With Christianity the butt of late-night jokes and fodder for TV talk shows like The View, some may wonder why faith-based programs are all the rage this month and Spring. We may be disappointed that Hollywood still doesn’t “get it” when it comes to authentic Christianity.
“Living Biblically,” premiers Feb. 26 as a half-hour sitcom. The series is based on the true story found in author A.J. Jacobs book, The Year of Living Biblically, which follows a man who decides to live by every single precept recorded in the Bible.
According to Deadline, the series, produced by Greg Berlanti and written by Lilien and Wynbrandt, is “a humorous, uplifting series, which explores questions of faith, existence, and science.”
Jay R. Ferguson (“Mad Men”), who stars in the sitcom as Chip, told Channel Guide magazine that he believes that the series inspired by the Bible has something for everyone.
“[Faith] is a very delicate topic. Certainly, we’re not out to offend anybody,” the actor said. “We’re getting stuff from the Bible, yes, but it’s also very fundamental rules and values that all people — regardless of whether they are Christians or subscribe to a different religion or to no religion at all — can get behind. The notion of loving thy neighbor and not coveting and ‘it’s better to give than to receive’ are basic, human, life principles that everybody, I believe in their hearts, wants to be practicing.”
But the show is not without considerable criticism and much of it is valid, it seems.
In “Living Biblically” Chip is a happily married newspaperman and a fallen-away Catholic. When his best friend dies and his wife announces she’s pregnant, Chip realizes his life is at a crossroads. He has an epiphany when he comes across a Bible and decides to live his life following the Old Testament Laws of Moses.
“I’ve decided to live my life 100 percent by the Bible,” Chip states in a preview of the show, to which the Catholic priest he is talking to in the confessional, portrayed by Ian Gomez, laughs hysterically.
In the show, Chip lives according to a literal interpretation of the Old Testament. He does not wear clothes of mixed fibers. He does not shave his beard. He must stone adulterers.
The show’s humor results from Chip attempting to follow ancient Jewish laws in a modern setting.
For example, faced with a co-worker bragging about committing adultery, he asks his Catholic priest what to do. “The Bible says to stone adulterers,” Father Gene inaccurately advises Chip. So Chip throws a rock at the head of the adulterous husband, hitting him in the face.
Jesus’s message of forgiveness to the woman caught in adultery is, of course, absent from the show.
As a result of this strawman portrayal of following the Christian Bible, the main character is every negative stereotype falsely associated with Christians, particularly judgmentalism, violence, and an eagerness to condemn others.
Based on trailers for the show, Chip’s approach to the Bible is anything but Christian.
Christians are careful to distinguish the laws that are universal and timeless, such as the Ten Commandments, and those laws that Jesus taught are of a more human origin, such as Moses allowing divorce “for your hardness of heart.”
Based on “Living Biblically” trailers, it seems that the main problem with the show is that it treats ritual and purification laws as if they were timeless moral values in order to mock the entire Bible as foolish, laughable, and impossible.
It fails to respect the Christian belief that God revealed Himself progressively, from the simple acknowledgement that there is only one true God, to a system of sacrifices for sin (teaching the Israelites that sin has consequences), to the prophets’ revelation of God’s higher desire for “mercy and not sacrifice,” to the ultimate and final revelation of God through Jesus Christ. It is Jesus who revealed that God is love and showed what it means to truly love God and neighbor.
In making a show that essentially mocks God as lawgiver, the show is bound to offend people of many faith traditions, including Christians, Jews, and Muslims.
“I don’t think there is any scenario where the show wouldn’t bother someone,” said fellow Executive Producer Patrick Walsh when asked about the show. Unfortunately, he is probably 100 percent right.