whether they were jewish christians or gentile christians, the christian message and the christian churchrch has gradually and slowly built up a fuller and fuller understanding of what it is to be human in the image of god, trying to be honest to the jesus who walked in galilee and delivered the sermon of the mount. and also trying to be honest to the lives we lead in the 21st century. and that will always be intention, always. >> christianity has survived many powerful attempts to kill it off, and today, many of the issues that occupied the first christians are once again causing us to debate, challenge, and to believe or not 2,000 years after jesus. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com . >>> they are two of the most popular women on the planet. billions pray to them. great temples honor them, and both are bonafide movie stars in blockbuster movies and best

whether they were jewish christians or gentile christians, the christian message and the christian churchin this tension of diversity. >> and the church has gradually and slowly built up a fuller and fuller understanding of what it is to be human in the image of god, trying to be honest to the jesus who walked in galilee and delivered the sermon of the mount. and also trying to be honest to the lives we lead in the 21st century. and that will always be intention, always. >> christianity has survived many powerful attempts to kill it off, and today, many of the issues that occupied the first christians are once again causing us to debate, challenge, and to believe or not and to believe or not 2,000 years after jesus. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> breaking news overnight. new video that an american kidnapped from al qaeda pleading for help. >>> waking up cold and in the dark. that doesn't sound like fun. hundreds of thousands without power days after a deadly snowstorm in the northeast. is there any relief in sight? chad myers is tracking the forecast. >> ready for war? north ko

. >> one is revered as the mother >> you could say christianity began the moment mary gave birth. in fact, you can say the whole modern world begins the moment mary gave birth. it's the way we date our checks, make dates, count our age and anniversaries and so on, from the moment mary gave birth. >> the other mary, called magdalene, her flaming red hair was a sign she was touched by satan. until she found jesus and her conversion at his hands made her christianity's original hooker with a heart of gold. >> i think i learned what most people did which was that mary was a prostitute. she appeared at the resurrection but the prominent imagery of her was the repent bad girl. >> scholars have called these two marys the two faces of eve -- one, the first perfect woman. the other, the first fallen woman. when eve ate the forbidden fruit in the garden of eden, christian doctrine says she stained humanity with original sin. and women have been struggling ever since to overcome that burden. >> i think there was a very strong-felt need on the part of the church fathers to put women into thei

will a new vision of the two marys push christianity to places it has never gone?s found, one thing is certain -- nearly 2,000 years after they walked the holy land, the world is still looking to the marys for answers. ♪ -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com ♪ >>> nearly 2,000 years ago, historians tell us, in a remote outpost of the roman empire, three men were crucified on a hill. two of the men were thieves. the third man's crime was mocked by the sign nailed to his cross. jesus of nazareth, king of the jews. jesus himself insisted his throne was in heaven, not of this world. but that didn't matter.

there is a systematic attack on the christian community in syria and hundreds of thousands of christians were displaced of more on the christians targeted by rebels in syria as well as other developments in the conflict had to r.t. dot com. and the opposition and ukraine has delivered an ultimatum to the president calling for early elections they are threatening to set up a round the clock blockade of key government institutions if their demands aren't met for tasker's waving nationalist flags are staging a rally outside the government building in kiev at the moment and as a teacher in english to report the protests that started out as per e.u. demonstrations have now become fertile ground for extremist groups. oh lorie to crane glory to their heroes if they fishel slogan of the hard line nationalist movement known as the ukrainian insurgent army and the chant heard among the crowds in key of these days here is just a couple of these protesters cheerleaders mr elect founder of the nationalist party and the men inspired by the actions of the u.i. ase wartime militias they took up machine

