The Noah Movie Opens Today. Christians: Run for the Hills
Based on the hundreds of responses to my recent blog posts about the Paramount Pictures movie Noah, here’s what we should do: prepare for the end of Christianity. After tonight’s opening, be ready for millions of Christians to turn away from the faith. This movie will be the most catastrophic event since the crucifixion. We thought all that pesky persecution of the early church during the Roman era was rough, or the gulags in Soviet Russia and North Korea, or the outlawed Church in China or burning churches in Muslim countries. But that’s nothing compared to the onslaught of Darren Aronofsky and his team.
Hollywood has finally won the battle. I think we held on pretty well for 2,000 years since the time of Jesus, but based on the folks responding to my blog, the gospel message just isn’t that strong, and this movie will tip us over the edge. It is truly a time for hysteria. It’s good so many of us agree that there are no grey areas, no room for interpretation, no room for hits or misses, and more than anything, no room for a non-Christian to look at a Bible story and share his or her perspective. I truly worry how God will defend himself without us.
I’m packing up my car now and looking for a cabin in the mountains for my family. No more engagement, no more stepping outside the Christian bubble, and no more reaching out to Hollywood or anybody else. That’s sad, because we won’t be able to criticize movies we haven’t seen anymore, or be upset at issues we know nothing about. But it’s the heathen’s fault. They actually think the Bible is important enough to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to tell its stories, and we don’t.
Serves them right. I just hope the freeway isn’t too jammed.
I’m leaving now. See you on the road.
Thank you for posting this. I am looking forward to this movie. Aronofsky pulls together beautiful truths that leave me contemplating more and more about the God who is our Father. Tree of Life and the Fountain of Youth are perfect examples of this.
Oh, that is priceless. That is some of the best satirical writing I’ve read in a while. I’m sarcastic by nature, so I love it. Jesus used sarcasm on many occasions. The only thing that’s sad about sarcasm is that it’s rooted in truth. And that’s a sad truth you’ve pointed out. But it was so well put you had me laughing all the way through. Too much!
That was my post. I accidentally deleted my profile. Don’t want anyone to think I’m an anonymous poster! 🙂
Love it! This is a great opportunity to share the truth with non-believers.
Hahaha! And this is why I love you. Hope you’re well. 🙂
Absolutely fantastic, Phil. Great writing, and I am nearly crying from laughing. Better to laugh than to allow the ridiculous to make you mad. 🙂 … Enjoy your cabin in the hills.
Great post Phil… Made me laugh… This rhetoric has been a little goofy.
People don’t like to be lied to. Ba-Bye.
I must have missed it I am going to go look back at the post and see the hipe.
Let me be the first to say “good-by”
Good one, Phil. I wonder how much of the world would be laid to destruction if historians and educated folk revolted at Quinton Tarantino’s method of rewriting history like these Christian folk are reacting to these guys and their adjustment of a Sunday school Bible story.
Right behind ’ya Phil! Or… should I delay my departure until I’ve actually see the film before fleeing for the hills? I know… I’ll fuel and load the SUV, then see the film whereupon I’ll make tracks for parts unknown. Wouldn’t want to make assertions about the film itself without having seen it…
I hate to run off before seeing the movie. I think I will pack the car, the rooftop carrier, the bumper hitch rack, and the U-Haul trailer with my dehydrated food and assault weapons. Then, I will drive to the theater completely prepared to flee when the film ends, unless I leave early. I think we all know the rendezvous point. I never thought it would come to this, especially in this way, but now I am so thankful for all the prepping seminars.
did
greater powers take it down? The truth disappears first. I had a
good laugh at this post. Loved it. I have been sending climbers to the
summit of Mount Ararat since 2007. I exposed
the Noah’s Ark hoax perpetrated by Chinese (NAMI) scammers, Dutch film
makers, Americans liars, and Kurdish guides. I know it’s a hoax for many
reasons, mainly because the lead guide was once my business partner and
he confessed to me: there’s no ark on Ararat. Locally, in Dogubayazit
where Mount Ararat is located, it is common knowledge that the Chinese
built a movie set and made a fictional movie, then called it true.
Joel
Klenck is the American so-called archeologist who stars in NAMI’s movie
as the “scientific expert.” The movie was already released with him
“testifying” forr 15 minutes to the authenticity of the “large wooden
boat” on Mount Ararat which he had been in. The truth is that Klenck had
never visited eastern Turkey when this movie was released in August
2011. He came as my climbing customer in September 2011, and went off
the trail in search of NAMI’s fictional site, and got lost in the dark.
After he was rescued, I examined his passport and interviewed him. He
stated this was his first trip to eastern Turkey and Ararat. His
passport stamp confirmed this. He has since gone on a libelous campaign
against me, paying to virually disseminate his fiction. He regularly
presents papers at pseudo-scientific conferences about his “findings”
about this fictional boat.
There
are three types of climbers on Ararat: (1) religious, (2) political …
Armenian diaspora, and (3) athletic mountain climbers. By far, the
group that causes the most problems on the mountain are the religious
believers. They try to sneak off the trail into a dangerous canyon to
find a nonexistent boat. Rock slides are frequent and dangerous. These
religous zealots believe in the Bible stories literally, and they simply
refuse to take NO for an answer.
I
have now become the “go-to” person for investigating the truth (or lies
as it is) about the Noah’s Ark hoax. Film makers, writers, and
religious searchers contact me. Every week for years my inbox is
filled. There are so many people who claim to have had visions or heard
the voice of God giving them the exact coordinates, that by now I expect
there is a whole fleet of boats on Ararat. We are yet to actually find
one!
I
have also supported the American Ark search team led by Richard Bright.
They have been honestly digging DEEP into the ice for years and will do
the same this year. They still believe Noah’s Ark is on Ararat in
eastern Turkey. I don’t, but I do support all honest efforts for
exploration.
More about the Chinese Noah’s Ark hoax can be found at http://www.mountainararattrek.com/ark/
I operate http://www.mountararattrek.com and send individuals and groups to summit Mount Ararat.
A recent article I wrote about “Why There Are No Toilets on Mount Ararat” can be read at http://kurdistantribune.com/…/why-there-no-toilets-on…/
Contact me at amybeam@yahoo.com
Well done, Phil : )
Soon as I saw this movie I started building my own ark.
The first reaction of most of my Christian friends when they saw this movie? … was a desire to go re-read Genesis. Not to prove it wrong but to renew their minds. Such harmful side effects this film is having!
I read it to my husband (a non-Christian) on the way home from the theater! Great opportunity for discussion!
Awesome! Actually over the weekend I read a tweet from Russell Crowe himself, saying that he had an amazing conversation with his mum and dad after they saw the film. – Now that’s cool!
Same experience here Fiona. Can a movie that makes people go home and read their Bible be all bad…? My review here:
http://joshreidmedia.com/my-first-thoughts-after-seeing-noah-movie/
Best. Phil Cooke. Post. Ever.
And as far as I’m concerned, certain commenters on this blog thoroughly deserved it.
Better yet, why don’t they find the nearest bridge to jump off of. Life will not be worth living anymore. Obviously with all the out cry from the so called faithful few……..where is there faith. Since when did Hollywood become bigger than God? Or when did God die and so now the are the judge of every mans heart. Phil Cooke, thank you sir for standing up and calling people out.
