{"id":5464,"date":"2013-02-11T11:52:24","date_gmt":"2013-02-11T19:52:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/?p=5464"},"modified":"2013-02-11T11:52:24","modified_gmt":"2013-02-11T19:52:24","slug":"putting-a-bit-of-the-new-testament-into-the-old","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2013\/02\/putting-a-bit-of-the-new-testament-into-the-old.html","title":{"rendered":"Putting a bit of the New Testament into the Old"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>I just came across a few more videos from The Bible<\/a><\/i>, the mini-series that premieres on the History Channel next month.<\/p>\n

In one<\/a>, the actress who plays Samson\u2019s mother describes her character as \u201ca woman who\u2019s been given a gift from God of a very special child who\u2019s predestined to do very special things, and I guess that\u2019s a little connection to another story that we all know very well.\u201d She goes on to say, \u201cI guess I found it difficult to embody a character who knows that her child is going to die.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s an interesting detail, as the biblical version of Samson\u2019s mother<\/a> is given no such knowledge. She knows her child will be special, but not that he will die. So it seems the filmmakers may be making her even more<\/i> like the Virgin Mary \u2014 which makes you wonder if they\u2019re going to make Samson more of a Christ-figure, too, and thus more pious or noble than the somewhat buffoonish character who appears in the Bible<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in the other<\/a> video, we get a glimpse of the three angels who visit Abraham to tell him that his wife will have a son \u2014 and it seems that these angels might represent the three major racial groups, just as the Three Wise Men have long been depicted in art and film as representatives of the Asian, African and European continents (or, if you prefer, as descendents of Shem, Ham and Japheth).<\/p>\n

This, of course, would not be the first time that filmmakers have borrowed elements from later scriptures to inform earlier ones. In the 1956 version of The Ten Commandments<\/a><\/i>, for example, a star proclaims the birth of Moses, just as a star proclaimed the birth of Jesus; and in the 1928 version of Noah\u2019s Ark<\/a><\/i>, God speaks to Noah on a mountain \u2014 through a burning bush! \u2014 just like he did for Moses.<\/p>\n

These video clips reveal a few other interesting details as well.<\/p>\n

For starters, there is the fact that Sharon Duncan-Brewster, the actress playing Samson\u2019s mother, will be playing her character from youth to old age, and the make-up on her is pretty good \u2014 which makes you wonder why they didn\u2019t take the same approach for the Virgin Mary, who will apparently be played by two different actresses: one, whose name I do not know, for the Nativity sequence, and another, co-producer Roma Downey, for the sequences when Jesus is grown-up.<\/p>\n

Then there are the angels, who apparently protect Lot\u2019s family (and themselves) from the would-be rapists of Sodom and Gomorrah by using swords rather than anything more, y\u2019know, supernatural<\/a>. I guess swords are more \u201cexciting<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n

I have included links to the videos above, but I will embed them here, too. First, Samson\u2019s mother:<\/p>\n