on all of the christian community. religious officials played for action to protect syria's christians where a group of nuns is still being held by rebel forces and. there's no doubt where the united states stands on this. america weighs in on ukraine's ongoing crisis supporting the opposition this protest is give president. an ultimatum. i. start shooting. party looks ukraine's hardline nationalist groups and the claims they are hijacking the country's pro e.u. demonstrations. and i welcome you watching r.t. international with me andrey farm. now sweden's been helping america's n.s.a. to spy on russian leaders and provided washington with a list of high profile targets swedish state t.v. site documents leaked by whistleblower edward snowden the program which revealed the claims is called mission investigate and its chief editor joins us live now on r.t. thank you very much for being with us this evening that this is a juicy story isn't it in a nutshell what your program find at. well we have revealed that. very close

of the christian community. religious officials plead for action to protect syria's christians where a group of nuns is still being held by rebel forces plus. should be no doubt where the united states stands on. america weighs in on ukraine's ongoing crisis supporting the opposition is protesters give present an ultimatum i am ready to pick up any keep going and start shooting and r.t. looks at ukraine's hardline nationalist groups and their claims they are hijacking the country's pro e.u. demonstrations. and i welcome you watching r.t. international coming to you live from moscow now sweden's been helping america's n.s.a. to spy on russian leaders and provided washington with a list of high profile targets swedish state t.v. site documents leaked by whistleblower edward snowden the program which revealed the claims is called mission investigate and its chief editor told us what they found at. we have revealed that. the very close relationship between the swedish defense radio authority f.r.a. and american coun

first of all, what is your christianity today? >> guest: i attended reformed church, an american church in brooklyn, new york, called old first and i'm an elder there. i think my faith, like that of many people goes through the peaks and valleys. the ups and downs, good days and bad days. i think i'll be lying if i said that faith for me was a consistent -- it's a struggle, something you work on. you look for god wherever you can find evidence of god. you try to hang on to faith in those hard times and then you rejoice when you find high points, the moment for me which tend to be in nature but still feel triumphant and feel like it pulls me closer to something that binds. >> host: are you a christian today transferred i think sometimes i'm troubled by the basics of the language. like ms. evangelical what do we mean? was a conservative, what do we mean? it's hard but yes, christian is the right term. i follow jesus as best i can. >> host: on your travels and in your search what did you find across america when it comes to establish

that christianity itself, as a... a new and constantly improvising form of judaism, is able to spread as it does throughout the roman world. >> narrator: paul himself was a diaspora jew. convinced that god had chosen him to spread the word about jesus, he traveled to antioch, the capital of roman syria. >> antioch has one of the largest jewish communities outside of the jewish homeland-- it's been suggested that maybe something like 40,000 people in this jewish community. so we can... we must imagine a number of different jewish congregations and subsections of the city in and through which paul could have moved and still felt very much at home within the jewish community. >> wherever you have a sufficient number of jews, you would have a jewish community. wherever you have a jewish community, you would have a jewish synagogue. >> narrator: by the fourth century, the synagogue had become a formal place of worship. but in paul's day, especially in the diaspora, it was more of a community center. >> another remarkable f

of the christian community in syria. religious officials played for action to protect syria's christians where a group of nuns is still being held by rebel forces plus. there should be no doubt where the united states stands on all of this. america weighs in on ukraine's ongoing crisis supporting the opposition as protesters give president . old some item. and r.t. look to ukraine's hardline nationalist groups and make claims that they're hijacking the country's pro a huge demonstrations. and i welcome you watching r.t. international coming to you live from moscow. now sweden's been helping america's n.s.a. to spy on russian leaders and provided washington with a list of high profile targets swedish state t.v. site documents leaked by whistleblower edward snowden let's go live now to our tease peter oliver he was got more details for sir peter what exactly is emerging here. well these latest leaked documents look into the swedish national defense radio establishment that's known as the the f r a that monitors communicati

of the christian community. religious officials plead for action to protect serious christians where a group of nuns is still being held by rebel forces plus. the no doubt where the united states stands on. america weighs in on ukraine's ongoing crisis supporting the opposition is protesters give presents. an ultimatum also. i am ready to pick up and. start shooting party looks at ukraine's hardline nationalist groups and their claims they are hijacking the country's pro e.u. demonstrations. broadcasting twenty four seven live from moscow you're watching international. sweden's been helping america's n.s.a. to spy on russian leaders and provided washington with a list of high profile targets swedish state t.v. site documents leaked by whistleblower edward snowden the details from marty's correspondent in europe peter oliver. the swedish national defense radio establishment that's known as the the f r a that monitors communications in the swedish intelligence service now claims that the f r a were looking into hi

