How much does Hollywood influence your view of the Bible? As you know, movies are a powerful visual way of telling stories, but what happens when movies show an entirely different view of biblical events?

The past few years have brought us a number of film adaptations of young adult novels. Stories such as The Fault in Our Stars and The Hobbit have made billions for movie studios, but as many fans of the original novels have frequently noticed, the book is always better than the movie.

During this same time period a number of film adaptations of biblical stories have been made, such as Noah; Exodus: Gods and Kings; Son of Man; and the list goes on. But each time Hollywood has tackled these incredible Bible stories, they have failed miserably.

So why does Hollywood keep getting it wrong time and time again?

1. A bias against biblical accuracy

Hollywood is in business to do one thing—sell movie tickets.

Today’s blockbuster movies are a complex balance of story, characters, action and special effects. They tend to be more heavily weighted towards action and special effects (especially in the 3D era), and, as a result, the story and characters are “just along for the ride.” Directors take artistic license to make the story and its characters fit their vision of what a movie should look like.

But when you’re dealing with source material like the Bible, there’s more to it than visual effects. It’s extremely important that you get it right!

All Scripture is inspired or “God breathed.” In other words, it has been given to mankind by God for a number of purposes—for teaching, correction and much more (2 Timothy 3:16). It’s our instruction manual for life. We are to model our lives after its words.

Many in Hollywood reject the authority of God and the Bible in their lives, and as a result they don’t accept the accounts as they were written. They see the Bible as a work of fiction. Ridley Scott, the director of Exodus: Gods and Kings, changed the dramatic scene where God parts the waters of the Red Sea because:

“You can’t just do a giant parting, with walls of water trembling while people ride between them,” says Scott, who remembers scoffing at biblical epics from his boyhood like the 1956 The Ten Commandments” (“How Ridley Scott Looked to Science—not Miracles—to Part the Red Sea in ‘Exodus: Gods and Kings,’ Sara Vilkomerson, Entertainment Weekly, Oct. 23, 2014).

In Scott’s interpretation, an earthquake caused the water to recede, hundreds of thousands of people crossed on semi-dry land, and the Egyptians are wiped out by a tsunami. This scenario, as played out in the movie, is scientifically impossible, yet Scott feels that his “scientific” mythology is more plausible than the Bible.

Many writers, producers, directors and actors aren’t interested in portraying the Bible as historically accurate. They are not even satisfied with changing a few biblical details in order to create story flow. Instead, they are motivated to change the true biblical narrative. They want to redefine the meaning of the biblical text. They are acting as modern theologians, interpreting the Bible to fit their preconceived ideas. There is a general refusal among those in Hollywood to accept the Bible as fact. Movies based on biblical stories are embellished to make the story “more interesting” or to otherwise reduce the role that God plays, in order to satisfy their incorrect worldview. Admission of the truth of the Bible and its inspiration would require an acknowledgement of God as the authority in their lives, and that is something that Hollywood as a whole will not accept.

2. A bias against God

In the 2014 film Noah, starring Russell Crowe, we find a clear bias against God. Darren Aronofsky, the director of the film, didn’t bother to hide his disdain for the God of the Bible. He called Noah the “least biblical” biblical film ever made.

In the 1950s and 60s, the last era when a large number of biblical movies were produced, God was off-screen. He was mysterious, and He worked through miraculous events. These movies did not necessarily help people to understand or get to know God, but at least they had a glimpse of His nature and saw that He was a God of goodness.

More recently, God is portrayed as unpredictable, harsh and incapable of love. The reasons for God’s actions are not always communicated in the biblical story, and as a result, many interpret His actions in a negative light.

Yet the Bible tells us that God is the most loving Being in the Universe! “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him” (1 John 4:8-10).

Additionally, we see that God does not want anyone to perish but desires all of mankind to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). These realities of God’s nature contradict the picture often painted by Hollywood.

3. The Bible is interpreted through the lens of modern secular culture

Modern culture is increasingly agnostic. Many are skeptics, doubting the existence of a Creator. As a result, the words of the Bible are often seen through this skeptical lens of modern culture, and its truth is questioned.

We have to let the Bible speak for itself. It’s either the Word of God, or it isn’t. The majority of those in Hollywood believe that it isn’t. As such, they have no choice but to interpret what they read in the Bible through this secular lens. That means that the chances of Hollywood producing a movie that is biblically accurate are about zero. There will always be different interpretations of biblical events, because Hollywood cannot and will not believe in its accuracy.

So what does this mean for us?

Should we support the Hollywood versions of biblical films with our hard-earned money? Is there a danger in encouraging these film interpretations by making them profitable to the film companies? That’s a question that each person must answer for him or herself after some serious thought.

The danger in movies like Noah and Exodus: Gods and Kings is that they’re being put before an audience of people who don’t know their Bibles. They are more willing to believe what they see, true or not, because they do not have the background or biblical understanding to recognize it as error. Thankfully, we have been blessed with God’s truth, and we can discern between that truth and falsehood.

As with most book adaptations, the book is always better than the movie. So if you want to know what really happened, read the Book!