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The Story of God

The Story of God S3:E1 – Struggling with Evil

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(National Geographic/Maria Bohe)

As humans, we have the desire to do good, but cannot always find the ability or capacity to do so.  To this end, we walk upon the earth where a constant battle plays out in our hearts and souls.  The goal is to eventually get rid of evil in our lives.  But we fall down constantly and have to deal with the effects of sin as a result.  Often, we attempt to give these struggles a personification.

We call him the devil or Satan.

In the first episode of The Story of God (Season 3), host Morgan Freeman takes a look at who exactly the devil is and has been made out to be over the centuries.  There are some major differences between religions, yet there is one common reality: nobody wants to be filled with evil.  There’s something about the light that has the ability to penetrate darkness and yet overcome it (see John 1:5).

Freeman takes a look at three religious groups – namely, Christianity, Buddhism, and Hinduism – and sees that the groups look at the devil in very different ways.  For the Christian, Satan is the prince of demons and is one to avoid.  Jesus himself was tempted by the devil in the Gospels as he fasted for 40 days and nights. When one is weak and hungry, there is a tendency to do things that are not in one’s best interest (example: those Snickers commercials on television).  Monks at a 5th century monastery recreate Jesus’ struggle daily in the Judean desert as they fast and constantly battle with the devil for their lives. To them, death with faith is better than life with no faith.  Thus, a living faith in God is critical in order to ward off Satan.

If it turns out that people are filled with demons and such, they must be removed to avoid the controlling influence of evil.  In the Catholic church, this means exorcisms (prayers to the soul who needs help) must exist.  Freeman interviews an individual who had gone through five years of exorcisms  to rid himself of the struggles he was facing.  It was interesting and reminded me of watching an individual be healed of demon possession while I was at a Christian festival three decades ago.

But in some faiths, the goal is to win the devil to our side.  Buddhists think in this fashion, struggling to convince his minions to become good via offerings that will tame their minds.  To this end, a person becomes their own enemy and their own protector.  Hindus focus on elevating their spirit above all over tendencies.  In their view, there is no such thing as 100% evil; a speck of light exists somewhere in a person. Thus, there is no true devil.

Satan is a finite being through the Christian tradition, having been thrown to earth after he attempted an overthrow of God’s throne (see Isaiah 14:12).  As a result, he can only be in one place at one specific time.  I get frustrated with people who constantly blame the devil for all of their individual problems when there are more than 7 billion other people on Earth—as if our struggles demand his personal attention.  It’s likely one or more of his minions—CS Lewis discussed this quite eloquently in his novel The Screwtape Letters. Satan exists—and our job as followers of Jesus is to resist his (and other demonic) advances, knowing that in the end, the result of the battle has been determined.  Spoiler alert: The good God wins. Light overcomes darkness every morning with the rising of the sun, a subtle reminder to each of us to keep struggling on.  And we will look up and keep doing just that.

Season 3 of The Story of God continues on National Geographic each Tuesday at 9 PM/8 CT.

The Story of God – Season 3: Conversations on Faith

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(National Geographic/Maria Bohe)

For the past two seasons, National Geographic has partnered with Revelations Entertainment (Madame Secretary) to help viewers answer, for themselves, questions involving God.  Entitled The Story of God with Morgan Freeman, the host (none other than Freeman himself) goes around the world to in order to find out about various religious topics including evil, miracles, and even the Apocalypse.  The show has been picked up by National Geographic for a third season and will focus this time around on deadly sins, visions of God, and that character George Clooney in O Brother, Where Art Thou? referred to as “having a bifurcated tail and carrying a hayfork”—the devil. I recently had the opportunity to talk with the three heads of Revelations Entertainment—Lori McCready, James Younger, and Morgan Freeman—about the upcoming season and what viewers can expect.

McCready mentioned that regarding the series, they felt the devil was just as important as God to cover.  It just took three seasons to have room to make it happen. To that effect, the key purpose of the show is to inspire people to have conversations about faith: how it has moved people, changed individuals, and transformed communities. To this end, the show focuses more on individual experiences versus scholar’s viewpoints. These experiences help to reveal more of a dynamism that the viewer will be able to detect.

