Controversial Did Jesus Actually Exist?

I was always against the religious fever as a teenager but these days I believe in God! I don't accept everything about the dogma and have never really read the Bible! I tried once but found it too confusing, worse than a H.G.Wells novel! But I do think there is a supreme cosmic intelligence out there but because of many things including time and space he can't be with us every minute of every day! People question his existence because of death but to god death is not something terrible only a transference of energy into another form so it is only us left here on earth that are upset while the recently deceased find themselves in a better place and with a form free of pain as the like! Wait a minute, I sound like a priest after he's secretly been hitting the bottle!!!
JB

The Bible is a horrible book. Better to believe in a God who’s not out to get everyone and who doesn’t send you to hell for not believing in the right religion. Christianity is a horribly toxic religion. I even have contempt for liberal Christians because they only pick and choose which parts of the Bible they follow and do a lot of mental acrobatics to justify the parts of the Bible that are positively awful. Why not just start a new religion?

The Seeker said:

I even have contempt for liberal Christians because they only pick and choose which parts of the Bible they follow and do a lot of mental acrobatics to justify the parts of the Bible that are positively awful.

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I never looked at it as picking and choosing, but rather, like many philosophers before me, I looked at the Bible as one long zen parable - something that got me into trouble with many a fundamentalist along the way. There are some good moral ideas presented amongst the rape, murder, slavery, misogyny, etc. But, as many have pointed out, if you need a religion to make sure you lead a moral life, you're really an asshole.

I remember that marvellous scene between Pagan Christopher Lee up against an outraged Christian in Edward Woodward asking "What of Jesus?"

SUMMERISLE: (Delicately) Himself the son of a virgin, impregnated, I believe, by a ghost....

Watching that at a tender age, I recall thinking.... he's got a point there! Adults all around me are believing this ridiculous, fantastical concept and getting upset if you don't!

Jesus Christ Returns. "Second Coming" In Australia.

A man claiming to be Jesus is gaining followers and causing concern among cult experts in Australia. Former IT specialist Alan John Miller, or AJ as he prefers to be known, runs a religious movement known as the Divine Truth from his home near the small town of Kingaroy in the state of Queensland. Mr Miller claims that not only is he Christ, but his partner, Australian Mary Luck, is in fact Mary Magdalene, who according to the Bible was present at the crucifixion. He told reporters: "I have very clear memories of the crucifixion, but it wasn't as harrowing for me as it was for others like Mary who was present."

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Divine Truth....


https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJRcQ9ZkIdS0CzBCO26BtUQ

Data doubts the Second Coming.

I thought that the Australian Jesus had given up a few years ago, but he is still posting regular Youtube videos, as we speak.....

https://www.youtube.com/user/WizardShak/videos?sort=dd&view=0&shelf_id=4

The God Who Wasn't There


Former fundamentalist Christian Brian Flemming places the core concepts of his former religion under the microscope in a documentary that attempts to do for religion what Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me did for the fast-food industry. In his bold quest to seek answers to the difficult questions that few are willing to pose, Flemming is joined by Deconstructing Jesus author Robert M. Price, renowned historian Richard Carrier, and The End of Faith author Sam Harris.

From the ignorance of many contemporary Christians as to the origin of their religion to the striking similarities between Jesus Christ and the deities worshipped by ancient pagan cults and the Christian obsession with blood and violence, this faith-shaking documentary explores the many mysteries of the Christian faith as never before. This documentary argues the "mythicist" case in the historical Jesus debate.

This position says that Jesus of Nazareth wasn't a real person but a fiction based on Jewish scriptures and mystery religions of the Roman Empire. It doesn't make sense to talk about a "real" Jesus -- there wasn't any.

I’ll be sure to watch that later - but atheist Bart Ehrman, a New Testament scholar, believes there was a real person named Jesus. He wrote a book about him but I haven’t read it - however Ehrman has deconverted many a Christian, including me.

So Jesus was the Best Boy for "The De-Gentrifiers"? And he had two kids???

'I Was Looking at...Jesus Christ': Near Death Experience Puts Man Face-to-Face With God

I think the historicity of Jesus' existence is fairly well-established. That is not to say that because he actually lived that he was actually the "son of God" any more (or less) than any of us are. In fact, Jesus' divinity wasn't firmly established in Christianity through consensus until the First Council of Nicaea in 325.