1 00:00:01,252 --> 00:00:04,837 R: Ancient texts nearly erased from history. 2 00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:09,842 Shocking revelations from eyewitness accounts. 3 00:00:09,885 --> 00:00:13,762 And forbidden knowledge that could forever change 4 00:00:13,848 --> 00:00:17,766 our very notion of god. 5 00:00:19,061 --> 00:00:22,187 To billions of faithful around the world, 6 00:00:22,231 --> 00:00:25,065 the bible is the single most important document 7 00:00:25,151 --> 00:00:26,650 in human history. 8 00:00:26,736 --> 00:00:28,986 Its contents are believed to be authoritative, 9 00:00:29,030 --> 00:00:32,239 infallible and unquestionable. 10 00:00:32,324 --> 00:00:35,451 The word of god. 11 00:00:35,536 --> 00:00:38,912 But is it possible that the bible we've been reading 12 00:00:38,998 --> 00:00:42,541 for thousands of years has been compromised 13 00:00:42,626 --> 00:00:45,210 by everything from flawed translations 14 00:00:45,254 --> 00:00:49,089 to conflicting religious agendas? 15 00:00:49,175 --> 00:00:53,635 Well, that is what we'll try and find out. 16 00:00:53,721 --> 00:00:55,721 ♪ ♪ 17 00:01:09,862 --> 00:01:13,072 according to scholars, the book known as the bible 18 00:01:13,115 --> 00:01:16,366 began as a series of stories that were first written down 19 00:01:16,452 --> 00:01:18,744 thousands of years ago. 20 00:01:18,788 --> 00:01:21,830 But given the fact that these stories 21 00:01:21,916 --> 00:01:23,415 have been continuing, 22 00:01:23,501 --> 00:01:26,877 subjected to centuries of editing, translation 23 00:01:26,921 --> 00:01:28,420 and reinterpretation, 24 00:01:28,464 --> 00:01:32,925 just who was the bible's original author, 25 00:01:32,968 --> 00:01:35,219 and how close are today's versions of it 26 00:01:35,262 --> 00:01:37,930 to the original texts? 27 00:01:38,015 --> 00:01:39,932 Many people would take it on faith 28 00:01:40,017 --> 00:01:41,600 that the text that they're reading, 29 00:01:41,685 --> 00:01:43,227 the received tradition 30 00:01:43,270 --> 00:01:45,896 is actually somehow inspired by god. 31 00:01:45,940 --> 00:01:47,731 And the hebrew bible is ascribed-- 32 00:01:47,817 --> 00:01:48,732 at least the torah portion-- 33 00:01:48,776 --> 00:01:50,400 is ascribed to moses. 34 00:01:50,486 --> 00:01:53,445 And then other prophets wrote their prophetic books, 35 00:01:53,489 --> 00:01:56,156 but this old testament was written over a very 36 00:01:56,242 --> 00:02:00,035 long period of time by multiple different people. 37 00:02:01,997 --> 00:02:03,705 Shatner: As far as the faithful are concerned, 38 00:02:03,791 --> 00:02:05,749 the bible was inspired and authored 39 00:02:05,835 --> 00:02:09,628 not by man, but by god. 40 00:02:09,713 --> 00:02:12,256 But even if that's true, 41 00:02:12,299 --> 00:02:15,134 is there any way to prove it? 42 00:02:21,559 --> 00:02:25,477 Qumran. The british mandate of palestine. 1946. 43 00:02:27,648 --> 00:02:29,857 In the arid hills along the northwest shores 44 00:02:29,942 --> 00:02:31,233 of the dead sea, 45 00:02:31,318 --> 00:02:34,611 a bedouin shepherd tending his flock stumbles upon 46 00:02:34,697 --> 00:02:36,780 a long-lost cave. 47 00:02:36,866 --> 00:02:40,784 Once inside, he makes an incredible discovery. 48 00:02:40,870 --> 00:02:44,454 A number of sand-covered clay jars, each containing 49 00:02:44,540 --> 00:02:48,667 numerous scrolls of parchment and papyrus written in hebrew, 50 00:02:48,711 --> 00:02:50,460 aramaic and greek, 51 00:02:50,546 --> 00:02:54,631 and each more than 2,000 years old. 52 00:02:54,717 --> 00:02:57,843 The ancient texts contain fragments of all but one 53 00:02:57,928 --> 00:03:00,179 of the 39 books of the old testament, 54 00:03:00,264 --> 00:03:05,142 and eventually come to be known as the dead sea scrolls. 55 00:03:06,645 --> 00:03:08,604 The most significant archeological discovery 56 00:03:08,689 --> 00:03:11,815 of the 20th century, in fact of modern times, 57 00:03:11,859 --> 00:03:13,650 has been the dead sea scrolls. 58 00:03:15,029 --> 00:03:17,696 This was a collection of writings that was produced 59 00:03:17,740 --> 00:03:21,366 by a group of jews living in about the same time 60 00:03:21,452 --> 00:03:24,912 and about the same place as jesus himself. 61 00:03:24,997 --> 00:03:27,039 With the discovery of the dead sea scrolls, 62 00:03:27,124 --> 00:03:31,710 scholars got a glimpse of actual biblical texts-- 63 00:03:31,795 --> 00:03:34,504 hand-written texts that were a thousand years older 64 00:03:34,590 --> 00:03:37,174 than the previously oldest text that we had. 65 00:03:37,259 --> 00:03:40,469 Shatner: Of the 972 manuscripts 66 00:03:40,554 --> 00:03:42,346 that make up the dead sea scrolls, 67 00:03:42,389 --> 00:03:44,556 many contradict what is found 68 00:03:44,642 --> 00:03:46,725 in more modern versions of the bible. 69 00:03:46,810 --> 00:03:50,270 These discrepancies have left generations of scholars 70 00:03:50,356 --> 00:03:53,065 and theologians scratching their heads, 71 00:03:53,108 --> 00:03:56,735 and have also invited some to question whether the holy book 72 00:03:56,820 --> 00:04:00,614 is the work of god or man. 73 00:04:00,699 --> 00:04:02,282 One thing that came clear 74 00:04:02,368 --> 00:04:04,243 when the dead sea scrolls were discovered is 75 00:04:04,328 --> 00:04:08,914 there is not just one textual tradition. 76 00:04:08,958 --> 00:04:13,585 For example, in cave 1, where the great isaiah scroll 77 00:04:13,629 --> 00:04:17,756 was discovered, this almost perfectly-preserved scroll 78 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:21,426 contains all 66 chapters of the book of isaiah 79 00:04:21,512 --> 00:04:25,264 and is virtually identical to the text of isaiah 80 00:04:25,349 --> 00:04:29,434 that we have in our english translations of the bible today. 81 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:33,939 However, there was a second scroll of isaiah 82 00:04:33,983 --> 00:04:37,651 found in the same cave that represents almost 83 00:04:37,736 --> 00:04:40,404 an entirely different edition of the book 84 00:04:40,447 --> 00:04:42,781 than what we have in our bibles. 85 00:04:42,825 --> 00:04:45,575 And scholars today have to look at these little fragments 86 00:04:45,661 --> 00:04:47,411 and say, "which one is more authentic?" 87 00:04:47,496 --> 00:04:49,121 which is a hard question. 88 00:04:49,164 --> 00:04:52,207 Shatner: One of the reasons the bible's origins 89 00:04:52,293 --> 00:04:54,501 remain a mystery isn't merely a matter of who 90 00:04:54,586 --> 00:04:56,586 or how many people wrote it, 91 00:04:56,672 --> 00:05:00,799 but what language it was originally written in. 92 00:05:02,344 --> 00:05:04,469 Cargill: One of the secrets among scholars and those who do 93 00:05:04,555 --> 00:05:07,514 the study of ancient language and the translation 94 00:05:07,599 --> 00:05:11,601 is that there wasn't a lot of punctuation in hebrew, 95 00:05:11,645 --> 00:05:14,813 and many greek manuscripts, there weren't spaces. 96 00:05:14,857 --> 00:05:18,275 So the classic example is the phrase, 97 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:22,863 "god is now here," or "god is nowhere." 98 00:05:22,948 --> 00:05:25,407 if you write all those letters together, 99 00:05:25,492 --> 00:05:29,494 you don't know whether the text is saying "god is now here" 100 00:05:29,538 --> 00:05:31,330 or "god is nowhere." 101 00:05:31,415 --> 00:05:33,999 depending on how you break up the word "now here" 102 00:05:34,084 --> 00:05:36,835 or "nowhere," that says the opposite. 