McCreary notes that the concept of the devil was something that really surprised her during the filming.  In Christianity, for example, Jesus is tempted and resists Satan’s advances (see Matthew 4:1-11), but Buddhists are commanded to befriend the devil and his minions. Although there are unique differences between religious faiths, there are also connection points that people can use to build bridges and community, according to Younger. Freeman added, “Don’t be afraid . . . We’re not that far apart.”

The Story of God with Morgan Freeman will be shown on National Geographic beginning March 5th at 9 PM (8 PM Central).

The Story of God with Morgan Freeman S2E3: Just Look

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(Photo Credit: National Geographic/Savas Georgalis)

I think there comes at least one time in every person’s life where s/he seriously contemplates if God exists. Perhaps it’s in a time where everything in life is falling apart and there is nowhere else to turn (see Job). Perhaps it’s a reflection about the words someone else has said on the subject.  It could even be a realization that something seems to be missing in life.  For me personally, it came from sitting on a vacant beach one afternoon and watching the waves crash on the shore.  My thought was simply this: “I cannot understand how someone can look at the ocean or the beauty of nature and not believe there is a God.”  The final episode of the second season of The Story of God with Morgan Freeman (Monday, 9PM/8CT Nat Geo) discusses the proof of God we all look for.  The answers have the ability to drive us right to him—if we’ll allow for it.

(Photo Credit: National Geographic/Seth Nejame)

In my opinion, this was the strongest episode this season by a large margin.  It felt like a return to the questioning, inquisitive nature that encouraged people to take an interest in faith.  Freeman showcases his usual alluring charm and sharp analysis as he introduces a number of ways people find personal proofs for God.  Sujo John’s story was fascinating—he survived 9/11 after climbing down 81 floors to escape. There’s more, but I won’t give it away.  These times of crisis will often drive us to a realization that God is real.  Of course, this also brings up the question of why God allows some to live and others to perish in situations.  John’s comment involved peace and the confidence that if he was to die, everything would be okay.

Some people see miracles as proof—the dancing of the sun in the sky in Fatima, Portugal (top photo) is one example. Some people find their proof in healing others via dead ancestors, such as villages in Namibia.  Others find God’s proof within themselves, like some Buddhists who have the ability to channel what they call “inner fire,” giving them the ability to raise their body temperatures through meditation. Many Muslims see their proof in the words of their holy book, the Qu’ran.  Even scientists aren’t immune to looking for proofs of God, as theoretical physicist Art Lovie shares by describing nature and mathematical equations that demonstrate the existence of life itself.

(Photo Credit: National Geographic/Reza Riazi)

Freeman ends the episode by noting that we’ll find God in the space between knowledge and doubt. If this is to be taken at face value, it means that somewhere within us is a space only he can fill. The French mathematician Blaise Pascal said something to that exact effect: “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing.” Christians believe the form of the filling comes only through Jesus, who is proof of God in human form. He calmed the wind and waves (Mark 4:35-41), healed people (see Matthew 15:30 for one example), and even sweat blood at one point (Luke 22:29-44).  But without Jesus’ return to life after death, his life was lived in vain.  And yet God allows nature, individual situations, and other people to help bring about the filling of the vacuum.  This way, people are without excuse regarding a proof of God, because it’s seen every day (see Romans 1:18-20).  All that has to be done is to slow down, stop, and look around to see it.

I’m looking forward to a third season of The Story of God with Morgan Freeman.  There’s way more to God than meets the eye, and the show has just scratched the surface.  Who knows what will be found as we go deeper?

Being Chosen: The Story of God With Morgan Freeman S2E1

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(Photo Credit: National Geographic/David Kraemer)

The success or failure of a television or cable program can be largely attributed to many different factors.  Having a good story is important, as is good videography and relatable characters. A topic that’s intriguing also helps considerably.  But in the end, it all comes down to the number of eyeballs looking at the show each week. In the case of National Geographic Channel’s The Story of God with Morgan Freeman, there were a lot of eyeballs looking at Freeman’s foray into faith-based questions we’ve probably asked at one time or another.  In fact, the show was National Geographic’s most watched of all time. Thankfully, a second season of episodes are one the way—the first airing this evening (9 PM/8 CT).  In it, Freeman (and a few new characters) take a look at the concept of the Chosen One and what that means across faiths.

If you’re not familiar with the show, Freeman takes a topic relating to faith and looks for commonalities within various religions around the world. Christianity is given significant attention, but so are Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu perspectives. It can be quite fascinating, and the first episode of the second season is no exception.