Actually maybe ‘Christianity’ should end – might bring us all back to Christ…
Whose version of Christ? Let me guess. Yours?
what do you mean?
Man I hear you. I’ve seen the movie and was so inspired by its creative interpretation that I asked God why there was deviation from the text. I got answers that glorified Him even more! I think Christians have forgotten their Creator, have forgotten they still don’t know it all and He does, have closed their hearts to Him and His calling. It’s so sad. Don’t blame you for wanting to run Phil, but hope you’ll find the strength to stay, to share the truth and shine the light. Totally love the work you and Kathleen do – thanks for being true to what you’ve been called to do.
Good on ya Kim! I loved the movie. I’ll email you my review.
I have but one question. Have you seen the film yet? I haven’t. So I’m not going to pass judgement on it until I have.
Good for you Gareth.
I really don’t think anyone’s taken the attitude that a stupid movie will destroy the faith. They just don’t want to be mocked and told they should spend money on a movie that distorts a true story of love and purity into one of hate.
Phil, you’re totally wrong on this none. Sorry, brother, but you’ve been hoodwinked.
This is a better preview: http://youtu.be/-36Cs-B5iG4
Sounds like it’s you that might be wrong Bob:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-noah-friday-matinees-691984
Less than 2 minutes to watch a 9 minute review? Really?
I understand you’re a great consultant and the article shows your influence is strong in the Christian community. No denying that.
Still, the core elements of the movie’s story (Noah, animals, the boat, a flood) based on Truth have the potential to draw people to conclude that other incredibly and blatantly false elements just might be true as well.
Dare I mention that all major cults typically will quote powerful portions of God’s word, and then add their own twist to them to ultimately draw people into their own agenda.
Ha! That video’s been out there Bob. I think it’s even been posted on this blog and my Facebook page a couple of times. My question still stands: Isn’t it dishonest to trash a movie you haven’t actually seen?
No, it’s not. There’s enough in the trailers and interviews with those involved to make an accurate estimation of the content.
It is no secret that movie trailers always put their best material into a few moments to try to attract viewers. When those few moments, along with interviews of those who are making the film contain more than enough elements to prove themselves unworthy, there’s no need to dig further.
Then that’s where we disagree Bob. I think it’s highly dishonest to trash something you haven’t actually seen. We wonder why the secular world doesn’t believe our message, and here’s a good reason.
If we don’t exhibit integrity, how in the world can we ask them to?
Thanks for posting!
The secular world didn’t believe Jesus Christ Himself in the flesh. What do you make of that, Phil?
Which is exactly why we need to do everything we can to reach them with the gospel. Not drive them away.
And supporting this Noah movie is part of the gospel mission, how? Criticizing it’s shortcomings is now anti-gospel, how?
Hollywood is after one thing and it has nothing to do with spreading the gospel. It wants Christian cash flow. So, you want to encourage Christians to spend money to watch this movie because it will somehow help them spread the gospel? How is a bunch of Christians deciding to watch an inaccurate adaptation of a Biblical account going to help or hinder the gospel of Jesus Christ?
Methinks it is you who might not have enough faith in the power of the gospel message. With or without Hollywood’s help, God will save whoever He desires to save. He doesn’t need Aronofsky’s version of Noah to win souls. He doesn’t need me to pay to see the movie in the theaters in order to progress the gospel. I think I’ll do just fine waiting for it to hit Red Box.
You should know Volade, that Hollywood makes a lot of money on Redbox. Better stay away from there too. 🙂
Also – I have no beef with anyone criticizing the movie – as long as they’ve seen it and know what they’re talking about.
We want to change Hollywood, right? How does criticizing them without knowing what we’re criticizing help?
It’s simple math, Phil. I’m thinking about my wallet, not necessarily about how much Hollywood makes. I’ll rather pay $1.30 to rent the movie for the day, than pay $15 to see it in theaters. Shoo, I might even just wait for it to hit Netflix.
Most Christians who are criticizing it know exactly what they’re criticizing. Malcolm Gladwell has this book titled Blink where he talks about people’s ability to make sound judgments based on a slice of information. Social scientists refer to it as thin slicing. We make valid judgments based on limited information all the time. We don’t really need to watch every movie completely before we form an opinion about it. You can get an idea of it’s angle just by listening to interviews and watching trailers. This is a legitimate way to make judgments. I don’t have to pay $15-20 watching the movie before I can make a decision of whether the movie is worth watching or not.
I completely understand Volade, and support your decision to see it whenever. Most of these studies re: Gladwell, Maxwell, and others are in the context of leadership decisions. This is an artistic, theological, and critical decision. “Caution” about a movie is warranted based on “slivers” of information. I don’t believe the same when it comes to mounting petition drives, boycotts, and other critical campaigns – which a distressing number of Christians are doing – all without seeing the film.
How much of the movie do you need to see in order to be able to figure out whether or not you like the angle its coming from?
I saw a 2 minute trailer recently of the upcoming Ninja Turtles movie produced by Michael Bay. Immediately seeing what appeared to be a gritty and dark ‘angle’ as opposed to the light-hearted and funny angle I grew up with, I made up my mind that I do not want to see the movie. In fact, I hated it already without seeing it. Why? Because I already got a sense of the angle they’re taking and its an angle I don’t like.
The same thing can be said of Noah. A lot of Christians didn’t like the angle it took and the feel of it. That’s how it works. That’s the whole point of trailers and interviews and all the other pre-marketing stuff they do for a movie. They’re trying to get that human habit to work in their favor. In some cases it works against them.
This idea that I have to see the whole movie before I can decide whether I should see the whole movie seems a bit extreme to me.
I completely agree. I usually choose to see or not see movies based on trailers. But I assume you’re not launching a boycott campaign on Ninja Turtles based only a trailer.
🙂
I just might! I hate Michael Bay’s ugly giant turtles haha
But in all seriousness, I don’t care about the Ninja Turtles franchise enough to boycott the thing. Boycotts only happen when people care deeply enough about something. That should tell you a little something about the nature of these Christians who are boycotting the Noah movie. They care deeply about something that they feel that movie is not honoring. Instead of criticizing them maybe one should investigate what those things might be.
This might be helpful:
https://philcooke.com/christian-witness-lure-negative/
Although you bring up some valid points, I disagree with
your underlying assumptions in that article. You seem to think that secular
culture dislikes Christians because we’re not being nice enough. Look, I know
we can always step up our niceness and all but that wouldn’t change much about
how the secular world perceives Christianity. It’s not completely our fault
that they hate us…at least according to Jesus.
Jesus said in John 15:18-25, “If the world hates you,
remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its
own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you
to come out of the world, so it hates you. Do you remember what I told
you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me,
naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would
listen to you. They will do all this to you because of me, for they have
rejected the one who sent me. They would not be guilty if I had not
come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin. Anyone
who hates me also hates my Father. If I hadn’t done such miraculous
signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it
is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father. This
fulfills what is written in their Scriptures: ‘THEY HATED ME WITHOUT CAUSE.’