103 00:05:36,879 --> 00:05:39,504 I mean it's, is god here, or is he not? 104 00:05:39,548 --> 00:05:42,466 And depending on how you break that word up, it's a big deal. 105 00:05:43,927 --> 00:05:46,178 Shatner: As if questions of mistranslation 106 00:05:46,263 --> 00:05:47,429 aren't confusing enough, 107 00:05:47,514 --> 00:05:50,515 we also know that for more than 1,000 years, 108 00:05:50,559 --> 00:05:53,352 the official bible was one that had been translated 109 00:05:53,437 --> 00:05:56,021 into yet another language. 110 00:05:56,106 --> 00:05:59,691 A language that most people couldn't even read: 111 00:05:59,777 --> 00:06:01,818 Latin. 112 00:06:01,904 --> 00:06:05,238 The roman catholic church wanted the latin bible 113 00:06:05,324 --> 00:06:08,367 to be the bible, and the idea of putting the bible 114 00:06:08,452 --> 00:06:11,661 into a vernacular language so an average person could read it 115 00:06:11,747 --> 00:06:13,914 was strictly forbidden. 116 00:06:13,999 --> 00:06:16,333 The church wanted to keep control 117 00:06:16,418 --> 00:06:18,377 over the message of the bible. 118 00:06:18,420 --> 00:06:21,463 And so there was an official translation 119 00:06:21,548 --> 00:06:24,216 that was the only one that was to be used, 120 00:06:24,259 --> 00:06:26,510 and the priests were the ones that were to do 121 00:06:26,595 --> 00:06:28,345 the interpretation and so forth. 122 00:06:28,430 --> 00:06:30,889 (indistinct chatter) 123 00:06:31,934 --> 00:06:34,434 shatner: Even as late as 16th century, 124 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:39,398 possession of an unlicensed bible carried a death sentence. 125 00:06:39,483 --> 00:06:43,568 In 1536, english scholar and linguist william tyndale 126 00:06:43,612 --> 00:06:46,905 was executed for the crime of translating the bible 127 00:06:46,949 --> 00:06:50,325 from the vulgate, or the traditional latin, 128 00:06:50,411 --> 00:06:52,327 into english. 129 00:06:52,413 --> 00:06:56,081 But all this changed when the english monarch 130 00:06:56,166 --> 00:06:59,251 king henry viii became embroiled in a bitter battle 131 00:06:59,336 --> 00:07:02,546 with pope clement vii over the king's request 132 00:07:02,631 --> 00:07:05,048 for an annulment to the king's marriage 133 00:07:05,092 --> 00:07:07,884 to queen catherine of aragon. 134 00:07:07,970 --> 00:07:11,054 Henry's desire to take on a new wife 135 00:07:11,140 --> 00:07:13,765 would eventually lead to a break with rome 136 00:07:13,851 --> 00:07:17,060 and the creation of the church of England. 137 00:07:18,981 --> 00:07:22,607 Cargill: As different countries, different kings came to power, 138 00:07:22,693 --> 00:07:27,279 they needed the blessing of the pope at the vatican 139 00:07:27,322 --> 00:07:30,323 to do certain things, like, for instance, get divorced. 140 00:07:30,409 --> 00:07:33,618 And when the pope said no, there were some, 141 00:07:33,704 --> 00:07:36,037 like henry viii, who said, "you know what? 142 00:07:36,123 --> 00:07:37,873 "I'm gonna form my own church, 143 00:07:37,958 --> 00:07:40,125 "and we're gonna have our own clergy 144 00:07:40,169 --> 00:07:42,461 "and our own hierarchy, and we're gonna use the bible 145 00:07:42,546 --> 00:07:45,422 as the foundation of it, and we're gonna do our own thing." 146 00:07:46,884 --> 00:07:49,968 shatner: In 1539, henry viii commissioned the publication 147 00:07:50,012 --> 00:07:52,971 of what was then called the great bible. 148 00:07:53,015 --> 00:07:55,891 Translated into english, it contained much 149 00:07:55,976 --> 00:07:59,269 that was nearly identical to the tyndale translation, 150 00:07:59,354 --> 00:08:03,648 minus some of that version's more controversial passages. 151 00:08:05,068 --> 00:08:08,028 Lori anne ferrell: And in 1539, henry brings out, 152 00:08:08,113 --> 00:08:11,573 with his picture on the title page, a bible 153 00:08:11,658 --> 00:08:13,366 that has been commissioned by him, 154 00:08:13,452 --> 00:08:16,161 and it's called the great bible, or the king's bible. 155 00:08:16,205 --> 00:08:19,456 It shows the king in what we think of 156 00:08:19,541 --> 00:08:22,292 as the prime real estate place of a title page: 157 00:08:22,377 --> 00:08:24,211 Top and center. 158 00:08:24,296 --> 00:08:28,340 And he is holding out copies of the translated bible 159 00:08:28,383 --> 00:08:33,011 to his statesmen on one side and his churchmen on the other. 160 00:08:33,055 --> 00:08:36,389 And they are receiving it, some of them on their knees. 161 00:08:36,475 --> 00:08:39,184 So it is definitely a portrait of power. 162 00:08:39,269 --> 00:08:42,812 And after him, all monarchs want their own bible in England. 163 00:08:42,898 --> 00:08:45,232 Ehrman: We know these books have discrepancies in them 164 00:08:45,317 --> 00:08:47,359 and contradictions among themselves. 165 00:08:47,444 --> 00:08:49,152 They are at odds with one another. 166 00:08:49,196 --> 00:08:51,071 They're not disinterested history 167 00:08:51,156 --> 00:08:52,781 the way we would think of it today. 168 00:08:52,866 --> 00:08:55,867 These authors had a goal in mind. 169 00:08:55,911 --> 00:08:57,244 They had an agenda. 170 00:08:57,329 --> 00:08:58,828 And they included only those stories 171 00:08:58,872 --> 00:09:00,622 that made their point. 172 00:09:00,707 --> 00:09:02,332 There comes a point when you realize 173 00:09:02,417 --> 00:09:04,709 that interpretation is nine-tenths of the law. 174 00:09:04,753 --> 00:09:07,837 But if you believe that the bible is inerrant, 175 00:09:07,923 --> 00:09:10,382 infallible, the verbatim word of god, 176 00:09:10,467 --> 00:09:12,008 that causes a problem. 177 00:09:12,094 --> 00:09:15,220 Because now we have to ask what did god really say? 178 00:09:17,057 --> 00:09:20,517 Shatner: While the stories of the bible may have been divinely inspired, 179 00:09:20,602 --> 00:09:23,270 it seems that the book we read today has more of 180 00:09:23,355 --> 00:09:25,647 man's fingerprints on it than god's. 181 00:09:25,732 --> 00:09:28,191 So, if this is the case, 182 00:09:28,277 --> 00:09:31,861 how can one know which is the true word of god? 183 00:09:31,947 --> 00:09:34,948 Perhaps for the answer, it's best to search 184 00:09:35,033 --> 00:09:37,450 not within the pages of the bible, 185 00:09:37,536 --> 00:09:40,203 but outside of them, in the pages 186 00:09:40,289 --> 00:09:43,582 of the parts of the bible that were edited out. 187 00:09:48,672 --> 00:09:50,547 Shatner: It is estimated that 100 million bibles 188 00:09:50,632 --> 00:09:53,091 are printed and purchased every year, 189 00:09:53,176 --> 00:09:55,302 all across the world. 190 00:09:55,387 --> 00:09:58,430 But not all bibles are the same. 191 00:09:58,515 --> 00:10:00,432 The most obvious difference, of course, 192 00:10:00,475 --> 00:10:03,893 is that judaism only recognizes what christians refer to 193 00:10:03,937 --> 00:10:05,937 as the old testament. 194 00:10:06,023 --> 00:10:08,940 But even christians use different versions 195 00:10:09,026 --> 00:10:11,776 of the old and new testaments. 196 00:10:11,820 --> 00:10:16,323 These vary not only in language and translation, 197 00:10:16,408 --> 00:10:19,743 but in terms of what is included and what is not. 198 00:10:19,828 --> 00:10:21,786 For example, most protestant bibles, 199 00:10:21,830 --> 00:10:23,538 including the king james version, 200 00:10:23,624 --> 00:10:26,416 contain 66 books. 201 00:10:26,501 --> 00:10:30,253 The catholic bible includes 73. 202 00:10:30,339 --> 00:10:33,298 But the bible of the ethiopian orthodox church, 203 00:10:33,342 --> 00:10:38,261 a christian denomination of 36 million followers in africa, 204 00:10:38,347 --> 00:10:40,639 has 81. 205 00:10:40,724 --> 00:10:42,390 One of the secrets of ancient christianity 206 00:10:42,476 --> 00:10:44,934 is that different ethnic and religious groups 207 00:10:44,978 --> 00:10:46,811 had different bibles. 208 00:10:46,855 --> 00:10:49,773 So, there are different groups, like the coptics 209 00:10:49,816 --> 00:10:51,316 or the ethiopian church. 