Theological Errors of the History Channel's Miniseries "The Bible"

The Bible Miniseries as a Theological Train Wreck

It's time for another edition of Fighting for the Faith, Monday, March 4th, 2013. Man, have we got a lot of ground to cover today. Yep, we'll be talking about the mini-series on the History Channel entitled, The Bible.

Why you don't want to get your theology from that thing. Thank you for tuning in. You're listening to Fighting for the Faith. My name is Chris Roseborough. I am your servant in Jesus Christ. And this is the program that dishes up a daily dose of biblical discernment.

The goal of which, help you to think biblically, help you to think critically, help you compare what people are saying in the name of God to the Word of God. Now, today we actually have the awkward thing to do here and that's to compare the Bible to the Bible.

I'm not talking about the Word of God to the Word of God. I'm actually talking about the written Word of God to the movie, the mini-series on the History Channel entitled, The Bible. But before we get to that, before we get to that, I just want to take a moment and thank everybody that came out this weekend to Trinity Lutheran Church in Norfolk, Virginia and to the lectures that I presented there entitled, How to Not Be Deceived, Bamboozled, or Snookered by Religious Hucksters, Snake Oil Comment, or Your Own Idolatrous Notions.

We had a fantastic turnout. It was wonderful to meet many of you who are listeners to Fighting for the Faith. And just so you know, we did record them and I will be giving this exact same set of lectures at Kongsvinger Lutheran Church in Oslo, Minnesota on March 23rd.

And they're just north of Grand Forks, North Dakota. So, we won't be releasing the audio from these things immediately. In fact, I'm strongly considering working them into the light editions of Fighting for the Faith, at least three of the four sessions.

So, as silly as it sounds, I mean, I lectured for almost five hours on Saturday. We had a fantastic turnout. We all had lunch together. It was just a great event. And my thanks go out to the folks at Trinity Lutheran Church for inviting me and hosting the event.

They were fantastic and gracious hosts. And the feedback was wonderful and meeting you all was just very encouraging. So, let me thank you all for those of you who turned out and thank you for your generosity.

That being said, we're going to switch gears here. We're going to switch. See, I have to go to Segway school. I need to work on my Segways. I apparently need some help. I am steering this ship too quickly.

You know, it's like, so we're cruising along going this direction. All of a sudden, turn the wheel and I got to switch gears here. So, that's what we're doing today.

Okay.

Have you all been keeping track of or did you watch last night the History Channel's first two hours of their new 10-hour miniseries entitled The Bible? Now, if you watched it last night, then you know that there are some major problems with this miniseries.

Major problems. Now, hang on a second here. I need to Google something really quick. It's the economy. Hang on a second here. Was it George Carville? Hang on a second here. I'm trying to yes, James Carville.

Okay. I'm aging myself here. There are some major problems with the miniseries The Bible. And those of you who remember back to the Clinton administration and Clinton's campaign strategist, James Carville, he had a phrase that was basically addressing the issue as to why Bill Clinton was so popular and why he beat George Bush.

And his statement was and I apologize for using this word but his statement was, it's the economy, stupid.

Right?

And you go, okay, yeah, I remember that. Exactly. So it's become kind of a popular phrase in political jockeying and parlance. And it's the economy, stupid. Well, I'm not going to use that last part. But think of it this way, okay?

I know that some of you out there are expressing on your Facebook wall concerns regarding the clear theological and historical problems with the miniseries The Bible. And because there are a ton of churches out there promoting this miniseries, telling in fact, there's small group studies that are being formed around it.

There are major megachurches like Rick Warren's. By the way, Rick Warren yesterday just started a whole new sermon series based upon the miniseries The Bible. And how much do you want to bet he quotes the movie more accurately than he does the written word of God?

I'm just saying. But anyway, so there's a lot of people out there who are evangelical Christians who are being encouraged by their pastors or small group study leaders or friends who are Christians to participate and support this historically and biblically accurate portrayal.

