Bible Mysteries

No trial or execution in history has had such a momentous outcome as that of Jesus in Roman occupied Jerusalem, 2000 years ago. But was it an execution or a judicial murder; and who was responsible? The Bible Mysteries programme focused on three suspects, Caiaphas, the Jewish High Priest; Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor; and, most surprisingly of all, Jesus himself.

Joshua and the walls of Jericho is one of the most violent stories of the Bible. An army of nomads emerges from the desert and destroys a heavily fortified city... not by force, but by faith. The story of how Joshua destroyed Jericho using only trumpets is one of the Bible's most memorable, and most dramatic.

The story of Joseph is one of the best known tales in the Bible. The events of Joseph's life are also found in the Torah and the Qur'an. Today it is perhaps most associated with the West End and Sunday school. Written down by scribes about 1000 years after the events supposedly took place, it is often thought that the story may have some historical tradition, but with a healthy portion of dramatic license. Egyptologists, however, have uncovered some intriguing evidence.

Mary Magdalene's story is intimately linked with Jesus. She plays a starring role in one of the most powerful and important scenes in the Gospels. When Jesus is crucified by the Romans, Mary Magdalene was there supporting him in his final terrifying moments and mourning his death. She also discovers the empty tomb, and she's a witness to the resurrection. She was there at the beginning of a movement that was going to transform the West. But the Mary Magdalene that lives in our memories is quite different. In art, she's often semi-naked, or an isolated hermit repenting for her sins in the wilderness: an outcast.

The legendary battle between the over-grown Philistine warrior Goliath and the humble shepherd boy David is an archetype which has resonance well beyond the Old Testament account. Whenever a lower division football club thwarts a premier squad in a giant-slaying encounter it is celebrated as a 'David and Goliath' event. The defiant courage of the underdog appeals to our deep-seated emotional need to witness the powerless turning the tables, for once, on the powerful.

The Romans appointed King Herod as King of Judea in 37 BC. Historians agree that, in many respects Herod had a hugely successful reign. King Herod an ethnically Arab but practicing Jew increased the land he governed from Palestine to parts of modern Jordan, Lebanon and Syria constructing fortresses, aqueducts and amphitheatres and earned him the title 'Herodes Magnus', Herod the Great.