210 00:10:51,401 --> 00:10:53,026 They actually have some of these inspired books, 211 00:10:53,111 --> 00:10:54,778 whereas other groups do not. 212 00:10:54,863 --> 00:10:58,323 So we shouldn't just ask which version of the bible is correct, 213 00:10:58,408 --> 00:11:01,826 but it's which collection of biblical books is correct. 214 00:11:01,912 --> 00:11:04,954 Shatner: To be included in the official version of the bible, 215 00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:06,498 or canon, 216 00:11:06,541 --> 00:11:09,793 a book must be considered to be divinely inspired. 217 00:11:09,836 --> 00:11:12,170 The word of god. 218 00:11:12,255 --> 00:11:14,839 But just who decides? 219 00:11:14,883 --> 00:11:17,759 Mcgowan: There were a group of men with specific agendas 220 00:11:17,844 --> 00:11:21,304 determining what would and what would not become canon. 221 00:11:21,390 --> 00:11:23,181 And this agenda was about preserving 222 00:11:23,266 --> 00:11:25,433 the power of the church. 223 00:11:25,519 --> 00:11:28,520 The agenda here is politics and economics. 224 00:11:28,605 --> 00:11:30,355 It's not spirituality. 225 00:11:32,025 --> 00:11:33,316 Ariel tzadok: It is well-known 226 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:36,027 that there's certain numbers of texts 227 00:11:36,071 --> 00:11:38,863 which are just not made available to the public. 228 00:11:38,907 --> 00:11:41,366 Some are actually denied to even exist, 229 00:11:41,451 --> 00:11:44,744 but most are said to be secret knowledge. 230 00:11:44,830 --> 00:11:46,705 Why? What is so secret? 231 00:11:46,790 --> 00:11:48,540 What is being concealed? 232 00:11:48,625 --> 00:11:51,209 Shatner: Until the mid-1800s, 233 00:11:51,294 --> 00:11:54,379 many early bibles-- even the king james version-- 234 00:11:54,464 --> 00:11:57,424 contained a number of books that have since been edited out. 235 00:11:57,509 --> 00:12:00,677 These are known as the apocrypha. 236 00:12:00,762 --> 00:12:03,054 Ehrman: The word "apocrypha" literally means 237 00:12:03,140 --> 00:12:04,681 "hidden things." 238 00:12:04,766 --> 00:12:07,392 and so, these are books that allegedly were providing 239 00:12:07,436 --> 00:12:09,936 hidden or secret teachings. 240 00:12:10,021 --> 00:12:12,772 But the term "apocrypha" came to mean books 241 00:12:12,858 --> 00:12:16,860 that were not accepted as part of the official canon. 242 00:12:16,945 --> 00:12:19,904 Cargill: There was a council that would say, "this is the tradition, 243 00:12:19,948 --> 00:12:21,865 this is the proper interpretation, this is how 244 00:12:21,950 --> 00:12:23,116 you should interpret the scripture." 245 00:12:23,201 --> 00:12:25,034 so any book that contradicts 246 00:12:25,120 --> 00:12:29,706 what they've already decided to believe gets cast out. 247 00:12:29,791 --> 00:12:32,584 Shatner: But of all the apocrypha 248 00:12:32,669 --> 00:12:35,086 or hidden books of the bible, 249 00:12:35,172 --> 00:12:38,715 one book in particular-- the book of enoch-- 250 00:12:38,759 --> 00:12:41,050 is considered so controversial 251 00:12:41,136 --> 00:12:44,137 that many believe it was deliberately omitted 252 00:12:44,222 --> 00:12:48,892 because of its bizarre and outrageous contents. 253 00:12:48,935 --> 00:12:51,019 Ironically, the character of enoch 254 00:12:51,104 --> 00:12:53,104 does appear in the old testament, 255 00:12:53,148 --> 00:12:55,940 but only as a devoted follower of god, 256 00:12:56,026 --> 00:12:59,235 one who lived hundreds of years before the great flood. 257 00:12:59,321 --> 00:13:02,697 Tzadok: Who was this enoch? 258 00:13:02,783 --> 00:13:04,824 What's so peculiar about him? 259 00:13:04,910 --> 00:13:07,035 Because the bible says about him, 260 00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:09,329 "that he walked with god and was not, 261 00:13:09,414 --> 00:13:12,415 for god had taken him." 262 00:13:12,501 --> 00:13:16,085 taken him where? Where did he go? 263 00:13:16,171 --> 00:13:19,798 The majority of traditions say he was taken to heaven. 264 00:13:19,883 --> 00:13:23,968 Cargill: Enoch is the only one in heaven allowed to sit along with god, 265 00:13:24,012 --> 00:13:26,763 and he reveals information to humanity. 266 00:13:26,848 --> 00:13:28,807 Shatner: Believed to have been written 267 00:13:28,892 --> 00:13:32,143 sometime between 300 bc and 10 bc, 268 00:13:32,187 --> 00:13:33,812 the book of enoch was traditionally thought 269 00:13:33,897 --> 00:13:36,981 to have been authored by enoch himself, 270 00:13:37,067 --> 00:13:40,276 in order to share secret knowledge 271 00:13:40,362 --> 00:13:42,904 given to him by god. 272 00:13:42,989 --> 00:13:44,948 Enoch was an incredibly popular book 273 00:13:45,033 --> 00:13:48,993 in the time leading up to the formation of christianity. 274 00:13:49,079 --> 00:13:52,163 In fact, we know that whoever wrote the gospel of matthew 275 00:13:52,249 --> 00:13:55,333 very likely knew about the book of enoch 276 00:13:55,418 --> 00:13:57,460 because there are certain languages 277 00:13:57,504 --> 00:13:59,963 that we see in the gospel of matthew 278 00:14:00,048 --> 00:14:02,632 and nowhere else in the new testament. 279 00:14:02,717 --> 00:14:05,635 Of all the secret texts, I think that the book of enoch 280 00:14:05,679 --> 00:14:08,179 in many ways is the most forbidden. 281 00:14:08,265 --> 00:14:11,474 Shatner: At some time before the fourth century, 282 00:14:11,560 --> 00:14:14,143 the book of enoch was excluded from the hebrew version 283 00:14:14,229 --> 00:14:16,688 of the bible, and became discredited 284 00:14:16,773 --> 00:14:20,942 by all but two early christian churches. 285 00:14:21,027 --> 00:14:22,735 But why? 286 00:14:22,821 --> 00:14:26,739 Could there be clues in the text itself? 287 00:14:26,825 --> 00:14:29,033 Enoch becomes this seer 288 00:14:29,077 --> 00:14:32,453 who gives all kinds of later prophecies to jews. 289 00:14:32,539 --> 00:14:35,540 He predicts the end of the world. 290 00:14:35,584 --> 00:14:38,084 He predicts the coming of the messiah. 291 00:14:38,169 --> 00:14:40,086 But one of the things he does is he elaborates 292 00:14:40,171 --> 00:14:43,172 this story of the giants. 293 00:14:43,258 --> 00:14:45,341 Shatner: According to the book of enoch, 294 00:14:45,427 --> 00:14:49,345 the giants, or watchers, were a group of renegade angels 295 00:14:49,431 --> 00:14:53,933 sent to earth to guard man more than 5,000 years ago. 296 00:14:54,019 --> 00:14:56,519 But instead of protecting the human race, 297 00:14:56,605 --> 00:15:01,107 they lusted after women and corrupted mankind. 298 00:15:01,192 --> 00:15:03,026 Martin: The watchers mate with human women. 299 00:15:03,069 --> 00:15:05,236 But also what the watchers do is they teach women 300 00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:10,033 all kinds of forbidden arts, such as cosmetics. 301 00:15:10,118 --> 00:15:12,827 So, makeup comes from the evil watchers 302 00:15:12,913 --> 00:15:15,079 who taught women how to make up their faces. 303 00:15:15,123 --> 00:15:17,665 Mcgowan: The book of enoch is a real conundrum 304 00:15:17,751 --> 00:15:20,543 because this idea that the rebellious angels 305 00:15:20,629 --> 00:15:24,380 have a power that can rival god is something 306 00:15:24,466 --> 00:15:26,591 that is very threatening to traditional church. 307 00:15:27,761 --> 00:15:28,968 Shatner: In the book of enoch, 308 00:15:29,012 --> 00:15:31,596 the offspring of the watchers and mortal women 309 00:15:31,640 --> 00:15:36,434 are described as giant warriors called nephilim. 310 00:15:36,519 --> 00:15:39,646 Tzadok: The watchers came down and took for themselves 311 00:15:39,731 --> 00:15:42,523 the daughters of men and give birth 312 00:15:42,609 --> 00:15:45,151 to a generation of titans 313 00:15:45,236 --> 00:15:47,987 called the fallen ones, nephilim. 