Product Description

From the miracle of his birth, to the dramatic circumstances of his death and the lasting power of his workds, A&E BIOGRAPHY examines one of history’s greatest and most enigmatic figures.

As influential today as he was nearly 20 centuries ago, Jesus and his story are often shrouded in myth and interpretation. From the mysteries of his birth and little-known middle years to the legacy of his crucifixion and resurrection, JESUS: HIS LIFE presents a clear and deeply researched account of this simple carpenter from Galilee whose brief life forever altered the course of Western Civilization. Featuring the latest archaeological findings, stunning onsite footage and in-depth interviews with leading scholars and theologians, this is a remarkable exploration of a man most Christians consider an incarnation of god.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #39811 in DVD
• Brand: A&E
• Released on: 2005-07-26
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 100 minutes

Amazon.com
Was Jesus a carpenter? An only child? Quiet and meek? Probably not. If you're surprised, perhaps you should take a look at A&E's Biography: Jesus, which reexamines his life in the context of his times. There's not much to go on beyond the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (which may have been written by others after their deaths), and there's certainly no documentary footage, but A&E uses interviews with Biblical scholars, photography of the beautiful Galileean countryside, and dramatic re-creations to bring his actions to life. It's pretty much inarguable that Jesus has had a greater impact on our culture than any other person in history, so the more we know about him, the better. Biography: Jesus will surprise and delight you with its rich exploration of his life. --Rob Lightner

Customer Reviews

An Excellent Job!
I really appreciate this video and I highly recommend it. As usual, A&E did an excellent job. I first saw it with a group of young people, ages between 13 and 15. After watching it we went through a little discussion where everyone expressed their own opinion. There were a lot of questions and we had a very exciting meeting, where everyone was trying to clear up some conceits about this great figure of mankind's History.

Everyone should be interested in learning more about the life of this extraordinary man whose teachings have influenced humanity for more than two thousand years. For many centuries his life and teachings was framed by the biggest riligious groups, specially the Roman Church. Thus, whatever they used to say about him, this was what one could be able to learn, whether it was right or wrong. For long time his life and teachings was subject to a big monopoly carried out by those who thought they could own the truth. Im 1863 the renowned rationalist and scholar of religion Ernest Renan in his classic biography of Jesus "THE LIFE OF JESUS", the first one to be written, warned us:

"Constantine made of the most free and spontaneous religious movement an official worship, subject to the State, and persecutor in its turn."

Fortunately, this reality started changing in the middle of the eighteen century. Since then a lot of writings and researches have been undertaken in order to bring more light over this great personage of the History and the influences caused on humanity by his moral teachings. Thanks to these scholarly and scientific investigation we have today a much more accurate knowledge on Jesus' life and teachings. Everyone knows by now that even the Gospels, which are yet considered the most reliable source on the matter, suffered adultaration in order to fit the interests of the religious group in charge to proselytize.

Besides all the sources available today on the subject, one must take in account the apocripha Gospels, specially St. Thomas Gospel. It does not matter if the Roman Church considers it as a reliable source or not, because only God knows the reason why they keep insisting in this position.

Among the arguments stretched out by the 11 scholars who took part in this video recording, one particularly touched me. I am talking about John Dominic Crossan and his statements:

"The vision of God which Jesus has is one of what can be best described of radically egalitarianism - a refusal to draw discriminations and hierachies and lines of demarcation - separating this from that one, lower from higher, pure from impure, male from female, slave from free, pagan from jews. It's a refusal to accept the basic distinctions which most people in his society accepted."

"Jesus incarnates a dream, a profound and ancient dream, deeply embedded in human spirit for a world of radical justice, radical equality, for a world not of a domination, but empowerment. And above all, for the announcement that that it is what God, that is what the holly and the sacred is concerned about, not about domination but empowerment, about a world of justice. That is the permanent abiding legacy of Jesus and as long as that dream is alive, Jesus is alive."

Another point of the video that also called my attention was the narrator's (Jack Perkings), who also did a wonderful job, closing words:

"It is one of History's greatest ironies. The mighty Roman Empire which crucified Him, would one day come to worship the young stone cutter of the Galilee. Certainly on that day, long ago when Jesus died, no one could've foreseen that. As the centuries passed millions of people around the world would come to emprace his spiritual vision."

This is a very good source of information on Jesus' life. It is definitely worth buying.

not for belivers
As a Christian, I was offended by the way the speakers just stated that many things that I belive to be true were not. For example, one stated that the four books of the Gospel were not written by Matthew, Luke, Mark and John. That they were written but anonymous people who made them up just to convert people to their new religion, who do they think they are!!

Jesus lover of my soul
HE has given me a new everlasting life with HIM.. I love HIM very..very..much Thank you Lord for giving me a new life and thank you for give me a special person in your life.. AMEN !