The Bible: The Epic Miniseries

Hello all!I have enjoyed watching The Bible: The Epic Miniseries and believe that it is a great series that is definitely worth buying. I'm not going to give a substantial review of the miniseries at this time, instead, the only disappointment that I experienced when receiving the Blu-ray version of The Bible was that it didn't come with an insert listing which episodes are on each disk and what the episodes are about. It only lists this information at the main menu of each disc. I have copied the text describing each part (parts 1-5 as aired on television) from the History Channel's website along with each episodes' description as given at the menu of each disc. From this I was able to put together a contents insert to keep with the series so that I'll know which episodes are on each disc and what they are about.I listed all of this information here in case if anyone else is interested in having this as well. You may even want to just omit the part descriptions as the videos only come in episodes. Please note that all of the information pertaining to the part and episode descriptions were written by the creators of The Bible: The Epic Miniseries and all rights belong to them (Downey & Burnett, 2013). It is my hope that God will bless many lives through this series. Enjoy!THE BIBLEThe Epic MiniseriesDisc 1: Episodes 1, 2, and 3Disc 2: Episodes 4, 5, and 6Disc 3: Episodes 7, 8, and 9Disc 4: Episode 10 and Extra FeaturesPart 1: Beginnings (Episodes 1 & 2)Noah endures God's wrath; Abraham reaches the Promised Land but still must prove his faith in God; Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt, and his faith in God is rewarded when the Red Sea parts to allow the Israelites to escape Pharaoh's chariots; Moses delivers his final message from God-the Ten Commandments.Episode 1: In the BeginningAfter the Great Flood, a new chapter in God's relationship with man begins. Abraham is chosen by God to lead his people to the Promised Land and is assured descendants as numerous as the stars, but God tests his faith again and again. Generations later, famine drives Abraham's descendents - the Israelites - into Egypt where they are enslaved by the pharaoh.Episode 2: ExodusWhile in exile, Moses is told by God at the Burning Bush that he will free the Israelites from slavery. Moses returns to Egypt and, with the help of ten devastating plagues and the miracle of the parting of the Red Sea, he leads the Israelites to freedom. At Mount Sinai, Moses receives laws from God that will prepare the Israelites for life in a new land.Part 2: Homeland (Episodes 3 & 4)Joshua conquers Jericho; Delilah betrays Samson as the Israelites battle the Philistines; Samuel anoints David as king, a move that could throw the nation into civil war; Saul is consumed with jealousy when David defeats Goliath; King David ushers in a golden age for Israel, but is soon seduced by power and lust for Bathsheba; God forgives David, and his son, Solomon, builds God's temple in Jerusalem.Episode 3: HomelandThe Israelites are ready to begin a new life in a new land and, when the walls of Jericho miraculously collapse, they are finally able to gain a foothold in Canaan. At first, the Israelites face numerous foreign invaders when they disobey God. The Philistines eventually rule over them until God endows Samson with the physical strength to fight back. The Phillistines maintain the upper hand, so the Israelites demand a king to lead them in battle. Reluctantly, the prophet Samuel makes Saul king.Episode 4: KingdomKing Saul and the Israelite army face seemingly impossible odds against the Philistine army and their champion, Goliath. An unlikely hero, the young David, defeats Goliath and goes on to lead the Israelites to victory against the Philistines. Saul fears that David means to steal his throne and so betrays his loyal warrior. This is Saul's undoing, and David becomes king and later captures Jerusalem for the Israelites.Part 3: Hope (Episodes 5 & 6)The Jews are enslaved in Babylon; Daniel is thrown into the lions' den, but when his faith endures and God spares him, the Jews are allowed to return to Jerusalem; the Angel Gabriel tells Mary she will bear a child; Joseph takes Mary to Bethlehem for the census, where Jesus is born; the Holy family escapes Herod's order to kill Bethlehem's male babies; Judea comes under the ruthless rule of Pilate; John baptizes Jesus, who is now ready to take on his mission-and his revolution.Episode 5: SurvivalNearly four hundred years after the rule of David, Babylonian hordes lay siege to Jerusalem and force the Jews into exile in Babylon, where their identity and faith are tested. Decades later, Cyrus, King of Persia, conquers Babylon. Fulfilling biblical prophecy, Cyrus begins to allow the Jews to return to their homeland.Episode 6: HopeAgainst a backdrop of Roman oppression, young Mary's faith is rewarded when the angel Gabriel tells her she will carry a special child from God. Jesus is born to Mary and Joseph and, from the outset, his