314 00:15:48,073 --> 00:15:51,407 These hybrid between the watchers 315 00:15:51,451 --> 00:15:53,993 and the daughters of men 316 00:15:54,079 --> 00:15:57,622 created tremendous havoc in the human race. 317 00:15:57,666 --> 00:16:00,124 Aslan: The nephilim-- 318 00:16:00,210 --> 00:16:03,461 these are these grotesque giants. 319 00:16:03,505 --> 00:16:07,298 They are neither angels nor people. 320 00:16:07,384 --> 00:16:12,178 They are described as monstrous beings. 321 00:16:12,263 --> 00:16:14,764 And there were apparently thousands of them 322 00:16:14,849 --> 00:16:16,391 that populated the earth. 323 00:16:16,476 --> 00:16:18,643 In fact, there were so many of them, 324 00:16:18,687 --> 00:16:20,603 that at a certain point, god had to destroy 325 00:16:20,689 --> 00:16:23,272 all of humanity in order to get rid of them. 326 00:16:23,358 --> 00:16:26,818 Ehrman: One of the things that people don't realize is that 327 00:16:26,861 --> 00:16:29,404 when god sends the flood during the days of noah, 328 00:16:29,489 --> 00:16:32,115 that in one version of the story, 329 00:16:32,158 --> 00:16:34,909 is that the reason god decides to destroy the earth 330 00:16:34,995 --> 00:16:37,829 is because these nephilim were on the earth. 331 00:16:37,872 --> 00:16:41,833 Shatner: Grotesque giants attacking humans? 332 00:16:41,876 --> 00:16:44,502 And the giants, in turn, being destroyed by god 333 00:16:44,546 --> 00:16:46,504 in the great flood? 334 00:16:46,589 --> 00:16:49,799 Was the book of enoch purged from the standard biblical texts 335 00:16:49,884 --> 00:16:52,969 because it was considered too far-fetched? 336 00:16:53,054 --> 00:16:56,180 Too outrageous? 337 00:16:56,266 --> 00:16:58,141 Or was it because it portrayed god 338 00:16:58,226 --> 00:16:59,308 as a compassionate creator, 339 00:16:59,394 --> 00:17:02,353 one who forgave 340 00:17:02,439 --> 00:17:06,482 rather than punished mankind for its sins? 341 00:17:06,568 --> 00:17:09,485 Mcgowan: God is protecting us in the book of enoch. 342 00:17:09,529 --> 00:17:12,864 It is a very different god than the spiteful, wrathful god 343 00:17:12,907 --> 00:17:15,199 that we see in the genesis account. 344 00:17:15,285 --> 00:17:18,703 The church derives great benefit from having us 345 00:17:18,747 --> 00:17:20,955 be very, very afraid of god 346 00:17:21,041 --> 00:17:23,833 and of god wiping us all out if we're not obedient. 347 00:17:23,918 --> 00:17:26,044 Shatner: But if the early editors of the bible 348 00:17:26,087 --> 00:17:28,838 intended to purge it of far-fetched tales 349 00:17:28,923 --> 00:17:32,383 containing references to fantastical devices 350 00:17:32,469 --> 00:17:36,387 and devastating weapons, then why did they leave in 351 00:17:36,431 --> 00:17:39,974 what is perhaps the most audacious story of all? 352 00:17:40,060 --> 00:17:42,393 One which involves a man named moses 353 00:17:42,479 --> 00:17:44,854 and a device so powerful 354 00:17:44,898 --> 00:17:48,191 it can destroy entire armies-- 355 00:17:48,234 --> 00:17:51,861 the ark of the covenant. 356 00:17:55,825 --> 00:17:57,575 In the beginning, 357 00:17:57,660 --> 00:18:00,661 god created the heavens and the earth. 358 00:18:00,747 --> 00:18:03,998 He said, "let there be light," and there was light. 359 00:18:04,084 --> 00:18:07,210 Then darkness. 360 00:18:07,253 --> 00:18:10,797 The firmament, the oceans. Plants and trees. 361 00:18:10,882 --> 00:18:13,591 Animals that fly and slither and swim. 362 00:18:13,635 --> 00:18:16,844 And last but not least, 363 00:18:16,930 --> 00:18:19,305 male and female. 364 00:18:19,390 --> 00:18:22,892 The book of genesis. It's a nice story, of course. 365 00:18:22,977 --> 00:18:26,437 One that we're all undoubtedly familiar with. 366 00:18:26,523 --> 00:18:29,941 But could it be true? 367 00:18:31,861 --> 00:18:33,444 Tzadok: Some people say that they believe 368 00:18:33,530 --> 00:18:36,823 that there should never ever be any conflict 369 00:18:36,908 --> 00:18:38,866 between science and religion. 370 00:18:38,952 --> 00:18:41,953 But if we accept genesis as being historical, 371 00:18:42,038 --> 00:18:43,913 which according to faith, of course we do, 372 00:18:43,957 --> 00:18:48,167 then we need to ask the other realistic questions: 373 00:18:48,253 --> 00:18:50,169 How and what really happened? 374 00:18:50,255 --> 00:18:52,839 Shatner: While mainstream scientists are understandably skeptical 375 00:18:52,924 --> 00:18:57,301 that god, as described in the old testament book of genesis, 376 00:18:57,387 --> 00:19:02,265 created the earth and everything on it in only six days, 377 00:19:02,350 --> 00:19:04,976 there is surprising evidence to suggest that 378 00:19:05,061 --> 00:19:07,645 the second book of the bible, exodus, 379 00:19:07,730 --> 00:19:10,898 is based on historical fact. 380 00:19:10,984 --> 00:19:13,693 Ehrman: In the book of exodus, 381 00:19:13,778 --> 00:19:17,280 the, uh, children of israel have been enslaved in egypt 382 00:19:17,365 --> 00:19:21,868 and god has told moses to go and set his people free. 383 00:19:21,953 --> 00:19:24,370 Moses demands that pharaoh lets the people free. 384 00:19:24,455 --> 00:19:26,164 Pharaoh refuses, 385 00:19:26,249 --> 00:19:30,960 and so god empowers moses to do plagues against the egyptians, 386 00:19:31,004 --> 00:19:34,714 and finally the pharaoh relents, lets the people go. 387 00:19:34,799 --> 00:19:38,301 James hoffmeier: Israel's origins as a slave nation 388 00:19:38,386 --> 00:19:41,095 is not the sort of thing people would make up. 389 00:19:41,181 --> 00:19:43,973 So even many of the most critical, 390 00:19:44,058 --> 00:19:48,144 historical scholars of the bible would say, 391 00:19:48,229 --> 00:19:50,104 "there's something to this." 392 00:19:50,190 --> 00:19:54,025 we do know from egyptian history, both from ancient texts 393 00:19:54,110 --> 00:19:57,028 and archaeological evidence through excavations, 394 00:19:57,113 --> 00:20:01,657 that somewhere around 1700 to 1650 bc, 395 00:20:01,743 --> 00:20:04,827 there was an influx of foreigners into egypt. 396 00:20:04,913 --> 00:20:07,580 They spoke a dialect very similar to hebrew. 397 00:20:07,665 --> 00:20:12,001 And when ramesses ii comes along in the 13th century, 398 00:20:12,086 --> 00:20:14,795 he decided to move his base of operations 399 00:20:14,881 --> 00:20:17,798 to a new city that he named ramesses, 400 00:20:17,884 --> 00:20:19,926 pi-ramesses, the house of ramesses. 401 00:20:20,011 --> 00:20:21,552 And according to the book of exodus, 402 00:20:21,638 --> 00:20:25,223 that's why I would place this event in the 13th century, 403 00:20:25,308 --> 00:20:28,017 sort of as they finally get fed up with years and years 404 00:20:28,061 --> 00:20:31,395 of being abused and used to build pharaoh's projects. 405 00:20:31,481 --> 00:20:33,606 Shatner: But if the book of exodus 406 00:20:33,691 --> 00:20:36,442 was based on real events and people, 407 00:20:36,527 --> 00:20:38,069 then wouldn't there be some kind 408 00:20:38,154 --> 00:20:40,863 of physical evidence left behind-- 409 00:20:40,949 --> 00:20:43,824 a relic of their journey out of egypt-- 410 00:20:43,910 --> 00:20:46,410 that would validate this incredible story? 411 00:20:46,496 --> 00:20:48,287 According to some scholars, 412 00:20:48,373 --> 00:20:51,832 such a relic could actually exist: 413 00:20:51,918 --> 00:20:54,835 The ark of the covenant. 414 00:20:54,921 --> 00:20:56,545 The ark of the covenant is probably 415 00:20:56,589 --> 00:20:59,340 one of the best-kept mysteries in the world today. 