Channel-Surfing for God

For the first time in over a week yesterday I got to come home from work and do absolutely nothing. I didn't need to leave for a meeting, for a class, for services, nothing. And it was lovely. I've been exhausted recently, due in part to switching my allergy medication, and part to my dog deciding 6AM is the perfect time to wake up and got outside, no matter what time we've gone to bed.

So, I settled in for a peaceful evening at home. I made dinner and sat down to watch a little TV before I pulled out the latest mystery novel I am distracting myself with.* As I waited for Jeopardy! to start I flipped through the channels and came across a program called "Creation in the 21st Century" on one of the Christian networks (I think it may have been TBN, but you can't quote me on that). I stopped because the image that was on the screen as I flipped through was of a Torah and a yad. I was curious as to where this was headed, so I settled in to watch as I ate my salad and matzah. I don't know the concept behind the show, but the host did reference "proving science" based on Biblical texts, even mentioning entropy at one point. What was fascinating, however, was that they had a complete Hebrew bible in scroll form, not just the Torah. I knew that there were the 5 megillot, but I had no idea that the rest of the Tanakh existed in scroll form (or still existed; I guess at some point before the advent of books they would have been in scroll form). Some foundation had set out to gather a complete collection and eventually succeeded. The foundation was Christian, and they kept referring to Jews as the people who had preserved the word of God for them. Now, I'm all for Christians respecting Jews and our practices and beliefs, but this was bordering on condescending, as if that was all we were good for. I know I shouldn't be surprised that an evangelical network would have this, but the program still surprised me.

Anyway, my question was, is this common? Do evangelical Christians collect Torah scrolls on a regular basis?

*For those who care, I've been reading mystery novels by Jeffrey Deaver lately. He's great at bringing the twisty, turny, surprise ending. I'm a fan of his Lincoln Rhyme/Amelia Sachs novels, but as I've read all of those at this point I'm working on his other books. Last night I was reading another author I'm trying out, Jefferson Bass (actually a combination of 2 men, a writer and a forensic anthropologist), so I was reading Carved In Bone. It was a decent distraction, but not outstanding.