A.D. The Bible Continues review

A little background about me (just a tiny bit, I promise), I love to study the early church and have read many historical works from the time of Jesus and through the first few centuries of Christianity. So the history found in A.D. The Bible Continues is something that fancies me so it was impossible for me not to watch this show.

I love it! I'm caught up to "Saul's Return" and have found it phenomenal.

But I have been asked how historically accurate it is. The answer to that is it is mostly historically accurate. There are a few discrepancies and I'll discuss a few in a minute, but it is important to note that the show is 90% not historical, but fiction derived from the history. There is only about 10% history referenced at all in the show. The rest is an adventurous fiction derived from the history (like most historical fiction is).

There are so many things I like about the fiction they have created surrounding the history. If you read Josephus or Tacitus or even Acts, there is very little emotion expressed in those writings. It is clear they are meant to record history. This show is not meant to tell history as if it were a documentary. It is meant to express the emotion felt during that time and I believe it is doing a great job of it!

The rivalry between Saul and Peter was so well done. The tension in Jerusalem from the Roman presence, Pilate and Caiaphas and their wives, it really makes it all so personal. The persecution of the early church coupled with its growth. How the apostles probably did a lot of hiding from the authorities. It's a great show.

So now that I talk about the small things I don't like or wish they had done differently, do not let them keep you from watching it. It is still a good show.

The few discrepancies I have seen are small and mostly (but not entirely) insignificant. They do show several appearances of Jesus, but it was far less than what is recorded. Jesus only appears to the disciples a few times in the show before his Ascension, but according to Acts 1:3 Jesus appears to them seemingly many times over the period of 40 days (over a month!) to speak with them and eat with them. They could have had Jesus be a regular character for 2-3 episodes before the ascension.

Another is that on the third day, Jesus did not just appear to the apostles, he appeared to the disciples who fled. They mentioned the members who fled in the show but they didn't mention or show that Jesus appeared to them on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:13-35. I could have seen a very cool episode where this happens to the disciples that fled and how the returned to Peter and the apostles afterward. Though from a tv stand point, that's more actors and probably would have cost more money in casting, so I can understand why that may have not made the cut for the show.

But one of the coolest things they could have easily done was the appearance to the 500. In 1 Corinthians 15:6, Paul recites possibly the earliest Christian creed which includes Jesus' appearance to more than 500 people at once. It does seem to be in order so it had to have occurred before Paul's conversion. The perfect time to do that would have been after Peter and Paul's debate in front of the believers camp. Having Jesus appear to the camp after Paul's exit would have been such a great time to do that. I think they really missed an opportunity there.

Those are what I'd consider the most significant. The other small things that are completely inconsequential are they have Peter's wife dying prior to the resurrection. Early church historians however record Peter's wife living long after the resurrection and eventually being martyred shortly before Peter himself is. I think they did this to show a sense of sacrifice in Peter on the show.

The emperor did die in bed and it is recorded that his successor did kill him, but it was certainly not in Jerusalem. Though I'm glad they did it that way. Learning of the Emperor's death through a letter would have been way less dramatic.

It's Hollywood so we can't expect them to cast unattractive people but Paul was probably short and bald. Though the guy they cast is really good at displaying Paul's fervor.

These things are minor compared to the things they do have right. They are really getting across the might and arrogance of Rome, the steadfast devotion of the Jews to the Temple, Pilate's cruelty, Caiaphas self righteousness. So bravo to them. I look forward to the coming episodes!