416 00:20:59,425 --> 00:21:02,051 We know, according to the biblical description, 417 00:21:02,136 --> 00:21:05,012 that the commandments which moses brought down 418 00:21:05,098 --> 00:21:08,432 from mount sinai were placed inside the ark. 419 00:21:08,518 --> 00:21:10,977 As well as a portion of the manna, 420 00:21:11,062 --> 00:21:13,479 which they collected in the desert, 421 00:21:13,564 --> 00:21:17,191 and aaron's rod, which had blossomed with almonds 422 00:21:17,277 --> 00:21:21,487 in the great test of the tribes. 423 00:21:21,572 --> 00:21:26,492 Tzadok: It was a box of gold which had inside it a box of wood. 424 00:21:26,577 --> 00:21:30,621 And then another box of gold with a golden cover. 425 00:21:30,707 --> 00:21:33,708 The ark of the covenant represents 426 00:21:33,793 --> 00:21:37,920 the giving of the torah at sinai from god. 427 00:21:38,006 --> 00:21:39,547 It's the holiest object 428 00:21:39,632 --> 00:21:42,091 that ever existed in the jewish tradition. 429 00:21:42,176 --> 00:21:44,927 And there are people who, because their belief 430 00:21:44,971 --> 00:21:48,347 somehow needs to be palpable and physical, 431 00:21:48,433 --> 00:21:51,142 feel as though if they could see it, 432 00:21:51,227 --> 00:21:54,020 that would prove god's will in this world. 433 00:21:54,105 --> 00:21:57,815 Shatner: But if the ark of the covenant was not only real 434 00:21:57,900 --> 00:22:02,486 but still exists, where could it be? 435 00:22:02,572 --> 00:22:06,449 According to the hebrew bible, the ark was once housed 436 00:22:06,534 --> 00:22:09,076 inside a secret inner sanctuary 437 00:22:09,162 --> 00:22:13,039 of king solomon's temple in jerusalem. 438 00:22:13,124 --> 00:22:17,752 But after the temple was destroyed around 586 bc, 439 00:22:17,837 --> 00:22:19,170 the whereabouts of the ark 440 00:22:19,213 --> 00:22:24,008 and its precious contents became unknown. 441 00:22:24,093 --> 00:22:26,093 Hoffmeier: One tradition, of course, is that 442 00:22:26,179 --> 00:22:28,512 it was simply destroyed by the babylonians 443 00:22:28,556 --> 00:22:31,682 when the temple was burnt and melted and that's the end of it. 444 00:22:31,768 --> 00:22:35,519 Mullins: However, because the ark never showed up again, 445 00:22:35,605 --> 00:22:39,523 people have often wondered what really did happen to the ark. 446 00:22:39,567 --> 00:22:42,943 Shatner: For centuries, the search for the ark of the covenant 447 00:22:43,029 --> 00:22:47,865 has consumed both archaeologists and bible scholars. 448 00:22:47,950 --> 00:22:50,242 If it were ever found, it would not only prove 449 00:22:50,328 --> 00:22:52,578 that the biblical accounts in the book of exodus 450 00:22:52,663 --> 00:22:54,622 were based on historical events, 451 00:22:54,707 --> 00:22:58,959 it could also unleash incredible power. 452 00:22:59,045 --> 00:23:02,213 I'm a great believer in trying to find out 453 00:23:02,256 --> 00:23:04,590 as much as we can archaeologically 454 00:23:04,675 --> 00:23:07,593 about what happened in biblical history, 455 00:23:07,678 --> 00:23:09,595 and the way in which we can validate it, 456 00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:12,181 as long as we're intellectually honest. 457 00:23:12,266 --> 00:23:14,308 Some things we'll be able to prove, 458 00:23:14,394 --> 00:23:18,729 some things we will disprove. And much we will never know. 459 00:23:18,815 --> 00:23:22,775 Shatner: In recent years, some scholars and theologians have suggested 460 00:23:22,860 --> 00:23:24,944 that the ark isn't lost, 461 00:23:25,029 --> 00:23:27,696 but was deliberately hidden. 462 00:23:27,782 --> 00:23:30,908 Kept away from those who might wish to exploit 463 00:23:30,993 --> 00:23:33,035 its awesome power. 464 00:23:33,121 --> 00:23:37,123 For many, to find a relic like the ark of the covenant 465 00:23:37,208 --> 00:23:38,582 is extremely important. 466 00:23:39,669 --> 00:23:42,753 It was viewed as god's throne, 467 00:23:42,839 --> 00:23:46,424 and these ideas are most likely connected to scriptures 468 00:23:46,509 --> 00:23:49,218 that refer to the ark being carried into battle 469 00:23:49,303 --> 00:23:52,471 and the enemies are scattering before them. 470 00:23:52,557 --> 00:23:56,225 Tzadok: It is said that the ark housed kavod, 471 00:23:56,269 --> 00:23:58,978 or glory of god. 472 00:23:59,063 --> 00:24:01,230 Now, this in quote "glory of god" 473 00:24:01,274 --> 00:24:04,984 was not something symbolic, it was something actual, 474 00:24:05,069 --> 00:24:06,819 something tangible, 475 00:24:06,904 --> 00:24:10,072 something energetic. 476 00:24:10,158 --> 00:24:13,325 What are we missing here in the biblical understanding 477 00:24:13,411 --> 00:24:16,745 of this mysterious box? 478 00:24:16,831 --> 00:24:21,292 It was clearly far more than just a religious icon. 479 00:24:21,377 --> 00:24:24,003 There was a technology involved, 480 00:24:24,088 --> 00:24:26,464 and that is what makes the ark, to this day, 481 00:24:26,549 --> 00:24:29,675 one of the greatest mysteries of our history. 482 00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:32,344 Shatner: If the ark of the covenant did, in fact, 483 00:24:32,430 --> 00:24:34,388 have extraordinary power, 484 00:24:34,474 --> 00:24:36,724 as described in the bible, 485 00:24:36,809 --> 00:24:40,186 is it simply too dangerous to be possessed by man? 486 00:24:40,271 --> 00:24:41,562 And could that be why 487 00:24:41,647 --> 00:24:45,983 it has eluded rediscovery for centuries? 488 00:24:46,068 --> 00:24:47,860 Perhaps. 489 00:24:47,945 --> 00:24:51,322 But not all bible mysteries involve holy relics. 490 00:24:51,407 --> 00:24:53,199 Some concern people, 491 00:24:53,284 --> 00:24:56,160 including the man who billions believe 492 00:24:56,245 --> 00:24:59,580 is the son of god. 493 00:25:05,087 --> 00:25:07,922 Shatner: The ancient kingdom of judah, 494 00:25:08,007 --> 00:25:10,508 more than 2,000 years ago. 495 00:25:10,593 --> 00:25:12,343 It was here, 496 00:25:12,428 --> 00:25:15,596 according to the new testament gospels of matthew and luke, 497 00:25:15,681 --> 00:25:19,475 that the infant jesus was born to a young woman named mary 498 00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:21,685 and her husband joseph. 499 00:25:21,771 --> 00:25:23,479 But believe it or not, 500 00:25:23,523 --> 00:25:27,107 the actual year of jesus' birth remains a mystery. 501 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:31,779 For centuries, the year 1 ad, 502 00:25:31,864 --> 00:25:34,782 or anno domini, the year of our lord, 503 00:25:34,867 --> 00:25:36,951 was assumed to be correct. 504 00:25:37,036 --> 00:25:41,205 But recent historical research suggests otherwise. 505 00:25:42,667 --> 00:25:46,752 Jesus is born somewhere between 4 and 7 bce, 506 00:25:46,837 --> 00:25:49,380 because herod the great died in 4 bc 507 00:25:49,465 --> 00:25:52,091 and jesus was born during herod the great. 508 00:25:52,176 --> 00:25:54,969 So this is one of the secrets that scholars know 509 00:25:55,054 --> 00:25:56,637 but most people don't think about. 510 00:25:56,722 --> 00:25:59,473 Those who made the calendar screwed it up. 511 00:25:59,559 --> 00:26:03,102 They dated the birth of jesus incorrectly. 512 00:26:03,187 --> 00:26:05,729 And we still live on a calendar where jesus is actually born 513 00:26:05,773 --> 00:26:07,565 four to seven years bc. 514 00:26:07,650 --> 00:26:11,819 Shatner: But as one can imagine, the exact year of jesus' birth 515 00:26:11,904 --> 00:26:15,531 is not the only aspect of his life that has been debated. 516 00:26:15,575 --> 00:26:17,908 The new testament states that jesus was born 517 00:26:17,994 --> 00:26:21,787 in the town of bethlehem, but recently even that 518 00:26:21,872 --> 00:26:26,667 has been questioned by both historians and theologians. 519 00:26:28,671 --> 00:26:32,006 Pretty much the only thing that we can be fairly certain of 520 00:26:32,091 --> 00:26:33,674 about jesus' childhood 521 00:26:33,759 --> 00:26:36,969 is that he was born and raised in the city of nazareth. 