life is in danger. But with guidance from his parents and his baptism by John, he is strong enough to take on even Satan.Part 4: Mission (Episodes 7 & 8)Jesus feeds the crowds in Galilee and brings a dead man, Lazarus, back to life; Jesus enters Jerusalem riding on a donkey-a declaration that he is the Messiah; Jesus turns on the money-changers in the Temple; Caiphas coaxes Judas into betraying Jesus; Jesus throws the disciples into turmoil at the Last Supper; Jesus is arrested and condemned to death as the disciples scatter.Episode 7: MissionJesus and his disciples move from town to town preaching love and forgiveness, but this radical approach is not welcomed by everyone. Jesus' miracles grow increasingly wondrous until he conquers death itself, raising Lazarus from the tomb.Episode 8: BetrayalJesus arrives in Jerusalem, openly declaring that he is the promised Messiah. High Priest Caiaphas fears that impassioned crowds will start a riot, so he finds a way to get to Jesus - through Judas. At the Last Supper, Jesus tells his disciples that one of them will betray him. They can only watch as Jesus is arrested and led away.Part 5: Passion (Episodes 9 & 10)Peter denies Jesus and Judas hangs himself; the crowd clamors for Jesus's death; Jesus is crucified, but when Mary Magdalene goes to his tomb, a figure walks towards her-he is back; Jesus commissions the disciples to "go and preach to all creation," but their godly mission meets with hatred and even death; Paul has a vision and experiences a miraculous change of faith on a journey to Damascus; John receives a revelation-Jesus is coming back, and all who keep the faith will be rewarded.Episode 9: PassionJesus is sentenced to die by crucifixion. The crowds of Jerusalem wail as Jesus is forced to drag his cross to Golgotha, where he is crucified for all to see. As life leaves his body, the sky darkens and the earth quakes. His mother weeps.Episode 10: CourageMary Magdalene thinks she has gone mad when she finds Jesus' tomb empty, but then Jesus appears. The resurrected Jesus delivers his final message to his disciples before he leaves them to continue without him, but promises that, in the Spirit, he will be with them always.Downey, R., & Burnett, M. (2013). History.com [The Bible Series Episodes]. Retrieved from [...]

When this highly rated miniseries first aired on the History Channel in spring 2013, I was unimpressed. I caught a few minutes of the first episode, watched at least one of the Jesus episodes, and concluded that it was mostly flash over substance. But after finally buying the DVD set in March 2014, and watching it all the way through, I'm surprised to say that it's actually quite an impressive series despite its flaws. As a scripture teacher at a Catholic high school, I can now say I highly recommend it as a good visual sampling of the sacred text.The best thing about this series is that it depicts the entire Bible, in 10 episodes, as one overarching theme of God's love for humanity. There is a continuity of style and theme in the filmmaking that is breathtaking to witness on film, as the video flies through the Hebrew Torah and New Testament with startling narrative drive. Rather than having to rent multiple videos with different actors and technical crews to follow the Bible on film, we've got it all -- well, the greatest hits -- here in one miniseries.The Old Testament episodes wisely depict God's relationship with humanity through God's five covenants with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David. Some of these episodes are quite good, particularly the deeply moving episode concerning Abraham, which captures his story -- a highlight is the climactic near-sacrifice of his son Isaac -- with poignancy and clarity. Each episode is organized by a theme that holds together disparate Biblical sources remarkably well. The Moses episode is excellent despite ending too abruptly as he returns from Sinai with the commandments, depriving us of the Golden Calf and many other memorable moments. The episodes on Joshua, Samson, King Saul, and King David do a fine job in depicting the rise of Israel's kingdom. But the episode featuring Israel's subjugation under Babylon and Persia carries perhaps the greatest power outside of the Abraham material, giving us iconic renditions of the fiery furnace and Lion's Den captivity stories from the Book of Daniel, with heartfelt performances by the actors playing Daniel and others.The New Testament episodes slow down quite a bit, minimizing the narration as we come to focus four full episodes on Jesus of Nazareth, with just the tenth and final episode used to squeeze in the Acts of the Apostles and a hint of Revelation. The Jesus episodes are so-so, but the Acts of the Apostles episode at the end of the series is particularly good, inasmuch as one feels the continuity of watching the same actors from the Jesus episodes. I would have liked to see more of the apostolic martyrdom traditions (particularly Peter) depicted rather than just described by the