SodomРІР‚в„ўs destruction occurs before the flood as an РІР‚Сљobject lesson for the rest of the worldРІР‚Сњ, while in the Bible, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah appears ten chapters after Noah and his family emerge from the ark. Other areas that Block points out as exploitations of the biblical text include: One observer said the film reduced Noah to the РІР‚СљHomer Simpson of the ark.РІР‚Сњ On the one hand, he is admired for the manner in which he is able to relate to God, but on the other, he is a buffoon, a drunk and a madman,РІР‚Сњ Block said. РІР‚СљEven then the filmРІР‚в„ўs portrait of Noah is ambivalent. РІР‚СљI didnРІР‚в„ўt realize drinking could help your relationship with God so much,РІР‚Сњ Davis quipped.Р”В«lock said NBC/HallmarkРІР‚в„ўs interpretation of Genesis depicts Noah as a mixture of biblical characters, including Abraham when he intercedes on behalf of Sodom and Moses when he is called to meet with God on a mountaintop. Noah is drunk in several scenes and most often talks to God after he has been drinking. Most student comments were reflected in these two: РІР‚СљI wanted to quit watching after 15 minutes,РІР‚Сњ and РІР‚СљThere is nothing redemptive about this film.РІР‚Сњ Other students said that about the РІР‚Сљonly thing they got rightРІР‚Сњ was the general shape of the ark. Others indicated that sin and repentance were made to РІР‚Сљlook silly.РІР‚Сњ

Several of the students who viewed the movie saw it as a jab at the authenticity of the Scriptures. РІР‚СљThis film makes God totally irrelevant, РІР‚Сњ said Scott Davis, a master of divinity student from Hollywood, Fla. РІР‚СљUnfortunately, the television screen provides the only РІР‚ВBibleРІР‚в„ў many people ever РІР‚Вread.РІР‚в„ў For those for whom this is the case, this film has as little correspondence to biblical truth as candy and chocolates have to nutrition and dental hygiene.РІР‚Сњ Those who know the Bible might be able to pass off the NBC/Hallmark production as simple entertainment, he said. РІР‚В¦ This film confirms a non-ChristianРІР‚в„ўs sense of freedom to think about God however he or she wants,РІР‚Сњ said Block, who worries that viewers may deem such РІР‚СљfreedomРІР‚Сњ as acceptable. Viewers will РІР‚Сљlearn nothing truthful about the Bible from this movie. Accordingly, any reader is invited to find whatever meaning he/she wants in the text.РІР‚Сњ Such a view of the Bible, he said, РІР‚Сљinsists that the meaning of the biblical text resides in the reader, rather than on authorial intent. The Hallmark production, which airs May 2-3 on NBC, also is РІР‚Сљa graphic illustration of a postmodern hermeneutic at its worst,РІР‚Сњ Block noted. Apart from the saving grace of God, our fate is the same as that of NoahРІР‚в„ўs contemporaries and that of Sodom,РІР‚Сњ he said. РІР‚СљThis is a shameless perversion of the truth as it is presented in Scripture: It is not God that needs us, but that we need him, desperately. God is reduced to an equal with man,РІР‚Сњ Block said. The film closes with a РІР‚Сљdivine declaration ringing in the ears of the viewer: Mankind needs no help from God.

In a conversation between God and Noah, the Hallmark production depicts God as admitting that he can be wrong and that he needs man as much as man needs him. Throughout the film God is РІР‚Сљpresented alternately as confused, indecisive, foolish and weak,РІР‚Сњ Block wrote in a critique after viewing the movie.Р”В«lockРІР‚в„ўs entire critique can be found on the Southern Seminary Internet site, Hallmark Entertainment was contacted for reaction but no response was received by Baptist Press at deadline April 29.Р”В«lock, in his critique, said he found the closing lines a disturbing example of an irreverent distortion of GodРІР‚в„ўs character. The movie is produced by Hallmark Entertainment, a subsidiary of Hallmark cards. Block also was disturbed by the graphic violence in the film, especially in light of the school shooting in Littleton, Colo.Р”В«lock and some of his students previewed the upcoming NBC miniseries РІР‚СљNoahРІР‚в„ўs ArkРІР‚Сњ in his Louisville home on April 27. For Daniel Block, professor of Old Testament interpretation at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., itРІР‚в„ўs a twisting of the biblical account of Noah and a РІР‚Сљshameless perversionРІР‚Сњ of the character of God. (BP)РІР‚вЂњSome may say itРІР‚в„ўs just a movie, just entertainment.

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