For the first time I have to level some criticism at the series “Finding Jesus” airing Sunday nights on CNN. Episode four, “The Secret Brother of Jesus” is a confusing mash of history and conjecturer rolled into a single presentation of the life of James that doesn’t leave room for other, possibly more accurate, understandings of the man’s life. And far too much importance is given to Catholic tradition and pseudepigraphal works. For instance, the program references the three texts below as if they were credible resources, which they clearly are not.

Infancy Gospel of Thomas
Written in the mid-to-late second century AD the manuscript appears to tell stories revolving around Jesus’ childhood and young adulthood. It was never considered to be written by Thomas of the 12 but rather by a Gentile much later. It is a complete work of fiction meant to satisfy early Christian’s needs to know about that part of Jesus’ life none of the actual disciples chose to write about.

Gospel of the Hebrews
Likely written near the beginning of the second century AD for Jewish-Christians and while not ever considered to be Scripture was often used as commentary for those areas where it addressed topics contained in Scripture. It was quoted by early church fathers Clement, Origin, Didymus the Blind and Jerome. No complete text has ever been found and we only know of its existence by the quotes of the text appearing in the writings of others.

The Gospel According to Thomas
Probably written in the second century AD, possibly late in that century since it quotes some sayings of Jesus in the actual Gospel accounts and then adds a number of other supposed sayings that are known to be Gnostic in origin. Cyril of Jerusalem, on early church father, asserted the text “is not one of the work of the 12 apostles, but of one of the three wicked disciples of Manes.” Manes, or Mani, was a Gnostic prophet.

Furthermore, James being a brother of Jesus is hardly a “secret” as the title implies. While Catholic tradition states Mary remained a virgin through her entire life protestant faiths have never had any problem with Mary having children with Joseph after the birth of Jesus. Catholics teach that James and the other brothers and sisters of Jesus were Joseph’s children from a previous marriage. The Bible seems pretty clear on the matter and traditions about Mary should not usurp the authority of the Bible.

The special also presents a view of Jesus’ home life that, while possible, isn’t likely, It presents Paul as an upstart believer who took Jesus’ message to the Gentile people without the churches approval, leaving out his history as a persecutor of the church, of his first meeting with James, of his initial push to take the gospel to Jewish people around the Mediterranean, and of his eventual frustration and turning to deliver the message to the Gentiles. They leave out the letter’s he wrote and messages sent back to the churches in Jerusalem and Antioch about the Holy Spirit’s work among the Gentile peoples. I understand they couldn’t go into all the detail in the time restraints of the show, but they didn’t need to bring him into the picture at all.

The artifact being discussed in this episode, the James Ossuary, was well summarized. I would have expected the writers, however, to consult William Devers or Hershel Shanks of Biblical Archeology Review magazine, which covered the trial and controversy better than any other media. Their insights into the motives behind what many consider to be a conspiracy would have been far more interesting than the antiseptic treatment given the artifact.

The show ended with the words of Erwin McManus, “James knew the Jesus that he was when no one was watching.” This would have been a much better starting point for the special and a better theme than “The Secret Brother of Jesus.” All in all a disappointing entry into an otherwise top notch series.

Next: Episode 5