www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Something so funny, it is sad!

The cable company we subscribe to has a channel called 'History Channel International'. Tonight there was a very nicely done documentary on Greece and its religion, 'Traveling through time'.

However, there were some ridiculous innacuracies in this documentary, which don't take a learned theologian to know--

The first error was that 'St. Paul founded the Roman Catholic Church'. (How about: St. Paul founded the Christian Church OR the Catholic Church, which is now divided into the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic?)

The second error was that 'St. John the Baptist wrote the Apocalypse on the island of Patmos!' (Did they ever hear that St. John the Baptist was beheaded, and that St. John the Divine/Theologian wrote the Apocalypse???)

The third error was that 'there are only two places on Earth where the Holy Thursday ceremony of feet washing is done-Patmos, Greece and Jerusalem. (Hey guys, what about ROME???)

This documentary was apparently produced in Canada.

My question is, 'WHO are the geniuses who research and write these things????' :p

I think that I also told you all about the NBC gaffe when the announcers at the Olympic Games said that the Athenians were away on the August 15 weekend because of the feast of the Ascension!!!!

( what calendar do these guys go by--obviously not Julian OR Gregorian!!!)hehehe

Alice,
shaking her head in amusement and disbelief as these are simple matters of faith that any marginally catechised Catholic or Orthodox should know!

Sad so sad and so many people ate up every word of it. God have mercy on our souls.

Actually Alice, I think this is so sad that it is funny!

Thanks Daniel...

I think that in my haste--that is EXACTLY what I meant to say!!! :rolleyes:

In Christ,
Alice

I am also amused by some of the ABC documentaries on Christ and Christian things hosted by Peter Jennings. He is something of an agnostic and his disbelief comes through clearly. In one sense, it's not all that amusing, since such folks spread error and the tendency toward unbelief.

Dear Charles,

Just goes to show that most in the media, just don't have a clue about Christianity......

My thoughts about all of this are:

If you are going to research a documentary, and *get paid for it*, how on earth can you get simple names wrong? A simple google search on Revelation would have given the genius who wrote this documentary the correct name of St. John!

Would such a thing be overlooked in a college paper?

I am still in disbelief.

As Father Vasiley over at the Oniondome.com would say: "IS OUTRAGE"!!!!

Alice, who promises to calm down!

Dear Alice,

I too, loath innaccuaries in the media regarding church history, the Bible, or the church Fathers (Lord be merciful to me for errors I have made).

However, as you said at the beginning of your post the documentary was nicely done. I presume some part of it was educational.

It would be interesting to know if the producers used a Bible scholar to review the work for accuracy. With the innacuracies you mentioned, I hope a Bible scholar or theologian didn't approve them. I check the credits to see who the film makers were.

On the whole, it is better to get the Christian faith some TV coverage rather than nothing, as long as these documentaries don't convey heresy, e.g., "Da Vinci Code", "Last Temptation of Christ." and other blasphemies.

I want to end on a positive note. "Weren't "Jesus of Nazareth" and "The Passion of the Christ" uplifting and inspiring movies?

Paul

Hi Paul,

Ofcourse you are right! Yes, I did, otherwise enjoy it!

I am just venting with fellow Christians.

I am just feeling in a little bit of a 'Father Vasiley' mood!

Is making mistakes like this in 19th century Russia?

Fondly,
Alice

All too clearly, there is a sense that reporting (and documentaries) on religious events or customs are part of the "how quaint" school of journalism, which would cover belief in Bigfoot or the Jersey Devil with equal amounts of simulated "respect" for the beliefs of others.

Gaudior, who thinks "enough, already" with talking heads trying to look as if they care about Christian events.

Dear Alice,

If it was produced in Canada, no wonder it is so sad!

Half of our population is Roman Catholic and Canucks have such difficulty understanding what an Eastern Catholic really is.

For them, if you are "Catholic" then you are "Roman."

I keep telling them that I'm "Roman" but a "Greek Catholic."

What's confusing about that?

Alex

Yes, I share with your suffering. Many times on the History Channel they will have something about the Bible. Most times, they interview a professor from a college no one ever heard of.
Or, worse, they interview this defrocked Irish Dominican priest (I forget his name). He has an axe to grind.

I watched a documentary "Russian: Land of the Czars". The first line by the commentor was:
"The Land we call Russia was once known as Rus"
Wow!

Watching the History Channel for historical facts is like watching the "Flintsones" about Cro-Magnon man.

Hello Alice,

Why don't you contact History Channel AND the producers of that documentary?

You can get your friends to flood them with phone calls, emails or letters objecting to the inaccuracies of the documentary.

You can also write a commentary in a local newspaper WHERE the production firm produced that documentary.

Somebody's got to straighten them out. But since I haven't seen the documentary, I can't do much.

If you do it, let me know how it turns out.

SPDundas
Deaf Byzantine

By the way, it just shows that history is written by misinformed or biased parties. It's all the more reason for both Catholics and Orthodox to REJECT the past, the history, etc. and MOVE ON...focus on the present...focus more on efforts to reunite (or merge). Let's FORGET the past and not look back but look forward.

That's my venting to fellow Christians.

Paul

That would be Dominic Crossan, the head of the Jesus Project...back when I was really interested in studying Scriptural Theology I started reading books by this man and watching videos where he was one of the expert scholars...thank goodness for Mr. Crossan..he helped me see that the Western Church really had more than enough theologians and I should just stick to history and practice my faith instead of trying to take it apart.

Vie

Dear All, Notice how all our media greats, were so highly knowledgable about what was important to the American people in the election. Now to vent: A writer on the BBC referred to the conservative American people that voted for Pres. Bush as 'radicals'. Zenovia