All language subtitles for The UnXplained S02E07 Mysteries of the Bible 1080p HULU WEB-DL AAC2 0 H 264-playWEB_track3_[eng]

Ancient texts nearly erased
from history.

Shocking revelations
from eyewitness accounts.

And forbidden knowledge
that could forever change

our very notion of God.

To billions of faithful
around the world,

the Bible is the single most
important document

in human history.

Its contents are believed
to be authoritative,

infallible and unquestionable.

The Word of God.

But is it possible that
the Bible we've been reading

for thousands of years
has been compromised

by everything from
flawed translations

to conflicting religious
agendas?

Well, that is what
we'll try and find out.

♪ ♪

According to scholars,
the book known as the Bible

began as a series of stories
that were first written down

thousands of years ago.

But given the fact
that these stories

have been continuing,

subjected to centuries
of editing, translation

and reinterpretation,

just who was the Bible's
original author,

and how close are today's
versions of it

to the original texts?

Many people would
take it on faith

that the text that
they're reading,

the received tradition

is actually somehow
inspired by God.

And the Hebrew Bible
is ascribed‐‐

at least the Torah portion‐‐

is ascribed to Moses.

And then other prophets
wrote their prophetic books,

but this Old Testament
was written over a very

long period of time
by multiple different people.

SHATNER:
As far as the faithful
are concerned,

the Bible was inspired
and authored

not by man, but by God.

But even if that's true,

is there any way to prove it?

Qumran. The British Mandate
of Palestine. 1946.

In the arid hills along
the northwest shores

of the Dead Sea,

a Bedouin shepherd tending
his flock stumbles upon

a long‐lost cave.

Once inside, he makes an
incredible discovery.

A number of sand‐covered clay
jars, each containing

numerous scrolls of parchment
and papyrus written in Hebrew,

Aramaic and Greek,

and each more than
2,000 years old.

The ancient texts contain
fragments of all but one

of the 39 books
of the Old Testament,

and eventually come to be known
as the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The most significant
archeological discovery

of the 20th century,
in fact of modern times,

has been the Dead Sea Scrolls.

This was a collection
of writings that was produced

by a group of Jews
living in about the same time

and about the same place
as Jesus himself.

With the discovery
of the Dead Sea Scrolls,

scholars got a glimpse
of actual Biblical texts‐‐

hand‐written texts that were
a thousand years older

than the previously oldest text
that we had.

SHATNER:
Of the 972 manuscripts

that make up
the Dead Sea Scrolls,

many contradict what is found

in more modern versions
of the Bible.

These discrepancies have left
generations of scholars

and theologians
scratching their heads,

and have also invited some to
question whether the holy book

is the work of God or man.

One thing that came clear

when the Dead Sea Scrolls
were discovered is

there is not just
one textual tradition.

For example, in Cave 1,
where the Great Isaiah Scroll

was discovered, this almost
perfectly‐preserved scroll

contains all 66 chapters
of the Book of Isaiah

and is virtually identical
to the text of Isaiah

that we have in our English
translations of the Bible today.

However, there was
a second scroll of Isaiah

found in the same cave
that represents almost

an entirely different edition
of the book

than what we have in our Bibles.

And scholars today have to look
at these little fragments

and say,
"Which one is more authentic?"

Which is a hard question.

SHATNER:
One of the reasons
the Bible's origins

remain a mystery
isn't merely a matter of who

or how many people wrote it,

but what language
it was originally written in.

CARGILL:
One of the secrets among
scholars and those who do

the study of ancient language
and the translation

is that there wasn't a lot
of punctuation in Hebrew,

and many Greek manuscripts,
there weren't spaces.

So the classic example
is the phrase,

"God is now here,"
or "God is nowhere."

If you write
all those letters together,

you don't know whether the text
is saying "God is now here"

or "God is nowhere."

Depending on how you
break up the word "now here"

or "nowhere,"
that says the opposite.

I mean it's, is God here,
or is he not?

