By Mark HadleyTuesday 1 Jun 2010TV and StreamingReading Time: 2 minutes
The Mission
Rating: CC
Distributor: ABC 1
Release Date: 10:05 PM, Sundays
Compass has been a television framework for some real highs and lows when it comes to religious programming.
The Mission, however, may be one of those welcome high-points. This four-part series comes from the same production team that brought us The Abbey, the story of five women from varying backgrounds who spent 33 days living in an enclosed Benedictine nunnery.
In The Mission three Nigerian Catholic priests are sent to serve in struggling Tasmanian churches. In the first episode (30 May) the fathers have to deal with distinctly different weather condition, strange Aussie creatures and even more alien cultural traditions. On the religious front they have exchanged the vibrant faith of Africa – the geographic heartland of Christianity – for the aged, emptying churches of Catholic Tasmania. This will be fascinating to watch if only for the amazing level of opposition some local clergy seem to display to this outside help. It strikes at the heart of the Christian faith – are we all one in Christ, or aren’t we? But accepting someone’s assistance means first recognizing your inability to help yourself. Well worth your attention as we consider the heart of the Gospel: spiritual growth for the individual and the congregation is God’s gift to give.
Legion
Rating: TBA
Distributor: Sony
Release Date: June 3, 2010
Legion is the latest in a long line of horror-thrillers to trade on Biblical themes. God loses patience with the world (again!) but this time decides to forgo the flood and destroy it with a plague of angels.
Humanity’s only hope is the one ‘fallen’ angel who is prepared to fight on their behalf. Legion is a classic case of black-is-white. God’s judgment is seen as anything but fair, angels are anything but angelic, and the only one humanity can count on in the end is the devil.
Of course there’s no likelihood that anyone will take this seriously, but it continues Hollywood’s determination to define the Bible as legend and rework it for entertainment. Satan’s rebellion is raised to the level of heroism and if there was ever a film to underline a popular rejection of the ‘judgment parts’ of the Bible, Legion is it.