Faithful To the Text?

We have an assortment of amazing stories that we can find in the Bible, which all contribute to the overall narrative of God's interaction with humanity.  We find flawed individuals, sinful people, whom God uses to accomplish His purposes.  And, above and through it all, we find that we have a perfect Savior who perfectly executed God's perfect plan and became the perfect sacrifice for our sins.  In Hebrews 10 (ESV), we can read these words:
11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,
13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.
14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

As reviewed Joseph Holmes at Religion Unplugged notes, one of the chosen Biblical characters in the recent Fox mini-series, The Faithful: Women of the Bible, may not have been perfect enough.  He writes in a review concentrating on the Sarah episode:

One of my favorite aspects of the film was Sarah’s perspective on Abraham’s relationship with God. If there’s narrative potential in focusing on the matriarchs of the Bible rather than the patriarchs, it’s this angle. What’s it like to follow someone who claims they’re following God and they keep doing crazy and unbelievable things?

The way the show portrays it, Sarah’s intense loyalty to her husband kept her following, but her doubts led her to find more “reasonable” ways for his promises to come true.
 
But the film also seems embarrassed that Sarah doesn’t have enough Hollywood heroic things to do. So they make a bunch of stuff up.

I understand why filmmakers, in dramatizing stories from the Bible, will sometimes take some creative license to adapt it for the screen.  For instance, I think Jon Erwin and his team have done an excellent job in magnifying the Bible character of David, who is caught in the treachery of the House of Saul in the streaming series, House of David.  Most Biblical dramas will tell the stories in a "well, it could have happened this way," mode.  But, we shouldn't miss the point of what the Scriptures teach us; as Holmes writes: "The Bible doesn’t airbrush its heroes' brokenness; it teaches us to confront our own brokenness and have empathy for the brokenness of others. Even while still holding ourselves and them to high standards. The Bible’s praise for its flawed heroes can give us courage that our flaws don’t bar us from admiration as well."

Meanwhile, Mel Gibson is telling the stories of Jesus through two new films set for release next year, sequels to his blockbuster movie, The Passion of the Christ.  Gibson told Joe Rogan, according to Variety, "My brother and I and Randall [a reference to co-writer Randall Wallace, who collaborated with Gibson on Braveheart] all sort of congregated on this. So there’s some good heads put together, but there’s some crazy stuff...And I think in order to really tell the story properly you have to really start with the fall of the angels, which means you’re in another place, you’re in another realm."  Variety reports that The Resurrection of the Christ Part 1 will premiere on Good Friday next year, which is March 26.  Part 2 releases 40 days later, on Ascension Day, May 6.

And, Jon Erwin is at it again with another Biblical epic - a three-part series called, The Old Stories: Moses, to be released by The Wonder Project, according to Movieguide.  The article quotes from Erwin:

“Moses is one of the most iconic figures in history, and his story still resonates with us today,” Erwin said in a press release. “We set out to tell THE OLD STORIES: MOSES with a cinematic awe and scale that feels both epic and personal. I am especially proud of the cast performances, and I can’t wait for people to see it on Wonder Project.”

Ben Kingsley will star in the title role in the mini-series.

The stories we find in the Scripture all are inspired and correlate with the overall story arc of the Scriptures, which deals with a perfect God loving and redeeming imperfect people. And, we are taught through the Bible how we, through accepting Jesus as our Savior, we can live a holy life, not out of our own strength, but through His.

As it's been said, we're part of His story.  Even though the writing of the Scriptures is complete, their work is by no means finished.  Because the Lord is working in us by His living Word and by our knowledge of Christ, the living Word, who lives in our hearts and produces fruit, the fruit of righteousness, through those who choose to follow Him.