And depending on how you break
that word up, it's a big deal.

SHATNER:
As if questions
of mistranslation

aren't confusing enough,

we also know that
for more than 1,000 years,

the official Bible was one
that had been translated

into yet another language.

A language that most people
couldn't even read:

Latin.

The Roman Catholic Church
wanted the Latin Bible

to be the Bible, and the idea
of putting the Bible

into a vernacular language so
an average person could read it

was strictly forbidden.

The church wanted to
keep control

over the message
of the Bible.

And so there was
an official translation

that was the only one
that was to be used,

and the priests were the ones
that were to do

the interpretation
and so forth.

(indistinct chatter)

SHATNER:
Even as late as 16th century,

possession of an unlicensed
Bible carried a death sentence.

In 1536, English scholar
and linguist William Tyndale

was executed for the crime
of translating the Bible

from the Vulgate,
or the traditional Latin,

into English.

But all this changed
when the English monarch

King Henry VIII became
embroiled in a bitter battle

with Pope Clement VII
over the king's request

for an annulment
to the king's marriage

to Queen Catherine of Aragon.

Henry's desire
to take on a new wife

would eventually
lead to a break with Rome

and the creation
of the Church of England.

CARGILL:
As different countries,
different kings came to power,

they needed the blessing
of the Pope at the Vatican

to do certain things, like,
for instance, get divorced.

And when the Pope said no,
there were some,

like Henry VIII, who said,
"You know what?

"I'm gonna form my own church,

"and we're gonna
have our own clergy

"and our own hierarchy,
and we're gonna use the Bible

as the foundation of it, and
we're gonna do our own thing."

SHATNER:
In 1539, Henry VIII
commissioned the publication

of what was then called
The Great Bible.

Translated into English,
it contained much

that was nearly identical
to the Tyndale translation,

minus some of that version's
more controversial passages.

LORI ANNE FERRELL:
And in 1539, Henry brings out,

with his picture
on the title page, a Bible

that has been commissioned
by him,

and it's called The Great Bible,
or The King's Bible.

It shows the king
in what we think of

as the prime real estate place
of a title page:

top and center.

And he is holding out copies
of the translated Bible

to his statesmen on one side
and his churchmen on the other.

And they are receiving it,
some of them on their knees.

So it is definitely
a portrait of power.

And after him, all monarchs
want their own Bible in England.

EHRMAN:
We know these books have
discrepancies in them

and contradictions
among themselves.

They are at odds
with one another.

They're not
disinterested history

the way we would
think of it today.

These authors
had a goal in mind.

They had an agenda.

And they included
only those stories

that made their point.

There comes a point
when you realize

that interpretation
is nine‐tenths of the law.

But if you believe
that the Bible is inerrant,

infallible,
the verbatim Word of God,

that causes a problem.

Because now we have to ask
what did God really say?

SHATNER:
While the stories of the Bible
may have been divinely inspired,

it seems that the book
we read today has more of

man's fingerprints on it
than God's.

So, if this is the case,

how can one know
which is the true Word of God?

Perhaps for the answer,
it's best to search

not within the pages
of the Bible,

but outside of them,
in the pages

of the parts of the Bible
that were edited out.

SHATNER:
It is estimated that
100 million Bibles

are printed and purchased
every year,

all across the world.

But not all Bibles
are the same.

The most obvious difference,
of course,

is that Judaism only recognizes
what Christians refer to

as the Old Testament.

But even Christians
use different versions

of the Old and New Testaments.

These vary not only in language
and translation,

but in terms of what is included
and what is not.

For example,
most Protestant Bibles,

including the King James
version,

contain 66 books.

The Catholic Bible includes 73.

But the Bible of the Ethiopian
Orthodox Church,

a Christian denomination of
36 million followers in Africa,

has 81.

One of the secrets
of ancient Christianity

is that different ethnic
and religious groups

had different Bibles.

So, there are different groups,
like the Coptics

or the Ethiopian Church.

