The Lives of Jesus

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There's so much junk on television, including junk that is generated by religious broadcasters, that we should rejoice at the news that two well-established operations -- the British Broadcasting Corporation and ODYSSEY, formerly the well-respected, ecumenical Faith & Values Channel, which represents 64 Protestant, Jewish, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox faith groups and evangelical traditions -- were combining resources and talents to produce the four-part "The Lives of Jesus," as part of a broader series, The Unbroken Circle: Experiences of Faith.

Good news? Not really. Why?

The search for Jesus, the producers must have said to themselves, is just that: a search. To search is to travel, wander purposefully from one exotic site to another. asking the questions: Who am I? Where err I going? Who can answer my questions? Maybe Jesus? Who is he?

So they need a searcher. A sophisticated person, who must be, to lend credibility to the search, a nonbeliever, and, better, someone who"n spite of his high status as a reporter, appears to know very little about the topic he is about the explore. Heaven forfend! We can't have a sophisticated, educated believer conducting a search for Jesus Christ!

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