I mean because there's a lot of feeling out there that it seems like all the major Hollywood productions that have had to do with the Bible have for one reason or another fallen flat or had some problems.

I think about the miniseries that was popular when I was a kid. I don't know which of the three major networks. It was ABC, CBS or NBC that aired it originally. But have you all remember the miniseries Jesus of Nazareth?

Jesus of Nazareth. Now, I remember when I was attending evangelical Christian schools and things like that, you would say, hey, have you seen that movie series Jesus of Nazareth? If there was a teacher in the room, you get one of those kind of weird looks from the teacher and they go, yeah, that was disappointing.

And you go, okay. I watched it. I thought it was okay. I thought it was kind of interesting. And so you ask the teacher, well, why was it disappointing? And they say, yeah, well, that Jesus was really Catholic.

And you go, oh, yeah, okay. He was really Catholic. And so apparently the Jesus of Nazareth documentary was slanted towards Catholicism. It has been so long since I've seen that. I couldn't tell you if it's true or false.

I don't even remember the last time I saw that. Anyway, but you get what I'm saying. So there's kind of this feeling that no one has really set out to correctly show us what really took place in the Bible.

And so, of course, I think there's a lot of people because evangelical leaders are promoting this thing that they are being led to believe that this thing is, well, the God's honest truth, that what they're going to be getting is just biblical gold.

But nothing could be further from the truth. And so coming back to my James Carville analogy here, remember James Carville said it's the economy stupid. Well, in this particular case, it's the theology.

Now, I'm not going to say it's the theology stupid. I don't want to put it that way. But that's really what we're dealing with here. When it comes down to it, what's wrong with the Bible, and I'm talking about the miniseries, not the written word of God.

In fact, clearly, clearly in this particular case, the book is far superior to the movie. Stick to the book. Just stick to the book. Because what's wrong with this is the theology. And so what I intend to do or what I've set out to do as my goal for the first hour today it's a great goal, by the way.

Hopefully I will achieve my goal. But my goal for the first hour is to lay out the case as to why you should not get your theology like at all from the miniseries, the Bible. And there's some really good reasons why you should not be getting it.

And so we're going to walk through what are like the theological problems with it. Now, on top of this, there's some also historical problems with it. They have clearly taken some ridiculous license in the storytelling of this particular miniseries.

For instance, just by way of a note here, you're familiar with the whole story of Sodom and Gomorrah. Well, what's interesting about their storytelling of Sodom and Gomorrah is there isn't a single hint that Sodom and Gomorrah are being judged for anything that has to do with the sin that's come to be known as sodomy.

In fact, there isn't even a wisp of any homosexual anything whatsoever with the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. Instead, what they show is inside the city of Sodom, it looks like Cirque du Soleil. They got flamethrowers, and then you got a whole bunch of guys kind of making out with girls and right there in the hallway.

And so there's fornicaboodling guys, but so there's no hint at all of the sin of sodomy. And so it's like, well, that's interesting. And then what happens is when the angels come into Sodom, they literally turn into the movie The Matrix like ninja warriors.

Yeah, that was rather interesting. I don't recall that Neo and the guys from The Matrix were actually angels that were there at Sodom. I mean, we're talking some sweet moves here. You know, I mean, some major, you know, ninja stuff going on.

And so it's fact it's so stupid. It's laughable. But anyway, but you got to admit the CGI is great. I mean, yes, when they part the Red Sea, I mean, it looks like the Red Sea is parting. This is all fantastic.

So I'm happy for the special effects. But coming back to the point, it's the theology that it's the theology is. Yeah, it's not good. Es no bueno. It's muy mal. It's not good. It's very bad. As I would say in Hebrew, lo kol kak tov.

It's not good. So anyway, what we'll be doing here. In fact, we're going to get to it just in just a minute is kind of telling the story, if you would, as to why you don't want to get your theology from this mini series.

And if anyone is inviting you to participate in the you know what it's called, you know, they're calling it the 30 day Bible experience. If anyone's inviting you to a 30 day Bible experience, small group Bible study, don't go.

