Ken Ham Says Hollywood's 'Noah' Will Do More Harm Than Good
Creationist Ken Ham says the upcoming Hollywood film "Noah" deviates from the Bible and argues it would do more harm than good in reaching out to non-Christians with the Gospel.
In a blog post for Answers in Genesis, the AiG president was responding to a Christianity Today article by Dr. Jerry Johnson, president of the National Religious Broadcasters, saying the author seemed to encourage families to watch the film, which stars Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe and will be in theaters March 28.
"Too often, Christians are in knee-jerk reaction mode when it comes to popular culture," Johnson wrote. "The concepts of sin and judgment are front and center throughout the whole film."
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Ham appreciates the fact that "thankfully, in a follow-up article in Christianity Today, the negatives in the film were then mentioned."
In his second article, Johnson warned people about aspects of the movie that didn't follow the biblical account. Ham listed five of those aspects himself after an AiG staff member saw a preview of the film.
- One, Noah's family only consists of his wife, three sons, and one daughter-in-law, contrary to the Bible.
- Two, rock-like people (that seem to be fallen angels) build the Ark with Noah.
- Three, a wounded Tubal-Cain axes his way inside the Ark in only about 10 minutes, then hides inside and then convinces Noah's middle son to lure Noah to the bottom of the Ark in order to murder him but the middle son has a change of heart and helps kill Tubal-Cain instead.
- Four, the movie has an over-the-top emphasis on environmentalism where animals are much more important than people.
- Five, Noah, who is portrayed as a very angry man, repeatedly told his family that they were the last generation and were never to procreate, and when his daughter-in-law became pregnant, he vowed to murder his own grandchild.
Some Christians think the film could be used as a springboard for evangelism, Ham noted. But "ultimately the Noah film deviates so much from the Bible, that for non-Christians who will watch it, the movie will probably do more harm than good," he argued.
"Sure, after watching the film, people could be directed to read the true story for themselves in the Bible," Ham recently told NewsMax. "But in this day and age, young people have a hard time deciphering reality from fiction and don't often take the time to form their own educated opinions."
While some Bible-themed Hollywood films could still be used as conversation starters for evangelism, "I can't say that for 'Noah' – the problems are such that the film could be counterproductive for non-Christians to watch," Ham concluded.
"I wonder if the same people who say that a movie should not be criticized unless it's been watched also said the same thing when the blasphemous film 'The Last Temptation of Christ' came out. The bad content of that movie was known before it was released, and Christians had every reason to caution people about going to see such an anti-biblical movie that might turn hearts away from God."
