Christian critics have given Noah mixed reviews, but one thing Darren Aronofsky’s epic did accomplish was to get people reading the original story of Noah in the Bible. Over the weekend, visits to the Noah story in Genesis 6-9 at Bible Gateway saw a 223% increase over the previous weekend! I imagine this represents a lot of Noah viewers looking to compare the film with the original story, or people just refreshing their memory of a classic Bible story that everybody’s suddenly talking about.
Predictably, the Noah film drew mixed reviews from Christian critics over the weekend: some reviewers appreciated the biblical themes and questions raised by the movie, while others sharply criticized its departures from the Genesis account. (I’ve not seen the film, but shared a few discussion questions here.)
As the Noah conversation kicked into high gear last week, we ran a poll asking “Should Hollywood be making Bible-based movies?” The results are interesting in light of Noah‘s reception. A hefty majority—just over 60%—answered that Hollywood adaptations of Bible stories are acceptable only if they adhere strictly to the details of the original story. A smaller percentage of respondents (28%) feel that Bible stories are a good fit for the big screen and can withstand artistic license. And about 11% think that Bible stories should never be grist for the Hollywood mill.
All of the discussion surrounding Noah, and the extent to which so many people are publicly chatting about the details of an Old Testament story, have got us wondering how much the Bible actually comes up in everyday conversation. Let us know by voting in our new poll:
How often do you talk about the Bible in your normal course of conversation?
- Multiple times a week (78%, 4,126 Votes)
- Once a week (11%, 592 Votes)
- Once a month (5%, 273 Votes)
- Two or three times a year (3%, 179 Votes)
- Never (3%, 143 Votes)
Total Voters: 5,319
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