The Birth of Jesus

Friday, Dec. 24 at 3 p.m. ET
Saturday, Dec. 25 at 6 p.m. ET
Hosted by Jon Scott

For 2,000 years the world has celebrated the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ, inspiring people's lives, art, music and literature.

But few actually know that the narratives — as told in the Gospels by Luke and Mathew — present significant questions for Biblical scholars, historians, archaeologists and the faithful.

Host Jon Scott sets out to find the answers, taking viewers on a tour of New Testament sites including Bethlehem, where Jesus was born, and Nazareth, where he was raised.

Along the way, this FNC special will examine life in the 1st century and archaeological "finds and fakes" from the world of Jesus.

We'll also take a look at early Christian writings that were "banned" from the Bible, including the Apocryphal stories about Jesus' youth (in which he is portrayed as a "divine brat") and the Gnostic Gospels, used by Dan Brown as the basis for his best-selling book "The Da Vinci Code" — a book many consider an assault on Christianity.