The holy Bible is authored by God Almighty, and He has unequivocally denied anyone "artistic license" concerning His Word. In the holy Scriptures, God reveals Himself as—Savior to those He graciously and mercifully grants the gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ alone, and the Righteous Judge who will forever cast into Hell, all those who disobey and deny Him.
In the holy Bible, God reveals that only those who've been granted new life in Christ can actually understand the Bible, and alone are empowered by Christ to do what it says (Phil 2:13, Heb 11:6).
"Now we have received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
"The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned."
~1 Corinthians 2:12-14 (ESV)
Which is why everything Roma Downey and her husband Mark Burnett have produced about the Bible is full of blasphemy and heresy. They can't help it. They're not saved. That's why we need to pray for them and share the true Gospel of God's grace with them. If Christians continue to support their work, they will only be led further into their delusion.Demonstrate the true love of Christ, and urge them to repent (Mk 1:15).
Though there's a grave misconception in the Christian community, the truth is, Roma Downey and Mark Burnett are not Christians. They don't even profess to be true Christians. They profess to be a mix of New Age and Roman Catholic religions—by their own words and by the rituals they choose to follow.
Roma Downey graduated in 2010 from the University of Santa Monica, a private, New Age, unaccredited graduate school where she received her master's degree in Spiritual Psychology. She's also proudly connected with necromancer John Edward, who, to her joy was able to "channel" her dead mother so she could talk to her on February 3, 2002 of "Crossing Over With John Edward".
Roma Downey graduated in 2010 from the University of Santa Monica, a private, New Age, unaccredited graduate school where she received her master's degree in Spiritual Psychology. She's also proudly connected with necromancer John Edward, who, to her joy was able to "channel" her dead mother so she could talk to her on February 3, 2002 of "Crossing Over With John Edward".
The title of Burnett and Downey's latest project "A.D. The Bible Continues", similar to their previous work, is inaccurate. A more suitable title for what the television show conveys would be "A.D. The Bible As We'd Like It To Be".
This show is no different from not-"The Bible" miniseries and not-"The Son of God" movie. Just as these previous productions created new scenes and dialogue that are not found in the real Bible, with dramatic music and excessive, mystical imagery, 'A.D.' proves to flop in facts, but succeeds in fallacious depictions of Christ, His apostles, His disciples and other people who played a role in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus the true Son of God.Because television shows and movies have to tell their story in an established period of time (between one to two hours, generally) producers have to decide to either stick with the facts, or interject their own interpretations of what they'd like to see happen in each scene. If the makers of a movie decide to interject their own interpretations, for time-keeping sake, they must remove some truth.
In the case of 'A.D.' due to Burnett and Downey's infusion of an exuberant amount of scenes and dialogue from their imaginations about God, there was less room in this production than the previous ones, for actual facts. Similar to my review of not-"The Bible" miniseries and not-"The Son of God" movie, there were too many errors in 'A.D.' for me to list everything they left out. So I made a short list (and yes, this is actually short) of true and necessary facts that were ignored in the first episode of 'A.D.'
Below are some of the scenes that are crucial to the Gospel, yet omitted from 'A.D.'
- No Gethsemane where Jesus surrenders His will for the Father's will, proving selflessness and perfect obedience;
- No rooster crowing, a sign to Peter that Jesus knew He would deny Him;
- No bitter weeping of repentance from Peter after he denies Christ, but rather he's quite happy to be "able to get away";
- No Jews saying, "We have no king but Caesar." (Jn 19:15) showing their betrayal to God in order to kill someone they were envious of (Mt 27:18);
- No choosing of Barabbas (an insurrectionist and murderer) over Jesus who is the Christ;
- No salvation of one of the criminals hung alongside Jesus, an essential demonstration that repentance and faith in Christ alone saves, not the works of man;
- No crowds, chief priests and scribes jeering at Christ while He suffers on the cross, proving the utter depravity and wickedness of men even in the midst of horrific suffering;
- No asking for forgiveness of those jeering at Him (Lk 23:34) or His last words, "Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit." a necessary demonstration of Luke 6:35-36 and proof that He willingly gave up His life and chose the time of His death rather than have His life taken from Him—because he is God and God is sovereign (Lk 23:46);
- No water and blood flowing from Jesus' spear-pierced side;
- No centurion proclaiming "Truly this man was the Son of God." (Mt 15:39).
