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Bible Is 'Lies and Spin,' Says C4
By Jamie Doward
The Observer U.K.
Sunday 19 December 2004
'Sensationalist' film sparks anger among church
groups.
It's the season for Channel 4 to cause
controversy. Each year the channel strives to whip up
a furor surrounding its programming on Christmas Day.
If it is not trying to break the record for the most
f-words (2002), it's asking Ali G to present an
alternative Queen's speech (1999).
Now it has attracted anger from Christian groups
over its plans to screen a documentary which dismisses
some parts of the Bible as untrue and attacks others
as being a 'masterwork of spin'.
Evangelical groups are angry that Who Wrote the
Bible?, which will go out at 8.30pm, paints a negative
picture of Christian organizations and suggests links
between them and the troubles in the Middle East.
They have also expressed concerns about the
presenter, Dr Robert Beckford, a reader in theology at Birmingham University. Beckford's critically acclaimed documentary God is Black, which compared white and black people's interpretation of Christianity, angered some in the Anglican church who accused it of 'racialising' religious issues.
'Channel 4 has a record of going for the more
controversial take on religion,' said David Hilborn,
head of theology at the Evangelical Alliance. 'They
want to go down the more sensational route to grab
people's attention.'
Beckford defended the provocative timing of the documentary. 'To have faith in the world is to ask dangerous questions. Why not make the question at Christmas when we hear about this son of God who was born in dubious circumstances in a place which was the armpit of the world?'
In the new documentary, Beckford, a committed
Pentecostal Christian, describes a journey he made to
some of Christianity's holiest places to help him
uncover the provenance of the Bible. He calls his
conclusion an 'earth-shattering experience' and one
that made him doubt some of his most basic Christian
beliefs.
Of the Old Testament, Beckford declares: 'The
so-called law of Moses turns out to be the work of
many human hands. What I once thought was the word of
God was now beginning to sound like something out of
Stalin's Russia.'
He produces archaeological evidence to suggest the
Bible's claims that the kingdoms of David and Solomon
dominated the 10th century BC were wrong, an error
that raises profound claims about the genesis of
Christianity.
He declares the New Testament a 'masterwork of
spin written by people who were nowhere near the
events they describe, all gathered by powerful editors
who kept out ideas they did not like'.
The story of the nativity is also doubted.
Beckford argues that Matthew added the story to
fulfill a prophecy made in the Old Testament.
One of the most revealing moments comes when
Beckford visits the U.S. state of Georgia to talk to
President Bush's spiritual adviser, Baptist minister
Richard Land. Land dismisses as 'rubbish' suggestions
that the Bible is inaccurate and cannot be the basis
for political decisions. 'When you stand in judgment
of scripture, that is a theology of death,' says Land,
who has called for Iraq to be 'flooded' with U.S.
troops.
To Beckford such views are deeply alarming. 'This
was what surprised me most about my journey,
discovering how dangerous this fundamentalism can be,'
he said.
But Hilborn said: 'People have these wrong
perceptions. To see evangelicals as literalists is not
true. It's a multifarious movement; you have to give a
much more nuanced interpretation.'
Channel 4 defended its decision to screen the
documentary. 'To just be controversial would neither
be interesting nor valid. But when you have someone as intelligent and intelligible as Robert, you will see the program is extremely valid.'
By Jamie Doward
The Observer U.K.
Sunday 19 December 2004
'Sensationalist' film sparks anger among church
groups.
It's the season for Channel 4 to cause
controversy. Each year the channel strives to whip up
a furor surrounding its programming on Christmas Day.
If it is not trying to break the record for the most
f-words (2002), it's asking Ali G to present an
alternative Queen's speech (1999).
Now it has attracted anger from Christian groups
over its plans to screen a documentary which dismisses
some parts of the Bible as untrue and attacks others
as being a 'masterwork of spin'.
Evangelical groups are angry that Who Wrote the
Bible?, which will go out at 8.30pm, paints a negative
picture of Christian organizations and suggests links
between them and the troubles in the Middle East.
They have also expressed concerns about the
presenter, Dr Robert Beckford, a reader in theology at Birmingham University. Beckford's critically acclaimed documentary God is Black, which compared white and black people's interpretation of Christianity, angered some in the Anglican church who accused it of 'racialising' religious issues.
'Channel 4 has a record of going for the more
controversial take on religion,' said David Hilborn,
head of theology at the Evangelical Alliance. 'They
want to go down the more sensational route to grab
people's attention.'
Beckford defended the provocative timing of the documentary. 'To have faith in the world is to ask dangerous questions. Why not make the question at Christmas when we hear about this son of God who was born in dubious circumstances in a place which was the armpit of the world?'
In the new documentary, Beckford, a committed
Pentecostal Christian, describes a journey he made to
some of Christianity's holiest places to help him
uncover the provenance of the Bible. He calls his
conclusion an 'earth-shattering experience' and one
that made him doubt some of his most basic Christian
beliefs.
Of the Old Testament, Beckford declares: 'The
so-called law of Moses turns out to be the work of
many human hands. What I once thought was the word of
God was now beginning to sound like something out of
Stalin's Russia.'
He produces archaeological evidence to suggest the
Bible's claims that the kingdoms of David and Solomon
dominated the 10th century BC were wrong, an error
that raises profound claims about the genesis of
Christianity.
He declares the New Testament a 'masterwork of
spin written by people who were nowhere near the
events they describe, all gathered by powerful editors
who kept out ideas they did not like'.
The story of the nativity is also doubted.
Beckford argues that Matthew added the story to
fulfill a prophecy made in the Old Testament.
One of the most revealing moments comes when
Beckford visits the U.S. state of Georgia to talk to
President Bush's spiritual adviser, Baptist minister
Richard Land. Land dismisses as 'rubbish' suggestions
that the Bible is inaccurate and cannot be the basis
for political decisions. 'When you stand in judgment
of scripture, that is a theology of death,' says Land,
who has called for Iraq to be 'flooded' with U.S.
troops.
To Beckford such views are deeply alarming. 'This
was what surprised me most about my journey,
discovering how dangerous this fundamentalism can be,'
he said.
But Hilborn said: 'People have these wrong
perceptions. To see evangelicals as literalists is not
true. It's a multifarious movement; you have to give a
much more nuanced interpretation.'
Channel 4 defended its decision to screen the
documentary. 'To just be controversial would neither
be interesting nor valid. But when you have someone as intelligent and intelligible as Robert, you will see the program is extremely valid.'
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