'A.D. The Bible Continues' draws mixed reviews as 1st season ends

Juan Pablo Di Pace as Jesus in 'A.D. The Bible Continues.' Its season finale leaves unanswered questions that would hopefully be resolved in the next season.(Twitter/Juan Pablo Di Pace)

"A.D. The Bible Continues" has just aired its season finale, leaving behind unanswered questions that would hopefully be answered in the next season of the faith-based drama series.

Award-winning writer Peter Chattaway wrote in an article for Christianity Today that the final episode actually left several "loose threads dangling." It focused on Acts 10 of the Bible, where the centurion Cornelius felt remorseful after killing a Christian woman. An angel then appeared before him, telling him "God has looked kindly on your sorrow and repentance. Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God."

The finale also showed Peter, who had a vision of animals and heard a voice telling him to "not call anything impure that God has cleansed."

"Well, after that, the series has exhausted its biblical material, and the rest of the season finale revolves around the tension between the Jews and Romans as Pilate's men try to put a statue of Caligula in the temple," Chattaway wrote.

He noted that the series, produced by Christian couple Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, received mixed reviews, and unfortunately ratings have began dipping since the first episode aired. "As mixed a bag as this series is, I can't say I want it to end here," Chattaway admitted.

"There are lots of potential problems that the show would have to overcome, but I rather enjoyed A.D.'s depiction of Saul, post-conversion, and I want to see how the series handles his missionary journeys and his future clashes with Peter and James the Just."

Burnett and Downey have said that they wanted to delve deeper into the book of Acts, and Chattaway considers it a worthy goal. However, in order for the series to survive its ratings war, they have to "put more effort into that deeper dive," since telling the story of the early Church that speaks to modern Christians will be no easy feat.