Your thoughts on Jesus
 

I have been an atheist for several years but have had problems knowing what to make of the Jesus character everybody seems to like. I am wondering what others of the same ilk think about him and how most of the Western world belives he is the son of god

Re: Your thoughts on Jesus
 

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I have been an atheist for several years but have had problems knowing what to make of the Jesus character everybody seems to like. I am wondering what others of the same ilk think about him and how most of the Western world belives he is the son of god

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It's important to realize that there is often a disconnect between the Jesus of the Gospels, the "historical" Jesus, and the Jesus of "Jesus is Love" (i.e. the soft Christianity held by so many nice non-fundamental Christians).

I guess you could say:

Jesus is what you want him to be.

Therein lies his appeal.

Re: Your thoughts on Jesus
 

All I know is the man had dead sexy abs! [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Re: Your thoughts on Jesus
 

I think that to believers, Jesus is the projection of all the good things in their life. Their family and loved ones and all the things that they hold dear to their heart. This is why they defend and get so insulted when you question their faith in Jesus because it is so much a part of them that it is almost indistinguishable to them. They end up so that they cannot picture life without Jesus, so you hear things like "No faith in Jesus, you must hate yourself" or "Why don't atheists just kill themselves". They have their life so entwined with their faith in Jesus that life without Jesus just seems meaningless and devoid of morality or responsibilty. This leads to the "Without God, murder is ok" crowd who view atheism as this purely hedonistic lifestyle that is comparable with being criminally insane. (IMO, Atheism is not actually a lifestyle, for the record.)

Re: Your thoughts on Jesus
 

I question whether he ever existed. I know that sounds insane in a culture built on the certainty that he did (and Christmas movies presented as fact), but the more you actually look at what historians and Catholic apologists write about the issue, the more you realise the evidence is very scant. Without the bible, there would not be enough evidence for a historian to consider him a real historical character.

As the only evidence, the new testament comes under scrutiny. The first parts of what would become the New Testament were written around 40 years (the absolute minimum according to even religious scholars) after his death. Later parts were added up to 100 years after his death. In a time of myth and superstition, without widespread education/writing, TV, or reliable press, such a story could very well be a complete fabrication. Certainly there were excellent reasons for religious powers to write a story which combined the prominent pagan myths of the day (as the bible suspiciuosly does).

Anyway, the point is that even if he did exist, we can't reliably say anything at all about him or his life, as none other than the religious powers of the day wrote anything historical about him.

Re: Your thoughts on Jesus
 

I've been reading a bit about this recently and tend to agree. The possibility that he didn't exist at all is a real one.

I tend to think on balance he probably did, just an instinct based on human tendency and the oral tradition, there was probably something at the genesis of those tales. I don't think we can go much further than that though, with the records available it's hard to know much of anything about him.

Re: Your thoughts on Jesus
 

"As the only evidence, the new testament comes under scrutiny."

The New Testament has more ancient manuscript evidence than any other work in history. It is also remarkably close from translation to translation- see your goofy comment below.

"In a time of myth and superstition, without widespread education/writing, TV, or reliable press, such a story could very well be a complete fabrication."

This is wrong for the very reasons you state.

Re: Your thoughts on Jesus
 

http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/2857/j2k557sp.jpg

Re: Your thoughts on Jesus
 

People were being eaten by lions rather than simply renouncing Jesus in the decades following His crucifixion. That being so close to the "genesis" of the story lends some serious credibility to the simple matter of His existence.

Mind you, it only took a couple hundred years for THE Roman Emporer to declare Christianity the religion of Rome. That would be comparable to George Washington being fabricated, and the American Independence occuring by coincidental happenstance. As in, not very likely.

Re: Your thoughts on Jesus
 

OK.

I was beginning to think you were a bit off, and now I find your Mr OOO I'm confused but still leaning towards a bit off.