They actually have
some of these inspired books,

whereas other groups do not.

So we shouldn't just ask which
version of the Bible is correct,

but it's which collection
of biblical books is correct.

SHATNER:
To be included in the official
version of the Bible,

or canon,

a book must be considered
to be divinely inspired.

The Word of God.

But just who decides?

McGOWAN:
There were a group of men
with specific agendas

determining what would
and what would not become canon.

And this agenda
was about preserving

the power of the Church.

The agenda here
is politics and economics.

It's not spirituality.

ARIEL TZADOK:
It is well‐known

that there's certain numbers
of texts

which are just not made
available to the public.

Some are actually denied
to even exist,

but most are said
to be secret knowledge.

Why? What is so secret?

What is being concealed?

SHATNER:
Until the mid‐1800s,

many early Bibles‐‐
even the King James Version‐‐

contained a number of books
that have since been edited out.

These are known
as the apocrypha.

EHRMAN: The word "apocrypha"
literally means

"hidden things."

And so, these are books
that allegedly were providing

hidden or secret teachings.

But the term "apocrypha"
came to mean books

that were not accepted
as part of the official canon.

CARGILL:
There was a council that would
say, "This is the tradition,

this is the proper
interpretation, this is how

you should interpret
the scripture."

So any book that contradicts

what they've already decided
to believe gets cast out.

SHATNER:
But of all the apocrypha

or hidden books of the Bible,

one book in particular‐‐
the Book of Enoch‐‐

is considered so controversial

that many believe
it was deliberately omitted

because of its bizarre
and outrageous contents.

Ironically,
the character of Enoch

does appear
in the Old Testament,

but only as a devoted follower
of God,

one who lived hundreds of years
before the great flood.

TZADOK:
Who was this Enoch?

What's so peculiar about him?

Because the Bible
says about him,

"That he walked with God
and was not,

for God had taken him."

Taken him where?
Where did he go?

The majority of traditions
say he was taken to Heaven.

CARGILL:
Enoch is the only one in Heaven
allowed to sit along with God,

and he reveals information
to humanity.

SHATNER:
Believed to have been written

sometime between
300 BC and 10 BC,

the Book of Enoch
was traditionally thought

to have been authored
by Enoch himself,

in order to share
secret knowledge

given to him by God.

Enoch was
an incredibly popular book

in the time leading up to
the formation of Christianity.

In fact, we know that whoever
wrote the Gospel of Matthew

very likely knew
about the Book of Enoch

because there are
certain languages

that we see
in the Gospel of Matthew

and nowhere else
in the New Testament.

Of all the secret texts,
I think that the Book of Enoch

in many ways
is the most forbidden.

SHATNER:
At some time
before the fourth century,

the Book of Enoch was excluded
from the Hebrew version

of the Bible,
and became discredited

by all but two
early Christian Churches.

But why?

Could there be clues
in the text itself?

Enoch becomes this seer

who gives all kinds
of later prophecies to Jews.

He predicts the end
of the world.

He predicts the coming
of the Messiah.

But one of the things he does
is he elaborates

this story of the giants.

SHATNER:
According to the Book of Enoch,

the giants, or watchers,
were a group of renegade angels

sent to Earth to guard man
more than 5,000 years ago.

But instead of protecting
the human race,

they lusted after women
and corrupted mankind.

MARTIN:
The watchers mate
with human women.

But also what the watchers do
is they teach women

all kinds of forbidden arts,
such as cosmetics.

So, makeup comes
from the evil watchers

who taught women
how to make up their faces.

McGOWAN:
The Book of Enoch
is a real conundrum

because this idea
that the rebellious angels

have a power that can rival God
is something

that is very threatening
to traditional Church.

SHATNER:
In the Book of Enoch,

the offspring of the watchers
and mortal women

are described as giant warriors
called Nephilim.

TZADOK:
The watchers came down
and took for themselves

the daughters of men
and give birth

to a generation of titans

called the fallen ones,
Nephilim.