Don't go unless you're ready to say, oh, that's not in the Bible. Oh, that's just Oh, can you believe how they change? Oh, that's the terror. Don't go unless you're prepared to do that. Because if you play along with their theology, it's going to mess you up.

That's all I got to say. So with that, I think we're going to dive into the program proper. And I don't have any mini series Bible update music. Although if you have any suggestions, I mean, since we're going to have to be doing several installments regarding this movie series.

Oh, man, I just am not looking forward to it. So with that, we're going to dive into the program. You know what I should do? You know, I should probably do this. I should play our standard warning. You know, since I don't have any update music, just so that you are warned ahead of time as to what it is that you are going to experience as we play different sound bites from not only the extended trailer, but from last night's first two hours of the Bible.

And it's not the Bible. In fact, it irks me that they've named it the Bible because that's really misleading. But here is our standard warning. And then we'll just dive right into it. Make yourself comfortable.

Here we go.

Warning. Fighting for the faith can be dangerous to your health. Listening with caution is strongly urged while doing any of the following activities. Operating heavy, deadly equipment. Playing Farmville.

Or any time-wasting, brain-numbing activity. For sudden awakening at the sound of a particularly stupid eschatological statement could cause neck strain. Drinking liquids. Drinking hot liquids. Having liquids too nearby.

Not having any liquids nearby. The following medical conditions have been known to occur while listening to Fighting for the Faith. Cranial Keyboard Embedment Syndrome. Sinew Nasal Liquid Spewment Disorder.

Steering Wheel Pounding. Clenched Fist Strain. Continual Gaping Dry Mouth Itosis. And Frustrative Disbelief Brain Explosion. Please take proper precautions. Drinking straws, padding, and duct tape are recommended.

Why the History Channel Miniseries Gets Biblical Theology Wrong

Okay, we begin our storytelling, if you would. Storytelling to tell you about the story of, well, the miniseries from the history channel called The Bible, as to what's wrong with it by going back in time, not very far back, in fact, just back to February 28th, just last week, to the Fox News channel where Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, who are responsible for producing this miniseries and creating it and bringing it to life, where they appeared on the Fox and Friends program, television program, in order to discuss this latest project of yours, The Bible.

And as we listen to Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, pay close attention to anything that they say that may alert you or give you a heads up as to what you can expect from this miniseries theologically, doctrinally.

Because remember, it's all about the theology. That's the thing you've got to be paying attention to. So without any further ado, here's Mark Burnett and Roma Downey and their appearance last week on Fox and Friends to discuss, well, The Bible.

Powerful. Joining us now, the power couple behind the miniseries called The Bible, reality TV creator Mark Burnett, you know him from the show Survivor, and his wife, actress Roma Downey. Good to see the both of you together.

So wonderful. I'm looking so forward to this series because it looks like the entire family can watch it together.

It really is family programming, and it's for young, it's for old. And equally importantly, it's for teenagers. We have three teenagers who gave us some advice as we left for Morocco for six months, said, please, guys, don't make the special effects lame.

These kids are used to The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, and we've really knocked it out of the park with the special effects.

And the great news is just this last week, they took a clip into their high school and they screened it for the whole school body, so we know that we must have got it right.

Well, that's terrific because kids that age, you know, it's so hard to get.

So they know they got it right because they previewed it at a high school and the kids liked the special effects. That's the proof in the theological pudding that you got it right. We continue.

To put down their iPhones and stop texting for a minute. So what really becomes critical are the stories that you tell because they've got to somehow be, you know, something that the kid and the vast viewing audience of all ages as well would find interesting today.

Yeah, big battle scenes in the Old Testament, obviously, epic stuff with the parting of the Red Sea, Jericho wars come down, Daniel and Lion's Den, of course, Jesus walking on water, just really, really epic stuff.

We go right through to Revelation.

So you said you do the Old Testament and the New Testament. How is it broken down? How many go into each series?

We have five episodes for the Old Testament, five for the New. We're going to be on five weeks. It's five next Sundays with the finale on Easter Sunday.

