
Let me begin by admitting that it has been a long while since I wrote a post, and for that reason, I owe most of you an explanation. I made a post on YouTube a couple of days ago where I made my reaction to a documentary film named The Ark and the Darkness, which was screened at my local cinema for two days. In this article, I outline the film and define it as intending to reconstruct the Ark of Noah in such a way that conforms to the orthodox view of the biblical account relevant to the twentieth century, which in the case of the author of this article is the author in focus.
Objectively our expectations were exceeded as the film is billed to be and all indications are that it will be, The Ark and the Darkness can bill itself as just another movie. Contrary to my expectations, where I only thought I would get a glimpse of stories from the bible, I was astonished to realize that this docudrama sought to shed light on the flood and connect it with modern society. Several industry professionals that are sponsors from Liberty University and Answers in Genesis worked on this film and last project, which was made possible through crowdfunding and some other monetary aid Unfortunately, it feels inappropriate to call this project the last.
The Ark and the Darkness aim at accommodating a specific perspective on the genesis and history of salvation as well as the eschaton, with the research of evidence that validates the occurrence of a universal deluge. It attempts to convince its viewers to acknowledge the occurrence of Noah’s flood as a fact and thus psych them up for the imminent events that would resemble the days of old when Noah built the ark. Transitioning towards this last end time prophecy is not only absurd but also cloaks the film with a hopeless conjecture which distracts from the center of their multi disciplinary attempts at the historical and scientific aspects of the Noah’s Ark which gets so much less time during the 2 hour film than one would probably have expected walking into the cinema. To associate the prophecies of the holy scriptures with modern social and environmental problems is in my view more of a question begging approach than a genuine effort to solve something within the boundaries of faith and meaning.
By presenting its case and arguments, the movie does not concern itself with the fact that there may be other perspectives within the young Earth creationist movement and even worse, within the sciences. This type of presentation is likely to alienate a large proportion of the audience, including Christians like myself who hold a different theological position, due to the over dramatization of the movie’s eschatological theme. But yet again, that’s not the goal, the target audience is not everybody, rather it is designed as cinematic junk for the believers and also to instill confidence in them against hostility and promotions of a movie.Â
First observation, I had come out well ahead of time to see the devotees arriving. I witnessed a lot of people in attendance who were more aged, while a large portion of the crowd was looking forward to the premiere of the movie Visions with hope and excitement. So, let’s just say that this energy was more than enough throughout the movie with many gasps whenever ‘evidence’ was thrust in front of their faces, satisfaction and warm respect for their faith, lastly to ‘four’ cheers and a couple of ‘Amen’s as the movie closed and the credits began.
In my opinion, the film ‘The Ark and the Darkness‘ is another missed opportunity and this is because of the amount of publicity it received and all the locations that it had been allotted. With that said, I do not find it hard to comprehend the fact that some people hold this particular film as an example of Young-age creationism propaganda and it is very disappointing what Christians wish for the audience to think and argue only for them to be offered an obnoxious and aggressive polemic where skepticism and conspiracy are sought over the substantiation of the story. What is put forth is not so much an exploration as it is an osé which in a vulgar form of instruction manual style lecture that advocates for Young-age creationism while discarding science as irrelevant to the tale being told.
For more movies like The Ark and the Darkness visit on 123movies