Who Wrote the New Testament? - $29.95
Screening on SBS from Sunday 22 February 2004 at 8:30pm.
The New Testament, the basis of today's Christian faith, is a collection of 27 compositions, all first written in Greek. This three-part series tells the story of the 27 books of the New Testament.
Episode 1: What is Truth?
This episode looks at the most famous quartet in history - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Were they the men who wrote the four gospels? Who were they? Why did they write the gospels and when?
Episode 2: Maintaining the Truth
Episode 2 studies the letters of the New Testament, many of which warn the early Christian communities against heretics and their teachings. The episode examines the letters of Jesus' brothers, James and Jude, and look at Paul's conversion and how, through his subsequent correspondences with the churches of the Mediterranean, Christianity spread out of its homeland and became a growing international movement.
Episode 3: But, Whose Truth was the Truth?
This episode looks at how these heresies emerged, the literature that was produced and the dangers they posed to the early church. Few have heard of the fifty 'other' gospels that circulated in antiquity including the gospel of Thomas, the gospel of Mary Magdalene and writings by Judas Iscariot and Pontius Pilate. Then there are countless letters - some of them valid, others dangerously heretical and few that nearly made it into the accepted canon. If these had made it into the New Testament, Christianity and our understanding of Christ would be fundamentally different.