This show is part of the Decoding the Past series on the History Channel. It was originally broadcast on May 20, 2005.

Elizabeth Vargas is the narrator. There are interviews with Albert Baumgarten (Jerusalem), Kathleen Corley (University of Wisconsin), Wllliam Lane Craig (Talbot School of Theology), Arthur Dewey (Xavier), Luke Timothy Johnson (Emory), Karen King (Harvard), Paul Maier (Western Michigan), Father Jerome Murphy O’Connor (Jerusalem), Daniel Schwartz (Jerusalem), Pastor Lee Strobel, Bishop John Shelby Sprong, and Ben Witherington (Kentucky).

This show has relatively poor production qualities. There is a visit to Jesus’ suspected tombs in Jerusalem and a visit to Qubeibeh. Most of the show consists of talking heads (lots of talking heads) and stock footage of Easter celebrations in Los Angeles (?!) and Jerusalem.

This show has so many incorrect assertions it has to be viewed several times to catch them all. Here are some choice examples…

• “Many people died before they even got to the cross.” Untrue. Although some people were flogged to death, it was rare for someone sentenced to be crucified to die from flogging.
• The original Jesus group was “very small”. Au Contraire. The original Jesus group was one of the largest groups in Palestine.
• "Jesus was nailed to a cross". Most evidence suggests that people's hands were tied to a cross, not nailed.
• "Only one disciple was present when Jesus was crucified." That’s not exactly true. It’s more accurate to say that in 3 of the 4 Gospels no disciples are present at the crucifixion, and in 1 of 4 Gospels one disciple is said to be present.
• "His name was Jesus of Nazareth." Untrue. His name was Jesus ben Joseph and he was called Jesus the Nazarene. Nazareth didn’t exist until mid 1^st Century.
• Jesus wore a bread. Our best guess is that he was clean shaven.
• “They see an “angel apparition” in the tomb. In the original Gospel (Mark) it is not an angel but a man. Only in Matthew does it become an angel, and then two angels in Luke.
• “There’s plenty of evidence that people were crucified and buried.” Untrue. There is only one person who was ever found to have been crucified and then buried. Of the thousands of others who were crucified, not a single body has been found, suggesting that they were left on the cross to be devoured by the beasts.
• “Within 1 or 2 weeks the disciples are out preaching in public.” According to the Gospels, this is not true. The disciples do not go out preaching at all in the Gospels. Only in Acts do we learn about their preaching, and then it is more than a month later.
• The disciples “stood up boldly in Jerusalem” and proclaimed Jesus’ resurrection. There is nothing in the Gospels about the disciples boldly preaching the resurrection, and it is only in one of the Gospels that they remain in Jerusalem at all.
• “It is well attested that none of his brothers believed in Jesus.” Wrong. First of all, it is not well attested. Secondly, the only brief reference to this fact was a later addition in the Gospel of John, when competing Christian groups sought to de-emphasize the role of Jesus’ family.
• "Jesus’ brother James believed that Jesus was out of his mind." Completely wrong. There is never any mention of James in this regard. The reference in March 3:21 has been mistranslated as “his family” and doesn’t specify James. In any event, the proper translation refers to Jesus’ disciples, not his family.
• There were several other Messiahs around the same time as Jesus, but their movements ended when they were crucified. We can’t be exactly sure to whom they are referring, but here’s a scorecard of the contemporaneous Messiahs: John the Baptist (beheaded), Judas the Galilean (drowned in a lake), Theudas (beheaded), and the Egyptian (escaped). None were crucified.
• The Gospels say that the women took him down with the help of John and Joseph of Arimathea. The only Gospel to mention John being at the crucifixion is the Gospel of John, and that Gospel has Joseph and Nicodemus taking Jesus down. There are no women nor does John assist. (John 19:38-40). The Gospels of Mark (15:46), Luke (25:53), and Matthew (27:59) only mention Joseph: no women, and no John,