Both my wife and I have a great desire to see Russell Crowe take a stab at the Noah role, but having a lively 6-month-old daughter to attend to makes it more likely that we’ll wait for the DVD to come on the market. For Mormons, Noah was one of the most important men who have ever lived, and I would like to see how contemporary Hollywood depicts him. Come to think of it, I think that a Hollywood depiction of the Mormon Noah would be much more interesting.
According to LDS theology, Noah was also known as the Angel Gabriel, who is mentioned in both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. Indeed, Gabriel is one of only two angels in the Protestant Bible who is mentioned by name: the other, Michael, is believed by Mormons to have been Adam. Coincidentally (or not), Mormon prophet Joseph Smith taught that Noah stands next to Adam in authority and in holding the “keys of salvation.” Since Mormons believe that the flood was universal and represented the baptism of the earth, many of us regard Noah as a “second Adam” tasked with repopulating the planet. In addition, Mormons who live in this part of the world like to note the Book of Mormon teaching that the American continent became a choice land after the flood waters receded (Ether 13:2).
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