Modern Depictions of The Bible

Over the years there have been many movies and shows that have told a part of the story of salvation.  While the main source for many of these is the Bible, in order to tell a complete story the creators have had to take some liberties with their depictions.  In same cases they might find another source that may or may not be accepted by people or faith groups.  In other cases the creators might just make the missing parts of the story themselves.

This leads to the question:  Is it ok to watch these projects, even if they don't follow the accepted stories by The Church?

I know there has been a number stage shows and films in history that have told biblical stories, but my first exposure to Hollywood Bible Version was the "Passion of the Christ."  As I understand, this film is accepted mostly by the Catholic Church as accurate.

The next thing that comes to mind is the series "The Chosen."  The Catholic Church is pretty silent on this one.  I get the impression that they are not thrilled with some of the choices that the creators made to tell a complete story, but the Church does like the presentation overall along with the attention it has given.

That leads me to the present where Netflix has just released the story of Mary, the Mother of Jesus.  They didn't have much to go by in the Bible, but they used other sources.  In this case from what I've heard the Church is not happy with some of the choices they made for the parts of Mary's life.

So that's the spectrum.  Sometimes the church likes the depiction sometimes not.  God gave us free will to decide what we should do.  So here's how I feel about Hollywood Bible.  If I see something that looks good I will watch it.  I try to separate the Biblical facts from the part that is not faithful to the Bible.  I can accept it for what it is.

What we should be thankful for is the attention that those projects give to the Salvation story.  Those stories can expose people to the Bible.  Maybe some of those people will want to investigate the life of Jesus more.  And maybe it will lead to them returning to the Christian life or starting the journey to become Christians.  More people following Christ can never be a bad thing.