A profound journey

This three-part series, based on Bruce Feiler's book of the same name, takes the viewer on a fascinating and profound journey (literally) through the first five books of the Bible. While Mr. Feiler isn't some fundamentalist, he's not some die-hard skeptic either. He went on this journey through Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey to better understand the Bible, to get a deeper sense of spirituality, and to reconnect with his faith, not to try to disprove everything in the Bible at every turn or to try to find scientific explanations for everything. His enthusiasm for the subject was very infectious, and it was so obvious that as the journey progressed, his sense of wonder and connection to the Divine, history, and the land were increasing. Among the places he visits are the Temple Mount in Jerusalem; Petra, Jordan, where some believe the Israelites to have encamped for 38 of the years of their journey in the wilderness; a place in Turkey where the Garden of Eden is believed to have been; and a 1,500 year old monastery in Egypt, which he estimates has held about 3 million services since its creation and which has a wondrous library. In addition to really making the people, places, and history of the Bible come to life instead of just being words on a page and far-off events in far-off places, it's also inspiring how cordially he got along with people of different faiths along the way. He lodged, worshipped, ate and drank, and talked with Muslims, Jews, and Christians, really achieving the goal of his archaeologist companion Avner Goren, building bridges of peace and understanding instead of avoiding different people and never finding any common ground. Mr. Feiler also ultimately concludes that trying too hard to find a scientific explanation for or historical proof of everything can take away a lot of what the Bible is really all about, a sense of wonder, faith, and spirituality. My only complaint is that it wasn't longer! Maybe we'll see a follow-up one day, in which he geographically explores the rest of the Bible.

Walking the Bible review

I saw this originally on PBS and I wanted to get the DVD for my library. This show made me stop and go back and reread many of the stories I had learned in sunday school. Instead of reading words on a page, Bruce Feiler shows you a picture of where it is believed that the events occurred. And what is shown is a lot different that what we've seen in the movies. My only complaint is that it is only 3 hours long. It could have been much longer. When you consider all of the junk that is put on TV and into movies and mini-series, this show is inspirational and very educational.

THEY EDITED THE DVD RELEASE.

I FIRST WATCHED THIS PRODUCTION ON TELEVISION. WHY WAS IT EDITED? ONE PARTICULAR PART EDITED WAS THE DISCUSSION OF THE FIRE AND BRIMSTONE DESTROYING SODOM AND GOMORAH. INSTEAD, YOU ONLY GET A FEW SECONDS SHOWING A SALT PILLAR.