until then, i'm christiane amanpour.usalem. >>> digging out from a deadly winter storm. the east coast digging out from a deadly winter storm. snow cancelling hundreds of flights. indra petersons will tell us what is coming up next. >>> shocking revelations from the nsa admitting just how much leaker edward snowden may know about secret surveillance on other countries. why they say he may hold the key to the kingdom. >>> us senators in ukraine demanding their president step down. is america involved in a revolution? we have life. >>> i'mis

there is a systematic attack on the christian community in syria and hundreds of thousands of christians were displaced and for more on the christians targeted by rebels in syria as well as other developments in the conflict you had to. come. crane now where the u.s. assistant secretary of state has issued a statement encouraging the crane in opposition calling on the government to move towards integration. this is ukraine's moment to meet the aspirations of its people or to disappoint them and risk descending into chaos and violence there should be no doubt where the united states stands on all of this she was speaking at a pre-planned security summit in kiev that says the opposition in ukraine has delivered an ultimatum to the president calling for early elections they're threatening to set up a round the clock blockade of k. government institutions if their demands are met protesters waving nationalist flags are staging a rally outside the government building in kiev at the moment and as artie's arena reports the protests started out as a pro e.u. demonstration have now become fertile

from every background whether western christians or orthodox christians or christians from africa acknowledgeem as the birth place of jesus. >> just like today's pilgrims the wise men took a journey of their own more than 2,000 years ago to see the newly born messiah. >> the gospel tells us about the magai. it doesn't tell us the number that come. >> while few facts are known about the wise men they play a big part in today's christmas celebration. >> the three kings isn't an aberration. the only reason we think there are three of them they brought gifts gold, frankincense and myrrh. >> just as mysterious as the wise men was the ways they followed. they saw an exploding star or come met or maybe the planet jupiter or was the star of bethlehem a miraculous event which no one can explain? >> it is a great irony because they come to jerusalem and they come to herod and they say where was this kyled born king of the jews. the star was led hem almost far enough bau actually to the wrong king. we often miss that this is much more about the fact of jesus is going to draw people from east and west an

nearby, the christian church.square mile, the most revered places of each of the three religions. and this is also the place where the bible tells us that god had finally demanded too much. abraham had waited into very old age for the children god had promised. he had already been told to send his first son, ishmael, away. now only isaac was left at home. >> abraham, for better or for worse, is used to hearing god's voice. and one day, as the torah tells us in genesis 22, god decides to test abraham. and he says, take your son. your only son. whom you love, and offer him as a sacrifice at the place that i will show you. >> god was telling abraham to kill his own son. ♪ >> you would think that that story is so barbaric that it would have died out over time. instead, jews read it in their holiest week of the year on rosh hashanah. christians read it, the same story, in their holiest week of the year, on easter. muslims read it, the same story, in their holiest week of the year. >> to this day, the story is commemora

but what are the consequences of a christian free syria or more broadly even a christian free middle east if this continues well now we have a christian free iraq. which is referred to as syria lebanon and palestine if this is all have been emptied from the christians. will not to overrule the ten million plus christians in egypt will also be next to follow will not overloaded the. christians in jordan also will will follow this this is very sad we are being captured as hostages by these movements these seem to be separate yet the united. what do you make of how the u.s. is responding to this issue given the conflicting interests here for example in syria you have the assad government which has been friendly to the christian communities but the u.s. is opposed to the assad government instead favors the rebels which we're now seeing factions of the rebels not being friendly to christians can the u.s. even play a role in mitigating this problem nobody understands what the us. game . this at this time in the middle east the u.s. the first time in a very long time. are perceived in the m

