Brief statement on TV`s `Book of Daniel

Note: Anticipating calls and concerns from LCMS members on the new TV show, "The Book of Daniel," we asked Dr. Gene Edward Veith, cultural editor of World Magazine and director of the Cranach Institute at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind., to offer a comment on the program (see below). Dr. Veith will write an expanded commentary on this subject for the February Reporter.
David L. Strand
Interim Executive Director
LCMS Board for Communication Services

"The Book of Daniel" is a television series from NBC about an Episcopal priest named Daniel and his congregation. Daniel is addicted to pain pills, his daughter sells drugs, one of his sons is gay, and the other is a womanizer. His ecclesiastical supervisor, a female bishop, is having an adulterous affair with his father, who is also a bishop. The pastor's good friend is a Roman Catholic priest with ties to the mafia.

Clearly, Hollywood is making a travesty of the Christian church. And yet the main problem with the series is not the moral failings of the pastor and his family. Christians are simultaneously saints and sinners.

Christians -- and even pastors -- still struggle with sin. Nevertheless, Christ died for those sins and His righteousness makes us holy. The main problem with "The Book of Daniel" is its lack of Christian content. The characters do not struggle with their sins. They have the same values and behavior as non-believers. Their faith makes absolutely no difference in their lives. The pastor preaches a purely secular gospel, counseling couples to have premarital sex and preaching that people should "forgive themselves." Though the pastor does talk to Jesus -- depicted as a laughing, self-help guru who appears to him -- he is nothing like the true Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, the source of life and salvation who is present in His church in His Word and Sacraments.

-- Dr. Gene Edward Veith

Posted Jan. 12, 2006