I thought it was amazing to see Jaws, that bestseller, become a movie. That was intimidating. How intimidating is it to get the bestseller of the Bible into a TV series? Mark, did that even intimidate you too?

Now, listen to their answer, okay? So, I mean, did it intimidate you too to take the bestselling book of all time in history, the Bible, and turn it into a miniseries? Well, here's their answer.

You know, we took it very seriously and hired lots of advisors and theologians.

So they took it seriously and they hired lots of advisors and theologians. Oh, good. So that means we're going to get great theology. Can you tell me who the theologians were that you hired?

Rick Warren is one of our big advisors.

Rick Warren.

Joel Osteen, Bishop Jakes.

Joel Osteen and T .D. Jakes. I hate to break it to you all, but theologically, the project, the Bible, the miniseries on the History Channel was doomed from the beginning. And here's the simple reason why, okay?

Because Jesus himself makes it clear. A bad tree cannot bear good fruit. T .D. Jakes doesn't even believe in the doctrine of the Trinity. Joel Osteen, I don't think he actually knows how to read the Bible.

And Rick Warren, his favorite pastime is to take the Bible and twist it into a pretzel and make it say whatever he wants to say. So those were your top three theological advisors that you hired to help you with this miniseries.

Now what does this mean? Well, since a bad tree can't bear good fruit, the thing that we should expect and the thing I will demonstrate to you is the case is that this miniseries is nothing less than a purpose-driven rewrite of the Bible.

A purpose-driven rewrite. The major theology in this is seeker-driven, vision-casting, change-the-world type of theology. The stuff that we cover on a daily basis here at Fighting for the Faith. In fact, let me tell you what we're going to be doing in Hour No. 2 here because I know that this seems a little out of sorts, but it's not.

It actually has everything to do with it. The sermon that we're going to be reviewing today in Hour No. 2 is called See It, and it's from the Summit Church. This is a sermon that mimics, well, actually perfectly puts forward the exact same theology that you will see on display in the miniseries called The Bible.

So basically what we should expect is vision-casting leadership, change-the-world theology, a complete botching of what is that's wrong with humanity, and as a result of it, not understanding what the solution is that's offered in Scripture.

So you're going to get basically some really good production value for some really, really rotten false theology because it's all about the theology. Let's listen a little bit more to Mark Burnett and Roma Downey discuss this so that we know what's going on here.

So it's a big, big advisors.

Yeah.

But once you commit, you just got to do it.

Let me ask you why it was so important for you personally to do this. Because let's face it, sometimes in Hollywood, talking about Christianity and the fact that you're a big believer is not necessarily really popular to make into a TV series.

So why did you do this? Was it because you wanted to proclaim repentance and the forgiveness of sins in Jesus' name so that people would be confronted with their sin and comforted with the good news that Jesus Christ, the one true God in human flesh, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified for their sins and then was raised again bodily on the third day and is calling them to repent and to trust in him for the forgiveness of their...

Is that the reason why? That would be like the biblical Christian reason why you would want to produce something like this. Well, let's hear what Roma has to say.

You know what? I think we're...

I'm sorry, that's not Roma. That's Mark.

...head of our game in that next year, the Bible will be really popular in Hollywood. I mean, first one's coming out, it's Noah with Russell Crowe.

Yes.

Spielberg's working on Moses, Fox are working on Moses.

Yeah, Mark's not really answering the question, by the way.

At Page, apparently, it's going to be Pontius Pilate.

That'll be interesting. So I think, actually, it goes cyclically, but we made it because we love the Bible.

You made it because you love the Bible. See, now we're finally getting to the answer to the question.

We also think there's a sense of biblical illiteracy, sort of embarrassingly.

Oh, man, the irony here is just thick. Okay, so Mark Burnett is concerned about the epidemic of biblical illiteracy out there, but having watched the extended trailer as well, by the way, the extended preview trailer was for ministry folks, so I qualified, was nearly an hour long.

