Lost Gospels

Sat 15 Mar, 8:00 pm - 9:00 pm 60mins (but still available on BBC iPlayer - above link)

Repeat of the BBC 4 award-winning documentary on the extraordinary gospels of Jesus that were left out of the New Testament. This beautifully photographed and skilfully constructed film explores shocking and challenging ancient Christian texts, works in which Jesus didn't die and is unrecognisable from the depiction in the traditional books of the New Testament. Anglican vicar Pete Owen Jones (pictured) travels through Egypt and the former Roman Empire looking at the emerging evidence of a Christian world that's very different to the one we know, and discovers that aside from the gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke and John, there were over seventy gospels, acts, letters and apocalypses, all circulating in the early Church. Through these lost Gospels, Owen Jones reconstructs the intense intellectual and political struggles for orthodoxy that was fought in the early centuries of Christianity, a battle involving different Christian sects, each convinced that their gospels were true and sacred. The worldwide success of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code has sparked new interest, as well as wild and misguided speculation, about the origins of the Christian faith. Pete Owen Jones sets out the context in which heretical texts like the Gospel of Mary emerged. He also strikes a cautionary note: if these lost Gospels had been allowed to flourish, Christianity may well have faced an uncertain future, or perhaps not survived at all.

This guy must rank as one of the biggest posers on British Television! It is surprising that he has not been disciplined by the Church of England, not for being a poser but for his heretical views – as expressed in this programme. But he is a “non stipendiary” vicar, so there is not a lot that they can do to stop him.