They took a lot of liberties in last night's episode and I was disappointed in the historical inaccuracies. The Romans interrupting Mary and Joseph's worship, chasing people through the streets, Mary having to hide--never read that in the Bible. They probably didn't make the journey to Bethlehem alone, more like lots of people traveled in a caravan for the census. I think the birth itself was probably more accurate than most movies portray, though. There's more too the story with Herod as well. Scholars don't think the Magi showed up until Jesus was a couple years old, then Herod ordered all sons below the age of two be killed.
The crosses weren't accurate either. Romans traditionally crucified on the Roman "T" cross, some think Jesus' crucifixion may have been the "t" shape we're familiar with, but if so it was a special circumstance.
I was disappointed in how they portrayed Jesus. I'd really hoped they would be more true to the Bible (i.e. he was not an attractive man with beautiful flowing hair), and I don't understand why they would ad lib what Jesus said. For the most part, I liked the temptation in the desert--how it showed Jesus' struggle, that it wasn't just some easy thing--however, part of the point there was that he quoted Old Testament scripture to repel Satan (who was beautiful, by the way).
Same thing with the Peter in the boat. Peter wasn't alone, he wasn't called Peter yet (he was Simon) and they again had Jesus ad-libbing.
Oh well, I guess for people who aren't familiar with the stories, it's on point enough to give the gist of what happened. I'm wondering how they're going to handle the Epistles?