522 00:26:37,054 --> 00:26:38,971 It was the only thing that his followers 523 00:26:39,056 --> 00:26:40,598 and detractors agreed about. 524 00:26:40,683 --> 00:26:43,350 His name was the nazarene. 525 00:26:43,436 --> 00:26:47,021 Shatner: The fact is, much of what we know about the life of jesus 526 00:26:47,106 --> 00:26:50,524 comes from the four gospels of the new testament. 527 00:26:50,610 --> 00:26:53,277 And even though they are credited to the evangelists 528 00:26:53,362 --> 00:26:56,530 matthew, mark, luke and john, 529 00:26:56,616 --> 00:26:59,283 the gospels may actually have been written 530 00:26:59,368 --> 00:27:02,202 decades after jesus' death. 531 00:27:05,458 --> 00:27:07,124 We would love to know answers to, like, 532 00:27:07,209 --> 00:27:08,709 what was jesus like as a teenager? 533 00:27:08,794 --> 00:27:11,795 And did jesus ever have any girlfriends? 534 00:27:11,881 --> 00:27:13,005 Did he ever have any relationships, 535 00:27:13,090 --> 00:27:14,840 anything like that? 536 00:27:14,925 --> 00:27:17,051 The gospels don't really want to tell us any of that stuff 537 00:27:17,136 --> 00:27:19,219 because they're really interested in just focusing 538 00:27:19,305 --> 00:27:23,474 on why jesus is who he is and what he did. 539 00:27:25,436 --> 00:27:30,064 Shatner: What really happened during jesus' so-called lost years? 540 00:27:30,149 --> 00:27:32,983 Were the accounts omitted deliberately? 541 00:27:33,027 --> 00:27:34,526 And if so, why? 542 00:27:34,612 --> 00:27:38,947 Well, as it turns out, closer examination 543 00:27:39,033 --> 00:27:43,535 of the little that the gospels do say about jesus' early life 544 00:27:43,621 --> 00:27:47,539 reveals some surprising facts. 545 00:27:47,625 --> 00:27:50,668 It's one of the biggest-kept secrets about jesus, 546 00:27:50,753 --> 00:27:52,836 that he's one of quite a large family. 547 00:27:52,922 --> 00:27:55,881 We know of at least four brothers: 548 00:27:55,966 --> 00:27:59,009 James, joses, simon and judas. 549 00:27:59,053 --> 00:28:01,553 We know of at least a couple of sisters. 550 00:28:01,639 --> 00:28:04,181 It's curious how they disappear, though. 551 00:28:04,266 --> 00:28:07,434 We don't see much of them later on. 552 00:28:10,439 --> 00:28:11,855 Shatner: Perhaps one of the most controversial 553 00:28:11,941 --> 00:28:15,526 and profound aspects of the story of jesus 554 00:28:15,611 --> 00:28:17,945 is the belief that his mother mary 555 00:28:18,030 --> 00:28:21,365 gave birth to him while still a virgin. 556 00:28:21,409 --> 00:28:24,201 And as audacious as that may seem, 557 00:28:24,286 --> 00:28:27,955 it is among the very foundations of the christian faith. 558 00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:31,875 But curiously, the references to jesus being born of a virgin 559 00:28:31,961 --> 00:28:35,546 can only be found in two of the gospels: 560 00:28:35,589 --> 00:28:37,589 Matthew and luke. 561 00:28:37,675 --> 00:28:39,800 Wouldn't such a miraculous event 562 00:28:39,885 --> 00:28:43,762 have been recorded by all four of the evangelists? 563 00:28:43,848 --> 00:28:46,640 Or was it, as some scholars suggest, 564 00:28:46,726 --> 00:28:49,184 an attempt by some of jesus' followers 565 00:28:49,270 --> 00:28:52,312 to justify their belief that he was the fulfillment 566 00:28:52,398 --> 00:28:54,606 of the old testament prophecies, 567 00:28:54,692 --> 00:28:57,609 the hebrew messiah? 568 00:28:57,695 --> 00:29:00,487 The new testament loves to rely on the prophecies 569 00:29:00,573 --> 00:29:02,406 of-of the prophet isaiah, 570 00:29:02,491 --> 00:29:05,075 uh, for proof, if you will, 571 00:29:05,161 --> 00:29:09,079 of jesus', uh, messiah-ship. 572 00:29:10,875 --> 00:29:13,041 One of the prophecies that became very popular 573 00:29:13,127 --> 00:29:16,086 was a prophecy during the-the time of hezekiah. 574 00:29:16,172 --> 00:29:17,755 Jerusalem's under siege, they don't know 575 00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:19,590 if they're gonna survive, and isaiah comes up with 576 00:29:19,675 --> 00:29:22,593 a prophecy that says, "look, behold there's a virgin, 577 00:29:22,678 --> 00:29:25,596 and she will bear a son and his name will be emmanuel," 578 00:29:25,639 --> 00:29:27,431 which is "god with us." 579 00:29:27,475 --> 00:29:29,433 the christians come along 580 00:29:29,477 --> 00:29:31,852 and-and take that prophecy 581 00:29:31,937 --> 00:29:33,771 and they reinterpret it. 582 00:29:33,856 --> 00:29:37,608 And they say this prophecy is actually a reference to mary, 583 00:29:37,693 --> 00:29:39,735 who's a real virgin. 584 00:29:39,820 --> 00:29:43,280 And the son that she's going to bear is jesus. 585 00:29:45,034 --> 00:29:47,075 And jesus will be the savior of all mankind, 586 00:29:47,161 --> 00:29:48,786 not just of jerusalem in the eighth century, 587 00:29:48,871 --> 00:29:50,621 but of all mankind for all time. 588 00:29:52,458 --> 00:29:54,708 Shatner: Whether you believe that jesus' virgin birth 589 00:29:54,794 --> 00:29:57,294 was the fulfillment of a prophecy 590 00:29:57,379 --> 00:30:01,757 or a story created to help establish his divine origins, 591 00:30:01,842 --> 00:30:05,135 it is one of the key mysteries of the christian faith. 592 00:30:05,221 --> 00:30:09,556 Just like the question posed by many academics and theologians: 593 00:30:09,642 --> 00:30:12,726 Did jesus really think he was the messiah, 594 00:30:12,812 --> 00:30:15,145 the actual son of god? 595 00:30:16,690 --> 00:30:20,609 The question of how jesus perceived himself 596 00:30:20,694 --> 00:30:23,153 will likely remain a secret for all time. 597 00:30:23,239 --> 00:30:26,573 Some people argue that jesus understood himself 598 00:30:26,659 --> 00:30:28,200 to be the son of god. 599 00:30:28,285 --> 00:30:29,952 He knew who he was. 600 00:30:30,037 --> 00:30:32,621 And others, based on the text, will say, "well, no." 601 00:30:32,706 --> 00:30:35,499 in the gospel of john, jesus even uses a term 602 00:30:35,584 --> 00:30:37,668 to describe himself that's, I think, 603 00:30:37,753 --> 00:30:39,294 intentionally ambiguous. 604 00:30:39,380 --> 00:30:41,880 He refers to himself in the third person 605 00:30:41,966 --> 00:30:43,298 as the "son of man." 606 00:30:43,384 --> 00:30:47,177 well, the secret about the word "son of man" 607 00:30:47,221 --> 00:30:51,265 is that, in aramaic, it's just the way that you say "a person." 608 00:30:51,350 --> 00:30:53,934 so when jesus uses the phrase "son of man" 609 00:30:54,019 --> 00:30:55,477 as a self-description, 610 00:30:55,563 --> 00:30:58,522 you don't know whether he's just saying himself 611 00:30:58,607 --> 00:31:01,191 or whether he's actually making a messianic claim. 612 00:31:01,277 --> 00:31:03,902 Shatner: Although many details of jesus' life 613 00:31:03,988 --> 00:31:07,823 remain unverified by history, one fact is certain: 614 00:31:07,908 --> 00:31:12,452 He was a charismatic teacher and prophet. 615 00:31:12,538 --> 00:31:14,830 Cargill: If we read the biblical text, 616 00:31:14,915 --> 00:31:17,291 jesus created a great following 617 00:31:17,376 --> 00:31:18,917 because he performed miracles. 618 00:31:19,003 --> 00:31:21,211 He did magic deeds. 619 00:31:22,298 --> 00:31:24,423 He caused the blind to see. 620 00:31:24,508 --> 00:31:26,049 He was a healer. 621 00:31:26,093 --> 00:31:29,469 At the end of the day, jesus was kind to those in need. 622 00:31:29,555 --> 00:31:31,889 He loved those who needed help, 623 00:31:31,974 --> 00:31:34,516 who no one else would love. 624 00:31:34,602 --> 00:31:38,186 At the wedding of cana, jesus turns the water into wine. 625 00:31:38,230 --> 00:31:40,480 And he doesn't just turn it into any wine. 626 00:31:40,566 --> 00:31:43,066 He turns it into the best wine. 627 00:31:43,152 --> 00:31:45,903 So this is jesus' first public miracle. 