MARKETING THE MESSIAH will be an honest, secular, entertaining investigation into what biblical scholars, academics and historians know about early Christianity, produced by the brand new Australian documentary production company, Deep Dive Documentaries.

The more you learn about the historical Jesus, the authors of the New Testament, and the early leaders of the church, Paul, Peter, and James, the stranger the story becomes.

From a purely secular, historical perspective, we ask – how and why did these men create a fringe, Jewish cult that ended up taking over the Roman Empire?

What do we know about the other versions of Christianity that were popular in the first few hundred years but had major differences in their view of who Jesus was – and what he meant? And why did they all disappear?

Using interviews, humour and animation to make the documentary as entertaining as possible, we hope it will be both slightly controversial and quite funny, while also sticking honestly to the facts as they are currently understood by academics.

The biggest story ever told will now be told on film for the first time without the layers of endearing mythology that you grew up with… praise the Lord!

Whether you’re a Christian, atheist, agnostic, pastafarian, or something else, you will probably agree with us that the tale of the rise of Christianity is one of the most amazing in all of history. How did a fringe, desert, Jewish cult, whose founder ended up being executed by the authorities because he was accused of being a terrorist, manage to take over the Roman Empire?

We all know the version we learned in Sunday School but how closely does that map to what actual historians believe today? As it turns out – not closely at all!

Australian history nerd Cameron Reilly is going to take us on a dynamic, take-no-prisoners exploration of history’s most elusive figure: Yeshua Ben Yosef aka Jesus the Christ aka that invisible guy who watches you masturbate (yes, I’m looking at you… and so is he). Armed with his trademark laconic delivery and dogged adherence to historical authenticity, Reilly explores the most common assumptions about the Son of God and his early followers, accompanied by interviews with Biblical academics and scholars from around the world. Fleshed out with dodgy animations and heavily fake-bearded re-enactments, he traces Christianity’s journey from ridiculed minor desert cult to major worldwide religion and political power player.

Why “Marketing The Messiah”?

We think it sums up what we find most fascinating about the Jesus story. The entire idea of a messiah for the Gentiles had never existed before the first century. And from what we know from the New Testament, it certainly wasn’t Jesus’ idea. He never directly claims to be a messiah at all, especially for the Gentiles. He was a Jew and the messiah was a Jewish idea of the promised ‘anointed’ king of the Jews – nothing to do with being the ‘Son of God’. So where did this idea of a messiah for the Gentiles come from? That’s the story we want to investigate.

Watch our first trailer here.