Who Invented The Idea Of The Messiah?

Brisbane, Australia - March 7, 2017 - How did a small, fringe, Jewish cult from the backwaters of the ancient world, invent the idea of a “messiah” for the Gentiles and end up taking over the Roman empire? How much evidence is there that Jesus Christ actually existed? How much do we really know about what his followers actually believed?

These are some of the questions explored in the upcoming secular documentary “INVENTING THE MESSIAH” which begins filming next month, according to Australian production company Deep Dive Productions.

“Most Christians have no idea about the actual history behind Jesus and the early church,” said Cameron Reilly, co-producer, writer and presenter of the film. “Our film is going to interview a range of biblical scholars and academics, believers and nonbelievers, about what the actual story is, as best as they understand it in 2017.”

Reilly claims that while academics, such as Bart Ehrman, Robert M Price, Richard Carrier, and John Dominic Crossan have written extensively on the subject over the last twenty years, the general public, Christian and non-Christian alike, have little idea about the current views held by scholars.

“Most Christians still believe that Jesus is an historical figure and that the authors of the New Testament were his disciples, even though there’s very little evidence to support either idea,” said Reilly. “And how did a Jewish personality cult end up being adopted by Gentiles? That’s one of the questions we want to explore.”

Executive Producer Torsten Hoffman, whose previous documentaries have won awards and have been broadcast all over the world (Discovery, Netflix, NatGeo, CCTV), said “I have joined forces with an awesome team to produce my next documentary about a controversial topic. It is going to be an entertaining look at early Christianity and the historicity of Jesus. We're aiming for a unique style, without ever losing sight of historical facts.”

Director Sam Toy added "I'm terrifically excited to be a part of this team, and to be shining a light on such a crucially misunderstood piece of history. It really is one of those 'I can't believe this hasn't been done already' subjects, and I can't wait to help deliver a fun, energetic and honest film from it."

The production company have already raised half of their budget through private sources and have launched a campaign on crowdfunding site Kickstarter to raise the balance.

“Whether you are Christian, atheist, or something else, you’re going to love this film,” said Reilly, who is best known for his popular series of podcasts on ancient history, Life Of Julius Caesar, Life of Augustus Caesar, Life of Alexander The Great, Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, and A Cold War, which have millions of worldwide listeners. “It really is one of the most interesting stories in all of history – and yet most people have never heard it told properly.”

Kickstarter campaign: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bitcointheendofmoney/inventing-the-messiah-a-documentary-on-early-chris

Website: http://www.deepdivedocumentaries.com

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