The Bible = History

The History channel will be airing a 10 episode series on the Bible starting Sunday, March 3rd. The series is produced by husband/wife team, Mark Burnett & Roma Downey. They have worked hard to stay true to the Scriptures. They wanted the stories to stand on their own merits and reveal the beauty and truth that lies within them. Knowing the skills of Mark Burnett and the excitement that is the Bible I can't wait to see this extraordinary series.

I am so inspired by them. They believe that the Bible is the word of God and absolute truth. They don't question it. They truly live by faith. Despite being part of the Hollywood world they are not ashamed of their faith or proclaiming that Christ is Lord.

Sadly, not all people see the Bible as absolute truth.

I came across an interview they had with Bill O'Reilly, promoting this mini-series, which left me upset. What upset me wasn't what they (Burnett's) said but what the host said. (If you're an O'Reilly fan what I'm about to say may offend you, you have been warned.)

Let me get a few things off my chest. First, I didn't like the fact that Mr. O'Reilly continual would interrupt them mid-sentence, so he can give his opinion or ask them another question. If you ask someone a question, have the courtesy to let them answer it in full. Secondly, he didn't seem completely interested in what they were saying. It was as if this interview was a waste of his time. Even if the guest or topic isn't your favorite, these people are your guest, treat them with respect and give them your attention. Now I'll move on.

Below is a transcript of how the interview went:

Mr. O'Reilly: “When you say you’re a believer, do you believe in the Bible literally? I mean you believe that Adam and Eve were out there, and the snake and the apple and all of that business?” 

 Roma Downey: “I do indeed. I believe the truth of the Bible,”

Mr. O'Reilly then turns to Mark Burnett and says and asks, “Look, a lot of the Bible, Mr. Burnett, is allegorical, and we know that in creationism and things like that, so what you’re doing here, I assume, is just telling the story the way that the prophets put forth, without any commentary in it. Is that correct?” 

 Mr. Burnett's :“That’s exactly correct. Right down the middle, telling the Bible as written. As fact. Five hours Old Testament, five hours New Testament.”

Here is where I got upset:
 

Mr. O'Reilly: “Ms. Downey, I’m writing a book, ‘Killing Jesus,’ about why Jesus of Nazareth was executed. It’s a history book. But obviously, the Gospels that discuss this were involved with that. But there are some contradictions among Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. And then it’s my job and Martin Dugard, my co-author, to cut through the contradictions and to try to give a narrative of what actually happened to Jesus, because he was executed. When you were producing ‘The Bible,’ there are some things in the Bible that are obviously allegorical as I just mentioned. Did you take that into account?”

Excuse Me! You had to cut through the contradictions and try to get to what really happened?! Who does he thinks he is?! Not only did he have to cut through the contradictions but the Book I base my faith from is allegorical. According to him the Bible is just full of stories with a meaning, not absolute truth. I might as well base my faith on Aesop's Fables. If he doesn't believe the Bible is the living Word of God inspired by God then he has no business writing about the death of Christ, as if he was an authority.

 I loved Roma's response: “We worked from the position that the Bible is a true story. We haven’t taken a position on that except to bring the stories to life meaningfully. We have filmed the passion of Jesus, we’ve taken it right through resurrection, the conversion of Paul and through to Revelation, and that episode will be on Easter Sunday evening.”

 The Burnett's handled themselves with grace and poise. They didn't get into a debate with him, even though I could tell that she wanted to, they kept true to the course and showed themselves to be good Christian examples. They are the type of examples we should hear about and be inspired by. We tend to hear about those who twist the faith to fit their agenda and not enough about those who treat the Word with respect.

I encourage you to check out this 10 episode series. Set your DVRs, TIVOs or other recording device and see the Bible come to life.