The second season of CNN's original series "Finding Jesus" reportedly explores groundbreaking science and discoveries to reveal more about the life and times of Jesus Christ. Premiering March 5 at 8 p.m. CST, the show's producers said the latest scientific techniques and archaeological research were tapped to learn more about Jesus.
The show explores topics such as:
- Jesus' physical appearance
- Is Judas in hell
- Searching for evidence of Jesus' brother
- Facts about Jesus' cross
The first season, "Finding Jesus: Faith, Fact, Forgery," highlighted research, along with a panel of contributors, who provided expert commentary and investigation of the authenticity of six objects that could shed new light on Jesus. The six-part series looked at the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.
The Shroud of Turin is believed by some experts to be the cloth used as Jesus' burial wrap after his crucifixion. Mark Goodacre, who's the professor of New Testament and Christian Origins in the Department of Religious Studies at Duke University, was featured on the first season, and according to Christian Post, he said viewers will have to decide whether to accept the findings as fact or opinion.
"My hope certainly is that it [the show] will help educate people. The best kind of education is when you get people asking questions," said Goodacre. "You get people engaging with the subject matter and they think, 'that's interesting, I want to know more about that,' and they go and explore a bit more for themselves. I teach this stuff for a living, and I think the best kind of teaching is the one that gets people asking questions."
Award-winning journalist and filmmaker David Gibson, co-authored Finding Jesus along with Michael Mckinley, and the book inspired the CNN series.
Goodacre said he beleives people's interest in Christianity and religion in general will never go away.
"As much as secularists might want to act as if there really is no academic interest in religion at all, it's just not the case," Goodacre said. "People are fascinated by religion. I think also since things like "The Da Vinci Code," what happened is it showed a lot of people in the media that there is real thirst for good, informed comments about the Bible, about the emergence of Christianity. So I think the appetite's there."
He said even agnostics and atheists want to further explore religion.
The show is produced by Produced by Nutopia Prods. Executive producers include Ben Goold, Jane Root, Lynne Kirby; series producer, Simon Breen; producer-director, Nick Green; camera, Paul Jenkins; editor, Julian Hart; music, Tom Howe. The narrator is Corey Johnson.
Some of the show's topics inspired sermons with ministers, such as Toronto's Willowdale Pentecostal Church Senior Pastor Dan Disabatino. He said it gave them a format to follow and "something to try to engage our congregation."
During Disabatino's sermon, referred to as "Repent and Receive," he looked at John the Baptist's practice of baptizing people for their repentance of sins for their transgressions. He said that although the information presented on the series is "opinion," it was a great source for discussion.
"I think they do a very balanced job, they're showing both sides of the spectrum," said Disabatino. "I was very skeptical and apprehensive at first when I heard CNN was doing a series, but as we watched the program we saw the people involved and we thought, 'this is good' and if it stimulates discussion that's what we're hoping for."