These hybrid
between the watchers

and the daughters of men

created tremendous havoc
in the human race.

ASLAN:
The Nephilim‐‐

these are these
grotesque giants.

They are neither angels
nor people.

They are described
as monstrous beings.

And there were apparently
thousands of them

that populated the Earth.

In fact, there were
so many of them,

that at a certain point,
God had to destroy

all of humanity
in order to get rid of them.

EHRMAN:
One of the things that people
don't realize is that

when God sends the flood
during the days of Noah,

that in one version
of the story,

is that the reason God
decides to destroy the Earth

is because these Nephilim
were on the Earth.

SHATNER:
Grotesque giants
attacking humans?

And the giants, in turn,
being destroyed by God

in the great flood?

Was the Book of Enoch purged
from the standard biblical texts

because it was considered
too far‐fetched?

Too outrageous?

Or was it because
it portrayed God

as a compassionate creator,

one who forgave

rather than punished
mankind for its sins?

McGOWAN:
God is protecting us
in the Book of Enoch.

It is a very different God
than the spiteful, wrathful God

that we see
in the Genesis account.

The Church derives
great benefit from having us

be very, very afraid of God

and of God wiping us all out
if we're not obedient.

SHATNER:
But if the early editors
of the Bible

intended to purge it
of far‐fetched tales

containing references
to fantastical devices

and devastating weapons,
then why did they leave in

what is perhaps the most
audacious story of all?

One which involves
a man named Moses

and a device so powerful

it can destroy entire armies‐‐

the Ark of the Covenant.

In the beginning,

God created the heavens
and the Earth.

He said, "Let there be light,"
and there was light.

Then darkness.

The firmament, the oceans.
Plants and trees.

Animals that fly
and slither and swim.

And last but not least,

male and female.

The Book of Genesis.
It's a nice story, of course.

One that we're all
undoubtedly familiar with.

But could it be true?

TZADOK:
Some people say
that they believe

that there should
never ever be any conflict

between science and religion.

But if we accept Genesis
as being historical,

which according to faith,
of course we do,

then we need to ask
the other realistic questions:

how and what really happened?

SHATNER:
While mainstream scientists
are understandably skeptical

that God, as described in the
Old Testament Book of Genesis,

created the Earth and everything
on it in only six days,

there is surprising evidence
to suggest that

the second book
of the Bible, Exodus,

is based on historical fact.

EHRMAN:
In the Book of Exodus,

the, uh, children of Israel
have been enslaved in Egypt

and God has told Moses
to go and set his people free.

Moses demands that Pharaoh
lets the people free.

Pharaoh refuses,

and so God empowers Moses to do
plagues against the Egyptians,

and finally the Pharaoh relents,
lets the people go.

JAMES HOFFMEIER:
Israel's origins
as a slave nation

is not the sort of thing
people would make up.

So even many
of the most critical,

historical scholars
of the Bible would say,

"There's something to this."

We do know from Egyptian
history, both from ancient texts

and archaeological evidence
through excavations,

that somewhere around 1700
to 1650 BC,

there was an influx
of foreigners into Egypt.

They spoke a dialect
very similar to Hebrew.

And when Ramesses II comes along
in the 13th century,

he decided to move
his base of operations

to a new city
that he named Ramesses,

Pi‐Ramesses,
the House of Ramesses.

And according
to the Book of Exodus,

that's why I would place
this event in the 13th century,

sort of as they finally get
fed up with years and years

of being abused and used
to build Pharaoh's projects.

SHATNER:
But if the Book of Exodus

was based on real events
and people,

then wouldn't there be some kind

of physical evidence
left behind‐‐

a relic of their journey
out of Egypt‐‐

that would validate
this incredible story?

According to some scholars,

such a relic
could actually exist:

the Ark of the Covenant.

The Ark of the Covenant
is probably

one of the best‐kept mysteries
in the world today.