And so it gives you a really good rundown of what's going to happen in the upcoming subsequent 10 hours on TV. Plus, having watched last night's first installment, the first two hours, I've watched it twice now.

I can definitively say that if you watch the miniseries, The Bible, and you think that's actually what the Bible teaches, you will be more biblically illiterate at the end of this 10 hours than when you started.

So they love the Bible. They're concerned about biblical illiteracy. How about anything to do with Jesus Christ and him crucified for our sins and people trusting in him for forgiveness of their sins and things like that, the standard Christian biblical answers.

In America right now.

Roma, did your TV series let America know that they care? The success of your TV series let everybody know you can put out a series that had the right values and beliefs?

I think absolutely. I think people are hungry for hope.

Hungry for hope. Oh, no.

People are hungry for meaning in their lives.

That would be purpose driven-ism. They're hungry for hope. They're hungry for meaning. So we're going to write the Bible series, the miniseries, The Bible to help people who are hungry for hope and looking for meaning.

People are hungry for God.

Which one? Because I'm not convinced that you actually believe in the same God that I believe in because after watching how God has been rewritten and these characters are rewritten, I don't think, yeah, we're dealing with the actual God of the Bible.

The series presents the Bible in fresh visual ways.

Fresh visual ways, yes. Fresh visual ways. With a new fresh theology to go with the new fresh visual ways, too.

Ultimately, I think it will really connect in their hearts.

So, yes. New fresh visual ways. With the new fresh theology from the paid theological advisors, Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, and T .D. Jakes. And at the end of the day, Roma is hoping that what's there in the miniseries, The Bible, will connect with people's hearts.

Oh, man. This is the largest amount of money and production time I've ever seen spent on a theological train wreck. Now, we're going to take our first break. And when we come back, what we're going to do is we're going to be listening to sound bites that I've been collecting over the past week and take a look at the theology that's in the miniseries, The Bible, so that you can tell whether or not it's telling you the truth.

So, if you'd like to email me, my email address, talkbackatfightingforthefaith .com. Remember, you can subscribe on Facebook, facebook .com, forward slash Pirate Christian, or follow me on Twitter, my name there, at Pirate Christian.

Quick break. Stay tuned. We will be right back.

Unless your righteousness surpasses that of Rick Warren, you cannot be saved. You're listening to Fighting for the Faith.

You're listening to Pirate Christian Radio. We'll be taking your false doctrine now. Circus Church!

Calling Saddleback Customer Service. This is Josh. How can I help you today? Yes, I would like to return the Jesus I received from you. I heard there was a 60-day return policy. Yes, sir, there is. But can I ask you why you want to return Jesus?

Well, I was told if I received Jesus, he'd fix all my problems. And quite honestly, I'm not satisfied with this Jesus. Sir, what is your Jesus doing right now? Nothing. He just sits there. Have you taken time to feed your Jesus?

Well, I went to church for the preaching, but nothing has happened. Sir, if you read the fine print on the warranty, you'll see that you are responsible for feeding, not the church or the pastor. Oh. Well, can I exchange this Jesus for another?

Sir, what kind of Jesus are you looking for? I need the Jesus that forgives sins. You know, changes your life on the inside, helps you overcome the sins of the flesh, never leaves me nor forsakes me, and will take me to heaven when I die.

Oh, I'm sorry, sir. We don't stock that Jesus here. You'll have to go somewhere else to have that Jesus. Well, I guess I'll just stick with the one I got since I already opened my eyes. Wonderful, sir.

Can I interest you in getting Jesus for your friends and family? Why would I do that?

You can register now for the 10th Annual Branson Worldview Weekend in beautiful Branson, Missouri, Friday night, April 26th, Saturday, April 27th, and Sunday morning, April 28th, 2013. Full details are at worldviewweekend .com forward slash Branson.

That's worldviewweekend .com forward slash Branson. Speakers this year will include Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis. We'll also have speaking with us for the first time his son-in-law, Bode Hodge, along with Pastor Jesse Johnson, a regular guest here on Worldview Weekend Radio.

