Singing Bible Verses
What better way to spread the Gospels?
A Faithful Reenactment
Acts of the Apostles is intended to be a faithful reenactment of the Book of Acts, and thus it is important to us that we do not deviate from the word of God. Certainly we are not the first, and hopefully not the last, to attempt to translate God’s holy word onto the silver screen. But many of the Bible stories that we know, and most of the films, involve a level of improvisation. Many writers, directors and storytellers have felt that in order to tell a good story, or to spin a compelling narrative in film, that they needed to embellish, and to add details or ambiance.
However as we embarked on this project, we collectively decided that the word of God in the Gospels stands alone on its own. It needs no embellishment, no exaggeration, and no alterations. And thus our screen writers began their work with one important directive: that the dialog, scenes and characters in this film are represented exactly as they are in the good book, and we aim to achieve precisely that.
The Soundtrack
Thus, when I set about composing the music for the soundtrack, I myself operated under this same directive. Thankfully, many books in the Bible were originally sung, not spoken. It turns out that the Bible is full of song, from Mary’s song in the first chapter of Luke in the New Testament through to books from the Old Testament like Psalms and Song of Solomon.
Unfortunately, the music for these songs was lost centuries ago, but the words remain. All of the lyrics from each of the songs from our debut album are word for word verbatim from verses of the Bible.
When we began production, the film was not going to have a full lyrical soundtrack. The original idea was to use classical music, or perhaps instrumentals comprised of instruments that were common in 1st century Israel. But as I knelt before God each morning and prayed to Him, I had one request: how can I, as His humble messenger, bring the word of God to more people?
This soundtrack is His answer. After all, what better way is there to spread the word of God than through song? Our hope is that you play these songs in your car on the way to work, or in the kitchen as you’re preparing a family meal, and that you sing along as well! Because when you sing the songs from this soundtrack, you are speaking verses directly from the Bible.
And maybe, just maybe, these songs will reach someone who needs Jesus right now, teach them the Bible, and show them that Jesus is the way and the life and that we will find salvation through Him alone.