We know, according
to the biblical description,

that the Commandments
which Moses brought down

from Mount Sinai
were placed inside the Ark.

As well as a portion
of the manna,

which they collected
in the desert,

and Aaron's rod,
which had blossomed with almonds

in the great test of the tribes.

TZADOK:
It was a box of gold which had
inside it a box of wood.

And then another box of gold
with a golden cover.

The Ark of the Covenant
represents

the giving of the Torah
at Sinai from God.

It's the holiest object

that ever existed
in the Jewish tradition.

And there are people who,
because their belief

somehow needs to be palpable
and physical,

feel as though
if they could see it,

that would prove God's will
in this world.

SHATNER:
But if the Ark of the Covenant
was not only real

but still exists,
where could it be?

According to the Hebrew Bible,
the Ark was once housed

inside a secret inner sanctuary

of King Solomon's Temple
in Jerusalem.

But after the temple
was destroyed around 586 BC,

the whereabouts of the Ark

and its precious contents
became unknown.

HOFFMEIER:
One tradition,
of course, is that

it was simply destroyed
by the Babylonians

when the temple was burnt and
melted and that's the end of it.

MULLINS: However, because
the Ark never showed up again,

people have often wondered what
really did happen to the Ark.

SHATNER:
For centuries, the search
for the Ark of the Covenant

has consumed both archaeologists
and Bible scholars.

If it were ever found,
it would not only prove

that the biblical accounts
in the Book of Exodus

were based on historical events,

it could also unleash
incredible power.

I'm a great believer
in trying to find out

as much as we can
archaeologically

about what happened
in biblical history,

and the way in which
we can validate it,

as long as we're
intellectually honest.

Some things
we'll be able to prove,

some things we will disprove.
and much we will never know.

SHATNER:
In recent years, some scholars
and theologians have suggested

that the Ark isn't lost,

but was deliberately hidden.

Kept away from those
who might wish to exploit

its awesome power.

For many, to find a relic
like the Ark of the Covenant

is extremely important.

It was viewed as God's throne,

and these ideas are most likely
connected to scriptures

that refer to the Ark
being carried into battle

and the enemies
are scattering before them.

TZADOK:
It is said that
the Ark housed kavod,

or glory of God.

Now, this in quote
"glory of God"

was not something symbolic,
it was something actual,

something tangible,

something energetic.

What are we missing here
in the biblical understanding

of this mysterious box?

It was clearly far more
than just a religious icon.

There was a technology involved,

and that is what makes the Ark,
to this day,

one of the greatest mysteries
of our history.

SHATNER:
If the Ark of the Covenant
did, in fact,

have extraordinary power,

as described in the Bible,

is it simply too dangerous
to be possessed by man?

And could that be why

it has eluded rediscovery
for centuries?

Perhaps.

But not all Bible mysteries
involve holy relics.

Some concern people,

including the man
who billions believe

is the Son of God.

SHATNER:
The ancient Kingdom of Judah,

more than 2,000 years ago.

It was here,

according to the New Testament
Gospels of Matthew and Luke,

that the infant Jesus was born
to a young woman named Mary

and her husband Joseph.

But believe it or not,

the actual year of Jesus' birth
remains a mystery.

For centuries, the year 1 AD,

or Anno Domini,
the year of our Lord,

was assumed to be correct.

But recent historical research
suggests otherwise.

Jesus is born somewhere
between 4 and 7 BCE,

because Herod the Great
died in 4 BC

and Jesus was born
during Herod the Great.

So this is one of the secrets
that scholars know

but most people
don't think about.

Those who made the calendar
screwed it up.

They dated the birth
of Jesus incorrectly.

And we still live on a calendar
where Jesus is actually born

four to seven years BC.

SHATNER:
But as one can imagine,
the exact year of Jesus' birth

is not the only aspect of his
life that has been debated.

The New Testament states
that Jesus was born

in the town of Bethlehem,
but recently even that

has been questioned by both
historians and theologians.

