stayed mostly true to the Bible.

What bugged me most was how they portrayed Moses. He stuttered, he was a poor speaker, and a meek dude, and they made him out to be this confident "yeah, look what I did" kind of guy. Aaron spoke for him. Oh, and he didn't just appoint Joshua to take the people to the promised land, God forbade Moses from entering for disobeying Him. That was glossed over too.

Anyway, I'm interested to see the rest and intrigued at how they're going to cram it all in such a short time. I'm afraid a lot of what I want to see portrayed is going to be cut. Our church is planning on doing the Bible study that accompanies it over the summer; maybe it expands a bit.
 

Lavern08

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... I'd hoped they would've told some of the less commonly recounted stories, like Jacob wrestling with God, and his relationships with Leah and Rachel.

What bugged me most was how they portrayed Moses. He stuttered, he was a poor speaker, and a meek dude, and they made him out to be this confident "yeah, look what I did" kind of guy. Aaron spoke for him. Oh, and he didn't just appoint Joshua to take the people to the promised land, God forbade Moses from entering for disobeying Him. That was glossed over too...

Excellent points - I totally agree. ;)
 

Shadow_Ferret

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When they showed Jesus in the promos holding out his hand with a hole in it, I decided it was going to be all hype and no substance. Besides, isn't there a movie in the Bible or was that The Ten Commandments where Charlton Heston parted the Red Sea?
 
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Lavern08

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Ok,

Watched the 2nd installment, and they're killing me with the "poetic license."

Samson had dreadlocks? :Shrug:

Really?
 

JohnnyGottaKeyboard

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Finally caught some of this. Honestly, I was expecting higher production values. Not that I can't excuse a good production that struggles with a low budget. This however...

That was supposed to be Jesus talking to Abraham about Sodom, correct? Clearly, and yet the production was so coy with it. If you're going to take a big chance like that you should at least commit to it. (I actually applaude the idea; just boo-hiss to the execution.)

My favorite line tho, had to be "Trust in God!" as Abraham leads the tribe into battle.
 

A.V. Hollingshead

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I dunno - I've never seen or met any Jews who wore dreadlocks. :Shrug:

Here are a few.

For those of you who watched last night's episode, how did you feel about the birth of Jesus? It seemed a bit overdramatic to me, but I dunno, maybe others liked it more. I've heard some people complaining about something that was excluded in that scene; I don't know enough about the Bible to comment on that.
 

Stiger05

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They took a lot of liberties in last night's episode and I was disappointed in the historical inaccuracies. The Romans interrupting Mary and Joseph's worship, chasing people through the streets, Mary having to hide--never read that in the Bible. They probably didn't make the journey to Bethlehem alone, more like lots of people traveled in a caravan for the census. I think the birth itself was probably more accurate than most movies portray, though. There's more too the story with Herod as well. Scholars don't think the Magi showed up until Jesus was a couple years old, then Herod ordered all sons below the age of two be killed.

The crosses weren't accurate either. Romans traditionally crucified on the Roman "T" cross, some think Jesus' crucifixion may have been the "t" shape we're familiar with, but if so it was a special circumstance.

I was disappointed in how they portrayed Jesus. I'd really hoped they would be more true to the Bible (i.e. he was not an attractive man with beautiful flowing hair), and I don't understand why they would ad lib what Jesus said. For the most part, I liked the temptation in the desert--how it showed Jesus' struggle, that it wasn't just some easy thing--however, part of the point there was that he quoted Old Testament scripture to repel Satan (who was beautiful, by the way).

Same thing with the Peter in the boat. Peter wasn't alone, he wasn't called Peter yet (he was Simon) and they again had Jesus ad-libbing.

Oh well, I guess for people who aren't familiar with the stories, it's on point enough to give the gist of what happened. I'm wondering how they're going to handle the Epistles?
 

Manuel Royal

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When they showed Jesus in the promos holding out his hand with a home in it, I decided it was going to be all hype and no substance.
Are you sure that wasn't an Allstate commercial?

Since it's the History Channel, do they ever have a subtitle pointing out the difference between the Bible story and historical fact? (E.g., there was no giant census requiring people to go travel to their places of birth.)

If I were producing the show, I might want to have it be completely faithful to a literal reading of the text (once we'd decided which version to use), but have a character who, every fifteen minutes or so, has a line starting with "Let me get this straight ...."
 

Lavern08

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I'm fully aware of the existence of the Black Hebrews, but I have yet to meet one who wore his or her hair in dreadlocks - And yes, I have met several - I dunno, maybe it's just me, but it just struck me as odd. :Shrug:

While I enjoyed last night's episode, I agree with Stiger05's assessment.
 

CrastersBabies

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Have you seen the heat that this series has gotten from the press? Apparently, people are saying that the actor playing the devil was chosen because he looks like Obama.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/...obama_n_2900509.html?utm_hp_ref=entertainment

As someone who is pretty far left on things, I find this completely laughable that some viewers are reaching this far to try and turn this into something it's not. I just don't see it.
 

Stiger05

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Have you seen the heat that this series has gotten from the press? Apparently, people are saying that the actor playing the devil was chosen because he looks like Obama.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/...obama_n_2900509.html?utm_hp_ref=entertainment

As someone who is pretty far left on things, I find this completely laughable that some viewers are reaching this far to try and turn this into something it's not. I just don't see it.

I don't see it either. Apparently the actor has acted in several Biblical movies, so I don't think it was too far a stretch for them to pick him for this. It didn't even occur to me to draw a physical comparison to Obama when I saw it last night. Plus, he looked silver.
 

angeliz2k

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Are you sure that wasn't an Allstate commercial?

Since it's the History Channel, do they ever have a subtitle pointing out the difference between the Bible story and historical fact? (E.g., there was no giant census requiring people to go travel to their places of birth.)

If I were producing the show, I might want to have it be completely faithful to a literal reading of the text (once we'd decided which version to use), but have a character who, every fifteen minutes or so, has a line starting with "Let me get this straight ...."

Don't be silly. Actual history on the History Channel? What do you think this is, PBS?

(Though I'm ribbing you, my point about the lack of history on the History Channel is serious.)
 

Lavern08

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OMG!

That Last Supper scene broke my heart.

I like how they show "Jesus" getting glimpses of the upcoming crucifixation.

Gripping. :e2cry:
 

Stiger05

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I'm behind again. I'll probably watch tomorrow. Looking forward to it now, Lavern!
 

Stiger05

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I thought it was really good! I do wish they'd fleshed out the disciples after Pentecost, but overall, I enjoyed the series!