On Mon, Jul 1, 2013 at 10:55 AM, Mark Jeffries <[email protected]>wrote:
> After the original "Bible" miniseries, Mark Burnett's first attempt at > scripted TV (with his wife Roma Downey as trophy producer), became a > surprise hit for History, "A.D.: Beyond the Bible," which picks up after > the death of Christ (we're talking about Acts and the epistles here) will > be on NBC for an unspecified number of hours, as the Peacock has decided to > jump back into long form programming (following plans by Fox for two minis, > including the "24" reboot, this summer, and the early success of CBS' > "Under the Dome" mini): > > > http://www.thewrap.com/tv/article/mark-burnetts-bible-sequel-gets-nbc-greenlight-100766 > I did not see the "Bible" television show but I have actually read the Bible. Several things in the report about this sequel are questionable. Why call it "A.D."? If the ending point of the first series was the death of Christ, using A.D. will only reinforce the misconception that A.D. stands for "After Death". Of course it is an abbreviation for Anno Domini, and means "In the Year of Our Lord", and refers to the 33 years after the birth of Jesus as well as the years since his death, meaning that there is no sense in using A.D. to distinguish between a story of Christianity after the death of Jesus. And in my experience most credible scholars these day use "C.E." (Common Era) to refer to this period. Why use the subtitle "Beyond the Bible"? I guess that is accurate if it just means beyond the first mini-series titled "Bible", but I think it is most easily understood as telling a story that either takes place after the events narrated in the Bible, or with "facts" about events contemporaneous with the Biblical narrative that are not contained in the Bible. It does not seem like either of these are what is intended however. If the idea is to tell the story of the primitive Christian community as depicted in Acts and the Letters commonly attributed to Paul, it seems like a better title would be something like "Bible II: Post-Resurrection" (well, maybe that is not better, but I am sure talented people could come up with a name that would be at least a little bit descriptive of what they are actually trying to do). The core blurb describing the series is most troubling: "A perfect storm brews in the Holy Land, fueled by social injustice, Roman military oppression and religious unrest," NBC says of the sequel. "High priests and the Herod dynasty vie for power. Zealot revolutionaries turn to violence to regain what they believe is their promised land. And in the face of terrible odds and brutal persecution, the small band of Jesus’ disciples stand against the combined might of Rome and their own local authorities." This is the kind of spin a certain flavor of Christian Fundamentalists give to the Christian story that is particularly nefarious; it sounds like it gives special status to Jews and the Nation of Israel (and has bamboozled more than a few modern Jews) but is ultimately anti-Semitic. I am not very familiar with Roma Downey, a review of her wiki page shows her association with several questionable "intellectual" bedfellows, including the very conservative Pepperdine University and an institution run by the cult the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness (MSIA) and John-Rodger. The list of troubling reports about these people and this guy is very long, but all you really need to know is that Ariana Huffington is associated with them. I am not suggesting that these "Bible" projects are part of some cultic conspiracy, just that the people producing them are not particularly credible. -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
