Bill O'Reilly's next book will be about the death of Jesus Christ

"Killing Jesus: A History" follows the political commentator's best-sellers "Killing Lincoln" and "Killing Kennedy"

Published February 21, 2013 7:25PM (EST)

Fox star and makeshift historian Bill O'Reilly has unveiled the subject of his next book, "Killing Jesus: A History," which in December he teased would be "a blockbuster of epic proportions." O'Reilly, who has clearly developed a formula for his best-selling historical "thrillers," will follow up his "Killing Lincoln" and "Killing Kennedy."

But both came under serious fire. As former Salon politics editor Jefferson Morley pointed out, O'Reilly fabricated a story in "Killing Kennedy," saying he heard an associate of Lee Harvey Oswald commit suicide when, in fact, O'Reilly did not. And Justin Elliott has noted that O'Reilly's Lincoln assassination account was so grossly inaccurate that the historic site, the Ford Theater, refused to sell the book on its premises “because of the lack of documentation and the factual errors within the publication.”

It remains to be seen how O'Reilly will spin what publisher Henry Holt and Co. describes as the retelling of "the story of Jesus of Nazareth as a beloved and controversial young revolutionary brutally killed by Roman soldiers," adding that "O’Reilly will recount the seismic political and historical events that made his death inevitable, and the changes his life brought upon the world for the centuries to follow.”

The book is due to hit shelves on Sept. 24.


By Prachi Gupta

Prachi Gupta is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on pop culture. Follow her on Twitter at @prachigu or email her at pgupta@salon.com.

MORE FROM Prachi Gupta


Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Bill O'reilly Books History Jesus Killing Jesus Killing Kennedy Killing Lincoln