Pretty much the only thing
that we can be fairly certain of

about Jesus' childhood

is that he was born and raised
in the city of Nazareth.

It was the only thing
that his followers

and detractors agreed about.

His name was the Nazarene.

SHATNER:
The fact is, much of what
we know about the life of Jesus

comes from the four gospels
of the New Testament.

And even though they are
credited to the evangelists

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,

the Gospels may actually
have been written

decades after Jesus' death.

We would love
to know answers to, like,

what was Jesus like
as a teenager?

And did Jesus ever have
any girlfriends?

Did he ever have
any relationships,

anything like that?

The gospels don't really want
to tell us any of that stuff

because they're really
interested in just focusing

on why Jesus is who he is
and what he did.

SHATNER:
What really happened during
Jesus' so‐called lost years?

Were the accounts
omitted deliberately?

And if so, why?

Well, as it turns out,
closer examination

of the little that the gospels
do say about Jesus' early life

reveals some surprising facts.

It's one of the biggest‐kept
secrets about Jesus,

that he's one of quite
a large family.

We know of at least
four brothers:

James, Joses, Simon and Judas.

We know of at least
a couple of sisters.

It's curious
how they disappear, though.

We don't see
much of them later on.

SHATNER:
Perhaps one of the most
controversial

and profound aspects
of the story of Jesus

is the belief
that his mother Mary

gave birth to him
while still a virgin.

And as audacious
as that may seem,

it is among the very foundations
of the Christian faith.

But curiously, the references
to Jesus being born of a virgin

can only be found
in two of the gospels:

Matthew and Luke.

Wouldn't such a miraculous event

have been recorded
by all four of the evangelists?

Or was it,
as some scholars suggest,

an attempt by some
of Jesus' followers

to justify their belief
that he was the fulfillment

of the Old Testament prophecies,

the Hebrew Messiah?

The New Testament loves
to rely on the prophecies

of‐of the prophet Isaiah,

uh, for proof, if you will,

of Jesus', uh, messiah‐ship.

One of the prophecies
that became very popular

was a prophecy
during the‐the time of Hezekiah.

Jerusalem's under siege,
they don't know

if they're gonna survive,
and Isaiah comes up with

a prophecy that says,
"Look, behold there's a virgin,

and she will bear a son
and his name will be Emmanuel,"

which is "God with us."

The Christians come along

and‐and take that prophecy

and they reinterpret it.

And they say this prophecy
is actually a reference to Mary,

who's a real virgin.

And the son that she's going
to bear is Jesus.

And Jesus will be the savior
of all mankind,

not just of Jerusalem
in the eighth century,

but of all mankind for all time.

SHATNER:
Whether you believe
that Jesus' virgin birth

was the fulfillment
of a prophecy

or a story created to help
establish his divine origins,

it is one of the key mysteries
of the Christian faith.

Just like the question posed by
many academics and theologians:

did Jesus really think
he was the Messiah,

the actual Son of God?

The question of how Jesus
perceived himself

will likely remain
a secret for all time.

Some people argue that Jesus
understood himself

to be the Son of God.

He knew who he was.

And others, based on the text,
will say, "Well, no."

In the Gospel of John,
Jesus even uses a term

to describe himself
that's, I think,

intentionally ambiguous.

He refers to himself
in the third person

as the "Son of man."

Well, the secret about
the word "Son of man"

is that, in Aramaic, it's just
the way that you say "a person."

So when Jesus uses the phrase
"Son of man"

as a self‐description,

you don't know whether
he's just saying himself

or whether he's actually
making a messianic claim.

SHATNER:
Although many details
of Jesus' life

remain unverified by history,
one fact is certain:

he was a charismatic teacher
and prophet.

CARGILL:
If we read the biblical text,

Jesus created a great following

because he performed miracles.

He did magic deeds.

He caused the blind to see.

He was a healer.

At the end of the day,
Jesus was kind to those in need.

He loved those who needed help,

who no one else would love.