You seem to be on a mission to make Christianity more
likable with unbelievers. But you are missing this reality that Jesus tried to
drive home there. He was trying to tell His disciples not to sweat it too much
if the world hates them because its not their fault…it’s not necessarily
because you’re doing anything wrongly (which seems to be the default assumption
for all of us) because even if you guys were perfect like I am they’ll still
hate you because look how they hate me and I’m perfect.
The secular world might come up with a laundry list of why
they hate Christians but none of those reasons are the real reason that’s at
the heart of it. Jesus hit on the real reason.
In fact, if anything Jesus implies that if all secular
people are speaking well of you it’s probably a good indicator that you are
doing something wrong. “Woe to you when all men speak well of
you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same
way. (Luke 6:26)
Jesus never used likability as the major standard for
answering the question “how are we doing?” so why should we?
Phil, you are a false prophet. You want glory in this world. I hope you turn from your wicked ways before it’s too late. Hollywood is corrupt fruit, and that is what you come bearing.
Matthew 7:15-20
15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Oh, yeah going back to your statement about why the secular world doesn’t believe Christians. You make it seem like it’s because of our lack of integrity that they don’t believe. So, by following your logic once can easily conclude that it must have been the same reason they didn’t believe Jesus Christ.
As you know Volade, there are many reasons people don’t believe. But that doesn’t stop us from trying, and certainly changing what we can.
Thanks for your post!
Gracious, as always. I appreciate that about you!
The “you haven’t seen it” line is getting a little tired. I shouldn’t have to spend my money to see something before I can have an issue with it and even speak out about it. That’s why we have discernment. That’s also why we have reviews (for those that are iffy in the discernment area). I have less problem with the film than I do the heavy handed promotion from Christian leaders (knowing that many will not be happy with the interpretation) and the condescending responses to the blow back (again, knowing that it was coming).
Not seeing the movie based on trailers or other information is absolutely fine. No problem there. However, leaders launching petition drives, online campaigns, or boycotts without having seen it is something else entirely – and the primary reason I wrote in the first place.
Let’s see … so now I’m the one who is dishonest and lack integrity. All because I don’t want to spend my time and money on this movie. A movie that people who DID take your advice tell me was not only inaccurately portraying the story and characters it claims “is true to the essence, values and integrity of” the biblical story, but also totally misrepresents God, his reason for Noah even being involved, and totally misses the parallels that can bring salvation to millions of people today.
I do understand that there could be some sort of possibility that I could culturally engage someone who saw the movie. But I completely reject the concept that I have to see it, too, to be able to make that engagement.
In fact, it’s probably much better that I have NOT seen it. I have read the book, studied the history, and am quite capable of drawing the parallels and sharing the blessings of it’s message without having the false images in my head.
You know the strange thing? I read a blog just today from a guy who was upset with people he said were calling him unfair names and some of them didn’t even know him.
I would dare say that people (like you) who know me would probably not use the terms “dishonest” and “lack of integrity” under normal circumstances. I forgive you, brother, but please regain perspective and put this behind you.
You seem to be calling yourself those names Bob, not me. Absolutely don’t go see it. That’s your right. But the issue I’m trying to discuss is before we launch national petition drives, organize campaigns, write blogs, or boycott the movie, I think we should see it first. To do less, undermines the credibility of our argument.
Simple as that.
From a relatively new believer who DID see the movie tonight:
“… I had to see for myself and they completely spit in the face of God. They made Him look like satan himself … I regret it. I pray for those people.”
So congratulations. They got his money.
’nuff said.
Oh Bob… Such an encourager. Definitely your spiritual gift.
Don’t be jealous, Kelsey. 🙂
good video
Oh I so love this post! I can’t stop giggling. But then well delivered sarcasm has always appealed to me. I wish I’d written it.
I’m with ya, Phil. But only if I can join you in the hills. I’ll bring the twinkies.
Maybe I should sell survivor food in the parking lot.
Phil – you’re spot on and cracking me up! So many believers who are tripping in advance of seeing this movie watch all kinds of garbage in the theater, and yet, grow amazingly religious that a move like this will not be completely Biblically accurate. That is not true zealousness, it’s a religious attitude. Your article(s) is great! My wife and I are lead pastors. We can’t wait to see it! Can’t be worse than the witchcraft on Lord of the Rings, the bloodshed in the Bourne Trilogy (of which we own both). In some way may The Lord in some way receive glory both directly and indirectly through this film! God bless Phil!
It’s really not that surprising that some Christians are disappointed by the Noah movie or refuse to see it. Whenever directors take too many artistic liberties with a book-to-film adaptation the passionate fans of the original body of work get disappointed and protest.
Imagine if your favorite book is turned into a movie. The director is not even a true fan of that book like you are but wants to reinvent it in his own way. He takes so much artistic license that all the elements that made the book version special are have certainly disappeared. I bet you’ll be a little upset about it too. That feeling is compounded when it is a holy book in question.
Sorry to pick nits, but the last two Star Trek movies were both directed by JJ Abrams who is on record as being not a Trekkie.
Thanks for sharing. I did a Google search about it and found that it did stir quite a bit of controversy among hard-core trekkies before the first movie dropped in 2009. So, it turns out to be a great example.
The annual Star Trek convention (hard core fans) declared Star Trek Into Darkness as the worst Star Trek movie of all time.
One writer explained it like this:
“Speaking as someone who grew up with Star Trek — watching Deep Space Nine, renting the first six movies, reading a truly shocking amount of Star Trek books — I can understand the fans who feel like their precious mythology has become twisted into a movie about hot people running places. (I’m still shocked — shocked! — that Kirk broke the Prime Directive at the start of Into Darkness. There was a whole book about about how you shouldn’t break the Prime Directive! It was called Prime Directive!)”
Here’s the rest of his article: http://popwatch.ew.com/2013/09/19/star-trek-into-darkness-jj-abrams/
The point is that hard-core fans have an emotional connection to the original an they want it to be treated with the highest level of respect when it is being adapted into something else. This is true not just for Christians, but for any group of hard-core fans.
Hmmm… As a lukewarm Trekkie (no doubt I would be spewed from Gene Roddenberry’s mouth if he was God), I thought the first JJ Abrams Trek movie was fantastic. I was also highly amused by a satirical article I saw about it on The Onion (“Trekkies complain new Trek film is entertaining, witty, exciting and lacking in heavy-handed messages about tolerance”).
Conversely I thought Into Darkness was OK, but in paying homage to Wrath of Khan went a bridge too far in the finale. Wrath of Khan is, and for me always will be, the best Trek movie.
I should of course add that the lunatic responses of hardcore Trekkies to their beloved religion at the hands of JJ Abrams is almost as laughable as the response of some commenters here to the Noah film.
Atheist, Darren Aronofsky’s statement about his just-released film “Noah”: It is the “least biblical” of Bible-themed films.
This says it all for me, it’s clearly the devils handiwork trying to deceive those who have very little knowledge of Genesis. It’s making a mockery of the Holy Scriptures.
Revalations 22:19
King James Bible
“And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”
That’s actually a misquote from a New Yorker article Sean. By “least Biblical” he meant it would be different, unexpected – not like the typical “sword and sandal” Bible epics of the past. No mockery. I’ve met him and he took the project very seriously. He’s actually be working on it more than 16 years.
Hope that helps!