christians were displaced. as the e.u. keeps the welcome mat down for potential new members it could be setting itself up for trouble ahead one of the impending threats is widespread poverty within existing member states with almost a quarter of the blocs population living on the brink of some fear the bloc won't be able to handle this burden and here's why bulgaria top of the list is one of the most impoverished countries with nearly half of its population living close to the bread legitimacy romania is not far behind where four of the ten find it hard to make ends meet in that country in bailed out greece look at the figures so much thirty five percent of the population struggle to meet ends meet and look at italy and spain two big economies they have roughly the same proportion of people under pressure from harsh austerity measures roughly about a quarter you could pissed off visited a food bank in rome where essential provisions are handed it to the city's poorest . marco used to work as a pizza your many i

>> morayef: accusations that christians were responsible for the coup, chants that would call christians's "dogs." >> simon: it all came to an abrupt end on august 14, when the army crushed two huge muslim brotherhood encampments. close to 1,000 protestors were killed. >> morayef: the dispersal of the two sit-ins on august 14 were the most bloody incidents of police violence we've ever seen in egypt. >> simon: as word of the killings spread, all across egypt, muslim mobs began attacking christian churches. this cell phone video shows one surrounding the coptic church in sohag, 245 miles south of cairo, battering their way in, setting it on fire. it took a while to destroy the cross, but when it finally came down, the crowd began shouting "god is great." over the next two days, devastation like this was visited on more than 40 churches. >> youssef sidhom: we never expected that they will turn so fierce and vicious in their attacks. >> simon: youssef sidhom is the editor of egypt's most important coptic newspaper. well, how did you explain it? i mean, why was there such violence? >> sidhom

i'm christiane amanpour. and those stories, from genesis to jesus, still incredibly today have the power to comfort us and to guide us, to cause us to go to war and also to make peace. today jews, christians, and muslims revere the same tortured, often brave, always fallible heroes that stride across the pages of this book. as our journey continued, we headed east into the sinai desert, following the trail of yet another complicated biblical hero. moses, wanted for murdering an egyptian slave driver who was beating up an israelite worker. the bible says that moses traveled this way to flee the pharaoh's death sentence. >> so we're whizzing through this desert at top speed because of the potential danger. >> tension was growing in egypt as people waited for the result of their first democratic presidential election. in the political turmoil authorities were losing control of this remote, bandit-ridden region. >> there are bedouins around here who have been attacking vehicles as they go through this part of the

from every background, whether they're western christians or or orthodox christians or christians from just like today's pilgrims, the wise men took a journey of their own more than 2,000 years ago to see the newly born messiah. >> the gospel of matthew introduces us to the magi and we understand that they are from the east. it doesn't tell us the country and it doesn't actually tell us the number who come. >> while few facts are known about the wise men, they play a big part in today's christmas celebrations. >> the three kings is an aberration. the only reason we think there are three of them is because matthew says they brought gifts, gold, frankincense and miles an myrrh. comet or maybe the planet jupiter or was the star of bethlehem a miraculous event which no one can explain? >> of course, it's a great irony because they come to jerusalem and they come to herrod and they say where is this child born, king of the jews and say there is a sense that the star has led them almost far enough but actually to the wrong king. we often miss that when we just do the christmas carol thing. t

ahmed were the consequences of a christian free cereal or more broadly than a christian free middle east if this continues well now we have been christened pre iraq. it didn't live long which is a different tool as as syria lebanon and palestine. this is all a big empty and dead from the christians. anyone up to overrule that the ten million plus that christians in egypt will also be annexed to follow. i was not overloaded baby the christians in jordan also we let windfall been dismissed as many sad. we are being captured as hostages maybe it's the five moments these seem to be in separate yet the odd united when that kev how the us is responding to this issue given the conflicting interests here for example in syria the assad government which has been friendly to the christian communities but us is opposed to the assad government instead favors the rebels which were dousing factions of the rebels. not being friendly to christians to us and even play a role in mitigating this problem nobody understands what the us arab and came up to bed to read this and this time in the movie's debut as