628 00:31:45,988 --> 00:31:49,114 And once he comes forward with his first miracle, 629 00:31:49,199 --> 00:31:50,782 the floodgates really open. 630 00:31:50,868 --> 00:31:52,743 The ministry has begun. 631 00:31:52,828 --> 00:31:56,955 Jesus has arrived and he is the messiah 632 00:31:57,041 --> 00:31:58,206 and the miracle worker. 633 00:31:58,292 --> 00:32:00,751 Shatner: But did the miracles of jesus, 634 00:32:00,836 --> 00:32:03,587 as reported in the gospels, really happen? 635 00:32:03,672 --> 00:32:05,797 For instance, did he really raise 636 00:32:05,883 --> 00:32:08,800 a man called lazarus from the dead 637 00:32:08,886 --> 00:32:11,178 and feed 5,000 people 638 00:32:11,263 --> 00:32:14,514 with only two small fish and five loaves of bread? 639 00:32:14,600 --> 00:32:17,809 Perhaps the answer can be found by examining 640 00:32:17,895 --> 00:32:21,063 what are referred to as the lost gospels, 641 00:32:21,148 --> 00:32:24,358 a collection of writings that were supposedly authored 642 00:32:24,443 --> 00:32:28,612 by people who witnessed jesus' life firsthand. 643 00:32:37,873 --> 00:32:39,957 Shatner: A group of farmers tilling their fields 644 00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:42,626 unearth a clay jar. 645 00:32:42,670 --> 00:32:46,046 It contains more than 50 biblical scrolls 646 00:32:46,131 --> 00:32:48,423 dating back to the third century ad, 647 00:32:48,467 --> 00:32:50,467 making them even older 648 00:32:50,511 --> 00:32:53,428 than the books of the so-called new testament. 649 00:32:53,514 --> 00:32:57,474 Instead, these texts are supposedly firsthand accounts 650 00:32:57,559 --> 00:33:00,268 written by friends and followers of jesus, 651 00:33:00,312 --> 00:33:04,356 and were worshipped as fact by a relatively obscure group 652 00:33:04,441 --> 00:33:08,986 of ancient christians known as the gnostics. 653 00:33:09,071 --> 00:33:12,197 Gnosticism comes from a direct oral tradition 654 00:33:12,282 --> 00:33:14,658 that is passed down from the early christians 655 00:33:14,743 --> 00:33:18,328 and evolves separately from the institutionalized church. 656 00:33:18,414 --> 00:33:22,332 And there's the tradition that the gnostics have teachings 657 00:33:22,418 --> 00:33:24,167 that come directly from jesus 658 00:33:24,253 --> 00:33:27,796 through apostles, followers, even family, 659 00:33:27,881 --> 00:33:30,507 who come from jesus. 660 00:33:30,551 --> 00:33:32,509 "gnostic" comes from the word "gnosis," 661 00:33:32,594 --> 00:33:35,804 which means a personal revelation and experience. 662 00:33:35,889 --> 00:33:38,390 And when we look at those texts today, 663 00:33:38,475 --> 00:33:41,435 we see secret learning, 664 00:33:41,520 --> 00:33:43,520 secret teachings. 665 00:33:44,732 --> 00:33:46,690 Shatner: Secret teachings, 666 00:33:46,734 --> 00:33:50,068 directly from jesus himself, 667 00:33:50,154 --> 00:33:52,571 passed down through his closest followers 668 00:33:52,656 --> 00:33:54,614 and potentially giving us a firsthand account 669 00:33:54,700 --> 00:33:57,200 of jesus' life and deeds? 670 00:33:57,244 --> 00:33:59,411 One might think such gospels 671 00:33:59,496 --> 00:34:02,247 would be held in high regard by the church. 672 00:34:02,332 --> 00:34:06,793 But, in fact, it was quite the opposite. 673 00:34:06,879 --> 00:34:10,213 When I first encountered what are called the gnostic gospels, 674 00:34:10,257 --> 00:34:12,591 we were all surprised that there were so many gospels 675 00:34:12,676 --> 00:34:14,301 that weren't in the new testament. 676 00:34:15,846 --> 00:34:17,596 Cargill: The reason that a lot of these books 677 00:34:17,681 --> 00:34:20,807 didn't make it into the bible is that they weren't congruent 678 00:34:20,893 --> 00:34:24,853 with the core message of the books that did make it in. 679 00:34:26,106 --> 00:34:27,731 Pagels: These texts were declared to be 680 00:34:27,816 --> 00:34:30,692 sort of full of errors and they'll lead you astray. 681 00:34:30,778 --> 00:34:33,320 One famous bishop calls them an abyss of madness 682 00:34:33,405 --> 00:34:35,072 and blasphemy against christ. 683 00:34:35,115 --> 00:34:37,908 So these were the enemies of the early church. 684 00:34:37,951 --> 00:34:41,578 And christians thought they must have horrible things in them. 685 00:34:43,457 --> 00:34:46,500 The penalty for copying and... Or even keeping 686 00:34:46,585 --> 00:34:48,543 any of the gnostic texts 687 00:34:48,629 --> 00:34:51,046 would have been increasingly severe. 688 00:34:51,131 --> 00:34:54,966 It could have even led to more severe punishment, 689 00:34:55,052 --> 00:34:57,094 -like torture and death. -(shouting) 690 00:34:58,597 --> 00:35:00,931 shatner: These lost books of the new testament 691 00:35:00,974 --> 00:35:03,892 include a number of so-called gospels, 692 00:35:03,977 --> 00:35:07,687 including the gospel of thomas, the gospel of philip, 693 00:35:07,773 --> 00:35:11,441 the gospel of the egyptians and many others. 694 00:35:11,527 --> 00:35:15,612 But just what was it in these gnostic texts 695 00:35:15,656 --> 00:35:18,990 that made many bible scholars and clerics reject them 696 00:35:19,076 --> 00:35:23,745 as being not only too controversial but too dangerous? 697 00:35:23,831 --> 00:35:25,247 Pagels: The gospels of the new testament 698 00:35:25,332 --> 00:35:27,457 all tell you how important jesus is. 699 00:35:27,501 --> 00:35:29,793 Jesus is the son of god, the son of man, 700 00:35:29,878 --> 00:35:32,087 the king of israel, the messiah. 701 00:35:32,172 --> 00:35:35,048 I mean, you name it, he's somebody very special. 702 00:35:35,134 --> 00:35:37,926 And he's not like you and me. 703 00:35:38,011 --> 00:35:41,096 Now, the gospels of thomas or phillip, 704 00:35:41,181 --> 00:35:42,848 they say something quite different. 705 00:35:42,933 --> 00:35:47,269 They say jesus, yes, he may be speaking divine truth, 706 00:35:47,312 --> 00:35:49,980 but he's really like you and me. 707 00:35:51,358 --> 00:35:53,483 Shatner: But of all the gnostic gospels, 708 00:35:53,527 --> 00:35:56,736 there is one that many biblical scholars believe 709 00:35:56,822 --> 00:36:01,324 to be more significant and more controversial than the rest: 710 00:36:01,368 --> 00:36:03,910 The gospel of mary. 711 00:36:05,622 --> 00:36:07,831 Cargill: There's a lot of controversy about mary magdalene. 712 00:36:07,875 --> 00:36:09,833 In the bible, she's portrayed a certain way. 713 00:36:09,918 --> 00:36:12,002 She's-she's one of the followers of jesus. 714 00:36:12,087 --> 00:36:14,838 Oftentimes she's described as a prostitute, 715 00:36:14,882 --> 00:36:18,258 as one who jesus kind of picked up from obscurity 716 00:36:18,343 --> 00:36:20,510 and made her one of his followers. 717 00:36:20,554 --> 00:36:23,471 But the gospel of mary specifically says 718 00:36:23,557 --> 00:36:27,350 that jesus loved mary more than the other disciples. 719 00:36:27,394 --> 00:36:28,852 In fact, they actually put that in the mouths 720 00:36:28,937 --> 00:36:30,353 of one of the disciples: "so don't you know 721 00:36:30,397 --> 00:36:32,856 that he loved her, uh, more than us?" 722 00:36:32,900 --> 00:36:36,651 shatner: Although the actual author of this gospel is unknown 723 00:36:36,737 --> 00:36:38,361 and several pages of the original text 724 00:36:38,447 --> 00:36:39,779 have never been found, 725 00:36:39,865 --> 00:36:43,366 the text seems to reveal astonishing details 726 00:36:43,410 --> 00:36:46,369 about mary magdalene's relationship with jesus. 727 00:36:46,413 --> 00:36:48,955 There are even those who are convinced that mary 728 00:36:49,041 --> 00:36:52,792 was not only one of jesus' most devoted followers, 729 00:36:52,878 --> 00:36:55,003 but also perhaps his lover 730 00:36:55,088 --> 00:36:58,048 or even his wife. 731 00:37:00,344 --> 00:37:02,719 Certainly we discover in the gnostic text 732 00:37:02,804 --> 00:37:04,763 that are many, many references 733 00:37:04,848 --> 00:37:07,265 to jesus' relationship to mary magdalene. 