Phil, you truly are trying desperately hard to kiss up to Hollywood. Do you care about appeasing God or appeasing Hollywood? You can’t have it both ways.
Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
Phil, kissing up to and defending an athiest whose “work” distorts God’s work that he has to put a disclaimer up isn’t going to get you anywhere. Well, maybe you’ll be “in” with Hollywood, if you consider that a feat, which you seem to. Sad.
You are NOT supposed to partake in the sins of the world, but that is exactly what you’re doing, and your argument about running away is so transparent. You want to be in with the “in” crowd and in order to do so, you chastise TRUE Christians and try and convince them they are “running away” if they don’t support an athiest’s false interpretation. You’re a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and I think that clothing just feel off. We can all see your nakedness.
Hollywood most certainly is a representation of modern day Babylon, and these are God’s instructions. I suggest we listen to God and not to a confused and lost soul attempting to lead others astray for his own selfish purposes:
Jeremiah 51:45
My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD.
Meant to reference that first passage as James 4:4
Michale:
You misquote Scripture more than anyone else I’ve ever heard from by saying that Hollywood is todays Babylon. Places and things in itself can’t be holy or demonic. It’s by the purpose it is used for.
Obviously God didn’t pick YOU to win Hollywood for Jesus. But thank God for people like Phil! He’s got the right heart and attitude which pleases God.
Thanks Michale. We do have our own callings and should respect them. I appreciate the support!
Misquote or not …this is clearly the works of man inspired by satan himself!
The only similarity is there’s water, people, an ark, animals & a world wide flood, otherwise it’s a blatant mockery!
This whole film twists the truth as the bible, Gods Word, portrays the event in Genesis.
Christians need to stand up for their beliefs, not be absorbed into twisted fables as this film i’NOAH’ is doing & portrays.
Romans 12:2
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
for Ararat Tours check : http://www.mountararattours.com
Sean, the story of Noah is an historical account of humanity. It appears in the various writings, the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Quran to name a couple. Also, I don’t think anyone knowingly walking into a Darren Aronofsky movie can take a story literally. He is one of the most refined storytellers dealing in subconsciousness, mental instability, visions, etc. I definitely wouldn’t recommend it if you are not a fan of his work, but that doesn’t mean the film is deceptive.
Go see it before you draw conclusions. You wouldn’t want to be ignorant, would you? On taking away from the word of God: how could anyone make any movie, television program or anything of the like, that is word-for-word scripture? The Bible is not a script, so when we need to make one, it won’t be word-for-word. How could it? Open your heart & mind a little…
Kelsey,
I quote again Romans 12:2
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
I see you used KJV. A version from a man’s point of view. Better go all the way back to Aramaic & Hebrew & Greek to get it.
Regardless of what version, they’re all the same interpretation inspired by the Holy Spirit!
1.The Spirit reveals God’s Word
How does the Spirit reveal the Word of God? When we read the Bible, we see the different ways God spoke; Moses for example went to Mt. Sinai and was with God on the Mountain for forty days, while David wrote under the power of the Spirit. Ezekiel caught up by the Spirit, was taken to Jerusalem. John in Revelation sees and talks to the resurrected Jesus, Jesus tells him to write a letter to seven churches. Paul saw a vision of Jesus on the road to Damascus and was commissioned to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles. These are just a few examples, but we can see God’s method of revelation is not uniform.
The Bible was transmitted through the power of the Holy Spirit, is recorded in a written format. Yes, God used human agents to pen the words, but these authors were working under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The Bible was not an oral transmission as some liberal schools teach but a written transmission, the Hebrew culture was literate from the earliest times as validated in archeological records. Therefore, through written transmission, the Words of God were recorded, and through the generations, the words were transmitted to the present era. The role of the Holy Spirit in the transmission of scripture is noted in Zechariah.
“Yes, they made their hearts like flint, refusing to hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Thus great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. Zechariah 7:12
A; God dictated the message
In some cases, God directly dictated the message, such as in the book of Revelation chapters 2 and 3, where Jesus tells John what to write to the Seven-churches (Revelation 2-3). God in Exodus wrote the Ten Commandments in the stone, which Moses carried down Mt. Sinai.
10 “Then the Lord delivered to me two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words which the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly. 11 “And it came to pass, at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant.
Deuteronomy 9:10-11
B; Prophets wrote under Inspiration
In other cases, the prophets recorded what they saw and did under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. They were not dictating the words of God, but were recording their own words and impressions, under the power of the Spirit. For example, the Davidic Psalms were written under the power of the Spirit, Jesus says David wrote under the power of the Spirit (see also Acts 1:16).
36 “For David himself said by the Holy Spirit: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” ‘
Mark 12:36
Moses also under the power of the Holy Spirit recorded the history of creation, including events such as what happened at the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve fell. How could Moses have known the details of these events, unless God’s Spirit revealed them? All of Genesis took place before the birth of Moses, with the death of Joseph being the last verse.
The New Testament, like the Old was written under the direction of the Holy Spirit, this was the promise Jesus gave to the disciples.
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. John 14:26
The disciples then affirmed the written transmission of the other disciples, Peter affirmed Paul’s words as scripture (2 Peter 3;15-16).
C; Prophets had dreams and visions:
Prophets also had dreams and visions. In these dreams and visions, the Holy Spirit revealed to the prophets the very words of God, through the interpretation of the dream and vision. Dreams occur while the person sleeps, while visions take place when the person is awake. In both instances, God through the power of the Spirit revealed His Word.
Peter was on the roof of his house praying, and fell into a trance, seeing a vision. Jesus spoke to Peter, telling him to go with the men sent from the house of Cornelius (Acts 10). Ezekiel, a Jewish captive of Babylon, had visions of God and was taken by the Spirit to Jerusalem (Ezekiel 8;3). Ezekiel reported what he saw and heard, under the power of the Spirit, thus the book of Ezekiel came to be.
In regards to dreams, God even gave dreams to unbelievers such as Pharaoh (Genesis 41) and Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 2), King of Babylon. Under the power of the Holy Spirit, Joseph and Daniel interpreted these dreams, which allowed them to elevate to positions to power in Babylon and Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of Daniel chapter 2, is foundational to Bible prophecy. Daniel under the power of the Spirit was able to tell the king his dream was and what it meant (Daniel 4:8).
I think you mean “Revelation”
Lol …I’ll blame predictive text for that!
Why do so many Christians use this verse as a final by-line for all of scripture when John wrote it in the context of Revelation and the prophesy included in his writings?
The curses are from adding or subtracting from the prophesy contained in Revelation. John did not know which books were to be included in the canon of scripture. If this refers to the whole canon of scripture, then who has it right – the Protestants or the Catholics?
Great post, Phil. I wrote this a couple months ago, it hasn’t received many reads, but it really sums up my idea of explaining, ahead of time, what Christians need to keep in mind before watching the film. I can’t wait to watch it tonight or tomorrow! http://bit.ly/19uBkFW
Very insightful post Jameson. Thanks for providing the link!
