The Bible (miniseries)

The series covers "Genesis to Revelation" in "one grand narrative," with each episode containing two or three biblical stories told through live action and computer-generated imagery. According to Burnett, it included "obvious" stories such as Noah's Ark, the Exodus, and the life of Jesus Christ. Five hours are taken from the Old Testament, five from the New. "Part of what we hoped to accomplish with the series was to show the Bible is not simply a collection of unconnected stories which are often discussed and analyzed in snippets with chapter and verse numbers," the pair wrote in an op-ed in The Huffington Post. "Instead, we wanted to show how the Old Testament connects seamlessly to the New Testament. How they are one sweeping story with one grand, overriding message: God loves each one of us as if we were the only person in all the world to love." ==Cast==

• Paul Knops as Adam • Darcie Lincoln as Eve • David Rintoul as Noah • Gary Oliver as Abraham • Josephine Butler as Sarah • Antonio Magro as Lot • Rachel Edwards as Lot's wife • Soraya Radford as Hagar • Lonyo as the Guardian Angel • Liang Yang as the Warrior Angel • Hugo Rossi as Isaac • Joe Forte as Young Moses • Shivani Ghai as Batya • Sean Teale as Young Ramesses • Aharon Ipalé as the Pharaoh • Will Houston as Moses • Stewart Scudamore as Ramesses • Sean Knopp as Young Joshua • Louis Hilyer as Aaron • Joanna Foster as Miriam • Andrew Scarborough as Joshua • Stephanie Leonidas as Rahab • Terrence Maynard as the Commander of the Lord's Army • Nonso Anozie as Samson • Sharon Duncan-Brewster as Samson's Mother • Julian Lewis Jones as the Angel of the Lord • Kierston Wareing as Delilah • Paul Freeman as Samuel • Francis Magee as Saul • Laurie Calvert as Young Jonathan • Jassa Ahluwalia as Young David • Conan Stevens as Goliath • Langley Kirkwood as David • Cristian Solimeno as Jonathan • Hara Yannas as Michal • Dhaffer L'Abidine as Uriah • Melia Kreiling as Bathsheba • Clive Wood as Nathan • Peter Guinness as Nebuchadnezzar • Raad Rawi as Jeremiah • Samuel Collings as Zedekiah • Jake Canuso as Daniel • Christopher Simon as Azariah • Gerald Kyd as Cyrus • Sam Douglas as Herod • Joe Coen as Joseph • Leila Mimmack as Young Mary • Eddie Elks as Angel Gabriel • Patrice Naiambana Balthazar • Rick Bacon as Herod Antipas • Greg Hicks as Pilate • Daniel Percival as John the Baptist • Diogo Morgado as Jesus • Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni as Satan • Darwin Shaw as Peter • Paul Marc Davis as Simon the Pharisee • Sebastian Knapp as John • Louise Delamere as Claudia • Fraser Ayres as Barabbas • Matthew Gravelle as Thomas • Joe Wredden as Judas • Amber Rose Revah as Mary Magdalene • Simon Kunz as Nicodemus • Adrian Schiller as Caiaphas • Roma Downey as Mary • Paul Brightwell as Malchus • Michael Legge as Stephen • Con O'Neill as Paul • Nick Moss as Ananias • Ben Aldridge as Luke • Michael Nardonne as Cornelius ==Episodes==

in 2009 In May 2011, The New York Times reported that Downey, Burnett and their production team were selecting stories for the series, with production scheduled to begin in 2012 for a 2013 broadcast. Helen Bond, Paula Gooder, Mark Goodacre and Candida Moss. Shooting took place in Morocco and elsewhere. Another consultant, Focus on the Family President Jim Daly, applauded the couple's courage for making the series: "Let's face it, it takes some moxie to lift up the Bible in the middle of Hollywood. In fact, when they first proposed the project they were told to try and tell the story without mentioning Jesus. They refused." Other project advisors included: • Rick Warren (pastor, Saddleback Church) • Erwin McManus (pastor, Mosaic) • Sam Rodriguez (National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference) • Paul Eshleman (Campus Crusade for Christ) • Bobby Gruenewald (YouVersion Bible) • Brad Lomenick (Catalyst) • Leith Anderson (president, National Association of Evangelicals) • Frank Wright (president, National Religious Broadcasters) • Tom Peterson (Catholics Come Home) • Gabe Lyons (founder of the Fermi Project) • Luis Palau (Christian evangelist) • George Wood (General Superintendent of the General Council of the Assemblies of God in the United States of America) • Craig Groeschel (Life Church) • Denny Rydberg (Young Life) • Andrew Benton (president, Pepperdine University) Days before the series premiere, Downey and Burnett authored an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal arguing that Bible teaching should be mandatory in U.S. public schools because "(t)he foundations of knowledge of the ancient world – which informs the understanding of the modern world – are biblical in origin." ==Reception==