now one of the attack on the island the christian community in cabo. the world is watching river did it because the christians in syria have been specifically targeted old just for the getting caught up and avoid the conflict was the big chair. i think the rba fuel was by both sides. as has the political comment because the tree the day she was also two feet to the shawl that they are protecting the minority especially the christians and now they are breaking the floor for the international community to increase he had to leave these problems with the i'm devils. they are done in a blind eye. the islamists took our kids specifically christians. that is assisting my tic tac. all in all of the christian community in celiac and it was of thousands of off the trees with distaste. a senior american diplomat has waded into ukraine's on rocks and radio position on the phone getting friendly human rights act. this is ukraine's moments to meet the aspirations of its people or to disappoint them. and risk descending into chaos and violence. there should be no do

they were told to the as a whole in the second century before the christian era. way, the sayings and stories of jesus were first s passed down and preserved by word of mouth. pf >> it's one of the great mysteries of church history, that we don't always know ly exactly how they spread. >> archaeologist jonathan reed and biblical scholar john dawson are co-authors of excavating jesus, and in search of paul. >> we do not know who actually wrote matthew, mark, luke and john. those are names attributed to those writings in the second century. but very, very early were written down and the sources foe the gospels can be around the at 50s, so that's more than 20 rly years. >> there are no first editions o of the gospel. t the originals were lost, worn out or destroyed. hat does survive are just scrapi of papyrus written in greek anda coptic. >> i wase surprised when i went to study theas beginning of the christian movement in graduate school and my professors had file cabinets full of gospels which i'd never heard. >> elaine pagle, professor of s religion, author of a b

on the christian community in syria religious officials played for action to protect syria's christians were a group of nuns are still being held by rebel forces we've got the latest on. plus . there should be no doubt where the united states stands on all of this america weighs only crane's ongoing crisis supporting the pro e.u. opposition as protesters give the president going to cope with these pictures. live pictures from central kiev where those rallies are continuing nonstop. i'm ready to pick up any keep forty seven and start shooting up he looks ukraine's hardline nationalist groups in the claims that they are hijacking the country's pro e.u. demonstration. eleven pm now here in moscow when i was kevin i mean this is r.t. international our top story than sweden has been helping america's n.s.a. to spy on russian leaders and provided washington with a list of high profile targets the state t.v. site documents leaked by whistleblower edward snowden the program which revealed the claims called mission investigate its chief editor told us what they found out . we have revealed. the

i'm christiane amanpour. and i would like to invite you on an incredible venture, a journey back in time where we explore the history and the mysteries of some of the oldest stories ever told. we start in a place that many of us are thinking about this time of year. bethlehem. where the bible tells us that a young woman named mary stopped for the night and where shepherds, angels and kings were led by an especially bright star to welcome and worship her newborn child. >> he's the prince of peace, that's what we call him. that's what christmas is all about. >> and so, every year, two million pilgrims are drawn here to the church of the nativity, where there's a small cave that marks the humble beginnings of their savior. do you believe this is where jesus was born? >> i do. >> i alexander drew and -- really connect with their faith. here, whether it's right at that spot, i don't know. now when i go down there into the grotto, i may feel like this is the place. >> but first, we must wait. as the greek orthodox

this is all have been emptied from the christians. not the over ruled that the ten million plus christians in egypt will also be next to follow would not overloaded the. christians in jordan also with would follow this this is very sad we are being captured as hostages by these sufiah movements these seem to be separate yet the united what do you make of how the u.s. is responding to this issue given the conflicting interests here for example in syria you have the assad government which has been friendly to the christian communities but the u.s. is opposed to the assad government instead favors the rebels which we're now seeing factions of the rebels not being friendly to christians can the u.s. even play a role in mitigating this problem. nobody understands what the u.s. . game. at this at this time in the middle east the u.s. for the first time in a very long time. are perceived in the middle east even by its strongest allies such as saudi arabia and egypt as an unreliable partner this is quite harsh i have not heard such harsh crit

