( CNN ) A year-and-a-half ago , when the Jesus edition of Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard 's ongoing book series about the deaths of famous people was released , O'Reilly did the talk show circuit to promote the book . To `` 60 Minutes '' O'Reilly professed that his `` Killing Jesus '' is not a religious book . It was purely historical , said the Fox News host . He said it investigates the political circumstances surrounding the most famous death of all time . When asked why Jesus was killed , O'Reilly said , `` He was upset that the Jews were taxing -- and overtaxing , extorting -- the folks . '' Jesus was executed , according to O'Reilly , not because he claimed to be God , but because he interrupted the `` money flow '' of taxes to the Romans and the Jewish temple leaders . As a theologian , I must say that O'Reilly buried the lead . The death of Jesus of Nazareth , at least historically speaking , was just one more ignominious execution of a peasant Jew in a long line of such executions . A century before Jesus ' death , the Romans crucified about 6,000 slaves on the roads leading to Rome , putting to an end the Third Servile War . Like Jesus , these slaves stood up to the Roman Empire and were quickly defeated . Crucifixion was common . Five things Bill O'Reilly flubs in 'Killing Jesus ' Jesus ' death was unique because of its theological and religious import . At least that 's what his earliest followers decided upon reflection . Jesus was not the messiah that the Hebrews had anticipated . In fact , he 'd done just about the opposite of what was expected : preached peace , lived in relative obscurity , and died young . Jesus was most definitely an outsider -- on this O'Reilly and I agree . He lived in the outer reaches of the empire , a non-citizen with few rights . Even his Galilean accent was considered backwoods in the metropolis of Jerusalem . Whether it was the Roman occupying force or the powerful temple leaders , they must have thought , `` Jesus is not like us . '' So it 's pleasantly surprising that the TV movie based on O'Reilly 's book casts a Muslim actor , Haaz Sleiman , as Jesus . Sleiman was raised in Lebanon . He is thick-featured and broad-shouldered . And he is robustly hirsute , the very opposite of the wispily-bearded Ted Neely from the Jesus Christ Superstar of my youth . Speaking of Ted Neely , he is just one in a long line of blue-eyed Jesuses in art and film . For a long time , the actors chosen to play Jesus have looked more like O'Reilly and me than like a Judean . Sleiman is a welcome break from that tradition , but some people have voiced displeasure at his casting . Having a Muslim portray the founder of Christianity , they contend , is an offense . Sleiman disagrees . `` My religion is inclusivity , '' Sleiman told me , and he is an effective evangelist of that religion . He is unashamed to talk about his connection to God , his respect for all three Abrahamic faiths -- Judaism , Christianity , and Islam -- and in the `` beauty and magnificence of humanity . '' To play Jesus , Sleiman said , he simply focused on the divinity that he believes is available to all human beings , a divinity that Jesus was specially aware of . When Bill O'Reilly portrays Jesus as a champion of low taxes and an opponent of big government , he 's not committing a mortal sin . He 's doing what so many have done before : seeing in Jesus what they want to see , and making Jesus into someone who looks , talks , and thinks like they want him to . So maybe the best thing that Christians can do during this Holy Week is to watch a Muslim portray Jesus . In that portrayal , we might be reminded that Jesus himself did n't look like the dominant culture of his day , and he practiced a religion that the Romans did not understand or respect . We live in an uneasy time between Christians and Muslims , between Christianity and Islam . And it was n't so different in the first century . Then , an obscure figure who was little understood preached peace and died a sacrificial death . Now a Muslim actor is bringing him to life , and that is no more scandalous than Jesus ' own life .
A TV movie based on O'Reilly 's book ` ` ` ` '' portrays a Muslim character as Jesus . Maybe best educated Christians during this Holy Week should watch and portray Jesus , says Tony Jones .