I receieved an interesting e-mail from Shane “Smikwily” McWilliams in regard to Raiders of the Lost Ark and why one should not look into The Ark of the Covenant. Apparently, it’s actually mentioned in The Bible! Not being a Christian scholar, I always figured it to be Hollywood tacking on a solution that seemed to fit the situation a little too easily, but I guess I was wrong. Here’s Steve’s e-mail:

I did a little digging for something to back this up. I remember hearing this when I was younger, but had a hard time finding an actual page to back it up. I did understand the reasoning for looking away from the ark as it was opened.

1 Samuel 6:19

But God struck down some of the men of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy of them to death because they had looked into the ark of the Lord. The people mourned because of the heavy blow the Lord had dealt them.

2 Samuel 2:6-7 (also 1 Chr 13:7-10)

He and all his men set out from Baalah of Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim that are on the ark. They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it. David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord , with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals.

When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God.

http://www.rationalchristianity.net/touch_ark.html

Remember, most of the Trilogy deals with Christian artifacts, so I’m sure Indy knew all the details going in.

I never was one to doubt Indiana Jones and his level of research. He always seemed like of of the most competent, composed and, most importantly HUMAN action hero in modern cinema. I guess I just underestimated Hollywood’s ability to inject secular history into mainstream cinema and retain some level of truth.

Show Shane your appreciation for his research by visiting his site http://www.playmoreconsoles.com/