Thanks for reading! Well, it looks like I’ve got a movie to go watch…
One of the best films this year!…Truly makes one want to read then re-read Genesis…it took an atheist to bring the Nephilim into discussion, and the Book of Enoch. The fluffy, God in a cloud, white bearded, prophets are lowly, easy going christians will be shocked and they should be. I truly believe this is a very close view of the actuality of life in Genesis. (baring the artistic liberties). I actually loved the fact they didn’t mention GOD, but referred to him as Creator. God didn’t truly reveal himself until Noah. Great movie. GO.SEE.IT then let’s talk. Thank you Phil Cooke..your reviews are spot on..
How can you say God didn’t reveal Himself to Noah when it says in Genesis 6:13 “God said to Noah”?
Read my comment….Until Noah. And genesis 6:3 says the Lord said. Not God. God is mentioned.numerous times in genesis. He wasnt revealed until the end of Noahs life. The book is told from 3rd person biew.Moses view.
The Watchers and the Nephilim are not the same thing. The Watchers are fallen angels. The Nephilim are the human offspring of the Watchers. What is portrayed in “Noah” is the Watchers but for some reason everyone keep referring to them as Nephilim.
chad you are correct david Jerimiah has a very extensive book out about Angles I can’t remember the name but I think it’s the only one he’s written check it out
Exactly! 🙂
Phil is NOT spot on. He is leading people away from God’s word. Phil wants to be “in” with satanic Hollywood, and that is more important to him than following and adhering to God’s word:
Ephisians 5:11
Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them
Phil Cooke is working hard for the devil.
If I don’t want to see a movie, I simply don’t go. I do NOT tell everyone how awful and evil and subversive it is, especially when I haven’t even seen it.
If you don’t want to see it, don’t go. If you want to critique it, see it and THEN talk about it.
I’m kinda not sure why this concept is so hard for a few to grasp. 😉
Noah got abortion right! His daughter-in-law tells Noah: “You chose life.” Noah
— a 21st Century Hollywood movie that presents the idea of killing an
unborn baby as a horrendous thing. Perhaps our society should take that
to heart and remember the millions of unborn babies who have been
silently killed during the last 40 years.
For those pouring all the crap (fear, insecurity and need to defend God – don’t worry he’s big enough to cope) on Phil Cooke get a bigger picture of God.
‘Noah’ might not tick all your biblical accuracy boxes, but God has given Noah’s director Darren Aronofsky gifts of creativity and insight which may teach us something if we’re willing to accept that God’s gives gifts to all people, not just Christians. (read about common grace from Timothy Keller – http://timothykeller.com/images/uploads/pdf/What_Is_Common_Grace.pdf)
We need to enlargen our view of God.
Thanks for this post, Phil. You might be the only person I would trust on how Hollywood embraces Christianity. From the trailer I saw last night while attending Divergent, at least this seems to be well done in two areas where most faith-based films fail, acting and visual. Props to Aranofsky and Crowe for giving Genesis their time, at least.
When I look back at the monumental idiocy displayed by certain commenters over these various Noah blogs, I shall collectively refer to it as “Noahgate”.
I will be taking my son next Friday when it’s released in the UK, reckleslly jeopardising his eternal soul in the process… Muahahahahaha!
I went to see the movie, $36 bucks for the imax. I did not like the film. I liked the cinematography, I thought they could have made it better. From I don’t like his interpretation of genesis.
The goal is to make money they spent 150 million on a film THAT HAD BILLION DOLLAR POTENTIAL.
Phil, I have been reading all the posts and it becomes painfully obvious why the world, for the most part, wants nothing to do with Christians. The legalism, judgmental approaches to everything, and unjust condemning of things if they are not pure in the eyes of the Pharisees is getting to where I am tired of hearing it, and at times, ashamed to be associated with it. We attack and judge our own without mercy, and God help the sinner who imposes his beliefs on us in some forthright way!
You are a patient man, to handle all of this with both the humor and grace that you display. And, for that I honor you.
I don’t always agree with you, but that is the fun of learning and growing… entertaining ideas and concepts that may not necessarily agree with my own. I am secure enough to not be threatened by what may be an opposing view.
I am not sure whether I will go see the movie as I don’t know if I will have the time to give to it. I don’t go see very many movies, and never really have. So, it is not due to theologically-based fear or religiously-inpsired bias that will keep me from seeing it, it is purely a personal choice based on priorities.
Having said that I can and will offer no opinion concerning the movie, even though I have seen the previews on the internet. You can’t determine what a two hour movie is really all about when you personally have only seen two minutes of it, I don’t care how insightful you might be…
Thank you for your work. You are a blessing to the body of Christ and thank you for thinking outside the box!
Thank you Bill. You’ve hit on the heart of the matter. That’s much appreciated.
I want to do to Bill’s comment. Keep it up. I just wish more would not try to fight God’ s battles. He is quite capable on his own. He told us to Love one another, not castigate each other.
Brilliant, Phil – just brilliant! My fingers are tired from typing responses to the tripe I’m seeing from Christians. I’ve started just referring them to your blog, so thanks for that. Oh, and by the way, my non-Christian husband and I saw Noah last night. On the way home we actually talked about it and I read to him from the book of Genesis to show him what the Bible says about what happened. He’s not repenting and rushing off to church at this very moment, but we actually talked about a Bible story and about the theme of mercy and love. And I have Mr. Aronofsky to thank. Imagine that.
Thanks Tami – some of the venom in the responses does surprise! Good people committed in their faith can disagree, but I’ve been surprised at the anger. I am comforted that we serve a God who is precious but not fragile and who, above all, is sovereign. I do think it is a great thing for Christianity when a movie generates so much buzz and success that it gets people talking about the Bible and not a comic book, about God and not a character from a series of tween novels.
Hi Phil, This is the first ever reading your Blog.I’m not surprised at all of the name calling.It’s always good to name call or sling mud when one can’t find a good enough reason to disagree.Then again,like Political debates, we no longer agree to disagree, we resort to Violence,Name calling and lets not forget,threats.I like Tami Romani’s comment and the way you handle the name calling.My wife and I are Christians. We haven’t seen the movie yet but will soon.
Thanks for the thoughtful words Michael. Welcome to the blog!
I’m so glad this movie opened communication between you and your husband. God will use this movie in spit of the film makers objectives(what ever they were idk) He always gets the last last laugh and I love it.
Praise God
Thank you for the encouragement, Kathy!
Why did it take you watching Noah to talk more to him about the Bible? Your argument is invalid.
Wow. Interesting that you can pass such judgement without knowing me, my husband, his past, or the previous discussions we’ve had. How’s that Bible thumping witness of yours working out for you, Huw? I have a habit of asking God to set up our discussions so that his heart is receptive, and God is faithful to do that. Your suggested technique of crashing through & preaching at him is precisely why he wants nothing to do with the Church. For the sake of others like him, I’d appreciate it if you’d just guard your tongue & perhaps keep your mouth shut a bit more. Thank you.
no it’s not- it’s just that no one expected something good to come out of a bad movie.
Tami. Keep looking for these opportunities to talk with him. There was a lot of artistic license taken when the scripture was silent and theological speculation when looking at the Midrash and the other non – biblical sources. At least you are talking and not condemning like others in these postings.
