God, Messiah and Heresy
Documentary Series
An Introduction and Overview

“The Abraham Chronicles” is a documentary series of 8, 55 minute programs exploring the birth, dissemination and influence of the idea of “the Messiah” and its influence over Western thinking. Universal in its approach, the series will explore the philosophies of Moses, Jesus and Mohamed and the effects of their teachings on the contours of human life, the hope to better society and the principles of the monotheistic religions. But it will particularly focus on the role of Hebrew civilisation, its prophets and its expounders, as the primary fountainhead for the birth and dissemination of the messianic idea and its translation into a universal idea still active today in religion, spirituality, politics, strategic planning and social action.

“The Abraham Chronicles” are filmed in Cambridge, Rome, Israel, Egypt and Jordan and boasts an impressive list of interviewees representing the major faiths and intellectual streams on the subject.

Prof M. Avrum Ehrlich, a philosopher of religion and politics formerly of Cambridge University and presently at Shandong University in China, is the program host. He will introduce themes, theories and analysis, interview interesting personalities and conduct a scholarly tour de force of the salient issues on this journey.

The messianic mindset, which is a core tenant of the three monotheistic religions, represents, at its basic level, the desire to bring about a peaceful world and harmonious human relations under the hegemony of the one God. Yet this idea, in itself, has not been sufficiently compelling to unify the fragmented groups within the family of believers. Clearly there is a lot that is still not understood about what is a potentially noble ideal.

Professor Ehrlich will explore aspects that have brought the Abrahamic religions to their positions of influence today. He, with the help of the people interviewed, will explain messianism in light of its application throughout the centuries, show its remarkable success in harnessing human enthusiasm, organising society, uniting disparate groupings and providing hope for the future of mankind in its wake. Ehrlich’s theories of messianic behaviour will be developed throughout the series and form a universal definition that is presented to the audience and tested against the realities encountered on the documentary journey.

In his presentation, Prof. Ehrlich identifies the basic sociological structures of messianic and religious thinking as well as the instruments used in its dissemination. Ehrlich will bring the subject, in many of its various filters and manifestations, to the scrutiny of some of the finest minds and souls available and then onto the viewing public. The series will explore major milestones in the evolution of religious thinking; identify models of messianic behaviour and nuances messianic speech, dance, music, evangelism, enthusiasm and hospitality against a backdrop of its birthplace in the Middle East and Rome.

“The Abraham Chronicles” will enter otherwise closed communities of mystics for esoteric insights into faith and practise, interview well known academics and thinkers and obscure researchers on mutual scholarly interests and speak to political leaders and social activists about their work and utopian concerns.

“The Abraham Chronicles” will cover subjects and themes on the subject of messianism, from its sociological motivations to its theological centrality, from its use in extreme mystical thinking to its application in political and utopian thinking, from its prevalence in religious fundamentalism to its less obvious use amongst extreme secular and leftist groups, from its inception in ancient Israel to its contemporary strains within modern Israel and amongst other diverse religious groups. No stone on this road of discovery will be left unturned as the “Abraham Chronicles” clarifies one of the major subjects of universal human interest as well as one of the bones of divisive controversy spanning thousands of years, most of the world’s territory and a majority of its population.

The series will be aired on cable and be developed for DVD and video release in the US, Europe and Australia. A CD of the soundtrack will be issued simultaneously.

The creators of this documentary are:

Executive Producer
Les Hodge, an independent entrepreneur and owner of SONART, one of Australia’s leading independent music company at the forefront of CD music and DVD distribution.

Associate Producer
Sheree Coleman, producer for Channel 31, Australia. Creater of “Art-scream” and Co-founder of Hebrew Civilisation TV.

Writer, Narrator and Presenter
Professor M. Avrum Ehrlich is a theologian, social philosopher and scholar of Judaism. He is author of a number of books on Hasidism, articles on Jewish mysticism and religious sects, as well as biblical commentaries, ethics and politics. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopaedia of the Jewish Diaspora. Ehrlich was ordained a rabbi in ultra orthodox seminaries, was a Visiting Fellow at Clare Hall, Cambridge, a researcher at the Dept. of Social and Political Studies at the University of Cambridge and formerly dean of Mandelbaum House at the University of Sydney. He is presently a professor at the Department of Philosophy and Social Development at Shandong University China where he teaches Hebrew Bible, Talmudic Thought and Jewish Mysticism.

For further information contact:
Sheree Coleman,
Associate Producer
“The Abraham Chronicles”
Phone: +61 2 93881933
Mobile:+61 415 842692
Email: sheree_coleman@hotmail.com