However, some of what was irreverently inserted were the following scenes.
- The high priest Caiaphas' wife rudely tells Joseph of Arimathea (another council member) to hush up and often rebukes him harshly (as he cowers and submits to her), though this kind of behavior is considered highly inappropriate for women of this time, and an especially vulgar behavior for a wife of a priest;
- Claudia, Pontus Pilate's wife knows more than Pilate and rather than desire to set Jesus free (as it's written in the real Bible, Lk 23:20-22), in this Hollywood-hyped version of the Bible, Pontus Pilate wants Jesus dead;
- The apostle John says in one scene after Jesus' crucifixion, "He [Jesus] understood our weaknesses. He loved us for it. He died for it." This preposterous and heretical statement completely denies why Christ came and what He died for and what He loved. Jesus loves the Father, He loves the holy commandments, He loves righteousness and He hates sins. But He loves those He came to save, so He took on what He hated in order to save those He loved.
- A comical, comet-like fire ball descends from the sky and lands in a form of a man in armor, supposing to be an angel who unsheathes his sword in order to roll away the stone from Jesus' tomb.
Though Jesus provided equality to women, He did this without usurping His Father God's hierarchy and order within the family and the church. In God's sight, women are equally loved and valued by God, but have different roles than men.
But as in their previous productions, Burnett and Downey make Mary Magdalene one of the apostles (who were only men) rather than one of the many disciples of Jesus (that included men and women). She's also the lead apostle who has more faith than anyone, confronts Peter about his denial of Jesus, shames Peter, and rebukes Peter and John for not having enough faith. By the way, this wasn't just my imagination, the actress (Chipo Chung) who plays Mary Magdalene expressed in a Christian Post interview, "But when you look at the actual material and where she [Mary Magdalene] was, she was there at the resurrection, she was the first witness and as many of the early Christian writings said, she was the apostle of apostles." I have no idea what early "Christian" writings she's referring to since no orthodox Christian writings claim any woman to be an apostle of Christ.
But as in their previous productions, Burnett and Downey make Mary Magdalene one of the apostles (who were only men) rather than one of the many disciples of Jesus (that included men and women). She's also the lead apostle who has more faith than anyone, confronts Peter about his denial of Jesus, shames Peter, and rebukes Peter and John for not having enough faith. By the way, this wasn't just my imagination, the actress (Chipo Chung) who plays Mary Magdalene expressed in a Christian Post interview, "But when you look at the actual material and where she [Mary Magdalene] was, she was there at the resurrection, she was the first witness and as many of the early Christian writings said, she was the apostle of apostles." I have no idea what early "Christian" writings she's referring to since no orthodox Christian writings claim any woman to be an apostle of Christ.
NBC's own description of Mary Magdalene's role in this fictitious adaptation of the God's holy Word says, "Feisty and clever, Mary Magdalene is the backbone and moral conscience of the Apostles group. Always working tirelessly for the movement, she is relied upon to pick up where others falter, and takes risks that sometimes cause her to be labeled negatively by society."
I've decided I don't need to watch the next 11 episodes of this malicious butchering of my Father God's holy Scriptures. It's evident that Roma Downey and Mark Burnett have not wavered from their artistic ability to desecrate the name of Jesus in order to make Him more appealing to the world. I have great pity for these two poor souls and lovingly pray for them and others who've been bewitched by their craft.
The jesus depicted by Downey and Burnett will never measure up to the true and awesome Jesus of the Bible who said these things:
"The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me [Jesus] because I testify about it that its works are evil.
"So Jesus again said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them... My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand.
"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness"
~John 7:7, 10:7-8, 27-28; 2 Tim 2:15-16 (ESV)
Rather than give yourself over to anger for insults (Prov 19:11), be mindful of the Scriptures when you encounter those who oppose you for staying true to God's Word.
"And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
"For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."
~2 Timothy 2:24-26, 4:3-5 (ESV)