What does it mean to be chosen? Is it exclusive to a specific faith?  Freeman takes a look at a number of different variants of this concept, beginning with a nine year-old named Jalue Dorjee.  He plays soccer like many kids his age, but at age two, his parents were given a paper from the Dalai Lama signifying he’s a reincarnation of an individual who has inhabited folks for five centuries.  In another instance, Freeman travels to London to celebrate the martyrdom of a grandson of the prophet Muhammad. Native Americans are also represented in the form of Chief Arvol Looking Horse, the chosen one of the Lakota, Nakota, and Dakota tribes (see top picture).

(Photo Credit: National Geographic/Seth Nejame)

Even though chosen ones “help the faithful get back on track,” they’re not always living.  In the case of the Sikh culture, their chosen one is a book (see photo above). Some show their devotion in Thailand by piercing themselves with various objects such as metal spears (!) to gain superhuman powers. And sometimes the chosen are more along the lines of missionaries, such as Christian Kenneth Bae, who endured two years of hard labor in North Korea for simply organizing prayer groups.  His journey has brought him to the realization that “Jesus is [his] hope—[he] wants to be a blessing.”

There are a few changes to the program this season.  Gone is the blast of the shofar to start the program; instead, a graphic montage replaces it.  I thought the horn was a great part of the first season and am sad to see it go.  In addition, Freeman is not in every section of the show—at least in the first episode.  Two people—a man and a woman—take his role as they explore aspects of the episode’s theme (I think they’re one-time examples, however).  It adds a different perspective, but I think the focus of the show has been Freeman’s personality shining through the exploration of certain faiths and customs.  In the two sections of note, that seems to have been somewhat lost, although the two individuals do a good job with their questioning.

For me, the biggest takeaway from the episode was along the lines of what it means to be chosen.  In essence, it’s another way to say an individual is called out by God for some special purpose.  Sometimes it happens in a dramatic way, such as Paul’s encounter with God on the road to Damascus (see Acts 9:1-18) or Moses finding a burning bush (see Exodus 3:1-10).  But for many people, it’s not that way.  There’s an inward nudging that God has plans beyond anything a person could ask or even imagine.  To respond in any way other than acceptance is to be in a state of rebellion akin to Jonah (with or without the whale).  From there, it’s a process to become so in tune with God’s plans that one’s plans simply become his. In fact, Jesus made it clear that all that follow after him are to be his ambassadors to the world in their words, thoughts, and actions, seeking to make disciples of all nations (see Matthew 28:18-20).  It’s not easy, but being chosen is a responsibility that must be taken seriously.  The end results can be incredible—if we’re just willing to listen and respond in faith.

Interview with Morgan Freeman, Lori McCready, and James Younger — The Story of God (Season Two)

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(Photo Credit: National Geographic/Savas Georgalis)

Discussions about religion and faith can be popular after all.

The first season of The Story of God with Morgan Freeman set all-time ratings records for the National Geographic Channel.  A new season, starting this Monday at 9 PM/8 CT, brings new subjects to the discussion, including The Chosen One, Heaven and Hell, and Proof of God (we’ll have a review of the first episode on Monday).

ScreenFish recently had the unique opportunity to spend some time talking to the executive producers of the show—Morgan Freeman, Lori McCready, and James Younger.  It was a fascinating discussion that helped to bring the purpose of the show into greater focus while providing a potential vision of the show’s future.

Freeman mentioned that the show’s success has been due more to the concept of discussing faith than the method of presentation. The format provides information in a non-proselytizing manner; it simply asks and explores what people are doing already when it comes to faith. Younger added that the key is explaining what exists and what it means; he’s been heartened by the fantastic ratings so far. McCready was thrilled that the show has shown that females are important and are being recognized for their role in faith.

The filming has been a bit of a challenge, according to Younger and McCready. Making accidental mistakes (actions, filming, or otherwise) in a holy place can lead to getting kicked out. As a result, everyone on the staff has learned to be respectful in their ways and how they interact with the specific faith.  And sometimes, as in the case of the Sikh faith, that respect leads to a mutual respect—and access not granted to other groups.

