A new mini-series, The Bible, debuts on the History Channel this Sunday, March 3 at 8PM ET, and it would be the understatement of the century to say Glenn is excited about the program. In fact, Glenn believes so strongly in the importance of The Bible series that he personally bought commercial time on TheBlaze TV to urge his viewers to watch the 10-part event.
On radio this morning, Glenn interviewed the series’ executive producers, Mark Burnett (of Survivor and The Voice fame) and his wife, Roma Downey. According to its website, The Bible is “an epic 10-part miniseries retelling stories from the Scriptures for a whole new generation. Breathtaking in scope and scale, The Bible features powerful performances, exotic locales and dazzling visual effects that breathe spectacular life into the dramatic tales of faith and courage from Genesis through Revelation.”
Glenn received advanced copies of the series’ first and second installments, and he watched both episodes this past weekend with his family. He compared the series to an updated version of Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments, although stories covered in The Bible encompass far more than Moses alone.
“We are doing the whole thing. We're telling the story from Genesis to revelation. It will be over 10 episodes over five weeks. We made this series with our three children in mind. They're three teenagers,” Burnett said on radio this morning. “With all due respect to The Ten Commandments, it's 50 years old, those special effects that were so marvelous in the day are now a bit hokey. They're a bit dated. So we wanted to be able to bring the stories of our Bible to television in fresh and wonderful ways. You said earlier before we got on, it has to start in the heart. We know that. And any good story has to begin in the heart. When the heart opens there's the possibility for all kinds of things to move in.”
Part of what Glenn finds so remarkable about the series, is how relatable it is for audiences of all ages. Glenn described that his 8-year-old son, who had heard the stories explored in The Bible before, had a whole new understanding of the Old Testament after watching the first two episodes of the series.
“The through line for us was: God still loves us,” Burnett said, “and that level of redemption runs through the series… We wanted to create a piece that was relevant. That would get the conversation going. That would touch people's hearts. We wanted to make a series that would glorify God.”
“I urge everyone, if you are a pastor, priest, rabbi, you tell everybody watch this, Sunday nights on The History Channel,” Glenn said. “If you have anybody in your family that is halfway interested… have them watch a little bit of the truth. It's really not preachy at all. It is really, really good, and please help get the word out because the major networks aren't really anxious to do it. But I am. And I think you guys have done a tremendous work here. Thank you guys so much.”