Darren Aronofsky's new movie Noah hits theaters on March 28, 2014. Early screenings question Aronofsky's decisions to create a nemesis for Noah, to throw in 6-arm angelic beasts, and to heighten Noah's environmentalist concerns. These script elements that go off-Scripture may lose traditional religious audiences.
I, for one, have found the epic feel of the trailers released so far to be intriguing. Turning a Sunday School story often geared toward children into a CGI-enhanced epic with the tumultuous emotions and decisions of each character embodied by world-class actors is quite a feat.
As I watched the trailers and spoke with a media company representative about the film location in Oyster Bay New York and Iceland, I had no concerns about a cheesy religious film. I'm pumped to see Aronofsky create narrative elements for his portrayal of Noah the environmentalist gladiator. My concern is the historical context. That is my speciality as a biblical historian. So I thought I'd write a few blogs on the historical context of Genesis 6-11 to share what Hebrew and Sumerian scholars have learned about the ancient flood and Tower of Babel stories. No surprise, much of what is still taught in churches and children's Bibles has been updated through recent research.
I, for one, have found the epic feel of the trailers released so far to be intriguing. Turning a Sunday School story often geared toward children into a CGI-enhanced epic with the tumultuous emotions and decisions of each character embodied by world-class actors is quite a feat.
As I watched the trailers and spoke with a media company representative about the film location in Oyster Bay New York and Iceland, I had no concerns about a cheesy religious film. I'm pumped to see Aronofsky create narrative elements for his portrayal of Noah the environmentalist gladiator. My concern is the historical context. That is my speciality as a biblical historian. So I thought I'd write a few blogs on the historical context of Genesis 6-11 to share what Hebrew and Sumerian scholars have learned about the ancient flood and Tower of Babel stories. No surprise, much of what is still taught in churches and children's Bibles has been updated through recent research.
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