734 00:37:07,351 --> 00:37:10,518 She is referred to as his "beloved." 735 00:37:10,604 --> 00:37:13,813 she is referred to in a sexual manner 736 00:37:13,899 --> 00:37:15,565 in the gnostic gospels. 737 00:37:15,651 --> 00:37:17,776 So not only was jesus married, 738 00:37:17,861 --> 00:37:20,195 but jesus was married to mary magdalene. 739 00:37:20,280 --> 00:37:22,489 Because jesus was a rabbi, it would have been required 740 00:37:22,574 --> 00:37:24,241 for jesus to be married. 741 00:37:24,284 --> 00:37:26,451 If jesus were not married, this would have been something 742 00:37:26,536 --> 00:37:29,579 that would have been remarked upon and talked about. 743 00:37:29,665 --> 00:37:33,500 And the fact that it is not is actually one of the things 744 00:37:33,585 --> 00:37:36,044 that proves that jesus was married, 745 00:37:36,129 --> 00:37:39,506 because it would have been very normal for him to have been so. 746 00:37:40,801 --> 00:37:43,176 Givens: Gnosticism was seen as a problem 747 00:37:43,262 --> 00:37:47,430 because there was a core belief that had to be maintained, 748 00:37:47,516 --> 00:37:50,267 that there were certain non-negotiable truths 749 00:37:50,310 --> 00:37:52,560 that were part of the christian gospel. 750 00:37:52,646 --> 00:37:55,605 And so if anything was contradictory to that, 751 00:37:55,691 --> 00:37:58,942 then it needed to be suppressed or refuted. 752 00:37:58,986 --> 00:38:02,445 Mcgowan: There is a lot of gnostic material 753 00:38:02,531 --> 00:38:05,782 that tells us jesus was married to mary magdalene. 754 00:38:05,826 --> 00:38:09,077 2,000 years of church tradition is overturned 755 00:38:09,162 --> 00:38:13,415 by the gnostic gospels because mary magdalene emerges 756 00:38:13,458 --> 00:38:15,333 as a successor of jesus. 757 00:38:15,419 --> 00:38:19,254 Shatner: Did jesus, the son of god, 758 00:38:19,339 --> 00:38:23,675 really have a wife, children and descendants? 759 00:38:23,760 --> 00:38:26,428 And if so, would that contradict the faith 760 00:38:26,513 --> 00:38:28,513 that billions of people have in him, 761 00:38:28,598 --> 00:38:30,307 or would it confirm it? 762 00:38:30,392 --> 00:38:34,144 Perhaps the answer can be found by examining how the bible 763 00:38:34,187 --> 00:38:37,314 continues to fascinate people around the world, 764 00:38:37,399 --> 00:38:40,442 long after it was first written. 765 00:38:44,906 --> 00:38:46,406 Shatner: Although there is sufficient evidence 766 00:38:46,491 --> 00:38:49,826 for scholars to conclude that the bible we read today 767 00:38:49,911 --> 00:38:52,412 is quite different than the bible people were reading 768 00:38:52,497 --> 00:38:56,666 thousands of years ago, it doesn't seem to matter. 769 00:38:56,752 --> 00:38:59,294 In spite of centuries of human tampering, 770 00:38:59,379 --> 00:39:01,546 or perhaps because of it, 771 00:39:01,631 --> 00:39:03,757 the bible is still the most powerful 772 00:39:03,842 --> 00:39:07,260 and influential book the world has ever known. 773 00:39:09,222 --> 00:39:11,973 The bible, without a doubt, is the most important book 774 00:39:12,059 --> 00:39:14,017 in the history of western civilization. 775 00:39:14,102 --> 00:39:16,644 People read it, people revere it. 776 00:39:16,730 --> 00:39:20,815 People think of it as god's word to humankind. 777 00:39:20,901 --> 00:39:24,277 And god had revealed the secrets that could make sense 778 00:39:24,363 --> 00:39:27,989 of the real meaning of life and the history of the world. 779 00:39:28,075 --> 00:39:31,951 Aslan: Why is it that 5,000 years 780 00:39:32,037 --> 00:39:34,412 after these stories were written 781 00:39:34,498 --> 00:39:37,290 we still read them, we still believe in them? 782 00:39:37,376 --> 00:39:39,501 It's not because they are true, 783 00:39:39,586 --> 00:39:41,753 though many people believe them as true. 784 00:39:41,838 --> 00:39:44,923 It's because they are infinitely malleable. 785 00:39:45,008 --> 00:39:47,717 That's the power of scripture, 786 00:39:47,803 --> 00:39:50,845 that it can mean anything to anyone 787 00:39:50,889 --> 00:39:53,431 depending on the time in which they live, 788 00:39:53,517 --> 00:39:55,475 depending on the context in which they live. 789 00:39:55,560 --> 00:39:57,936 Goodacre: One of the reasons that I think people just 790 00:39:58,021 --> 00:40:00,939 keep going back to the bible over and over again 791 00:40:01,024 --> 00:40:04,359 is that it's just so full of these fascinating mysteries, 792 00:40:04,444 --> 00:40:06,444 these fascinating enigmas. 793 00:40:06,530 --> 00:40:09,114 We will never know the answers to lots of them, 794 00:40:09,199 --> 00:40:11,950 but what we do know is that it really is a text 795 00:40:12,035 --> 00:40:13,952 that rewards repeated study, 796 00:40:14,037 --> 00:40:17,247 rewards going back to over and over again. 797 00:40:17,332 --> 00:40:19,290 The bible says about god himself, 798 00:40:19,376 --> 00:40:21,751 "my thoughts are higher than your thoughts. 799 00:40:21,795 --> 00:40:23,837 My ways are higher than your ways." 800 00:40:23,922 --> 00:40:25,672 this is something people don't understand, 801 00:40:25,757 --> 00:40:28,091 because we come to the bible from a point of view, 802 00:40:28,176 --> 00:40:30,427 which reads the bible in a literal way. 803 00:40:30,512 --> 00:40:33,012 But when you actually look at the greater whole 804 00:40:33,098 --> 00:40:35,473 of all of the stories, 805 00:40:35,559 --> 00:40:38,101 it is so beyond the limitations 806 00:40:38,145 --> 00:40:40,186 of that of which we've understood. 807 00:40:40,272 --> 00:40:42,939 Cargill: Look, the bible is a powerful, powerful book, 808 00:40:43,024 --> 00:40:45,316 and it's revered by millions around the world 809 00:40:45,402 --> 00:40:47,152 in judaism and christianity. 810 00:40:47,237 --> 00:40:49,612 It's a book that gives tremendous meaning 811 00:40:49,656 --> 00:40:51,197 and tremendous identity 812 00:40:51,283 --> 00:40:54,534 to millions and billions of people around the world. 813 00:40:54,619 --> 00:40:56,494 In that way, it's alive. 814 00:40:56,580 --> 00:40:59,247 It-it gives life to people. 815 00:40:59,332 --> 00:41:03,042 Wolpe: Every time I read the bible, I'm struck not only 816 00:41:03,128 --> 00:41:06,379 by the beauty and the depth of its stories, 817 00:41:06,465 --> 00:41:09,090 but by the way that it gives me access, 818 00:41:09,176 --> 00:41:11,050 in my own life, 819 00:41:11,136 --> 00:41:13,261 to whatever it is that god is. 820 00:41:13,346 --> 00:41:17,140 And so, I read it not only 'cause it captivates my mind, 821 00:41:17,184 --> 00:41:19,225 but it elevates my spirit. 822 00:41:19,311 --> 00:41:22,562 And I know from the fact that it is still with us, 823 00:41:22,647 --> 00:41:25,940 and has been read all over the world for thousands of years, 824 00:41:26,026 --> 00:41:28,985 that in that feeling, I am not alone. 825 00:41:30,780 --> 00:41:34,407 Does the bible continue to inspire billions of people 826 00:41:34,493 --> 00:41:37,410 around the world not because of the answers it provides 827 00:41:37,496 --> 00:41:41,372 but because of the questions it inspires us to ask? 828 00:41:41,458 --> 00:41:44,000 Questions about what many believe to be 829 00:41:44,044 --> 00:41:47,295 its inconsistencies and contradictions. 830 00:41:47,380 --> 00:41:49,130 Questions about life 831 00:41:49,174 --> 00:41:53,801 and humankind's unique place in the universe. 832 00:41:53,887 --> 00:41:58,264 Questions that may forever remain unexplained. 833 00:41:58,350 --> 00:42:06,190 Captioning provided by a+e networks