Joseph, Part 1: You Can Believe What You Read

I don't think I've gotten very personal in any of my posts yet, meaning I haven't said much about myself beyond what I think about a particular issue. So this post will be a little different in that regard.

I have two great children, a ten-year-old daughter and a seven-year-old son, and the three of us are all preparing for a community theatre production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor® Dreamcoat." As a preacher (and the dad of an actor or two) as well as an actor, I try to consider not just how "fun" a show is, but what messages it sends. "Joseph" is definitely a fun show that tells the events of Joseph's life reasonably close to what is recorded in the Bible. But I do have some areas of contention, which I am going to write about as a series of posts.

This first concern is a line that is not in our musical score, so our production won't be including it. But it was in the 1992 Canadian Cast Recording soundtrack featuring Donny Osmond as Joseph. The line is spoken by Potiphar as an aside as the Narrator and he describe himself and his wife. The Narrator sings, "Potiphar was cool and so fine," and Potiphar continues, "But my wife would never toe the line." The Narrator points out that, "It's all there in chapter thirty-nine of Genesis," to which Potiphar speaks, "Don't believe everything you read, dear."

So, obviously, as one who believes that the Bible is what it claims to be - the Word of God and truthful throughout - I have a little problem with this statement. Some would argue that the Bible contains the Word of God, and thus Potiphar's statement would be valid. Others would contend that the Bible is just a book written by people trying to understand God or their world and no different, no more accurate, than any other book ever written, and from their perspective Potiphar's statement would also be correct. But that is not what the Bible says about itself. Even as the Bible grows from the first five books of Moses to including the prophets, the books of wisdom, etc., it is consistently referred to as the Word of God, with all the unquestionable authority that implies. This web page does a pretty good job of defending whether the Bible lives up to that description of being the Word of God, saying many of the things I would bring out plus others I didn't know.

I understand that this little aside by Potiphar may be a reflection of Potiphar's character more than an attempt to make a statement. But I think it very much does make a statement, very lightly so it will not immediately offend. And that is just the kind of statement we have to watch out for - lightly, even humorously made, stuck innocently in the middle of a fun little song our children enjoy singing.