TV ratings The opening episode of the series premiered to very high ratings. The miniseries was watched by 13.1 million total viewers, according to Nielsen. The second installment saw a ratings slippage, but still brought in 10.8 million viewers, tops in all television for the 8–10 p.m. time period. Week three's installment, meanwhile, garnered 10.9 million total viewers. At Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 45 out of 100 based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Allan Yuhas of The Guardian compared the series to reality TV, as well as criticizing the lack of ethnic minorities in major roles. Distribution On March 19, 2013, Roma Downey and Mark Burnett offered remarks on the viewership and its anticipated diffusion. He said: "We've realized, on the journey around the country to churches and all over the place, many people cannot afford cable TV. And those people need to see this Bible series. So we're rushing the DVD out April 2nd, also immediately with Spanish subtitles. This is very important. And this is only for America and Canada. Now we're about to start around the world. This will be in every country of the world. More people will see this series than everything we ever made together, combined. Billions of people will see this series. Billions." ==Differences from the Bible==

In the introduction to each episode, the message is displayed "This program is an adaptation of Bible stories that changed our world. It endeavors to stay true to the spirit of the Book." Roma Downey stated in an interview, "we had a great team of scholars and theologians helping us, making sure that we told these stories accurately and truthfully". A few of the cases of artistic license that have raised comment include: • In the Bible, Noah's three sons are fully grown men, whereas in the TV series they are depicted as boys. • Abraham is depicted as begging his nephew Lot not to part ways with him, whereas in Genesis they part amicably and Abraham encourages Lot's decision. • In the Book of Genesis, the angelic visitors were approached by Lot, who insisted they stay with him. Then they feasted with Lot in his home. The series shows the angels approaching Lot and begging for help with no hospitality extended to them. (Genesis 19:1-5) • The text describes a mob gathered outside of Lot's home wanting to rape his two angelic visitors, and Lot offering his daughters instead. The series omits this. (Genesis 19:4-10) • The series shows Sarah running after Abraham once she realizes he is going to sacrifice Isaac. This is not in the text. (Genesis 22:1-19) • In the Binding of Isaac, the text describes an adult ram caught by its horns in a thicket. The miniseries depicts a juvenile lamb caught by its leg. (Genesis 22:13) • Moses's sister Miriam is depicted as a slave and as younger than him, while in the biblical story she is significantly older and has been watching out for him since he was a baby. • The Bible text says that Samson tied torches on 300 foxes' tails, causing them to burn the Philistines' crops and plants. This was because Samson was angry with his father-in-law for giving his wife to another man. When they heard this they burned Samson's wife and her father to death (Judges 15: 4–6). In the series the Philistine commander has Samson's wife and her father put to death as a consequence for marrying Samson because he was an Israelite. • The incident in which Saul makes an unlawful sacrifice to God before the prophet Samuel arrives takes place before the famous Battle of Michmash. In the Bible, it was when he spared King Agag of the Amalekites that Saul was denounced as king by Samuel and the Lord, several years after King Saul's unlawful sacrifice. • When the Babylonians destroy Jerusalem, Jeremiah is depicted as escaping unnoticed by the invaders. In the text Jeremiah is captured, bound in chains and later released. Thus, Isaiah could never have existed contemporaneously with Daniel and Cyrus. (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1; 45:13). • In the miniseries' depiction of the Temptation of Christ, the Devil takes Jesus to a high mountain where he tempts Jesus to throw himself down. In the text, the Devil tempted Jesus to throw himself down from the pinnacle of the temple. The high mountain was where the devil tempted Jesus to worship him. Lookalike controversy There have been claims of a resemblance of the actor in the role of Satan (Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni) to then-U.S. President Barack Obama. The resemblance was first pointed out notably by Glenn Beck ahead of the episode's premiere. This led the History Channel to announce: Burnett and Downey responded in a joint statement that "This is utter nonsense" and that the actor, Mehdi Ouazanni, had previously played Satanic characters long before Barack Obama was elected as president. The 44th GMA Dove Awards gave a tribute to the miniseries in October, 2013. In 2014, The Bible won the honor of Home Media Magazine's Best Miniseries or TV Movie on Disc that year. It also was awarded the Epiphany Prize for Inspiring Television and the Grace Award (presented to Roma Downey) by MovieGuide at the 2014 MovieGuide Awards. ==Other media==