We'll also be joined by Chris Pinto with a brand new presentation. Mike Gendron will also bring a new presentation, as will Dr. Jimmy DeYoung. We'll also be joined this year for the first time at a Branson Worldview Weekend by Jason Carlson and Jared Carlson.

We'll also be joined for the first time in a conference setting by Carl Teichrib. Full details at worldviewweekend .com. We have a family rate and group rate. You can go ahead and purchase your tickets now and receive priority up front seating when you purchase your tickets now at worldviewweekend .com forward slash Branson.

And join us April 26th, 27th, and 28th in Branson, Missouri.

The spring and summer travel seasons are just around the corner. And the last thing you want to do is pay more for your airfare, hotel, and rental car than you need to. That's why Pirate Christian Radio is proud to have Cheapo Air as one of our featured advertisers.

Cheapo Air has over 18 million flight deals, low airfare guarantees, and 85 ,000 negotiated hotel rates around the globe. And if you visit our website, piratechristianradio .com forward slash cheap, we have a promo code that will save you an additional $10 off of Cheapo Air's already low prices.

So visit piratechristianradio .com forward slash cheap, write down the promo code, click on the web banner, and book your spring or summer travel today. And remember, a portion of your purchase at Cheapo Air will go to support Pirate Christian Radio.

That web address again is piratechristianradio .com forward slash cheap. Thank you for your support. Warning, if you think the miniseries The Bible is theologically accurate, well, I hate to break it to you, it's not.

Don't get your theology from this thing. It's really bad. Just a reminder, Fighting for the Faith, this is listener-supported radio. That means we depend upon you and your generous gifts and financial contributions in order to continue to bring Fighting for the Faith to you and to the world.

And you can partner with us by visiting our website, fightingforthefaith .com. When you get there, you'll see our two friendly yellow buttons. One says donate, the other says join our crew. And when you join our crew, what you're doing is signing up to automatically contribute $6 .95 every month to the ongoing work and mission of Fighting for the Faith and Pirate Christian Radio.

It's a great way to support us, by the way, if you're not a member of our crew. Head on over to the website and join our crew. It's not a lot of money. $6 .95 every month? Yeah, it's like a couple of cups of coffee.

But it means a lot to us because the more people that join our crew, it levels out our giving, makes it so that we can budget properly and then continue to grow and meet our expenses every month. So visit our website, Fighting for the Faith.

Click on the join our crew button, or if you'd like to make a one-time contribution, you could do so by clicking on the donate button, or you can make your gift payable to Fighting for the Faith. And then send it to Post Office Box 508, Fishers, Indiana, zip code 46038.

Purpose-Driven Theology in the Miniseries

All right, what we're doing right now is I'm going to walk through several of the sound bites, not only from the extended ministry preview that was put out there, which was over almost an hour long, actually, but which, by the way, alerted me to just how bad, oh man, the train wreck the theology is in this thing.

And again, who are the paid theological advisors for the miniseries The Bible? Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, T .D. Jakes. Now, there's other theological advisors, but those were the three that Roma and Mark Burnett wanted to make us aware of.

So what should we expect then of the theology in the miniseries The Bible? Well, the answer, the theology would probably be seeker-driven, purpose-driven. And with a little bit of a touch of the prosperity gospel thrown in there, in fact, I'm kind of, I wonder what the odds are at Vegas that we can get some good Joel Osteen prosperity heresy in this.

I think there's a pretty good chance. Between T .D. Jakes and Joel Osteen, yeah, I haven't seen it yet, but we'll see what happens. But that being the case, since we know that Rick Warren, T .D. Jakes, Joel Osteen are major paid advisors theologically for this miniseries, what should we expect?

A seeker-driven, vision-casting, narcissistic, eisegesis type of theology and with a touch of the whole new gospel, according to Rick Warren, to go out and change the world. Now, I saw this initially in one of the commercials that was airing on the History Channel for the miniseries.

