“Mysteries of the Fifth Gospel” is a five-episode mini-series on the life of Jesus being developed for commercial television by The Biblical World. It is written and presented by Tony Moore who has two other on-location video series that enjoy world wide distribution: In the Footsteps of Paul and Tracing the Footsteps of Jesus. Read more about Tony and the team by clicking here.
The “fifth gospel” is the the geographical and historical setting of the world Jesus walked and taught in and is based upon the cultural background and customs He knew. Understanding this fifth gospel will add color and texture to the reading of the black and white text bringing the gospel story to life.
The “Fifth Gospel” is often used to refer to apocryphal writings that were not included in the New Testament. Others have used it to describe the book of Revelation. The richest and most accurate description can be found in this quote: “Five gospels record the life of Jesus. Four you will find in books and one you will find in the land they call holy. Read the fifth gospel and the world of the four will open to you”—Bargil Pixner.
For over 40 years Tony has studied the story of Jesus found in the four gospels. In 1986 he made his first journey into the land of the Bible and was amazed at the new windows of understanding that opened before him. Since that trip he has returned again and again, spending nearly three years exploring and researching this fifth gospel.
This series explores mysteries from this fifth gospel that allow us to better understand the gospel story. The pilot episode “Christmas Eve in the Holy Land” explores the setting of the world into which Jesus was born. It examines mysteries like: “How did the Romans come to be masters of the holy land?” And why was it called a land flowing with milk and honey?”
Exposing the Real Jesus
This subtitle has an edge designed to catch the attention of viewers on commercial television. Expose is a powerful word meaning: “to allow something that is usually covered or hidden to be seen.” There are so many falsehoods and half truths about Jesus in the modern media that people do not have a clear idea of Who Jesus is. Even so called Christian programming and TV preachers distort the truth about Jesus so that people are genuinely confused.
The purpose of this series is explore mysteries from the holy land that reveal the truth about Jesus and clear up many of the misconceptions and false teachings that are so abundant in the media today. Expose is a negative word for the tabloids, but a powerful word for photographers!
The pilot was originally filmed in March 2014, then re-shot in April 2015, and some scenes in March 2016. It has just come out of post production and has a wonderful musical score. In it you will see beautiful footage from Masada, the Arbel, Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem. Soon this will be offered to several commercial networks for broadcast. You can see clips and excerpts from this episode by clicking here.
What sets this Mysteries apart from other recent mini-series?
- It is faithful to the Bible.
- It strives to be historically accurate versus loosely based on historical fiction.
- It attempts to understand the cultural background of Jesus world and bring it to life.
- The holy land is “the set” for telling the story. Locations are carefully chosen to enable the viewer to “see” where Jesus lived and taught.
- It is spiritual and uplifts the teachings of Jesus by appealing to the heart and mind.
This video provides an overview of this series.
