The Bible Part II

NBC has announced that it will be picking up where the History Channel left off by airing a second miniseries based on the Bible.

The original five-part production presented highly condensed dramatizations of well-known biblical events: sort of a salvation history highlight reel. I only caught parts of a few episodes but liked what I saw for the most part.

The fact that the first run netted nearly twelve million viewers and is flying off the shelves on DVD probably affected NBC's decision.

If you're wondering what direction the sequel's going to take, it looks to be following the sociopolitical tumult that came to a boil 37 years after the crucifixion, resulting in the fall of Jerusalem. All the while, the infant Church struggles to survive.

It sounds like they're salting the Acts of the Apostles with military/political information from Flavius Josephus' The Jewish War. On the one hand, there are signs of superfluous violence and political intrigue being shoehorned in. On the other, drawing from a smaller body of source material should allow the miniseries to treat the subject matter with greater depth.

Is anyone out there excited for/wary about this?