(Photo Credit: National Geographic/Reza Riazi)

One focus of The Story of God with Morgan Freeman has involved the use of science in areas of religion and faith (both McCready and Younger are scientists), so I asked what role virtual reality would play in the future.  Younger saw the technology as more as a prayer/meditation element, since VR tends to not necessarily be useful for communication—at least for now. McCready seemed thrilled with using VR as a storytelling medium where one’s experience could be replicated for others to see (and interact with). Freeman wasn’t quite as keen on VR, stating he felt it’s a fad that will phase out because “it’s not reality.”

When asked what a future episode of the show might focus on, the three had unique perspectives that have helped to make the show a success. McCready thought a good show would involve a discussion of God’s plan for one’s life. Freeman added that he’d like to see a show about whether males or females came first regarding their creation. Younger brought up the topic of the effect of schisms and how they’ve affected faiths over the centuries. Perhaps we’ll see those in the future.  But for now, we’ll work with the episodes of Season Two.

Because of the new season, many people are going to get an opportunity to take a look at the series for the first time, as Season One is now available on DVD.  There’s definitely stuff to think about, and I’m looking forward to seeing what the next episodes offer.

(Thank you to the National Geographic Channel, Revelations Entertainment, and Different Drummer for making the interview possible)

What is Faith-Based Entertainment?

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At the recent Variety PURPOSE Family Entertainment and Faith-Based Summit held in Beverly Hills, the question about what constitutes faith-based entertainment came up in various ways. The following are gleanings from two different panels in which the topic came up.

Mike Miller (National Geographic Channel’s Producer for The Story of God with Morgan Freeman): It was a treat from beginning to end and a total success for us. It was not a surprise for us. We know our audience well. We have the premier brand in television for science, adventure, and exploration. This really was an exploration. There were science elements in the show. It was an adventure story with all the travel. It fit our brand perfectly; it fit our audience perfectly. We have a large audience that are people of faith, and we know that, and we wanted to do something special that they would respond to. At the same time not make it overtly religious so that everybody will be comfortable with it. What I mean is, you watch this for six hours and you have no idea what Morgan Freeman personally feels about religion.

He comes across as spiritual. That’s what he wanted to do. It’s not that he’s not religious, because I know him well enough to know. But we wanted to make this show accessible for all audiences. He’s the kind of guy who has books of every religion on his bookshelf. He’s very well versed in many many faiths. So he was the perfect guy. It’s an extension of his natural curiosity and his personal love for this subject. That’s why the show worked. Let’s face it, any other television network would have had, “Hi. I’m William Shatner. God: where is he? what is he? Find out tonight!” And they would send him to the Holy Land and there would be 75 cue cards. That’s your average TV special. But Morgan never read cue cards. Every time he talked on camera, which was often, I always made sure there was a lens right there and he’d just look into the lens like you were the friend going with him and say “Here’s what I think about what I just saw. Here’s what I feel about where we’re going.” It was intimate. It was epic and intimate at the same time.

A question about why some people of faith are making things other than faith-based material led to this response

Michael Carney (Director/Co-writer of the upcoming film Same Kind of Different As Me): I think one of the problems with filmmakers—for me specifically—I think the faith-based thing, all these new categories bother me because it boxes you into an area. I feel like we’ve got this amazing God who created all the imaginations and he’s given us the ability to do so much, right? So to categorize it that way—there’s a certain stigma, there just is in Hollywood, when you say faith-based film. We changed with ours. We didn’t even do a faith-based movie, but because it dealt with faith-based things, it slipped out in the press that we were doing a faith-based film and then automatically there’s just this thing where they look at it differently. Versus going—you know one of the best faith-based films was Braveheart. If there’s ever a faith-based film, William Wallace was that guy. Why are we not making those films? Back in the day you and I wouldn’t have this conversation because you didn’t name any number of those huge films back in the day—Chariots of Fire was incredible but I don’t remember people talking about “that faith-based film Chariots of Fire”. And that was all about faith and God.

So for us as filmmakers, I love to just shed that stuff and go “Look, This is a great story about a guy who’s life is changed. And really pitch it more on the fact that—God’s going to do what he’s going to do. If we have done our job about praying for the film, we don’t have to go in there and preach “come to Jesus” and hit them over the head with that. When they’re sitting in a theater watching the trailers, they’re going to feel something different. That’s how the Spirit works. So when the movie comes on it doesn’t have to be about come to Jesus, they can feel the anointing start to come through the screen, because we’ve done what we’re supposed to do.

