I came to this series as a born-again agnostic who has been through Christianity and came out again on the other side. Even though I remain an agnostic, it isn't for want of a determined try by Dallas Jenkins. This show came further than anything to getting me back and that is a compliment.
Hearing American money was backing a TV drama show based on the Biblical life of Jesus, I feared the worst - that it was inevitably going to reflect the very worst of contemporary American religion - that it would push a narrow fundamentalist viewpoint combined with right-wing politics, or else be a vehicle for spurious televangelists demanding money.
I'm so very pleased to say I was wrong.
Crowd-funding means the producers had complete creative freedom to do it as they think it should be done - no big money interests making demands. There are no references to contemporary political issues or schools of thought. Above all, Dallas Jenkins and the production crew have been VERY careful not to be partisan or denominational. In a religion like Christianity, this matters. This is a show a Roman Catholic could watch alongside a Southern Baptist or a Russian Orthodox believer or a Church of England communicant. It's the common story, the joint strand, the unifying factor, the proof that however or wherever you go to church on a Sunday, whatever your background and tradition in the Church, there's more that unites than divides. Kudos to Dallas for pulling this one off.
It's also an engaging and watchable show in its own right. And probably the only page on TV Tropes where you can never have a spoiler, as anyone from Europe or North America should have the essential outline of the story before watching!
While I like it and respect it, one caveat... you cannot watch for longer than a couple of minutes without Monty Python's Life of Brian coming to mind. You can't. You really can't. The crowd scenes, the multiple crucifixions, the bit where Jesus heals a leper... ("Alms for an ex-leper!") Sorry, and I know that's a bad association of ideas, but this is probably inevitable.
Just... give it a try. It's engaging and appealing as well as something that makes a case for the best sort of Christianity.
Series I like it, but...
I came to this series as a born-again agnostic who has been through Christianity and came out again on the other side. Even though I remain an agnostic, it isn't for want of a determined try by Dallas Jenkins. This show came further than anything to getting me back and that is a compliment.
Hearing American money was backing a TV drama show based on the Biblical life of Jesus, I feared the worst - that it was inevitably going to reflect the very worst of contemporary American religion - that it would push a narrow fundamentalist viewpoint combined with right-wing politics, or else be a vehicle for spurious televangelists demanding money.
I'm so very pleased to say I was wrong.
Crowd-funding means the producers had complete creative freedom to do it as they think it should be done - no big money interests making demands. There are no references to contemporary political issues or schools of thought. Above all, Dallas Jenkins and the production crew have been VERY careful not to be partisan or denominational. In a religion like Christianity, this matters. This is a show a Roman Catholic could watch alongside a Southern Baptist or a Russian Orthodox believer or a Church of England communicant. It's the common story, the joint strand, the unifying factor, the proof that however or wherever you go to church on a Sunday, whatever your background and tradition in the Church, there's more that unites than divides. Kudos to Dallas for pulling this one off.
It's also an engaging and watchable show in its own right. And probably the only page on TV Tropes where you can never have a spoiler, as anyone from Europe or North America should have the essential outline of the story before watching!
While I like it and respect it, one caveat... you cannot watch for longer than a couple of minutes without Monty Python's Life of Brian coming to mind. You can't. You really can't. The crowd scenes, the multiple crucifixions, the bit where Jesus heals a leper... ("Alms for an ex-leper!") Sorry, and I know that's a bad association of ideas, but this is probably inevitable.
Just... give it a try. It's engaging and appealing as well as something that makes a case for the best sort of Christianity.