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R E C E N T L Y

He knows what you've been reading
By Laura Miller
Novelist Nicholson Baker and booksellers attack Kenneth Starr as a "stalker"
(04/03/98)

Tubbythumping
By Joyce Millman
Let the Teletubbies bashing begin
(04/03/98)

Under the Covers
By James Poniewozik
"Quirky" supermodels appear -- millions flee
(04/02/98)

Yellow journalism
By Carol Lloyd
The nation's press is unzipping en masse for workplace urine testing
(04/01/98)

Sob sister
By Laura Miller
The Banality of Heartbreak: Catherine Texier's sorry-assed divorce memoir
(03/31/98)

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"From Jesus to Christ"

BY JENN SHREVE | Jesus Christ was not an impoverished carpenter, eking out a living making cabinets in the bucolic backwater of Nazareth. He was an urbane, trilingual artisan living near a sophisticated urban environment. At some point, he changed careers and started preaching to whoever would listen. There was, most likely, nobody who witnessed his crucifixion, and much of what the Gospels report Jesus as having said on the cross was pilfered from Psalms. Christianity was just one of many sects to break away from Judaism -- it simply outlasted all the others.

These are among the claims made in "From Jesus to Christ: The First Christians," a four-hour Frontline series that airs tonight and tomorrow (check local listings for time). Some Christians may be taken aback by the show: There are no virgin births or miraculous resurrections. Rather than the usual Easter fare -- the traditional Jesus story updated with better haircuts -- the series attempts to cut through the gauzy myths to reveal the historical reality of Jesus and his times. Using the latest scholarly findings and theories, "From Jesus to Christ" traces a fascinating story that begins in Nazareth, continues through the development of scattered, often persecuted churches and ends with the emperor Constantine's epochal conversion to Christianity (which, the show suggests, may have been more pragmatic than sincere).

A pastiche of scripture, historical records, archaeological finds and expert commentary held together with Hebrew mood music and scenes shot in various New Testament locales, "From Jesus to Christ" is an exceptionally clear-eyed look at a fascinating historical era -- and one of history's most remarkable lives. Salon spoke with the series' producer, Marilyn Mellowes, about America's growing appetite for all things religious, the monumental task of making the show and reconciling faith and history.

Why did you choose this subject?

I found myself curious about Jesus of Nazareth. Who was this guy, really? I did some reading, and the more I got into this, the more I came to understand that the really exciting history is what happened after he died. We don't really know that much about the life of Jesus. There's virtually nothing in the way of direct historical evidence. When my focus shifted, and I began to look at what happened after the death of Jesus, the wonderful world of early Christianity opened up.

Is this a timely subject?

I think so. I hope so. If you look at the covers of major magazines, and book sales, it appears that people are interested and have a hunger for information like this about religion. There does seem to be some vague kind of spirituality out there. But I think it goes way, way beyond that. It isn't just a kind of collection of recipes on how to be happy -- it has a lot more depth than that.

Do you think that some Christians are going to be upset by the assertion that Jesus was not a humble carpenter but an artisan, or that the Gospels were written decades after Jesus' death? There may be people in the religious mainstream who don't want to hear that.

That's probably true, but I don't know if I would characterize that particular point of view as mainstream. I think the mainstream is broader than that.

Several of the scholars on the show are also ministers or religious men. They were pretty much all in agreement that the historical findings about Jesus didn't undercut their faith. Was your selection of those with this viewpoint intentional, or was there just a lack of scholars who hold opposing views?

In choosing the scholars our criteria was the quality of the scholarship, and they really are excellent scholars. Beyond that, they are people who have a commitment to communicate scholarship to a broad audience. Not all scholars share this. At least four of the scholars on the show are ordained ministers or former priests. Because for many people there seems to be a tension, almost a contradiction in fact, between the practice of critical scholarship and faith, we asked them, "Here you are. You are ordained. Do you personally find you have anything to reconcile?" It was really wonderful what they said. Their responses were so thoughtful. The answer was that there wasn't any contradiction or tension -- it was, if anything, a way of deepening their faith. Unfortunately, this isn't in the series.

Harry Attridge, who's a wonderful scholar at Yale, said, "I suppose it's an important part of my theological commitment that I believe that Jesus was divine in some way but that it was Jesus who was divine -- a human being who was divine -- and that the tradition of Christianity insists very strongly on the sole humanity of Jesus. And so if I am to understand my faith as a Christian, it's important for me to understand who Jesus was as a human being. I think the exercise of historical criticism has been an ally of my faith. It's enabled me to take both an appropriately critical and also an appreciative stance toward the Biblical tradition."

We tend to think of the historical Jesus and the divine Jesus as things that need to be reconciled, but for a lot of people they don't. It's all part of the same cloth.

N E X T+P A G E | Waiting for a backlash?