Just in time for Christmas, the major news media regularly present magazine cover stories and prime-time television events that focus on the historical questions concerning the birth of Jesus Christ and the theological issues central to Christianity.
Like clockwork, the programs and articles appear -- often following a predictable pattern. A question related to a Christian claim is raised and a panel of experts is asked to respond. This panel most often ranges across the theological spectrum, providing the appearance (and sometimes the reality) of a fair consideration. These are secular news magazines and networks, after all. The supposed interest of the media lies in the current relevance of the issues and the impact of these beliefs upon the world. We should not expect the secular media to serve as evangelists for the Christian Gospel. We are right to expect that the media should be fair in their consideration of these subjects.
Fairness does not mean that evangelicals should not expect to see non-evangelical and non-Christian viewpoints expressed. Liberal theologians and biblical scholars are to be expected among the sources cited or consulted. Fairness does suggest that the orthodox position and a representation of evangelical conviction should be present as well.
CNN presented a major news production Wednesday night as "CNN Presents: After Jesus." Narrated by actor Liam Neeson, the special program was described as an investigation of "how the earliest Christians spread their message, despite infighting over the faith and violent persecution by Rome."
From the CNN Pressroom release:
Immediately following Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, the first Christians were challenged to define their faith. Two of Jesus' disciples – Peter, who preached that the followers of Jesus had to be Jewish, and Paul who argued that this new faith must be available to all – would emerge as Christianity's first and most influential leaders. Their eventual consensus, that Christianity would be available to all through conversion, and their missionary zeal throughout the Roman Empire, helped the new faith to spread rapidly. But Christianity's growing power was also a threat to the empire, so the Romans killed Peter and Paul and other early leaders. Christians were so brutally persecuted that Christianity's survival was repeatedly in danger. That Christianity eventually became the world's largest religion is perhaps the faith's second biggest miracle.
In all, that paragraph is a good summary of the facts and the central question -- how did Christianity grow from a band of frightened followers of Jesus into a world-changing force?
CNN described its program as "the story behind the greatest story ever told." Mark Nelson of CNN explained: "The fundamental themes of challenge and resolution, power and struggle that we explore continue to be relevant in modern times." So far, so good.
The teaser is found in this paragraph:
In telling this remarkable tale, viewers may be surprised to learn that followers of some early branches of Christianity believed in more than one god; that there were many more Gospels than those included in the New Testament; and that Christmas was originally a springtime celebration. There was also a group of Christians – the Gnostics – who believed that man's existence on Earth was a mistake and that salvation required a mystical experience of self-discovery and self-realization. They wrote their own Gospels, and their power struggle with the orthodox Christians was a threat to the new faith.
That paragraph should stand as a reminder that theology and scholarship are not well reduced to press releases. In this case the teaser is indeed a tease.
The related press materials available at CNN's Web site were a source of evangelical concern. The panelists chosen by CNN did not include an evangelical theologian, historian, or New Testament scholar. The network claimed to have consulted "the most renowned authorities on the ancient church," but no evangelical scholar appeared. Given the issues and questions covered by the program, a fair observer would wonder about the absence of any scholar like Darrell Bock, D. A. Carson, or Bishop N. T. Wright -- all of whom have internationally established reputations for scholarship in these areas -- and with extensive published engagement with these issues. None is a stranger to the media.