Matthew Malek (Producer of the upcoming Martin Scorsese film, Silence): I can translate that into Catholic terms. Things that are good, true, and beautiful, they hit the mark. So if you make things that are good, true, and beautiful, they will reach a wide audience regardless of what the topic is, what the formula is. Faith-based I think is a concept that arose shortly before, but really after The Passion as an attempt to explain a phenomenon that was unexplainable to the studio system: how did we miss this? And that turned into an industry that ultimately I don’t think ever had legs because The Passion was a unique, very filmmaker-specific, lots of controversy—there were many reasons why it did what it did. To try to reenact that model is a wrong way to go. People need to simply go back to making good, true, and beautiful art, and make it commercially responsible—that means not spend 500 times the money you need to—and I have a feeling these movies will start to be seen and Hollywood will understand them more. Because Hollywood tried to do these faith-based films at the big level and simply forgot about the “big” part.

Miracles and Hope – The Story of God (Ep. 6)

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Past Articles in This Series: Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5
CloudsIn the final episode of The Story of God (tonight 9PM/8 Central), narrator and host Morgan Freeman shares a personal story when, as a teenager, he was in a hospital with pneumonia and an abscess on his lung.  When it burst, he almost died.  Yet he survived and eventually became one of the premiere actors in Hollywood.  Was that a miracle?

Alcides Moreno was in New York preparing to wash windows with his brother on the top of a 47-story skyscraper. While on the platform, the cables snapped, sending both of them hurtling to the ground some 500 feet below. Alcides survived, but his brother didn’t (typically, a 10-story fall is instant death).  He’s not sure if that was a miracle, but believes God gave him a “second chance.”

So what exactly is a miracle?  The Random House Dictionary defines a miracle as “an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause.” We talk of miracles all the time, ranging from somehow getting an A on a test we didn’t study to sports teams succeeding despite everything being stacked against them (think of Leicester City in the Barclays Premier League winning the title yesterday at 5000:1 odds [worse than Elvis getting out of his grave]).  But do they really exist or is it just a really big game of chance that happens to swing the right way once in a great while?

Jerusalem - The Church of the Holy SepulcherFreeman discovers that Christians and Jews are united about miracles being a key aspect of their faith (after all, most of the key elements of the Bible are pretty miraculous according to the above definition, such as Moses parting the Red Sea and Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead). The Catholic Church verifies miracles (two) in order to confer sainthood upon deceased individuals. In addition, prayer and faith in God makes a big difference. Tom Renfro, a pastor of a church in Virginia, shares his personal story about having cancer and not seeing the doctor, asking for prayers instead.  He eventually heard God tell him it was time to go to the doctor, then went in for one round of chemo and was completely healed.  Renfro attributes the miracle to his faith and the faith of the people around him.

Other beliefs vary as to the importance of miracles. The Egyptians believed everything that happened in a person’s life was the will of the gods.  In the case of the Romans, they believed their panoply of gods determined the outcome of chariot races at the Circus Maximus (think Ben-Hur), yet humans could help speed the process along by cheating and such. In the case of Taoism, everything is connected and the fates of an individual are set at birth. However, Jenny Liu, a fate calculator (that’s a great title to put on a resume), tells Freeman there is still room for a miracle since, in her words, “Birds don’t fly; they’re flown. Fish don’t swim; they’re carried.”  Buddhists go as far to say that humans can perform miracles such as love, peace, reconciliation, and the transformation of the mind.

Simply put: there’s a lot more to life than meets the eye and, if anything, miracles offer hope to a world that increasingly needs to know possibility can become reality.

The Evil Within (and Without): The Story of God (Ep. 5)

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Past Articles in This Series: Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4
Shrieking Shack
Evil is one of those things that we, as humans, have to deal with on a daily basis.  If you’re not sure about this, all it takes is a few minutes of watching television or browsing the news headlines on a phone. Although our overall desire is to be and do good in all situations (including our thoughts), we aren’t able to do it with 100% effectiveness our entire lives. The Apostle Paul shared this struggle as follows: “I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” (Romans 7:18-19 NIV) So where does all of this come from?  Morgan Freeman, in the penultimate episode of The Story of God (National Geographic, 9 PM/8 Central tonight), tackles this subject and reveals some enlightening things about humanity and their propensity for evil.