narrator, but it's really neat to see Acts and Revelation building to a climax with the same actors in the same series. By the end, you really feel like you've sampled the whole Bible, albeit the "greatest hits" version. It doesn't feel like 9 hours at all and the last disc of this four-disc set even includes a moving "Mary, Did You Know?" music video in addition to a helpful documentary feature.Presentation style is a plus here. The framing device with Noah relating Genesis 1-3 at the start of episode one is clever, reflecting the fact that this primeval history emerges from a symbolic oral storytelling tradition designed to impart religious truth rather than scientific facts. The Hans Zimmer-infused musical score, costumes, and filmmaking all create a theatrical unity to this material. The color-blind casting of the roles (i.e. a black Samson and many middle eastern actors mixed with the British thespians) make the series feel particularly representative of the Middle Eastern melting pot. And the narration by Keith David does a nice job of providing transitions between many stories.On the negative side, one often feels the absence in this show of what is left out from the Bible, wishing the filmmakers had gone for broke by filming a few more episodes. Cutting straight from Abraham to Moses overlooks the story of Jacob (Israel) and his 12 sons, ancestors of the 12 tribes, and of the particularly moving Joseph story of reconciliation among these brothers that concludes Genesis. Ending the Moses episode right when it was getting really exciting is a bummer. And the story of Solomon, or at least of the division of Israel into a northern and southern kingdom under Solomon's son, would have helped alleviate the narrative incoherence of the rushed effort to portray Babylon's conquest of Jerusalem and the story of the prophet Jeremiah. There's no hint here that the northern kingdom, including prophets like Isaiah and Jonah, ever existed. Finally, I wish the series would have at least acknowledged Alexander the Great and the revolt of the Maccabees (subject of Hanukkah) that re-established an independent Jewish kingdom prior to the Roman conquest in 63 BC. Although most Protestant and Jewish Bibles exile the two books of Maccabees to second-canon status, these events would still help us understand the Roman conquest better.This brings me to the only weakness of the series, which is its general unevenness. It tries to squeeze the 46 books of the Old Testament into 5 episodes while spreading out the 27 New Testament books over 5 episodes as well. As a result, the Old Testament episodes gradually feel rushed while the New Testament episodes linger over the gospel accounts of Jesus to the exclusion of much other material.Nevertheless, this series is contemporary enough (John the Baptist has dreds!) and breezy enough (episodes range from 40 to 54 minutes) to be a powerful teaching tool for group study or classroom use. While the excellent TNT Bible Series has richer miniseries teleplays, they tend to be three hours long and frequently padded with extra-biblical material, limiting their classroom use unless one has lots of time to spare. This History Channel series is more like a summary or paraphrase of the Bible, giving us (as the opening scrawl proclaims) the spirit of the text in digestible nuggets rather than word-for-word accuracy. I highly recommend it for teenagers, particularly younger ones, as an entree into the Bible. Older students will want more meat, but this series is more than enough to whet the appetite of spiritual seekers who normally avoid religious material.I revisited this miniseries after seeing "Son of God" in theaters and being favorably impressed with its 2 1/2 hour theatrical cut of the 4 hours of Jesus material from the series. To be candid, I found the Jesus material in "Son of God" far more compelling than it is in the miniseries, where it is chopped up over four episodes and dramatically weighed down by the omniscient narration. I found it helpful to purchase the full miniseries DVD set for this reason: The last episode on Acts and Revelation, titled "Courage," makes a great epilogue to watching "Son of God" on its own! It feels like a 50-minute sequel to the theatrical film, which is particularly valuable since there are no top-notch films on Acts of the Apostles (only miniseries and low-budget stuff) available to buy.The Bible Miniseries take on "Acts of the Apostles" is not comprehensive, but it hits the major plot points and grows organically out of the Jesus episodes. With so many creaky older Biblical TV films floating around, it's great to have one portable DVD package with visuals from the whole Bible that hold together well in one narrative. This four-disc DVD set in a thin clamshell case is definitely worth owning if you want a visual taste of scripture.

Such a good mini series. I recommend watching it, its a great way to visualize the more popular stories of the bible and it gives a bit mor3 understanding ro visual learners like myself