Somebody had alerted me to it and pointed out that Jesus, after being baptized by John the Baptist in one of the commercials, is asked, what's he going to do? Listen carefully. I've got the scene here pulled up on the computer.

This is Jesus. He's coming up out of the water and real quick you're going to have somebody ask Jesus, what are you going to do? Well, listen to his answer. Here we go.

What are we going to do?

Change the world.

What are you going to do? Jesus is going to change the world. Jesus is going to change. Now, in and of itself, you think, well, maybe that's just a one-time thing. Yeah, that could possibly be the major theology in this miniseries.

Could it? Well, let's fast forward a little bit. Okay, let's fast forward a little bit in the extended ministry preview for the miniseries called The Bible to the point where Ananias, you remember Ananias who lives over on Straight Street in Damascus?

He was told by God to baptize Saul who would then become the apostle Paul. Well, at Saul's baptism scene here in the movie, well, Ananias says something really strange, like out of place. It doesn't belong theologically in the story or in any of the theology of the Bible, but listen and here's Ananias.

He's going to be recognized by Saul because Saul has just received his sight back, and then Ananias is going to baptize him. And listen carefully to the theology in the baptism. Here we go. No, no, don't leave me.

And Ananias grabs a water pitcher.

I, Ananias, baptize you, Paul, in the name of Jesus Christ who has chosen you to change the world in his name.

Okay, so Ananias baptizes Saul in the name of Jesus Christ because Jesus has called Saul in his name to change the world. Remember, it's all about the theology. It's all about the theology. Now, forget the fact for a second that none of the history makes any sense.

For instance, like in the story of where God has called Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, right, the biblical narrative tells us that Abraham and Isaac went three days' journey into the wilderness to the land of Moriah, right?

Well, forget all that. Apparently, he just hiked up the closest mountain to sacrifice Isaac, and poor Sarah, she freaked out. Yeah, there's all kinds of stuff inserted into the biblical text, so much so that I was thinking about this earlier today, and that's this, that y 'all familiar with the Jehovah's Witnesses?

Now, if you ever had them knock on your door, you know, the Jehovah's Witnesses want to tell you about Armageddon and how to survive Armageddon and experience paradise here on earth and things like that.

They're a theological cult, by the way. And the Jehovah's Witnesses, in order to not have to constantly answer questions regarding why the Bible contradicts their false theology, came up with a really clever idea.

And a while back, they created their own translation of the Bible, and their own translation is called the New World Translation. And in theological and apologetic circles, it's kind of like the ultimate whipping boy for what it means to have an inaccurate translation.

I'm absolutely convinced, since I have a copy of the New World Translation and have used it extensively in the years past in my witnessing to Jehovah's Witnesses, that I'm convinced that the New World Translation is far more accurate and faithful to the original languages in the actual biblical text than the movie miniseries, The Bible, that's been airing there at the History Channel.

Now, all that said, we're going to be sampling a little bit more theology here. So what we're going to do is we're going to go into last night's two-hour premiere of the miniseries, The Bible. And I want you to listen to the theology pertaining to Noah, why God made us and what went wrong.

And it's weird, Noah apparently has a very thick Scottish brogue thing going on here. But here's Noah talking about how he's giving us the historical account of creation, and Noah explains that God made us.

And listen carefully to the theology in this statement that is supposedly being spoken by Noah. Here we go.

He made Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit. And with one choice, they learned both good and evil. Since then, since Cain killed Abel, God has seen too much evil in human hearts.

Uh-oh. There you go. What's wrong with that? What's wrong with that, Chris? Okay. Since Cain and Abel, God has seen too much evil in human hearts? Folks, that's not a theological statement that is actually congruent with the biblical teaching regarding original sin.

This is actually a form of the Pelagian heresy. God saw too much evil in human hearts? Oh, no. Well, we better clean that up. You know, that's not the problem. The problem is that we are sinful by nature now.

And this is what Genesis actually teaches us rather clearly. But Noah goes on to talk about this a little bit more. Let me back this up so you can hear how God found too much evil in human hearts and listen again to, listen more to Noah talking about what sin is.