It’s hard to see Believers being so hateful and judgmental. I did go see the movie and I thought that it was well done. Noah was shown as listening and obeying when God led him to do something extremely difficult. It showed that God loves man and made man in His own image, but it also shows that God cares for all his creation. If you are looking for fault in something, you will be able to find it. Why are Christians so down on environmentalism?Shouldn’t we care for the creation of God? I pray that this movie will motivate Christians to open their Bibles and reread the story of Noah. That we will use the minds that God has given us to study this ancient history which is surrounded by mystery. There is so much we don’t know and that is what is beautiful about God and His revelation to us, through His Word and through nature. God wants us to wonder and learn and continue to be in awe of Him. If you think you have figured out God completely, something is very wrong.
well said however I don’t see any “hate ” in the posters blog I haven’t read others reply I’m glad I haven’t I do see real worry about the persecution that’s coming for the followers of Jesus Christ in the near future
Let’s face it… it was either this movie or the “taking Christ out of Christmas” that was going to knock God off the throne.
god doesn’t need us believers (AS I like to call us) to defend him’ No grey areas with me either and I will not go hide under a rock’ I will stay and continue to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.
haha, so WELL said!!!
I expected the Director to put his spin on things. However, I was unprepared for a film that was completely different to the trailer. Where in the trailer were the rock monsters that featured so prominently in the story? The evolutionary spin? The fallen angels redeeming themselves? Or psycho Noah trying to kill his family? In the trailer, when we hear Noah say “I am not alone” to whom would an ordinary person think he was referring? God of course, not fallen angels. All the controversial (indeed, heretical) aspects were omitted from the trailer. The studio intentionally set out to deceive and mislead a Christian audience. If they had been honest up-front I would not have bothered paying full price for a family of five. And they knew that. They broke an unwritten contract with their customers; they failed to deliver what they promised. That is why so many people feel cheated.
In the ultimate irony, devout Christians are complaining about being Deceived.
Hahahahaha
Christian or not, any business owner should be concerned when their customers real cheated. I left the theatre feeling like I had been swindled.
No argument there Anthony. I wish it had been marketed more as a Jewish perspective on the Noah story – which was really what it was. Much of it came from Midrash and other Jewish historical sources. I think the “Inspired by” disclaimer was an attempt to let people know it’s not a literally retelling of the Noah story, but I would have pushed the Jewish perspective more.
No, Phil, it’s most certainly NOT a Jewish perspective. Both Christians and Jews read the same Genesis. I AM JEWISH!! The producer of this movie is not a real Jew, he is an athiest. STOP LYING BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE FOR YOU!!
Galatians 6:8
Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life
yes, amen!
Go back to playing in the kiddy pool.
yes I totally agree with you- Anthony!
Phil, why has every single comment that disagrees with your stance been deleted? That’s cowardly – if you’re right, why are you so concerned with others’ viewpoints? You are a caracature of a man.
I think a simple look at the list of negative comments will show that’s not the case Huw. No deletions from me. In fact there have been so many comments (many negative) that the site crashed twice this weekend. If something of yours didn’t post, please try again. I welcome the discussion. I just wish so many didn’t resort to name calling.
I can clearly see both sides of this debate. The problem is that we (Christians) need to stop being consumers and start being disciples. http://blog.yesheis.com/en/noah-movie-review/
Walking in Love and not being offended is a way to protect the Word in your heart.
You resist the devil be having complete confidence that God loves you (John 17 1 John 4:16-18) The way to resist the devil is not to fight him in the flesh; we don’t fight people; we walk in perfected love. by walking in perfected love fear cannot attack you and steal the Word.
I am ashamed of how self-proclaimed Christians are responding to not only this movie, but each other. In particular, it is the slinging around of scripture as some sort of proof for your condemning, ignorant, and simply hate-filled attitudes. I’ll be straightforward here: I haven’t seen the movie…if you can’t accept that the movie involves fallen angels (who kept not their first estate, disrobed, went in to the daughters of men…whatever!) and their offspring, then it tells me you haven’t read Genesis 6 (just the Bible itself, not any of the extra-biblical material: the book of Enoch, Jewish Myth, Josephus or Philo…who may or may not have noted the angel aspects of early Jewish myth in their histories).
There’s even a human aspect here I think we fail to remember: Noah and his family watched the world drown. Noah was a mess after the flood (who wouldn’t be?)…I’ve read so many negative comments on the tone of the movie alone…it makes me want to scream – “Have you even READ the Bible?!?!” There’s more brutality, cruelty, evil, and blood in the Bible than in any Hollywood movie…and you’re upset because Noah isn’t a fluffy, light-hearted character?
The Bible, from beginning to end, is an acknowledgment of a war going on in spiritual and high places…it’s God’s love for us vs. the jealousy of fallen angels.
At the very least, I expected more grace, love, and understanding from a people claiming that Christ fills their life and actions.
Joshua I hear what you’re saying, but will you change your views & comment above once you have seen this evil film, it makes a mockery of Gods Holly Word!
One only has to see who directed & starred in the movie, they’re the blind leading the blind. It’s satans way of distorting the truth & like you said above, it’s causing lots of friction amongst Christians.
One thing we have to do, NEVER lose our focus on the One who wrote the Truth, protect it & bind it to our hearts.
Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) Hebrews 10:23
Maybe because you are reading the Holly Word. A faith based off of a plant has to be a bit off. Lol
This discussion is pretty funny. During the last two years I’ve been studing The Book of Enoch and a number of other esoteric works. Some one below mentioned that the book derives from a Jewish point of view. Fair assessment. I would add that the flood story and other characters in the OT have origins in a number of writings dating back long before the biblical era. The story of “Watchers”, various versions of “fallen angels” etc. is a deep well. Christians simply are unaware by choice that the version in their book is only a fragment of what is available for study on issues related in Genesis. Of course such works are forbidden to christians for study. So I’m sorry it is funny to see the predicatble outrage when someone dares infringes on their orthodoxy. Of course, the greatly revered “Ten Commandments” version by C.B.
De Mille bears scant relation to the account in Genesis. That is o.K. however, because it has “reverent tone”. Well really what I mean is a churcy soundtrack.
The main problem with a movie like this being successful is that it sends the message to Hollywood that they can distort Biblical stories as much as they want and still make a profit. In this case completely changing the message of the film to make a new propaganda piece. No it will probably not turn to many people off of the Bible but considering that we can encourage Hollywood to help make films that spread the word it is rather saddening. It is unfortunate that individuals such as yourself feel a need to criticize Christians for refusing to go along with you and tow the Hollywood line.
It is clear now why you refused to directly answer my question as to some of the changes, you knew they were bad and you preferred to be deceitful rather than let people know.
Actually, if this movie is financially successful then Hollywood will make more Bible-based films. If it is not financially successful, then they will not make any more.
I am not sure what your basis is for saying this, Hollywood already knows they can make financially successful Bible films with films such as “Passion of the Christ” as evidence. They even recognized why people would not like this movie and looked into making different cuts of it and were very careful to avoid showing bits in the trailers.
They also already have and Exodus movie coming out that if more faithful would likely receive more success. If Hollywood cannot do it right it would probably be best in any case for them not to do anymore.
Don’t you mean faux Bible films? Or movies with biblical names, cause Noah is not Bible based . Just don’t tell Phill that he believes artistic license is a right to butcher the intent, tone and truth of a story.
You’re absolutely right JeffTN62. The Noah movie isn’t the Bible story. Paramount didn’t market it as a Bible film (hence the disclaimer that it was “inspired by”). On my blog I said it didn’t line up with the Biblical account at all.