This episode starts off with a visit to a maximum security prison and a challenging conversation with a person convicted of some pretty heinous crimes (I’ll let you discover what they are for yourself). When Freeman asks the prisoner why they happened, he says, “I had a desire, an impulse, and I wasn’t able to stop myself from acting on the impulse.” He’s also not convinced that if released, he could avoid doing the crimes again.

This brings up the question, “Where does evil come from?”

To attempt an answer, Freeman looks at how a number of faiths deal with the issue. The early Egyptians believed that when a person was filled with evil or sin, their heart became heavy. Their heart would be weighed on a scale upon death against truth; the result would determine their eternal destiny. Hindus think evil may have to do with the spirits of dead ancestors who weren’t happy; they offer sacrifices upon realizing this is the case. Zoroastrians believe evil is a battle within to be fought with good thoughts, words, and deeds (in that specific order). Buddhists try to counter the evil within using meditation and ritual. And Christians believe that Adam and Eve’s sin started a chain reaction of events that transfers evil to each person upon birth. This is why Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection allows believers to combat—and eventually conquer—Satan and his minions.

Morgan Freeman
(Photo credit: National Geographic Channels/Matthew Paul Turner)

Freeman has a fascinating talk with Brian Widener, a former Neo-Nazi, during the episode. Widener was tattooed beyond recognition during this time, but after getting married and having a child, he realized the error of his ways and had them removed from his face over a period of 2½ years. He states he found God in the middle of the process, although he admits he’s not sure what that looks like.  Can evil be contained and washed away? Freeman asks before ending with a baptism ceremony in a river—the Christian symbol of a regenerated life through belief in Jesus.

For me, one interesting point of the episode involved a scientist in New Zealand who showcased an experiment involving kids and the need for a higher being to keep order and control using a game (again, I’ll let you see what that looks like). To me, it reveals the propensity of evil in an individual’s heart when they think they can get away with something.  As the prophet Jeremiah notes, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?” Science can attempt to decode the reasoning for why we do things and discover patterns of behavior, but the heart is fatally diseased, prone to evil from the outset. In this way, we are all wretched (there’s the Apostle Paul again), which is the exact reason why we live in a world full of sin. How we deal with the evil within (and without) says a lot about our beliefs and, in many ways, our outlook on the world we inhabit.

How It All Began: The Story of God (Ep. 4)

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Past Articles in This Series: Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3

The Creation of AdamIn the beginning . . . how did the heavens and the earth come to be?  It’s a question we’ve all invariably considered at some point in our lives. Morgan Freeman has been puzzled by creation since he was a kid attending church in his hometown of Greenwood, Mississippi.  What else is out there? If God was the architect of everything, who (or what) created him? Or was chance a major aspect of the whole thing?

The fourth episode of The Story of God with Morgan Freeman (National Geographic, Sunday at 9P/8C) brings the subject of creation to the forefront of discussion. And just like the preceding episodes, Freeman’s curiosity leads him to a worldwide search to find an answer (if one exists). He learns some interesting things along the way that are worth tuning in for.

For most people in the Western Hemisphere, creation is synonymous with Adam, Eve, and a garden in Eden. The two lived there peacefully, enjoying the place—all until the day they chose to disobey the one rule God gave them—eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (see Genesis 2:15-17).  Then they were thrown out by God and forced to work the land in order to survive. Freeman adds, “It’s hard to believe we all come from one man and one woman . . .  but we do.” Freeman has an intriguing discussion with researcher Jodi Magnuss where she mentions a legend about Adam and his dead bones. Supposedly, he was buried right above where Jesus was crucified.  When his blood seeped into the ground, it met the bones and Adam was resurrected. She then has a quick Hebrew lesson with Freeman involving the words adam (man), dam (blood), and adamah (land).

The episode continues with Freeman visiting Gobleki Tepe, an ancient city in Turkey, Egypt, Australia, India, and Guatemala to learn stories of how other faiths describe creation as occurring. Some involve twins and corn (Mayans). Some involve star babies and dreaming (Aborigines). Some are close to the Christian view (Islam), And others just focus on cycles of creation without getting into any details (Hindu).

The Story of God with Morgan Freeman filming in Italy.

(Photo credit: National Geographic Channels)
The Story of God with Morgan Freeman filming in Italy.

