3,000 years ago a vast complex stood here: it was a Hebrew Temple said to be the resting place of God. Mysteries of the Bible s3e6: Life and Death in the Holy Temples
Temple mount: three great religions took root here. ibid.
Built by Herod the Great the temple had dominated the city ... Where Jesus himself once preyed. ibid.
Built by King Solomon a thousand years earlier ... No archaeological remains have been found. ibid.
The disappearance of the Ark is one of the Bible’s most compelling mysteries. ibid.
A fusion of ideas, stories, traditions and chronologies. Mysteries of the Bible s3e7&8: Who Wrote The Bible?
A volume of Books known as the Apocrypha is sometimes included as an addendum to the Bible. ibid.
Written on parchment and papyrus a diverse range of texts appears amongst the Scrolls. ibid.
Were the Scrolls based on more ancient, earlier writings? And who collected them? ibid.
The diverse range of texts that existed long before the Holy Scriptures were compiled. ibid.
There are two separate accounts of the creation of the world, two versions of the covenant made between God and the patriarch Abraham, and even two distinct versions of Moses obtaining water from a rock. ibid.
Jahweh = J writer; Elohim = E writer; & P & D [Deuteronomist] ... The authorship theory has come to be known as Documentary Hypothesis. ibid.
Was Ezra history’s elusive editor? ibid.
The final product becomes known as the Septuagint, referring to the number of scholars who worked on the translation. ibid.
The Great Alexandrian Library: a treasure trove of almost a million scrolls and documents. ibid.
No original manuscripts of the Four Gospels have been found. ibid.
Matthew and Luke may have copied the work of Mark. ibid.
No material evidence for the existence of the hypothetical Q Gospel has even been found though its influence is unmistakable. ibid.
The Egyptians built monuments to the dead far larger than any to the living. Mysteries of the Bible s3e9: Heaven & Hell
Most cultures believe in a Heaven ... Many cultures have a Hell. ibid.
None has developed the broad range of specific punishments as introduced in the New Testament. ibid.
The Divine Comedy would be the first major work written in vernacular Italian. ibid.
Those who committed suicide suffered alongside murderers. ibid.
The Book of Job may be the most disturbing story in the Hebrew Bible. Mysteries of the Bible s4e1: Job: The Devil’s Test
A strange wager made between Satan and God. ibid.
Why would a loving God let Satan torment an innocent human being? ibid.
Job never learns the cause of his unbearable anguish. ibid.
The despair expressed by its ancient Sumerian author is strikingly similar to Job’s lament in the Hebrew author. ibid.
How could a loving God have allowed this horror to take place? ibid.
He is one of the founding patriarchs of the Jewish faith. But Jacob’s character seems deeply flawed. Why did God chose such a man for such a magnificent a destiny? Mysteries of the Bible s4e2: Jacob’s Ladder
What was the real nature of Jacob’s ladder? ibid.
Jacob wrestles through a long dark night with a stranger who is never identified – was it an angel? Could it have been God Himself? ibid.
Was Jacob unable to see the face of the woman he was marrying because it was covered with a veil? ibid.
Marrying two sisters is a practice specifically forbidden by the Bible. ibid.
Some scholars believe that angels in the Bible may have had sexual relations with human beings. Mysteries of the Bible s4e3: Biblical Angels
Who were these enigmatic ‘sons of God’ mentioned in the Bible? [Genesis 6:1] ibid.
They are described as loyal guardians known as those who never sleep. ibid.
The New Testament makes no mention of angels being present at the manger or the birth of Jesus. ibid.
Were women present too? Mysteries of the Bible s4e4: The Last Supper
Why did Jesus deliberately affront the most powerful authorities in the land? ibid.
The motives for Judas’s betrayal have long baffled historians. ibid.
Why does this most sacred book have so much explicit sexuality in it? Mysteries of the Bible s4e5: Love and Sex in the Hebrew Bible
From the strange sexual power of Lilith to the seven hundred concubines of King Solomon the Bible seems almost as driven by passion and lust as by spiritual belief. ibid.
Were these concubines similar to modern day prostitutes? ibid.
Lesbianism is not mentioned at all. ibid.
Rather than surrender his guests to the wild mob ... Lot tries to calm them by making an offer that seem horrendous. ibid.
It is King David’s family that suffers ... He rapes his father’s wives. ibid.
The Song of Solomon, aka Song of Songs, is perhaps the most sensual and provocative book in the entire Bible. ibid.
One monstrous act forged a terrible legacy for mankind. The World’s first murder. Mysteries of the Bible s4e6: Cain and Abel
A murder mystery with key pieces of the puzzle missing. ibid.
What was the cause of this bitter rivalry? ibid.
How did Cain kill Abel? Did Cain bury or destroy the body? ibid.
Was Cain truly guilty of murder? ibid.
God’s unusual punishment of Cain ... God banished Cain to the wilderness – is this an act of mercy? ibid.
The Bible does not specify what form the mark took. ibid.
The Hebrew story took hold over all others – why? Mysteries of the Bible s4e7: The Story of Creation
The narrative often defies rational explanation. In verse 19 the sun is created on the fourth day, yet there was already light on the first day when God spoke of day and night. ibid.
Strangely, chapter two, the events are repeated but in a different order and with a dramatic shift in emphasis. ibid.
How could a king blessed with divine wisdom be ultimately responsible for the destruction of his own kingdom? Mysteries of the Bible s4e9: King Solomon
Solomon’s offspring are barely mentioned. ibid.
There is little historical evidence that Solomon ever existed. ibid.
Not one shred of evidence has been unearthed to support the existence of either Solomon’s palace or temple. ibid.
Solomon is intensely drawn to Sheba. ibid.
Why have the Ten Commandments survived with such impact to the present? Mysteries of the Bible s4e11: Ten Commandments s4e11
Moses had not ascended Sinai. ibid.
Archaeologists have failed to find any evidence that an ancient people ever stopped here. ibid.
How could they worship a golden calf after all they had come to know about God? ibid.
Lust, greed, jealousy. Despite its nuanced portraits of all too human women the Bible draws a mysterious line between the villains and the heroines. Mysteries of the Bible s5e2: Heroines of the Bible
Every December in households all over the world people of the Jewish faith gather to celebrate the joyous holiday of Hannoucca. Yet few realise that the foundations of this celebration are rooted in bloody violence. It eruped here in an obscure Judaean village over two thousand years ago … From this confrontation would arise the greatest military leader in Jewish history: Judah Maccabee. Mysteries of the Bible s5e4: Maccabees