So what do we do with that? Keep criticizing from the sidelines? Or get in there and use it as a conversation to share your faith with the millions who are seeing the movie worldwide?
Is “Noah” really the movie we should be arguing about?
If anything, there is more ‘danger to Christianity’ from movies which subtly convey an anti-Christian message. Eg: Four Weddings and a Funeral; Toy Story 3. Or movies which convey a pseudo-Christian message, such as The Matrix. Why we focus our criticism only on ‘bible-story’ films simply baffles me.
I’m not sure I agree with your reasoning on Toy Story 3 Josh, but I agree with your point in general. Take the monumentally dreadful Mamma Mia – the message of that film is basically “it doesn’t matter who your father is as long as your mother enjoyed loads of promiscous sex in her youth”, but because its PG it seems to be considered perfectly acceptable fare by loads of tubthumping Christians I know who are now getting hot under their dog collars at the emergence of a film like Noah. Madness…
Thanks Simon. Yeah… my theory on Toy Story 3 takes a while to explain – but glad you saw my general point though. In a similar school of thought, I work for a Christian Radio station who plays about 60% ‘secular’ music as an evangelism strategy. The sad thing is that many ‘Christians’ I know won’t listen to us because we are not “100% Christian” – but instead they listen to the local rock station which is 100% not Christian at all. Go figure?
This is a very comical “review” of the movie. I bet this “review” of the movie is just ploy so he can get more interest and hits to his blogs and products. Phil is a very cunning man in this way. He knows how to write to attach emotion so the reader can form an opinion. Which in return makes you think of his brand. Welcome to marking people. He is a master.
Wow. You’ve totally exposed me Nick. Guilty as charged. I’ve been writing this blog for years, and you’re the first person to uncover the real motivation. I am the Dark Lord of the Internet and I would have succeeded if it wasn’t for you.
Drat!
Are you Batman?
Phil DeMort.
Keep it quiet Tom… 🙂
a cunning plan…?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp5St7hORyw
Thanks for sharing this Phil! I do Social Media for work and I don’t get why Christians are the first ones to judge and so proudly too.
Hilarious……love it…. such a great response…….. As a Christian who grew up in church, I don’t understand why Christians love to spend so much time arguing about stuff. I also find it ironic how worried they all are that the Noah movie is going to misrepresent Christianity/The Bible as apposed to how arguing about it and criticising it makes Christians look. Because arguing about it and criticising it for the sake of “defending the faith” is an easier, less time-consuming way to be a good gospel-spreading Christian then going out and creating their own blockbuster-worthy content
The fact is your arguing about Christians arguing… Ironic . Maybe we’re not all media mainstream sheeples that just blindly follow a media critic
Phil Cooke is not a Christian. He’s a fraud who is turning against the faith and encouraging us to lie with devils as he has done. Shame on him!
Type in Good Fight Ministry Noah Movie Deception on Youtube – and elsewhere, for that matter! The truth is everywhere if you look for it, and it’s certainly not here!
Amanda – you said “Phil Cooke is not a Christian”. How do you know? Are you God?
Saying that the Noah film is deception just because people say that all over the internet is ludicrous. People say God doesn’t exist all over the internet but that doesn’t make it so.
Nasty talk Amanda. Disagree if you like, but don’t be spiteful.
ouch.
I hate the movie. Very unbiblical. Baa
I saw the movie and couldn’t disagree with you more about “why Christians should see it”. It was heartbreaking to see Noah portrayed as he was…my Bible says Noah was a “righteous man, blameless and he walked with God”. This movie made him look like a big flake. I don’t know how Phil Cooke could be such an advocate for this movie and blast Christians. Yes, God doesn’t “need” us but He certainly uses us for His Kingdom work.
Cause when you get to hang with the big dogs of Hollywood, the little dogs of movies such as Gods Not Dead don’t get a mention. GND only made $48 million on a $2million budget and counting… Phil got Noahed in to promoting this sinking ship..
Good for you JeffTN62 or whatever identity you have online. God’s Not Dead did very well. I’m thrilled for them. Doesn’t change my position on why Christians should use the massive release of Noah as an opportunity to share the real story of Noah with the culture. I’m not interesting in just criticizing from the sidelines.
Christianity really has no standing ground to be angry about someone taking creative license with their Noah story. Noah’s Arc, itself, was a stolen/changed version of the great flood myths that were invented by religions that were around long before Christianity was even a concept.
The other flood myths are adapted versions of the biblical account of Noah. Not the other way around.
Why were other flood myths written before the Bible, then? Why was Noah not the original protagonist? Or do these things not matter?
Give me the dates and I can tell you who was first. Because let me explain this, the earth, is nowhere near one million years old. Nowhere near that. SO who ‘wrote what first’
How did we get on the age of the Earth? All I want to do is pose you the question, not debate you (because that isn’t going to get you or I anywhere). If you are curious about the history of flood myths, the information is not hard to find on your own. I am some random stranger to you, so why take my word for anything? Just look into it. You might be surprised what you find exists in history beyond the Biblical account.
Trust me, I don’t want to debate either! I just want to know your view point on how old the earth is, because my answer will either be irrelevant or relevant depending on what you think of its age. If that makes sense.
I think your input is relevant even if we disagree on something like that, though. To answer you, however, I would agree that the Earth is nowhere near a million years old. It’s much closer to being just over four and a half billion years of age based on the way we measure time. And the universe is obviously much, much older than even that. I’m guessing you might not agree, which is fine, but I hope you still look into the flood stories. It’s actually pretty fantastic stuff. Thanks for the chat, either way.
You are correct in thinking that I don’t agree on the age of the earth, but you are right, that doesn’t matter. And I for sure will check out the other flood stories. Thanks for the chat. 🙂
Umm, Dinosaurs went extinct over 65 million years ago. That means the earth is certainly over 1 million years old.
Carbon Dating is actually just a guesstimate that scientists have. Those dates are not actual facts, and have been disproven many times.
I know this is 3 years later, but in case someone stumbles on this, especially since Aranofsky has just released Mother which is another distortion of the character of God and he clearly hates God, in spite of declaring himself to be an atheist.
First of all, why assume they are flood myths since they are nearly universal and there are 300 – 500 legends of a flood wiping out humanity worldwide.
I only know of one other written document that speaks of the flood which is the epic of Gilgamesh written down by the Babylonians, but I’m certain any writings that have been found are not the original documents and couldn’t be dated earlier than the Mosaic record that is found in Genesis written down around 1500 BCE. Moses would have simply been recording earlier documents handed down to him. The mosaic record is certainly the trustworthy one as it contains the exact dimensions of the arc which have been tested with models by Korean navel engineers and are extremely seaworthy (the arc could be tossed by a wave at a 90 degree angle to the ocean surface and survive). The dimensions of the Gilgamesh legend are a cube which would roll end over end and kill everyone inside the arc, but it’s obvious that it was a cube for ease of oral transmission. I was taught German higher criticism in university, but over the years after reading many historical books came to realize that they virtually every point made to discredit the Bible has itself been discredited. For instance there was no writing at the time of Moses, there was no iron working and there weren’t domestic camels, therefore the books of Mosaic were anachronisms written in the 3rd century BCE. All verified now by archaeology. I sub to a youtube channel called sifters and they keep finding items like royal seals in the temple mount that verify the various lists of Kings in the Old Testament and find the names of their government ministers on clay seals. The Bible is a reliable document and I gather that most objections come from people who have an axe to grind with it and chafe at the idea of being morally accountable to their creator. Hence Aranofsky rewrote the Noah narrative to suite his own pagan, environmentalist world view and God destroyed the earth because men were destroying the environment, which has nothing to do with what was written in Genesis.