International broadcasts • – History: March 3, 2013 – March 31, 2013 • – History: March 3, 2013 – March 31, 2013 • – Antena 3: March 25, 2013 – April 2013 • – Alfa TV: Premiered December 1, 2013 • – Caracol TV: March 28, 2013 – April 2013 • – Canal 13: March 29, 2013 – April 2013 / March 30, 2018 • – SIC: March 30–31, 2013 • – Nine Network: Premiered July 16, 2013 • – Rede Record: Premiered October 16, 2013 • – Polsat: Premiered October 19, 2013 • – TVB Pearl: Premiered November 6, 2013 • – KTN: Premiered October 7, 2013 • – Paris Première: Premiered December 8, 2013 • – TV3 (Ireland): December 21, 2013 • – Slovenská televízia: Premiered December 23, 2013 • – TV-3: Premiered January 2014 • – Rete 4: Premiered March 23, 2014 • – Canal 5: April 14, 2014 – April 19, 2014 / March 26, 2018 – March 30, 2018 / April 15, 2019 – April 19, 2019 (Holy Week special) • – Teletica Canal 7: April 17–18, 2014 • – ABS-CBN: April 17–19, 2014 / April 13–15, 2017 / March 29–31, 2018 / April 18–19, 2019 / April 9–11, 2020; Cinema One: April 19–20, 2019 / April 9–11, 2020; Kapamilya Channel and A2Z: April 1–3, 2021 / April 14–16, 2022; GMA: April 6–8, 2023 (Holy Week special) / October 27, 2024 – April 27, 2025 (weekly program) • – América Televisión: April 6, 2014 – April –, 2014 • – EO: Premiered May 12, 2014 • – VOX: April 17, 2014 – April 19, 2014 • – Ecuavisa, Ecuavisa HD: April 5, 2014 – April 19, 2014 • – LBCI: April 10, 2014 – April 20, 2014. • – Telemundo: March 25, 2015 • – Australian Christian Channel DVD release The series became the biggest-selling miniseries on DVD in its first week of release, and biggest on Blu-ray and Digital HD of all time. In its first week on home video, The Bible series sold 525,000 copies. It was the fastest selling television show on DVD since 2008. A Blu-ray version is also available via 20th Century Fox. Novel Roma Downey and Mark Burnett have also released a novelization of this miniseries, entitled A Story of God and All of Us: A Novel Based on the Epic TV Miniseries "The Bible." It debuted at No. 27 on the New York Times Best-Seller List. Soundtrack A CD was released on March 12, 2013, with Christian music singers performing songs inspired by the miniseries: Score Theatrical release Mark Burnett announced in April 2013 that a version of the miniseries was being prepared for global theatrical release. In September 2013, it was announced that 20th Century Fox would partner with Burnett on theatrical distribution on the film, which was titled Son of God. Son of God was released on February 28, 2014. ==Sequel – A.D.==

On December 17, 2013, it was announced that there would be a follow-up miniseries in 2015, titled A.D. The Bible Continues, also produced by Burnett, Downey, and Bedser. The limited series began airing on NBC on Easter Sunday, April 5. It airs in twelve weekly one-hour episodes. The story takes place immediately after the events of The Bible, beginning with the Crucifixion and Resurrection, and continues with the first ten chapters of the Book of Acts. On July 3, 2015, NBC canceled A.D. The Bible Continues after one season. However, producers Burnett and Downey plan future biblical productions on their OTT digital channel. ==See also==