Bashers of the Noah Film Should Re-Read Their Bibles http://jamestabor.com/2014/03/29/bashers-of-the-noah-film-should-re-read-their-bibles/
Spoiler Alert: This review of the Darren Aronofsky film “Noah” reveals plot details and analysis you may not want to know beforehand if you plan on seeing the film.
Darren
Aronofsky’s new $100m blockbuster film “Noah” opened on Friday in 3936
theaters to a huge wave of media attention. Google News lists over 1400
stories on the film this morning and IMDB lists 2217 articles–many of
them evaluating its merits or assessing the public reaction. Mainstream
reviews are mostly solidly positive (Rotten Tomatoes 73, Metacritic 68)
but the film is being blasted, damned, and condemned in many
conservative Christian circles. So far it has been banned in Indonesia,
the largest Muslim country, as well as Qatar, Bahrain, and the UAE–but
here in the U.S. those objecting most strongly to the film are
Christians who find its portrayal of the Noah story “unfaithful” to the
Bible.
Ken Ham, the self-styled “Creationist” of recent fame for his disastrous debate with Bill Nye on “Evolution,”
tells TIME magazine that the film is an insult to Christians, with
“barely a hint of biblical fidelity,” and thus “unbiblical” and “pagan.” Glenn Beck, labels the film a “100 million dollar disaster,” objecting, among other things, that it is “pro-animal” and “anti-human.” Erick Erikson,
on his “Redstate” blog, concludes his scorching review with the
suggestion that “we might should consider burning at the stake any
Christian leader who endorses this movie.” His Tweet was picked up by
MSNBC and other TV media last night and has now gone viral. Brian Godawa calls the film “Godawful” in the Christian Post, referring to “the sick twisted agenda that seeps through every frame of this movie.”
None
of these Christian critics explain why this ancient story, written by
Jews, and part of the Hebrew Bible, should fall under Christian purview
or guardianship in terms of its interpretation. But that aside, these
two Jewish guys, Aronofsky and his former Harvard roommate and writing
partner, Ari Handel, in aiming for what they call the “least biblical”
of Bible themed films, have ended up in my view producing a film that
profoundly reflects biblical themes that have been lost in most common
readings of the Noah story in Genesis 6-9. I find myself in agreement
with Christopher Orr’s most perceptive review in The Atlantic,
But despite its flamboyant, and at times goofy, fantasy trappings, Noah is firmly anchored by the fierce moral intensity of Aronofsky’s vision, which is, if anything, more Old Testament than the Old Testament itself.
What I want to do here is to touch on just a few of the most common Christian objections that I reference above.
The Film Never Mentions God
I have heard this objection repeatedly this weekend, particularly on FOX news and Talk Radio outlets, and it is blatantly false and ridiculous. The very word translated “God” in Genesis is not a name but a generic reference that might be translated as “The Powers” (Elohim). One can only imagine the uproar had Aronofsky chosen to call the Creator “The Powers”–which would have been quite biblical. In the Noah film this nameless One is constantly referred to as “the Creator,” but used in a very personal way by all the characters in the film–good and bad. According to Exodus 6:3 God did not make Himself known by His personal name Yahweh (YHVH) or “the LORD” until the time of Moses. The references to God as “the LORD” in Genesis 6-9 in the Flood story are accordingly anachronistic—so it turns out, ironically, that Aronofsky’s designation of God as “the Creator,” is more biblical than his critics have imagined.
I have heard this objection repeatedly this weekend, particularly on FOX news and Talk Radio outlets, and it is blatantly false and ridiculous. The very word translated “God” in Genesis is not a name but a generic reference that might be translated as “The Powers” (Elohim). One can only imagine the uproar had Aronofsky chosen to call the Creator “The Powers”–which would have been quite biblical. In the Noah film this nameless One is constantly referred to as “the Creator,” but used in a very personal way by all the characters in the film–good and bad. According to Exodus 6:3 God did not make Himself known by His personal name Yahweh (YHVH) or “the LORD” until the time of Moses. The references to God as “the LORD” in Genesis 6-9 in the Flood story are accordingly anachronistic—so it turns out, ironically, that Aronofsky’s designation of God as “the Creator,” is more biblical than his critics have imagined.