If anyone wants to read a much more entertaining fictional accounting of Noah and more faithful, I highly recommend Noah Primeval. Aranofsky is a vile man full of hatred for God and Christians.
Three years is fine. Thanks for sticking with the story and your comments!
That’s a good point Rosemary. I’m an evangelical Christian myself, but also well read in mythology and comparative religion. (Joseph Campbell etc.) All major religions and ancient myths do include a flood story – even our own Australian aboriginals. I think your point to Christian readers is that if anything it’s a Jewish story first, before a Christian story…?
If you’re interested at all, you can see my review of the film here:
http://joshreidmedia.com/my-first-thoughts-after-seeing-noah-movie/
I plan to check out your site, but I haven’t seen Noah yet so probably won’t check out that particular entry. Thanks for the link.
Here are my follow-up thoughts after watching the film for any who might have read my earlier post. http://bit.ly/1ljQ2Dx
Hi Jameson! After Phil posted these articles I looked back and saw your reply on your blog, but didn’t see a way to respond, so here goes:
In response to my note that “it might be more accurate to imagine that God had actually been warning many people on the planet to turn away from their evil ways…”, you said, “I’ve been trying to find where some of those warnings from God have come from. I’m really interested in reading those…”
The most direct scripture I can think of is from 2 Peter 2:5 “And God did not spare the ancient world—except for Noah and the seven others in his family. Noah warned the world of God’s righteous judgment. So God protected Noah when he destroyed the world of ungodly people with a vast flood.”
So it’s clear that the world was warned by Noah. Also, when Jesus talked about His return, he’s quoted in both Matthew and Luke as saying it will be like it was in Noah’s day. It wouldn’t be a stretch to take from this context that there are many, many warnings of impending judgement that have been given for many years prior to both the flood and the return of Jesus Christ. It’s even possible that Noah DID have converts during his 120 years of building and warnings … and it’s likely as well that those converts could have died naturally during that time, or even been killed by others who were so evil on the planet.
I hope this helps.
I will definitely be more cautious next time – which as a paying customer should ring alarm bells. I saw the film on opening weekend due to the trailer, an endorsement at Hillsong Conference, and the fact that I enjoyed Aronofsky’s previous two films (Black Swan and The Wrestler). As an Aussie, I also respect Russell Crowe. The film was certainly marketed to Christians as a biblical movie.
The first rule of conflict is to seek to understand. Now I think I understand an atheist’s perspective; “It’s all just fiction, so don’t get upset”. Even if Atheists are right, this argument still has huge flaws.
Imagine if a new LOTR film came out where Gandalf was a psycho-hobbit-hater and Sauron was portrayed as a misunderstood rock monster. What if the film was marketed to LOTR fans, but with the above “details” omitted from the trailer? You’ll begin to understand the frustration if you multiply the feelings by a degree of religious intensity, and a sinking feeling that I had been swindled.
I literally walked out three quarters of the way through the film because I disliked the protagonist! Then I had to apologise to my wife and kids for taking them to the movies.
On a positive side, I would measure much of the outrage from Christians as pent up demand. The need for biblically authentic films of high quality is simply not being met in the market place.
WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILERS!
Well Phil, I agree with almost everything you said about the movie and I watched wanting to like it. However, setting aside all of the objections about it not being biblical: Did it tell a good story? I came away disappointed after enjoying the first half of the movie. My basic problem was with the character of Noah’s story ark (pardon the pun!). I found his transformation from faithful seeker of God’s will to raging,
religious nutcase implausible. There were no hints or foreshadows that this was where his character was headed or sufficient justification for this change. In short, his reaction after the flood was out of character for his character. Just weird. I think it would have been more plausible for him to be confused, but instead he seems to know for certain that he needs to do something deplorable. Where did this certainty suddenly come from out
of the blue? This was not the confused, seeking Noah from the beginning of the movie. Now, this would have been made more plausible if he had gotten proud and thought he knew better than everyone else. Then it would have made more sense and been a more fulfilling story. As it is, I found it disappointing. A missed opportunity. What do you think?
I don’t disagree with much of your post Eric. Thanks for the thoughtful response. Nice to see people seriously engaging the movie before pronouncing judgement. You’re a good example…!
🙂
“They actually think the Bible is important enough to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to tell its stories, and we don’t.”
Therein lies the rub. I dare say most people upset with this film do not feel the Biblical account of Noah “was told”. Apart from some names, a boat, some animals, and some water, the movie seems to have very little in common with the Biblical account. – Didn’t we go through this before with a little film called, “The Last Temptation of Christ”?
Great questions Jeffrey, and thanks for posting! Actually, I would say “Last Temptation” was much further down the “blasphemy scale.” But I agree that this isn’t the Bible story of Noah, and I’ve mentioned that many times. However, the major themes of man’s sin, God’s judgment, and His mercy are there. Also , my main point is that despite the non-Biblical elements, do we choose to sit on the sidelines and criticize? Or jump in and use this “teaching moment” to share the real story with the thousands who are seeing the movie? I’ll be posting soon that we’ve been tracking people reading the Noah story in their Bibles and it’s skyrocketing since the movie release. I don’t think that’s a bad thing.
I went to see the movie two days ago and doesn’t portrayed the Noah that the Bible described but as Christians we know that is a lie. The purpose has been to make Noah look like a hateful person without any concern for the people. But I don’t think that real Christians will turn back to the world. We now have a chance to tell the real story to the world to those who don’t know it.
I believe the occult and new age is involved in all these. One thing that I did after the movie is to ask the Holy Spirit to cleanse my mind with the the Blood of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, from any wordly, occult, new age, unclean and evil spirit and and its influence. And I ask the Holy Spirit to release my mind from any bondage that will keep me away from the truth of the Bible which is the Word of God. We need to submit our minds to the mind of Christ. And I believe that He will cleanse, deliver, heal, guard and protect us of these ungodly and wordly influences. I hope this comment will help many of you. Jesus is alive and is powerful and faithful and nobody can’t snatched from His hand those that the Father has given Him. And many will be saved because this will be an opportunity for the Spirit of God to removed the veil and bring them into the light of the Word of God unto Salvation. To Jesus be all the glory for ever and ever. Amen
Ana Bonilla-At Jesus’ service
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Insightful quote from Kutter Callaway, professor at Fuller Seminary:
“It almost goes without saying, but it is simply no longer acceptable for Christians to praise or condemn a movie that they have never seen. It might seem unthinkable in a world driven by social media, but there is nothing wrong with having no opinion to share. As Proverbs 18:2 reminds us, ”A fool finds no pleasure in understanding, but delights in airing his own opinions.” May we never again forgo genuine understanding for the sake of simply voicing our opinion.”