On Tuesday, March 8 at 10PM a
Biblically-themed network television, called
Of Kings And Prophets, debuted on
ABC.
Thirty years after
Ronald Reagan stated:
“Religion and politics are necessarily related. We
need religion as a guide. We need it because we are imperfect, and our
government needs the church because only those humble enough to admit
they’re sinners can bring to democracy the tolerance it requires in
order to survive.”
a Christian, a
Muslim, and a
Jew found it time to join together to do what many in
Hollywood deemed impossible: launch a Biblically-themed network
television show about the collision of politics and religion that would
appeal to both
faith-based and secular audiences.
The makers of the show want to be faithful to the Bible and show people the Work of God. They say
In being faithful to the scriptures, we decided not to shy away from
the sexuality and violence that is either implied or explicit in the
text. To do so, would sanitize the reality of the biblical time and
place, while at the same time bypassing important parallels that we
still confront and struggle with today. We made this choice to open a
conversation about how one reconciles faith with the realities of the
world—whether in ancient Israel or in the contemporary U.S.
It seems there has to be some violence shown in the show.
We assumed we might be met with some resistance from Biblical
literalists, as there is always the chance when dealing with religious
material that faith-based audiences might negatively react to our
interpretation of scriptural inconsistencies.
Surprisingly though, the most vitriolic criticism has not come from
faith-based viewers, but from secular media outlets and bloggers, many
of whom argued that the war, violence and brutality depicted in the show
would alienate religious viewers. Clearly, these reviewers are
unfamiliar with the Bible.
Today we hear also lots of people criticising the
Koran and Muslims because they would keep to all sorts of cruel stories. But those complaining about those violent stories do forget or do not know that those same stories can be found in the Jewish as well as the Christian Bible.
People should be aware that
The world of the Old Testament, as described in the Bible, is often
brutal and violent—a world where slavery and rape were the victor’s
prerogative, and genocide was an accepted approach to foreign policy.
The faithful know this better than anyone.
It are often the kafir or non-believers and those who do not know the religious texts who go in attack against one or the other religion. In Christendom we also have lots of people who have taken Jesus as their god instead of believing what Jesus and God say about each other. Many of those so called Christians do not know the other true Christians, who in
Christianity proclaim
only One True God, the God of Abraham, like the God of the Jews and the God of Muslims.
Often it our those Christians who keep to a three-headed god do not come to see Who the God is of the Holy Scriptures and do not realise how the whole world shall come to get to know the
Only One True God,
Allah, the Elohim Hashem Jehovah,
Who is One God of gods and
Host of hosts,
greater than and
above all gods.
The makers of the show are devoted to their respective faiths, and passionate
about their artistry. They say
That’s why we are convinced that if the
entertainment industry fails to show faith-based programming, we will
miss out on opportunities to explore and understand the rich values and
moral complexities that exist at the heart of our religious texts.
And conclude:
It is our hope that secular critics will understand that it is vital
to our fabric as a nation to explore our faith through art—to let our
values, morals and faith serve as scaffolding for our creativity. That’s
what we have tried to do with Of Kings And Prophets.
But after just two episodes ABC has decided to cancel its biblical drama
Of Kings and Prophets.
The move came after the show received low
ratings and sponsors were pressured to pull their advertising.
The show attempted to tell the story of
King David’s ascent to the
throne and
King Saul’s demise. While an exciting premise, ABC failed to
deliver a product that resonated with most viewers.
Of Kings and Prophets downplayed religious themes in favor of sex, violence, and intrigue for entertainment value.
ABC also took plenty of artistic licenses and made some odd character
choices. For example, the
prophet Samuel was portrayed as a jealous,
bloodthirsty, and senile old man who misrepresented the will of Elohim.
Samuel ordered Saul to annihilate the Amalekites seemingly out of spite,
not because God wanted it.
