God's Lot

When America sneezes, the UK catches cold. Not the most in-depth analysis of transatlantic relations maybe, but history suggests it’s a fair rule of thumb. Whether it’s rock’n’roll, 'Dallas', ‘OK’ or sub-prime mortgages, what goes big Stateside eventually gets picked up on these island shores.

A ten-part series, which concluded on Easter Day, has been the latest must-see that’s caused American viewers to flock round their TV sets. According to 'The Guardian', the History channel’s 'The Bible' was the top-rated Sunday night cable show, with 50 million people watching at least part of an episode. Programme producer Mark Burnett told 'The Washington Post': ‘It’s a really important series because the Bible is the book that changed the world.’

While the series was not available to UK viewers - though it is surely only a matter of time before it has a second coming - the Bible received further pre-Easter endorsement from a more unexpected source.

In 2001, children’s author Philip Pullman, an honorary associate of the National Secular Society, told that same newspaper that he was trying to ‘undermine the basis of Christian belief’. Last month, 'The Times' reported him telling the Oxford Literary Festival that ‘it was “very important” for children to be familiar with biblical stories’.

‘Jesus,’ he said, ‘was a great storyteller. To invent the story about the good Samaritan - you hear it once [and] you never forget it, you tell it to someone and it still has the same effect. The man was a genius of storytelling, if nothing else.’

Only time will tell whether Pullman will be convinced that the biblical Jesus was considerably more than a yarn-spinning genius. Meanwhile, those who approach the biblical account of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection with an open mind and open heart will discover that the Bible is still the book that changes the world.

UK & Ireland War Cry April 2013