The Bible miniseries has taken Australian TV screens by storm. If you haven’t heard about it, perhaps you have been hibernating for the winter. It is airing on Channel 9 on Tuesday nights (at least, at the time of writing it is!), and becoming a ratings winner for the station. Let’s hope it marks a turning point for TV programmers, who have for too long forgotten that Aussies really are quite interested in history, religion and all that, especially when it is told in a powerful, blockbuster style such as The Bible series.

I’ve encountered a wide range of reactions to the series, from glowing praise to sharp criticism. Personally, I’m more down the praise end. I think the producers have succeeded in their goal of ‘adapting’ the Bible to a 10-episode TV format, while remaining faithful to the spirit of the text. They have taken some liberties in constructing Bible stories, adding connecting material where there is little, and developing fresh perspectives on how the viewer receives information (for example, Noah telling the Creation narratives in the first episode). In my view, most of these adaptations work to enhance our understanding of the Bible’s unfolding story.

It’s hard to summarise the value of this miniseries, especially when most of it hasn’t yet aired to you, dear readers and viewers, but here are three take-home points that in my opinion make the broadcast of The Bible one of the highlights of Aussie TV in recent years.

First, this format is fantastic for helping us to understand why the Good Book is full of bad stuff. The episodes about Israel’s early history, of the way people deceived each other, are gripping in their awfulness. From scenes of torture and rape to the death of thousands of Israel’s enemies, the Old Testament comes alive in all of its graphic and disturbing drama. For the past decade, noisy atheists have been cherry-picking parts of the Bible to complain about its morality. This series demonstrates that the immorality depicted in the Bible is that of flawed human beings, and that, in contrast, God is faithful, just and kind. Even Israel’s wonderful leaders—Moses, King David—were tragically compromised, and dependent on the mercy of God for their victories. The human horrors of scripture reveal to us our need for a merciful and loving God.

Second, there is a ‘through-line’ in the Bible that gives you an understanding of the ‘Big Story’ of what God is doing in the world. This is sometimes offensive to contemporary Westerners, who think they are writing their own story and no one else can tell them what the Story is or where they fit into it. But this is plain hubris, blindness to history and to one’s own tiny role in it. You are part of something bigger; better find out what that ‘something’ is!

The miniseries does a good job of conveying what the scholars call ‘biblical theology’, the threads that hold together the books of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. Threads such as God’s faithfulness to his promises, the need for a Messiah, and the quest for mercy and justice combined. Roma Downey, one of the series producers and the actor who plays Mary, Jesus’ mother, wrote that the biggest discovery for her in making the show was that “the Bible is a love story” (bibleseriesresources.com/q-a). That’s biblical theology!

Third, if you don’t know the Bible, you don’t know who you are. In Australia, every person has to some extent or another been shaped by the teachings of the Book of Books. It is so ingrained in the worldview of the nation (notwithstanding other influences), that to truly understand who you are as a 21st century Australian, you need to know this great, old Story. To grapple with the issues of today—from how we treat refugees, to the nature of our tax laws, to the shape of our storytelling, to the kind of family lives we encourage—you need to know the Bible. Without it, you are like the child born without family records, with no sense of where you came from or why you think and feel the way you do. Now’s the chance to catch up on your family history!

The screening of The Bible gives Aussies a chance to look at Israel’s history, and to ponder their own history, steeped as it is in biblical tradition and culture. My hope is that in doing so, Australia’s late-night TV viewers will also discover and fall in love with the God of the Bible.