this is what they tell us is christian broadway.s the country to watch their favorite bible stories come alive. ♪ ♪ >> when we visited, abraham's great grandson joseph was sent to stage. what most people probably immediately would think is joe sita sif and the coat. >> this is the same guy, the same coat and this is a true biblical account. >> so less coat, more jesus? >> it's about form giveness and forgiveness is at the heart of salvation itself. >> at sight and sound, they say the mission is selling this message, not just tickets, although, when we visited, joseph had grossed almost $14 million that season alone. >> we don't do it for the pocketbook. we do it because we believe in the message of jesus christ. >> is it evangelizing. >> absolutely. >> from the stage hands to leading actors is christian. before every performance, they pray together. >> what we do, is we seek the lord in prayer. what's the story you think is relevant to today? but also, the stories in the bieblg are enriched with the twists and turns and the drama we

hello, everyone, i'm christiane amanpo amanpour. i want to invite you on a journey back in time where we explore the mysteries of the oldest stories ever told. we start in a place that many of us are thinking about. this time of the year. bethlehem. where the bible tells us that a young woman named mary stopped for the night and where shepherds, angels and kings were led by an especially bright star to welcome and worship her newborn child. >> he's the prince of peace. that's what we call him. that's what christmas is all about. >> and so every year, two million pilgrims are drawn here to the church of the nativity. where there's a small cave that marks the humble beginnings of their savior. >> so excited to be here. >> do you believe this was where jesus was born? >> i do. >> i met alexander drew and his mother teresa who travelled from north carolina to try to really connect with their faith. >> i believe it's somewhere here, whether it's right at that spot, i don't know. now, when i go down there into the grotto, i may feel like

and nearby, the christian church.n just one square mile, the most revered places of each of the three religions. and this is also the place where the bible tells us that god had finally demanded too much. abraham had waited into very old age for the children that god had promised. he had already been told to send his first son ismael away. now only isaac was left at home. >> abraham, for better or for worse, is used to hearing god's voice. and one day, as the torah tells us in genesis 22, god decides to test abraham. and he says, "take your son, your only son, whom you love, and offer him as a sacrifice at the place that i will show you." >> god was telling abraham to kill his own son. ♪ >> you would think that that story is so barbaric that it would have died out over time. instead, jews read it in their hollywoodie holiest week of the year. christians read it their holiest week of the year. muslims read it, the same story, in their holiest week of the year. >> to this day, the story is commemorated by moslems all ov

says, the polite of christians around the world -- the plight of christians around the world was discussed in a three-hour debate at the houses of parliament in london yesterday. members of the house of common sense were told that the persecution of -- commons were told that the persecution of christians is increasing. that one christian is killed around every 11 minutes, around the world. and that christianity is the, quote, most persecuted religion globaly, unquote. a long list of countries in which life as a christian is most difficult was discussed, ncluding syria, north korea, nigeria, iraq and egypt. m.p. shannon said the persecution of christians is, quote, the biggest story in the world that has never been told, unquote. he said that although the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion is enshrined in the universal declaration of human rights, there are many countries in which these rights are not given. he alleged that 200 million christians will be persecuted for their faith this year. while he said that 500 million live in dangerous neighborhoods. he added that in s

christians have lived here for centuries. they are not part of the sunni- shiite conflict over power, but they have found themselves victims of attacks by sunni extremists, like those about qaeda, and subject of intimidation by militias. it has been too much for them. x egypt's former president -- >> egypt's former president mohamed morsi is now considered to be a member of a terrorist group. is the latest from the interim government following an attack on tuesday that killed 16. here is news from cairo. is what the egyptian cabinet statement said. yesterday,massacre which left 16 dead and more than they will declare the muslim brotherhood a terrorist organization. the cause for this action has egyptiansgated among of all classes and sex for maybe two months ever since the office that was in support of the hominid morsi. it is no wonder that egyptians of this decision was a lot relief that could be sensed at once on social media, especially twitter. antigovernment demonstrators in the ukraine held a rally to protest against a

