ACTS

The Visual Bible gave us the Bible in movie form with MATTHEW. Now, they bring us the book of ACTS with, again, a word-for-word text lifted straight from the New International Version of the Bible. We see it all, Paul, Peter, Luke, Lydia and the beginnings of the early church. ACTS is broken down into four video tapes, with the Physician Luke telling the story. We see Pentecost and are introduced to Peter and John. We also see the martyrdom of Stephen. It continues as Peter, Philip and John continue to build the church. We see miraculous healings, angelic encounters and mysterious escapes from prison. It also shows the converted Paul as “a light to the Gentiles.” Finally, it shows our narrator, Luke,coming to port as he tells of Paul’s return to Jerusalem to face the Sanhedrin. Paul is sent to Rome for judgment, where he continues to teach and baptize.

Although many of the actors, like our friend Dean Jones, are committed Christians, ACTS suffers from some actors who don’t understand the faith of their characters. Nevertheless, the four tape format makes it easy for teachers, parents, or Bible scholar to use for commentary, preaching and teaching. It is the Bible, and adults and children can learn from it. In fact, children have been glued to their television watching ACTS and were amazed later when they read the same words, verbatim from the Bible.