Taking a fresh look at the events beyond the Nativity story, Michael Pfundner asks the big questions about what was going on. Who was Jesus? What was he about? Was he real at all, a proper historical figure? Or is the whole thing about as believable as children in tea towel headgear pretending to be Bethlehem's shepherds?

Many people are familiar with the Nativity story, particularly if they have children who have been in a Christmas play. But it's easy for the important points in the story to get lost in the festive hype around the holiday – is the story of the baby born in the cattle shed as unbelievable as Santa and his elves?

Nativity and Beyond looks at the historical background of the birth of Christ and explores the life of the grown-up Jesus in the first-century Roman world. It asks the question, 'What could it all mean?'