At the Wedding of Cana,
Jesus turns the water into wine.

And he doesn't just turn it
into any wine.

He turns it into the best wine.

So this is Jesus'
first public miracle.

And once he comes forward
with his first miracle,

the floodgates really open.

The ministry has begun.

Jesus has arrived
and he is the Messiah

and the miracle worker.

SHATNER:
But did the miracles of Jesus,

as reported in the gospels,
really happen?

For instance,
did he really raise

a man called Lazarus
from the dead

and feed 5,000 people

with only two small fish
and five loaves of bread?

Perhaps the answer
can be found by examining

what are referred to
as the lost gospels,

a collection of writings
that were supposedly authored

by people who witnessed
Jesus' life firsthand.

SHATNER:
A group of farmers
tilling their fields

unearth a clay jar.

It contains more than 50
biblical scrolls

dating back
to the third century AD,

making them even older

than the books
of the so‐called New Testament.

Instead, these texts are
supposedly firsthand accounts

written by friends
and followers of Jesus,

and were worshipped as fact
by a relatively obscure group

of ancient Christians
known as the Gnostics.

Gnosticism comes
from a direct oral tradition

that is passed down
from the early Christians

and evolves separately from
the institutionalized Church.

And there's the tradition
that the Gnostics have teachings

that come directly from Jesus

through apostles,
followers, even family,

who come from Jesus.

"Gnostic" comes
from the word "gnosis,"

which means a personal
revelation and experience.

And when we look
at those texts today,

we see secret learning,

secret teachings.

SHATNER:
Secret teachings,

directly from Jesus himself,

passed down through
his closest followers

and potentially giving us
a firsthand account

of Jesus' life and deeds?

One might think such gospels

would be held in high regard
by the Church.

But, in fact,
it was quite the opposite.

When I first encountered what
are called the Gnostic Gospels,

we were all surprised
that there were so many gospels

that weren't
in the New Testament.

CARGILL: The reason
that a lot of these books

didn't make it into the Bible
is that they weren't congruent

with the core message of
the books that did make it in.

PAGELS:
These texts were declared to be

sort of full of errors
and they'll lead you astray.

One famous bishop calls them
an abyss of madness

and blasphemy against Christ.

So these were the enemies
of the early Church.

And Christians thought they must
have horrible things in them.

The penalty for copying
and... or even keeping

any of the Gnostic texts

would have been
increasingly severe.

It could have even
led to more severe punishment,

‐like torture and death.
‐(shouting)

SHATNER: These lost books
of the New Testament

include a number
of so‐called gospels,

including the Gospel of Thomas,
the Gospel of Philip,

the Gospel of the Egyptians
and many others.

But just what was it
in these Gnostic texts

that made many Bible scholars
and clerics reject them

as being not only too
controversial but too dangerous?

PAGELS:
The Gospels of the New Testament

all tell you
how important Jesus is.

Jesus is the Son of God,
the Son of man,

the King of Israel, the Messiah.

I mean, you name it,
he's somebody very special.

And he's not like you and me.

Now, the Gospels of Thomas
or Phillip,

they say something
quite different.

They say Jesus, yes,
he may be speaking divine truth,

but he's really like you and me.

SHATNER:
But of all the Gnostic gospels,

there is one that many
biblical scholars believe

to be more significant and more
controversial than the rest:

the Gospel of Mary.

CARGILL:
There's a lot of controversy
about Mary Magdalene.

In the Bible,
she's portrayed a certain way.

She's‐she's one of the followers
of Jesus.

Oftentimes she's described
as a prostitute,

as one who Jesus
kind of picked up from obscurity

and made her
one of his followers.

But the Gospel of Mary
specifically says

that Jesus loved Mary
more than the other disciples.

In fact, they actually
put that in the mouths

of one of the disciples:
"So don't you know

that he loved her, uh,
more than us?"

SHATNER:
Although the actual author
of this gospel is unknown

and several pages
of the original text

have never been found,

the text seems to reveal
astonishing details

about Mary Magdalene's
relationship with Jesus.

