Is the New Noah Movie Biblical

Anyone who says that the new movie Noah is too fantastical has a disconnect between what they read in the Bible and what they think is ‘normal’. The Bible is full of fantastical elements. The Old Testament has talking donkeys, talking serpents, questionable acts between supernatural beings and the daughters of men, giants, Nephilim (what ever the heck those are – no one can say definitively), people being caught up in fiery chariots, one person escaping death altogether and just leaving this earth with God, fire coming down from heaven, burning bushes that are not consumed, people with superhuman speed, people with superhuman strength, hands writing on walls, seas and rivers parting, water coming from rocks, and sticks turning to snakes, to list a few examples. And that’s just what we know about. Frankly, God could cast disobedient angels to earth and encrust them in rock if He wanted.
And for those who think the movie Noah is just so extra-biblical that morally they have to take the stance that it’s blasphemous (do you know what blasphemous means?) or they are too holy to go watch it, take a long, hard look at church organizations. Just about everything done, from the legal organization of the churches to the man-made traditions that are practiced in church ‘services’ every week are extra-biblical. You might be shocked at what you think is in the Bible, but isn’t. In light of this, non-Christians might be justified in thinking that a lot of purported Christians are being uppity in their attitudes and opinions about Noah. (Too bad that is a negative descriptor, because it’s actually kind of fun to say!)
And as for people complaining about the movie not showing God’s mercy, God gives everyone a chance at mercy, but sometimes time is up. Then, mercy is no longer available to people who have rejected it. Not only was God sorry He had made man, so that He killed almost everyone on earth during the flood, but later on, He gave the Israelites orders to wipe out entire nations, men, women, children and all their animals along their way. The Israelites themselves didn’t get off scot-free, either. God exacted judgement when it was time, and accomplished His purpose. And people paid the price for their rebellion against Him. But it is as He sees fit. Get a reality check on the God you serve. He’s no pantywaist.
I give Darren Aronofsky a shout out for making a decent and fun movie. Emma Watson needs a lesson on how to act for a believable child birthing, but Aronofsky described creation beautifully, put a damn good flaming sword in there guarding the Garden of Eden; and made the rainbow at the end seem as if it was throbbing with promise. And before you freak out over the details in the movie that you disagree with, just remember, it’s really arrogant to believe that you have all the answers about how a magnificent God, whom you only know a pin drop about, began everything and works everything out in this world and beyond.
Aronofsky did take creative license (film is a form of art – like renaissance paintings. Maybe you recall the ugly faces Leonardo Da Vinci gave people in his depiction of let’s say…. The Last Supper. Oh, also, in The Last  Supper, the diners were all sitting on the same side of the table in that picture, I mean WHO does that?!  Unbelievable). There are only two clear discrepancies that I remember, after seeing the movie only once. One is that Bible does say that Noah took his wife and their three sons and their sons’ wives on the boat. That clearly didn’t happen in the movie. Two wives were left out. I’ve also never even contemplated if a live, lizard-eating stow-a-way could have been on board. (Hands down the grossest part of the movie). God is in the business of saving people who come to Him in faith. An act of faith of this sort would have been welcomed. Anyway, the list of passengers is repeated so many times, it’s pretty clear who was actually on board from beginning to end.
All the other ‘stuff’ falls under creative license. Although I personally doubt Noah would have committed to killing his newborn grandchildren, those plot lines gave the story a little more personal drama. Family. Can’t live with ’em; can’t survive a flood without ’em. Lastly, I’ve heard some squawking about Methuselah practicing Voodoo in the movie. I propose to you that the average pre-flood man was alive a loooong time (see the Biblical record) and probably learned a lot more about what God had created. It’s not beyond imagination that such men would have understood aspects to our humanity in the pre-flood world that we don’t have a clue about now. We’re not even sure how the pyramids were built. For a long time, at least in our current sense of history, people pooh-poohed the idea of aircraft. However, there is some evidence that generations before us may have done things we are just now learning about again. Gee people, don’t be so limiting! None of what Aronofsky did diminishes the awesomeness of the story.
For you who think Noah couldn’t possibly have had second thoughts about decisions he made, or gone a little crazy with survivor’s guilt, don’t forget that he was human. He shouldn’t be idolized. No person should be. If everything man did was evil constantly in the antediluvian world, Noah found favor, but it wasn’t because he was perfect. It was God’s favor toward him that gave him grace for righteousness, but he was still human.
The great thing about the movie Noah is that tons of people are now interested in the story and will probably want to read it. Besides The Passion of Christ, the new movie about Noah is the only other movie about anything in the Bible that I have seen that isn’t, well, just plain goofy.  Noah shows that the Bible is a keeper of epic stories. God is epic. None of us can even comprehend His Epicness. So, in the spirit of Paul when he states in Philippians that he doesn’t care by what means Christ is preached as long as He is preached, I don’t really care who makes an epic, fantastical movie about Noah (or any other Bible story), if it makes people curious about the Bible. Do you think you have God all figured out in a tight little Bible package?  Don’t be hated in this world because you come across like a bigoted, unintelligent, hyper critical, hateful and negative human. Strip away anything in your opinions except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified and risen and full of love, but coming back to judge again when the time is right. Everything else will take care of itself. You don’t need to defend God or the Bible. He’s more than capable of defending Himself and making His name great among people. Seriously, I shouldn’t have to say it, but I will….. just look to the Old Testament for examples.