The Story of God: Morgan Freeman Tackles Age-Old Questions
They're questions every soul wrestles with at some point -- Who is God? Is there life after death? Now the National Geographic Channel is trying to tackle that age-old query with the help of actor Morgan Freeman.
In a new series called "The Story of God with Morgan Freeman," the 78-year-old takes viewers to the world's most historic religious sites, travelling over 100,000 miles to seven different countries and 40 cities.
"We started with Christianity, Judaism and Islam, and we decided what would work within the construct of six hours," Lori McCreary, the show's executive producer, told CBN News.
Freeman says each individual episode addresses some of mankind's most asked questions and how different religions answer them.
"Is there an apocalypse? Will there be an apocalypse? What is the apocalypse? The apocalypse in this religion is different than the apocalypse over here," he said.
Choosing Freeman
It makes sense casting Freeman as the face of the series since he's perhaps Hollywood's most popular voice of God from the hit films "Bruce Almighty" and "Evan Almighty."
"What was it like playing God?" CBN's Angela Zatopek asked the actor.
"One of the scenes I remember the most was with Jim Carey holding his hands behind his back and (he) said, 'How many fingers am I holding up?' and (in) the one part I said, 'Seven,' and he said, 'TADA!!' -- and he had five, but then he had seven fingers on his hand," he recalled, laughing. "God can do that."
Freeman wasn't raised in church.
"I didn't grow up in church, but I was introduced at an early age," he said. "I must have gone to church four or five times as a kid."
"Personally, I was always intimidated by ritual," he added. "My grandmother was not very into religion, but God."
"A relationship?" Zatopek pressed.
"A relationship, yeah… with the Almighty," Freeman replied.
Lifetime Curiosity
Freeman isn't shy about his curiosity, which has stayed with him since childhood. It showed up again in Istanbul while visiting the renowned Hagia Sophia, which went from being a church to a mosque and is now a museum.
"Jesus is part of Islam -- not as God, but as a prophet," Freeman explained.
"I didn't know that," McCreary chimed in. "I was surprised. I felt bad I didn't know that."
"So how much more is there to know about what we think we are familiar with? And this sort of festered over time and grew into this pustule of creation," Freeman told CBN News.
In exploring these questions, Freeman met with different religious leaders, academics and archaeologists from around the world, including Houston megachurch Pastor Joel Osteen.
"Who is God?" Freeman asks the pastor in one episode.
"I believe God is our Father, the Creator, somebody that gives us purpose and destiny," Osteen replied.
Religious Experiences
Freeman immersed himself in various rituals and religious experiences, visiting sites from the pyramids to Jerusalem's Wailing Wall.
Describing his time in Israel, he said, "We were in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher for a couple of days and we didn't know that the church was built over Golgatha, and inside is the tomb in which Jesus was buried and rose from."
"I had never been to Jerusalem," McCreary said. "I was fascinated with three religious faiths living in one community."
"You stand on one place and we were filming and you could see where the Temple was, (the) Jewish Temple was, Gardens of Gethsemane, and the Dome of the Rock for Islam," she said.
Producers hope the series will begin a positive dialogue by focusing on similarities, rather than differences.
"Most of the religious tension around the world and conflict is driven by ignorance," James Younger, the series' other Executive producer, told CBN News. "There are certain leaders within certain communities that vilify the other."
"They do that because the people they're speaking to don't have knowledge of what other faiths are, so we feel like more knowledge more understanding of those faiths will do something to diminish violence around the world," he said.
Airing in 171 countries in 45 different languages, the "Story of God" premieres April 3.
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