The Film is Pro-Animal and Promotes Vegetarianism and Environmentalism
Here I would have to say “guilty as charged”–and thus thoroughly biblical. What few realize is that according to the Bible humans before the Flood were never given permission to hunt, shed blood, or eat the flesh of living creatures. In Genesis 1:29 God says “I give you every seed-bearing plant that is upon all the earth, and every tree that has seed bearing fruit; they shall be yours for good.” It is only after the flood, that permission to “shed blood” and eat meat is given to humans, though it is stipulated that God will hold humans accountable even for the blood of an animal. According to the Rabbis, this means that the life of an animal must be taken without cruelty and with reverence (Genesis 9:3).
Here I would have to say “guilty as charged”–and thus thoroughly biblical. What few realize is that according to the Bible humans before the Flood were never given permission to hunt, shed blood, or eat the flesh of living creatures. In Genesis 1:29 God says “I give you every seed-bearing plant that is upon all the earth, and every tree that has seed bearing fruit; they shall be yours for good.” It is only after the flood, that permission to “shed blood” and eat meat is given to humans, though it is stipulated that God will hold humans accountable even for the blood of an animal. According to the Rabbis, this means that the life of an animal must be taken without cruelty and with reverence (Genesis 9:3).
Aronofsky
portrays the righteous descendants of Seth–through Methuselah, Lamech,
and Noah, preserving this “peaceable kingdom” of non-violence and
harmony with nature, whereas the murderous descendants of Cain had
filled the earth with violence and “corrupted its ways upon the earth.”
God’s decision is to destroy humankind “along with the earth” they have
corrupted (Genesis 6:12-13). The barren wasteland, and specifically the
abandoned strip-mining scene, is a testimony to what humans have made
of the “good Earth” that was the original Creator’s handiwork.
Noah’s
family represents the last remnant of hope for humankind’s peaceable
ideal in which violence toward humans or beasts is quelled and warfare
ceases. This is the vision of Isaiah the prophet for the ideal human
future–swords beaten into plowshares and the wolf lying with the lamb
with none hurting or destroying. In fact Isaiah pictures a time when
“slaying an ox” will be considered as weighty a matter as killing a
human being (Isaiah 65:25-66:3).
The Film Devalues Humans
Again, I have to say, “guilty as charged”—and thus thoroughly biblical. There could be no stronger expression of the “devaluing” of humans than we find in the Bible in the time of Noah. The Creator says that He regrets that he has created the human species and that it grieves Him to his heart. The entire species is characterized as hopelessly “wicked” with every thought of the heart only evil continually (Genesis 6:5-7). It is an open question then–as Aronofsky so profoundly portrays in the film–as to whether humankind should continue. This is not a Christian text, with presuppositions about God so loving the world and sending his Son to die for sinners–with infinite love for every wicked person and their eternal salvation. That simply is not the biblical story here in Genesis 6. The issue is whether the Creation itself has been so marred and destroyed by human behavior that it is best wiped away as a failed attempt by God to create creatures in His image–who nonetheless have free will and the “knowledge of good and evil.” The Flood story touches upon the essential existential issue of our own time—our “human all-too-human” role on a planet upon which our dominant place as moral beings with choice is continually being weighed in the balance.
Again, I have to say, “guilty as charged”—and thus thoroughly biblical. There could be no stronger expression of the “devaluing” of humans than we find in the Bible in the time of Noah. The Creator says that He regrets that he has created the human species and that it grieves Him to his heart. The entire species is characterized as hopelessly “wicked” with every thought of the heart only evil continually (Genesis 6:5-7). It is an open question then–as Aronofsky so profoundly portrays in the film–as to whether humankind should continue. This is not a Christian text, with presuppositions about God so loving the world and sending his Son to die for sinners–with infinite love for every wicked person and their eternal salvation. That simply is not the biblical story here in Genesis 6. The issue is whether the Creation itself has been so marred and destroyed by human behavior that it is best wiped away as a failed attempt by God to create creatures in His image–who nonetheless have free will and the “knowledge of good and evil.” The Flood story touches upon the essential existential issue of our own time—our “human all-too-human” role on a planet upon which our dominant place as moral beings with choice is continually being weighed in the balance.