There are even those
who are convinced that Mary

was not only one of Jesus'
most devoted followers,

but also perhaps his lover

or even his wife.

Certainly we discover
in the Gnostic text

that are many, many references

to Jesus' relationship
to Mary Magdalene.

She is referred to
as his "beloved."

She is referred to
in a sexual manner

in the Gnostic gospels.

So not only was Jesus married,

but Jesus was married
to Mary Magdalene.

Because Jesus was a rabbi,
it would have been required

for Jesus to be married.

If Jesus were not married,
this would have been something

that would have been remarked
upon and talked about.

And the fact that it is not
is actually one of the things

that proves that Jesus
was married,

because it would have been very
normal for him to have been so.

GIVENS:
Gnosticism was seen as a problem

because there was a core belief
that had to be maintained,

that there were certain
non‐negotiable truths

that were part
of the Christian gospel.

And so if anything was
contradictory to that,

then it needed
to be suppressed or refuted.

McGOWAN:
There is a lot
of Gnostic material

that tells us Jesus
was married to Mary Magdalene.

2,000 years of Church tradition
is overturned

by the Gnostic gospels
because Mary Magdalene emerges

as a successor of Jesus.

SHATNER:
Did Jesus, the Son of God,

really have a wife,
children and descendants?

And if so,
would that contradict the faith

that billions of people
have in Him,

or would it confirm it?

Perhaps the answer can be found
by examining how the Bible

continues to fascinate people
around the world,

long after it was first written.

Although there
is sufficient evidence:

for scholars to conclude
that the Bible we read today

is quite different than
the Bible people were reading

thousands of years ago,
it doesn't seem to matter.

In spite of centuries
of human tampering,

or perhaps because of it,

the Bible is still
the most powerful

and influential book
the world has ever known.

The Bible, without a doubt,
is the most important book

in the history
of Western civilization.

People read it,
people revere it.

People think of it
as God's word to humankind.

And God had revealed the secrets
that could make sense

of the real meaning of life
and the history of the world.

ASLAN:
Why is it that 5,000 years

after these stories were written

we still read them,
we still believe in them?

It's not because they are true,

though many people
believe them as true.

It's because they are
infinitely malleable.

That's the power of scripture,

that it can mean
anything to anyone

depending on the time
in which they live,

depending on the context
in which they live.

GOODACRE: One of the reasons
that I think people just

keep going back to the Bible
over and over again

is that it's just so full
of these fascinating mysteries,

these fascinating enigmas.

We will never know the answers
to lots of them,

but what we do know
is that it really is a text

that rewards repeated study,

rewards going back to
over and over again.

The Bible says
about God Himself,

"My thoughts are higher
than your thoughts.

My ways are higher
than your ways."

This is something
people don't understand,

because we come to the Bible
from a point of view,

which reads the Bible
in a literal way.

But when you actually
look at the greater whole

of all of the stories,

it is so beyond the limitations

of that of which
we've understood.

CARGILL:
Look, the Bible is a powerful,
powerful book,

and it's revered by millions
around the world

in Judaism and Christianity.

It's a book that gives
tremendous meaning

and tremendous identity

to millions and billions
of people around the world.

In that way, it's alive.

It‐it gives life to people.

WOLPE: Every time I read
the Bible, I'm struck not only

by the beauty and the depth
of its stories,

but by the way
that it gives me access,

in my own life,

to whatever it is that God is.

And so, I read it not only
'cause it captivates my mind,

but it elevates my spirit.

And I know from the fact
that it is still with us,

and has been read all over the
world for thousands of years,

that in that feeling,
I am not alone.

Does the Bible continue
to inspire billions of people

around the world not because
of the answers it provides

but because of the questions
it inspires us to ask?

Questions about
what many believe to be

its inconsistencies
and contradictions.

Questions about life

and humankind's unique place
in the universe.

Questions that may forever
remain unexplained.

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