Another epic Bible based movie is arriving in theater’s near you. This time it is a remake of the classic “The Ten Commandments”. The popularity of such movies is at first gratifying to those who believe the Bible. However, upon further reflection those who believe the Bible to be the Word of God do well to be troubled by the many fantastic and fictitious elements added into the movies.
Every film treatment of Biblical stories is going to inevitably add some things in that are not part of the Biblical account. Sometimes these are details that are just not recorded, like the color of Jesus’ robes. However, many times these movies also add a lot of dialogue, people and events and that are not found in the Biblical accounts. They are pure fantasy. To some this may not seem like a big deal, but the additions often result in a message communicated that is very different from the message of the Bible. This makes it imperative that those who watch these movies be able to separate truth from Hollywood fiction.
To separate truth from error, the first and most obvious and most obvious place to start is the Bible. Open it up and read for yourself what the Bible actually says about a person or event. However, if you are wanting to find out about the life of Moses, you have to know where to start. There are many tools available to help you, but a simple search online will give you a pretty good idea of where to start reading to find out for yourself. This is a great starting place, but I know that even if you know where to look in the Bible to find the information you want the task can be pretty daunting. For example, if you want to know the truth about the life of Jesus, you would need to read and compare four entire books of the Bible, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Now, I of course highly recommend you read and study all four of the gospels, but I realize not everyone is going to dig into books of the Bible like to discover the facts for themselves.
To help speed you along the process of discovery, I recommend a couple other handy resources. The easiest and most useful way to find out what is Biblical truth is to find a good church in your area that teaches the Bible (and by that I mean that reads the Bible during the service and then clearly explains what it means). Meet the pastor and ask him to explain to you the truths of the Bible and the differences between the movie and the Bible.
If you know someone who attends church regularly talk to them about the movie and see what things they noticed that were different from the Bible. Another option is to submit a question here or on our Facebook page. One of our pastors will be happy to answer the question and any other follow up questions you may have. If you look, you can find someone nearby who will be glad to talk to you about what the Bible really says.
Finally, don’t believe everything you see in the movies. I know, that seems kind of obvious, but sometimes people tend to believe movies about the Bible as if they are straight from the Bible. They never are. Don’t imagine that you know what the Bible says or what it teaches because you have seen a movie. Sometimes the facts are added to and embellished some for the sake of making a movie. Many times movies make major changes that end up changing the entire story or the whole purpose of the Biblical account. Don’t believe everything you see. Even if you don’t care to find out the facts for yourself, don’t believe the movie.
Everlasting Truths 