A Biblical Imagination

When we are presented with the option to watch movies based on biblical events there are several things that can happen.  First, we may completely ignore the option believing that the film maker's motives were not godly or they were just after the almighty dollar and know that the Christian market is a huge one to tap into.  Secondly, we could watch with deep skepticism for the very same reasons. Finally, we could watch them and take them as the whole biblical truth. With a Bible in one hand and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, those who choose to watch such representations can gain a richer biblical imagination.

Each actor’s or director’s take on any film will be decidedly biased to that actor’s or director’s world view—be that Christian or not. And each viewer’s world view will be different.  Every potential viewer will make their own decisions based on their own preferences.

I struggle with Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments” for artistic reasons.  The over-the-top and over-played characters and scenes get a little too much for me.  But I can still engage my biblical imagination to really think through and attempt to connect with the persons (not just characters) who experienced these things. How did they see God?  Why did they respond the way they did?  What were the overwhelming and oppressive forces of a pagan nation like to live with?  It can prompt me to do historical and cultural studies that inform my understanding of God’s Word. I can pull out commentaries and historical facts to not only check the historical accuracy of the film, but also to really engage with a time outside of my own when the world views and approaches to God were either different or the same.  When I saw the animated “Prince of Egypt”, directed by Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner and Simon Wells, for the first time, I was completely taken by the walls of Red Sea water represented on the screen.  I walked away from that film saying, “No wonder they talked about this for centuries!”—whether or not the walls of water were really that high.  It was clearly a miracle of God that brought deliverance.  Up to that point those watery walls had been little more than flannel graph images in my head.  Richard Fleischer’s “Barabbas”, starring Anthony Quinn, reminded me of the long-suffering grace of God. 

So, recently when “A.D. - The Bible Continues” started airing, I decided to watch.  What has come of this engagement?  I have had a gripping sense of the struggle of the early Christians, the high cost of following Jesus,  and the profound joy that comes in that following.  While I don’t agree with many of the artistic or the scriptural interpretative efforts of the film makers, I have been driven back to the book of Acts over and over.  I have read it slowly and carefully, trying to come to terms with more than flannel graph images.  I waited in anticipation for the coming of and the representations of the power of the Holy Spirit. I keep seeing over and over the Christians fleeing into the Jerusalem hills when the Roman Guards and Saul came hunting them down, wondering how they survived leaving everything for Jesus.  I wait with baited breath for when Saul is confronted by Jesus himself on the road to Damascus. 

Whether or not I can concede to every actor’s or director’s interpretation, I know the Author of this story.  I know that it is a narrative that is real, not just a film or something of someone’s unbiblical imagination.  I want to engage a biblical imagination, even with or without the aid of films, so that I can delve deeper into the richness of God’s Word, and more than that, to know my Savior better. He can overcome any oppressive regime.  He can work through the lowly and despised.  He will empower the weak and frightened.  He will plant joy deep into the heart of every believer.  He will satisfy the power-hungry when they humble themselves under His power.     

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.
As the rain and the snow
    come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
    without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
    so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
    It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
    and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

~Isaiah 55:8-11(NIV)

M.R.Hyde  Copyright 2015