Customer Reviews

The Apostles Collection (The Story of the Twelve Apostles / The Story of Paul the Apostle)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This A and E production for the History Channel is a summary of the history of the 12 Apostles and of Paul. Martin Sheen's narration makes this a powerful production: he gives the stories presented both flavour and emotion. The visual images are also quite dramatic: panning the location of many of the biblical events were to have occurred, snippets of audiovisual productions telling the Christian story, and artistic works inspired by biblical events.

The only drawback is that the content is not particularly enlightening as the production does not deviate greatly from the four gospels, the Acts, and Paul's letters from the NT. I would agree with the last reviewer: there is no political message in this material: it is merely reciting the historical events during the first century of the church.

I completely disagree with Robin E. Simmons (a.k.a. "Top 1000 Reviewer") review of 3/24/03; I believe she has become bias in all her "reviewing"; perhaps you need to slow down Robin. I did not see ANY political or religious bias in this AT ALL - that's what, not only made this fascinating, but very informative. It is raw and it is very powerful; I felt it cuts straight to the heart of the history surrounding the Apostles. It certainly put the flesh on the skeleton for me. Definitely check them out!!

Let's call this what this is, a show to help you understand who the Apostles were without having to sift through the New Testament. Not that the NT isn't a good read. Consider this sort of the Cliff Notes version. It allows you to get into their heads a little more to see the hows and whys of their following Jesus.

These discs represent examples of excellently produced documentaries about what we currently know about the lives of the 13 Apostles of Jesus and Paul (13 because I'm including Matthias). The information here includes what we can glean from the gospels and the Acts as well as from the traditions and other writings by the early Church Fathers like Clement, Peter's successor and Polycarp, a disciple of John. Most of what is presented about Paul comes from both the Acts and from his letters which predate all the written gospels.

The dvds has been very well produced and hence have excellent visual and sound quality which is in Dolby Digital Stereo. This would be an excellent resource for bible study groups and for the RCIA and/or other catechetical group study as it provides a context and historical background to what is read in the bible and hence helps to bring the readings of the gospels, the Acts and Paul's letters to an easier level of understanding for those interested in knowing more about the early years of Christianity.

Highly recommended!

I liked the way the guys stories were told. There couldn't have been much information about them to go on other than the bible itself but it was dramatized into a believable story that satisfied my desire to know more about these devoted men.

This is a typical History Channel production - a good mix of background and scholarly history. The production is well done, and the experts that are interviewed as part of the production are generally pretty knowedgeable, though maybe a bit dry.

The presentation on Paul was very well done, and goes into quite a bit of depth. The second poduction on the 12 Apostls leaves a little to be desired. The emphasis stays with pure history, and there is precious little of that for the 12. I would have liked to see some of the traditional stories brought into the presentation - with appropriate caveats.

All in all, a good show and decent value.

The best part of this series is the story of Apostle Paul; it is well-done with details into the apostles life. However, the story of the twelve apostles was mediocre to me. But I feel it was worth the money just to get the story of Apostle Paul.

A two disc set from the History Channel, THE APOSTLES includes "The Story of the Twelve Apostles" and "The Stoy of Paul the Apostle." Narrated by Martin Sheen, it's hard to disassociate the material from his high-profile Catholic and political bias. That said, the material is an OK primer on Jerusalem under Roman rule 2000 years ago and the fascinating identity of the men who promulgated what was to become the Christian religion, now embraced by well over a quarter of the world's population. St. Paul's message was simple: The free gift of God's grace to a broken world that needs healing and that "all are one in Christ." Look around; it's still a volatile message.

The Beautiful Savior Jesus Christ who created you and me and alone is capable of forgiving our sins, undoubtedly doesn't want a famous liberal humanist who fights for abortion rights to be narrating anything about His story.

Jesus Is God.

Tell Him you're sorry for sinning,

believe that He can forgive your sins,

and you go to heaven to be with Him forever when you die!!

He took your punishment for you already.

That's what The Bible teaches us :)

PRAISE JESUS!!!

He is the greatest phenomenon to ever cross the horizon of this world.