Last week, Tami, the Worship Director at our church, invited
her team of Worship Hosts to see the movie Noah. It was a brilliant way to express thanks for
the work of these volunteers. I had been
looking forward to seeing the movie, so I took the opportunity to go and bring
my almost-14-year-old son, Luke.
Movies and movie makers fascinate me, especially larger than
life epic movies. I stand in awe of
their ability to take us to another place and lead us through emotional and
intellectual journeys. In short, I love
their ability to tell stories.
As much as I appreciate movie-makers, anyone who would want
to take on a topic that has anything to do with the Bible must be a little
crazy. For many, the Bible is not just
ancient mythology, it’s core to their beliefs and identity; I’m in that group.
There are billions of people in thousands of faith groups who have widely
divergent beliefs around Noah and the flood. Many (including the entire Muslim,
Christian and Jewish world) hold Noah and the flood as a core part of their
faith. Many in my tribe will view the movie through a Christian prism, but more
than that, through a Christian prism specific to a small segment of
Christianity. It’s difficult to set aside the prism through which we see the
world. Making movies from content that is so ideologically charged seems
destined to create controversy.
So if the Bible can mean so many different things to so many
different people, what is it?
Is it history? Sure. The Bible gives us an account. It traces a thread through time that guides
us from the distant past - in fact, from the very beginning. But it’s hardly a
complete documentation of history.
Is it science? Maybe somewhat. At least it speaks in a broad
sense to some scientific issues. But is
it a complete text of how things work? Certainly not. It gives us some
touchstones and opens a universe for us to explore and study and question.
Is it an instruction manual? To be sure, it does contain
great wisdom and many guidelines for everything from diet to childrearing to
business dealings. But does it contain a
step-by-step troubling shooting guide for every situation? I don’t think so.
Is it a fact book to test history, science, and behavior? Or
is it something more?
More than anything else, the Bible is a story. Not a story
like the time I came home muddy and late from school to find Ms. Mary waiting
at the door. With her kind face flowing
up out of her billowing dress and doing her best to look stern she asked where
I’d been. When I made up a lame excuse
like “a car splashed through a puddle and soaked me,” she knew I’d been chasing
tadpoles in a drainage ditch and chided me for “telling stories.”
The Bible is not that kind of story. Rather, it’s a story in the best sense. Used well, stories convey a point, and at
their best that point is a deeper truth. I believe the Bible is a story meant
to convey the best and deepest truth.
So in an attempt to hear the story and screen out what I
knew would be many competing voices of concern, I intentionally avoided any
reviews, debates, or even conversation about the movie. Rather, I wanted to go into the movie with
two questions: 1) What is the point of the biblical story of Noah. 2) What is
the point of the movie? If the point or
points of the movie were in harmony with the point of the biblical story, was
that enough?
The movie challenged me, and afterward we enjoyed a lively
conversation. We talked about biblical
accuracy, the length of time on the Ark, who was on the Ark, the depiction and
purpose of fallen angels, the scope and duration of the flood, the people left
behind, the moral character of Noah, and we had some deeper conversations about
how it portrayed God. It seems that some of the “facts” of the movie didn’t
harmonize with our understanding of the story.
Later, I began to read some of the many reviews. I also read and re-read the biblical account.
There is plenty to read about the movie.
Like our little group, some are appalled, some are thrilled, and many
are in between. But almost all of the
debate centers around the facts; there is very little discussion about the
point.
So I return to the questions I brought into the movie. What
is the point of the story? It seems an easy question, but I didn’t come out
with any clear answer. It seems that we
are likely to carry out whatever point we carry in. One reviewer said in essence, “it’s just a
movie, go be entertained, but don’t look for a meaning.” While I agree that we
could all be a little less critical, I’m not satisfied to separate God from a
story about Noah. In fact, I’m much more
inclined to search for God in a Transformers movie then remove God from Noah.
I saw a story of grace and redemption in the movie, but I’ll admit that I was looking to find that, and someone else could just as easily have seen a God of vengeance and destruction. So how was the movie?
On our way home after exposing my son first to the movie and
then to the discussion, with some trepidation I asked, “What is the point of
the Noah story?” His simple and deep answer? “God is powerful enough to destroy
evil.”
Hmm . . . I can live with that. In fact that’s pretty good.
While I stood ready to correct all kinds of theological
error, I now realize that he came without prejudgements, and he got it. It’s
not the complete story of God, but it’s plenty to get from this movie. It’s a
true and deep point of the Bible that can be woven together with the rest of
the points to tell the story of God’s love and redemption.
So in the end, I’ll simply say thank you to Darren Aronofsky
for telling a story that conveyed the point.
Here are a couple reviews that I found enjoyable:
Have you seen the movie?
What did you think?
(Please only comment if you’ve actually seen the movie and
have an informed opinion.)
John Monday
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