no i'm a christian and i don't think that this has anything to do with christianity.s is ridiculous. >> so you don't care. >> merry christmas? >> yeah. i like merry christmas. i don't want it banned. >> christmas trees are not in the bible. this is not about christianity. >> i don't want them banned. >> let's be honest about this. this is not an attack on faith. this is ridiculous. this is not about attacking christmases. >> it's diminishment of not faith but it's a diminishment of an expression of it. >> there are other people in this country who do not celebrate christmas, bill. >> that's fine. >> happy with holidays. >> i say happy holidays to my atheists and jewish friends. i say happy holidays. >> doesn't upset me. what upset me and i said this wait, kate, ill give you the last minute and a half. what upsets me and you should have picked it up is i don't care if you say happy holidays i care whether these groups are forcing people that say merry christmas not to. all right. kate. you get the last 90 seconds, go. >> it's an attack on the very essence of what our c

i'm christiane amanpour. and those stories, from genesis to jesus, still incredibly today have the power to comfort us and to guide us, to cause us to go to war and also to make peace. today jews, christians, and muslims revere the same tortured, often brave, always fallible heroes that stride across the pages of this book. as our journey continued, we headed east into the sinai desert, following the trail of yet another complicated biblical hero. moses, wanted for murdering an egyptian slave driver who was beating up an israelite worker. the bible says that moses traveled this way to flee the pharaoh's death sentence. >> so we're whizzing through this desert at top speed because of the potential danger. >> tension was growing in egypt as people waited for the result of their first democratic presidential election. in the political turmoil authorities were losing control of this remote, bandit-ridden region. >> there are bedouins around here who have been attacking vehicles as they go through this part of the

and the early christians wanted to have a christian focus in the wintertime.lic in the sense that you celebrate the light coming into the world at the very darkest point of the year. >> the gospels tell us jesus was born during the reign of herod the great. >> there is also the question about the year of jesus' birth. >> herod the great, according to the standard consensus, died in the year 4 b.c. now, the gospel of matthew, with the story of the massacre of the innocents, said herod had children less than two years old murdered. so from that, if herod dies in 4 b.c., you count back two years and the scholars typically come up with a date of say 6 or 7 b.c. for the birth of christ. >> over the past 2,000 years, facts and fictions have been combined into the christmas celebration. but for christians, only one thing is essential. >> i think there are people who are looking for facts, and there are people who are looking for fiction. but i think people of faith look for truth. i think in both narratives there's the truth. and truth sometimes goes a lot deeper and

the place christians believe jesus was crucified. hello. to see you in this beautiful, beautiful spot. we meet a priest who surprisingly told us he knows exactly where the ark is. his evidence goes back to that affair between king solomon and the queen of sheba. queen of sheba's son with king solomon took the ark of the covenant, moses' commandments? >> yes. >> where do you think they are? >> city of axum. >> in your country of ethiopia? >> yes. >> do you think it's there really? >> yes. >> he's positive it's inside this chapel in the heart of axum in ethiopia. even though he's never seen it and no one is allowed inside. except for one monk who is entrusted with guarding the ark. scholars do believe there is an ark inside, but that it's only a replica for the middle ages. and down in the caves blow jerusalem, we consider another possibility. the ark never left but was instead hidden away in this undergrowth labyrinth. so you think it remained in jerusalem? >> yes. one thing we know is that one of the kings put it somewhere in the tunnels. >

christian at all. and you enjoy the holiday. i'm all for freedom. and i think that if someone is offended by the commercial itization of the holiday, they don't have to participate if that. so i don't see a problem with it. >> you know, this raises an interesting point. when we're talking about how commercial christmas has become, you told us earlier that members of your organization even celebrate christmas. i work here at aljazeera with a variety of people from different religions and a lot of them celebrate christmas. and does this mean that it's already a very inclusive holiday that already includes everybody under the brella? >> it has been declared a national holiday, and of course everyone gets the day off. as i pointed out, people in the northern hemisphere have always celebrated this time of year. it's the end of the year and the new year, and it's the shortest and darkest day of the year, and people have always done these festivals and done these gift exchanges. so it's a human celebration, b