Noah
and his family are to be spared–since they have not gone the “way of
Cain,” but Noah himself, in the film, wrestles with the central dilemma
of the text–should the human race be spared at all? The
key point in the film, which I will not explicitly give away, is when
Noah sees an evil “Serpent” reflection of himself on one of the
Tubal-Cain character’s faces—a kind of flashback to the Garden of
Eden–and it suddenly dawns on him that we are all of one species. This
means that all of us have the potential for horrible evil manifesting
itself in our lives, or in the lives of our descendants. His wife,
played by Jennifer Connelly, presents the other side of the
conundrum–arguing that “we are good, our children are good,” and thus
should be spared to inhabit a new world in which peace and righteousness
would prevail and create a new world order.
It
is not a matter of Noah favoring a flower over the life of the two
newborn infants (again I will not elaborate this plot line here)–but
wrestling with the moral dilemma–which is the Creator’s Dilemma–of
whether or not the race should continue. Not picking even a flower is
the very point. This “environmentalism” represents the “good way” of
caring for the earth, for its creatures, and for one another and living
in peace—in sharp contrast to the way of power and exploitation of the
descendants of Cain.
Tubal-Cain, played by Ray Winstone, represents an ultimately opposite perspective. For him what makes a man truly a man is
the complete independence from any Creator or any other moral
code–forging his individual way in the earth through his power and his
choices. As he says to Noah just before he dies—“I told you the
Creator’s miracles mean nothing to me.” Thus when Ham ends up killing
him to save his father he tells him–”Now you have become a man,” just
because Ham has finally acted autonomously and thus gone “beyond good
and evil.”
The
Hebrew Bible, unlike the Christian New Testament, explores this theme
of the ultimate fate of humankind and the “good earth” in any number of
places. In fact, in the closing book of the Prophets, the book of
Malach, which ends the Christian Old Testament, we find the sober
warning that if humans do not find peace among themselves the Creator will come and “strike the earth with a curse.” The word translated “curse” (Hebrew cherem)
here means an “ban of utter destruction.” So even at the end of the
Hebrew Prophets humankind is pictured as standing on the brink of
judgment with a choice of death or life before them.
The Film Does Not Follow the Bible
In addition to addressing these various controversial points I should add that the film has lots more–with special effects, bizarre phenomenon, and all sorts of creative and artistic embellishments on the rather “bare” story of Genesis 6-9. One must remember, however, that Genesis is not our only account of the Flood. There are other literary sources such as the Gilgamesh Epic and the mysterious books of 1 Enoch and Jubilees–revered by both ancient Jews and early Christians–but not included in the Bible–but found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. There one does read more of the mysterious heavenly “Watchers,” fallen down to earth, who teach humankind all the skills that the descendants of Cain pervert into selfish ends. There is a wonderful and emerging web site that deals broadly with this whole topic, many of the other texts, and a wide range of insightful commentary and discussion–FloodofNoah.com. I highly recommend this site to my readers. And I hope you will all see the Noah film and decide for yourselves about its value and its merits.
In addition to addressing these various controversial points I should add that the film has lots more–with special effects, bizarre phenomenon, and all sorts of creative and artistic embellishments on the rather “bare” story of Genesis 6-9. One must remember, however, that Genesis is not our only account of the Flood. There are other literary sources such as the Gilgamesh Epic and the mysterious books of 1 Enoch and Jubilees–revered by both ancient Jews and early Christians–but not included in the Bible–but found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. There one does read more of the mysterious heavenly “Watchers,” fallen down to earth, who teach humankind all the skills that the descendants of Cain pervert into selfish ends. There is a wonderful and emerging web site that deals broadly with this whole topic, many of the other texts, and a wide range of insightful commentary and discussion–FloodofNoah.com. I highly recommend this site to my readers. And I hope you will all see the Noah film and decide for yourselves about its value and its merits.
posted by Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg
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