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Photo: Kirk and Spock
In his review of the new “Star Trek” movie, Derek Malcolm, writing in the London Evening Standard, said:
Let me make a terrible confession. Twenty minutes into JJ Abrams’s lively reinvention of the Trekkie franchise that some are calling the best prequel of all time (surely an insult to the Old Testament), I found myself missing the camp old “characters” [obscenity removed by me] who inhabited the old series.
I agree with Malcolm; the Old Testament is the best prequel of all time!
Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary
Tags: Star Trek
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Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament 
>Not quite. According to the OED a prequel is “A book, film, etc., narrating events which precede those of an already existing work.”To say that the Old Testament is a prequel is to imply that the New Testament existed before the Old Testament.
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>Theophrastus,Thank you for your comment.Here is another definition of a prequel [pre– + (se)quel]:“A literary, dramatic, or cinematic work whose narrative takes place before that of a preexisting work or a sequel.”If the New Testament is a sequel of the Old Testament, then the Old Testament is a prequel.You can read Theophrastus’s review of “Star Trek” here.Claude Mariottini
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>Thanks for your kind link!But actually, in the definition that you cite, I would have said “preexisting” modifies both “work” and “sequel”.Of course, this just nitpicking, and doesn’t change your underlying concept in the least, (but I think most use “prequel” the way I do.)Either way, we can both agree that the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament are uniquely great written works — and all benefit from study of those works.
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>I would rank Star Wars Episode 3 as the second best prequel.
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>Matthew,I also believe that Star Wars 3 was one of the best of the movies. However, I do not think Episode 3 was a prequel; it was a sequel.Claude Mariottini
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