Reflections on The Bible
Last night, whilst many of my fellow Christians were watching the first part of The Bible on Channel 5, I was watching a tense Danish political drama about the ethical dilemmas surrounding legislative protection for sex workers. At its heart is Birgitte Nyborg – a complex, principled and hard working woman, whose vulnerabilities and mistakes are all too easy to see.
Having missed out on The Bible experience, I decided to catch up a little this morning. For a programme which purports to capture the deep and troubling adult contents of the Bible, hence showing at the 9pm watershed, I was surprised to see the way in which each segment was introduced. A cutesy voice-over speaks on behalf of children’s puppet Buck Denver, wanting to know ‘what’s in the Bible’.
What follows has all the makings of the traditional Biblical epic – grubby faces, bushy beards, flowing robes and voices from heaven. The opening sequence, telling the story of creation whilst riding out the storm on the ark, was a clever device. However, the scenes which follow are telescoped to such an extent that the viewer is left dizzied as the years whip past like telegraph poles from a high speed train’s window. There was a nod to the complexities of family relationships, and a brief glimpse of sexual tension with Hagar and Sarai, but then the plot moved on. I have yet to see the rest of this first episode, but I shall have to buckle up and prepare for a swift ride, I think!
Images: whatsinthebible.com and standard.co.uk
Of course, it is unfair to compare the programmes, for I am not comparing like with like. That said, whilst the one left me troubled and reflective, the other left me disappointed. Whilst one made me consider issues I had hitherto dismissed, the other made me feel that a rich text had been reduced to an insipid depiction. One reminded me that political and moral issues are rarely as simple as they seem; whilst the other reminded me that divine intervention in human lives is better incarnated than acted.
If The Bible ends up being water-cooler TV, with people discussing its themes on a Monday morning, then that has to be good. However, if I were standing round the water cooler I would rather discuss the Bible with Birgitte than morality with Buck, I think.