(Photo credit: National Geographic Channels)

There is a scientific look at the creation story as well—but the question of the Big Bang is proposed to some high ranking individuals in the Vatican. Monsignor Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo (seen in the picture above) tells Freeman the Big Bang is not creation because “we don’t know what was before” it happened. But the story is compatible with the normal biblical account of creation because, according to Georges Lemaître, a member of the Pontifical Academy of Science, God is outside of space and time.  Creation is an everlasting act, according to Lemaître, one of the first to propose the Big Bang Theory.  I was surprised there wasn’t a quick discussion about whether the account in Genesis 1 took six literal days or simply six equal measures of time, as I’m sure there’s a scholar out there who could provide some perspective on the subject.

It was made abundantly clear throughout the episode that, regardless of belief, there is a standard that someone bigger than us had a hand in the creation of the planet we live on and the universe we look at on a clear evening. Something had to happen – and we’re a direct result of it. It provides us with a sense of encouragement and perhaps purpose. As Gandalf wisely noted in the Lord of the Rings, “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”

May we make the most of it.

Describing the Divine: The Story of God (Ep. 3)

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Past Articles in This Series: Episode 1| Episode 2
Sunlight through the cloudsDiscussions of spiritual topics, in some way or another, invariably revolve around one single question: Who is God? What are the qualities of the divine?  Why in the world do people choose to live in wonder and adoration of one they cannot see and talk to physically? It’s a question that has challenged people for centuries—and one Morgan Freeman takes up in the third episode of National Geographic Channel’s The Story of God with Morgan Freeman (Sunday, 9 PM/8 Central). In the final analysis it turns out that, despite different belief systems, there are some common elements that people experience as they live their lives on earth. I just wish the episode had gone a bit further in the discussion.

Freeman begins the episode in a blues bar and notes that people’s reactions to music (such as blues) is similar to how people experience God. What are the universal concepts of God? he asks.  From there, he goes on a whirlwind tour around the world to get some answers.  Some of the places he visits are the same as in previous episodes (India; Egypt, Jerusalem), but new wrinkles appear as he takes trips to Stonehenge in England, a Navajo family in New Mexico, and a medical facility in Philadelphia—the latter to discover what happens in the brain when a person has religious experiences (note: the answers, provided by Dr. Andy Newberg, are pretty interesting).

Since the show seeks to compare different belief styles, Freeman hears some very different things about the religions of the world. Hindus have millions of gods with thousands of names for those individual gods. He moves from the polytheistic to monotheistic as he looks at the sun’s role in Stonehenge, King Tut’s father, and Abram (Abraham’s) role in Jewish belief.  It turns out that however well we think we can imagine God, he is always beyond what we can consider (see Ephesians 3:20).

The Navajo section was interesting, as the cinematographers chronicled (with one exception) a young girl’s transformation to a young adult—a time, in their belief system, where God and human become one (a very large corn cake is involved—you’ll just have to see the episode to understand).

Morgan Freeman at Lakewood Church, Houston TX
Morgan Freeman at Lakewood Church, Houston TX (Photo credit: National Geographic Channels/Matthew Paul Turner)

In the end, Freeman seems to realize that the commonalities in faiths are that a) God surrounds us and b) God has the power to move inside people and change them. This takes him to his final destination of the episode—Houston TX and Lakewood Church, a Christian megachurch pastored by Joel Osteen and his wife Victoria. He talks with the two just before their service, which he attends, stating he felt a real sense of joy in the auditorium. Freeman asks Osteen point-blank after the service, “Who is God?”  Osteen responded, “I believe God is our Father, the Creator, Somebody that gives us purpose and destiny . . . Sometimes it’s hard for people to say, How can I believe in something I can’t see? But it’s what you choose to believe, through faith.” Osteen added his goal as pastor was to make God approachable, useful, and helpful to people.

There’s plenty to consider in this episode, but my mind goes back to a passage in Acts 17 where Paul addressed a group of people in Athens and brought up a similar question.  “For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you,” he said (Acts 17:23). He then shares that God doesn’t live in human-made temples, gives life and breath to all humanity, is not far from people, and wants them to seek him and repent of their evil ways. He’s all about justice and will judge in the end through one he brought back to life from the dead (in this case, Jesus).

I wish there had been time in the episode to discuss the justice aspect, as it would’ve provided some levity to what is perceived as a God who could be perceived as touchy-feely and happy all the time.  As it is, the third episode of The Story of God with Morgan Freeman provides some pieces to consider but could’ve gone farther with the discussion.  But at least it’s a start.