It's easy to imagine historical events in the context of our own time, place and worldview. It can be highly deceptive, however, to separate a person, his or her words and works from their historical context. It tends to skew meaning and motive, and both tend to become more biased and distorted over time. In "The Challenge of Jesus," former Dominican priest and biblical scholar John Dominic Crossan puts viewers into the time, place and worldview of Jesus, what Crossan calls his matrix. "You might say I'm trying to re-old Christianity. I want us to return to the original, real and radical challenge Jesus posed to a world dominated by the Roman empire." Crossan told ReadTheSpirit website in September.

As Crossan explains, in Jesus' time titles such as Son of God and King of the Jews were already taken. The former described Caesar the Augustus (or Caesar the One To Be Worshiped); the latter was Herod the Great, Roman-appointed governor of Israel. Jesus' new message challenged the Roman ideal of peace through victory, espousing instead the radical ideal of peace through justice.

"What other way, Rome would have asked rhetorically, could you even get world peace except through world victory?" Crossan asks in the first of 16 segments covering four hours of lectures. "Is victory the only way to peace? Is violence the only way to non-violence? Is there another way?"

Crossan brilliantly brings the story and message of the historical Jesus into focus through Jesus' matrix, which the scholar distinguishes from mere foreground or background. He reminds us that much of our Christian story, symbols and language are modeled on the structures of Rome's imperial religion. Crossan also provides the framework of the Jewish tradition into which Jesus was born and preached, one that called for a "divine cleanup" of the mess humans had made of things. Instead, of course, Jesus taught that the Kingdom of God was already present, "within you," a radical departure from the Jewish theology of the time.

"The Challenge of Jesus" is a thought-provoking exploration into Jesus as a man—including his non-violent protestations of Roman rule—as a divine manifestation of God and into his teachings. Crossan adds new depth and new facets to who Jesus was and what he implored us to do in his teachings. He also delves into how and why Jesus' words and actions vary in the Bible and among branches of Christianity.

This is an exploration well worth making for anyone who wants a better understanding of Jesus and his message.

Watch the prologue to "The Challenge of Jesus," and order the two-DVD set from Faith and Reason (http://www.faithandreason.org, 200 S. Lamar St., Suite 130S, 601-354-0767). The cost is $295.