Watch

Videos

Documentaries, lectures, and debates relevant to the claims made across this site — from the crucifixion-survival question to the historical rise of Christian orthodoxy. These are starting points for each question, not standalone sources; watch them alongside the relevant essay rather than in place of it.

Did Jesus Die?

A BBC Four documentary examining the case that Jesus survived the crucifixion — the same territory covered in this site's crucifixion and Jesus in India essays. Worth watching alongside those pages rather than as a standalone source — it's presented here as a starting point for the question, not as the final word.

From Jesus to Christ: The First Christians

PBS FRONTLINE's four-hour 1998 documentary series (Part One) on how Judaism and the Roman Empire shaped Jesus's life and the earliest "Jesus movement" — built on interviews with mainstream historians and New Testament scholars. Good background for the Paul vs. Jesus and How Orthodoxy Won essays.

Did Jesus Exist? — Ehrman vs. Price

New Testament historian Bart Ehrman debates biblical scholar Robert Price on Jesus's historicity. Useful context for the Christ-myth and "astrotheology" claims addressed in the Pagan Origins essay — Ehrman argues the historicist case; Price argues the minority mythicist position.

Bart Ehrman: The Lost Christianities

Ehrman on the competing early Christian groups — including Gnostic Christians — that lost out to what became orthodoxy. Direct background for the How Orthodoxy Won essay's section on the Gnostic alternative.

The Gnostic God vs. the Orthodox God

Princeton religious historian Elaine Pagels, author of The Gnostic Gospels (1979), on how the Gnostic and orthodox visions of God diverged — and what that meant for who controlled access to Christian teaching. Pairs with the How Orthodoxy Won essay.

The Arian Controversy and the Council of Nicaea

A short Khan Academy primer on the dispute over Christ's nature that Constantine convened Nicaea to settle in 325 CE. A quick companion to the Trinity and How Orthodoxy Won essays.

Have a video worth adding — a documentary, lecture, or debate relevant to the site's topics? Suggestions are welcome via the contact info on the Sources page.