My favorite Bible story, because it suits my generally humorous outlook, is when Peter is in prison (Acts 12).
James (well, one or the other) was executed and the nascent Church probably expected the same fate for Peter. So they pray for him. I don't know what they prayed but the best prayers are asking for God's will rather than for specifics based on our own selfishness.
An angel comes to Peter and unshackles him and opens doors for him and then, out in the street, the vanishes.
Peter goes to the house where they're praying for him and raps at the door. A servant named Rhoda goes to the door and asks who is there (after all, Herod Agrippa's poll numbers went up when he arrested Peter and executed James; it's possible someone's there to arrest them all). Peter identifies himself and rather than opening the door Rhoda, in her excitement, runs to the others, excitedly telling them Peter is there.
Their prayers interrupted they remind her Peter's in prison; though some of them suggest it's Peter's angel, whatever they mean by that. Though why an angel has to knock . . . ?
Visualize the scene: Peter's out in the street where Herod's cops can scoop him back up if he's spotted. A servant came who did not open the door. And the people who were praying for Peter are now, rather than going to see an answer to their prayers, debating angelology. And as Acts says, Peter continued to knock.
How does it end? No spoilers. You'll have to read it for yourself.
In "Peter and Paul" no angel is depicted (nor are Peter's shackles accurate). The people in the house aren't praying. Rhoda opens the door and slams it in Peter's face. Most of the tension and all of the humor is drained from scene. So is the angel, except obliquely. If one doesn't know the story one is left wondering why the prison door is open. Were Herod's guards that careless?
That's an ongoing problem with "Peter and Paul." The book of Acts is a cracking good story. Reducing it to Peter and Paul alone is a good idea, as the two had lots of tension between them. As Luke joins Paul in the book the disciples and other figures from the Gospel fritter away and it's all Paul and his companions.
The cast, though, is problematic. Robert Foxworth as Peter isn't terribly charismatic. Anthony Hopkins can be an acting powerhouses but he dials back his performance as Paul for the most part. Peter was (by tradition) a big, strong man while Paul was diminutive. Here, they're roughly the same height.
The big names are a mixed bag. Herbert Lom was an inspired choice for Barnabas as John Rhys-Davis was for Silas. Briefly-glimpsed Raymond Burr looks ridiculous as Herod Agrippa. Most of the guest stars are blink-and-you'll miss them.
One important point of contention in the early Church was whether gentiles had to become Jews to be Christian. That's aired in the series and Paul was on the nay side while Peter waffled. Voila, writers: tension. I'm not sure it's clear why that was so important people like Paul and Peter had arguments about it.
Some people think the Bible is a book of miracles. It isn't. It's mostly history with miracles centered on certain people. Thomas Jefferson wrote his own version of the Bible taking all the miracles out.
A few miracles are depicted (one being the question of how Paul and his colleagues survived all those stonings). The ones that are depicted are typically presented as ambiguous. Like the angel who freed Peter. But how does one depict an angel, anyway? Not as Roma Downey. Oh, well. I can't answer that one, either, but I don't write TV shows.
Sometimes not enough is said. At other times extra-Biblical reasons are given for things, like Mark's missionary defection, which caused the rift between Paul and Barnabas.
Nor do I see Paul, angry as he could get at times, as being so contentious as he begins to preach. It doesn't seem to be very winning. The best way to be a missionary is to build a bridge with one's newbies (as Paul did in Athens, though he didn't have a lot of success there; I was gratified the whole of Paul's text in Athens was given).
Overall, "Peter and Paul" is kind of dull and mostly humorless. In Church meetings the euphoria of new converts is lacking on people's faces (though to be fair when my conversion came I was depressed for a week before the euphoria of the Holy Spirit really settled in on me; the Spirit was willing but the flesh was weak). Only Silas seems to look happy at all. Very odd. Why follow a faith whose adherents are so dour? Meanwhile, the pagans seem to be having a high old time.
Still, it's good someone tried. It's just too bad the thrilling story of Acts comes off as a bit stodgy and, as in episodes like that of Peter in prison, leaving curious newcomers scratching their heads.
I'm disappointed this show as a whole isn't more fun. The book of Acts is a great ride. Sure, persecutions against those taking Christ's title (Christ-ians) continue with churchs and Christian schools being shot up in America and bombed abroad and we must take our past and present seriously. But that doesn't mean all the excitement should be drained from a great story or the euphoria of the Holy Spirit from our lives.
That's one character sorely lacking: someone once said the Acts of the Apostles should be called the Acts of the Holy Spirit. Christ is mentioned a lot but the Holy Spirit gets short shrift. Peter's one of the major figures in Acts and his name's on the series. Where's Pentecost?
