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It�s Christmas time again. Time for Charlie Brown, home-baked cookies, and oh yeah, specials on journalistic TV shows about who Jesus� mother and father really were, and what Jesus� real mission on Earth was.

In the holiday tradition of the late Peter Jennings (ABC) they�re still doing this stuff. All it requires is the author of several books on any of the Gnostic gospels, a few people from the dying Jesus Seminar�many of the usual suspects�a few other university professors who agree with them, maybe a token conservative scholar here or there only to talk about the unimportant details, and you have a sizzling expos� about what really happened.

Well, this year was not entirely different. I happened to see that only one of these was on. This one, if I remember the correct one�you see, my wife gets so annoyed by this stuff that she has to flip the channel within a few minutes�happened to air on CBS�s 48 Hours. Now I have to admit that I only got to see the first part of it, and that it would not be fair to critique it without having seen what actually appeared, so I went to the CBS website to see if I could verify its contents.

What appears there is a transcript called �The Mystery of Christmas,� and according to the website it was aired again this year on December 16. It also appears to have been recycled from last year (with a note that says that it originally aired December 20 last year).

Having read through the transcript I will admit that either I am getting immune to this stuff, or this �documentary� was a tad less offensive than some of the others. True, there were some of the usual skeptical comments and it had its share of revisionist history, however it does not seem to end on a disparaging note, but a bit more hopeful one.

For me, watching a program like this (or reading a transcript like this) is a helpful exercise. Why? Even if I don�t agree with a lot of what is said, I know what people are hearing in the media or reading about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Watching them also helps me to learn about some of the �popular� theories that are going around and be able to answer them. 1 Peter 3:15 recommends that we always be ready to give a defense or answer to those who want to know about the hope that is in us.

Documentaries such as the CBS one will inevitably arise. While I could find plenty to disagree with in it, it certainly wasn�t the worst of those things about Jesus that the secular media has to offer�including the outright Jesus bashing that sometimes takes place in network television shows of the �entertainment� variety. Just so you know, if you look at the Gospels (not the Gnostic �gospels� which were written a few centuries later) you will find that Jesus faced plenty of skeptics and bashers in his own day. Now, are there some good TV documentaries out there, that are fair to the Christian understanding? There are. Dr. James Kennedy put out one of these in response to a Peter Jennings documentary about 6 years ago.

The world has all kinds of things to say about Jesus Christ. Some of it is fair and accurate, and some of it is not. However, one thing is certain, and CBS even admitted this, it really is hard to reconstruct ancient history. There is a wonderful book that examines details about the life of Jesus, which is written by a conservative historian and world renowned scholar, who is every bit as prestigious in his credentials and more so than any who end up on the TV screen (well, he�s been on TV too). This book is called �In the Fullness of Time� and it is written by Dr. Paul Maier. Once you have read the Gospels and Acts, pick up this book. You will find it very helpful.

There is not any historical account that doesn�t have some sort of perspective, which is a kind of bias. I understand that some histories and tellers of them have axes to grind. However, the Bible has often been subjected to a standard that is not applied to regular history. I understand that part of this is because of the claims that it makes. For one thing, most historical figures don�t claim to be divine (excepting various rulers of ancient empires). However, Christians believe that Christ truly was divine. If you want the fairest understanding of what the Scriptures say, why not go to the Scriptures yourself and read them?

What one finds if he reads the Scriptures is that a great deal of attention was paid to their composition. The writers of these books were out to get it right. If one reads Luke 1:1-4, Luke lays out the fact that he thoroughly examined the details of the events, and asked many eyewitnesses in order to deliver with certainty an account that was true to what happened. We see from Luke�s words that his task was undertaken with great care.

My hope is in Jesus Christ, but I also know that many people have a lot of honest questions, and they are afraid to ask their pastor, or another believer in Christ. You may or may not agree with my politics, but when it comes to the Scriptures, I am willing to answer your questions no matter what background you bring to the table. Should you have a question, I am willing to respond. Just contact this site. If I don�t blog before then, have a blessed Christmas! -Cal Samuel August

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