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Came upon site by pure happenchance -- and personally, I don't really have a dog in the fight of whether Jesus was ONE real person or based on multiple real people, or 99% fiction. But if anyone has seen the movie, do share opinions.

konark_girl:

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Came upon site by pure happenchance [SIC]-- and personally, I don't really have a dog in the fight of whether Jesus was ONE real person or based on multiple real people, or 99% fiction. But if anyone has seen the movie, do share opinions.

Well, if Hollywood Leftists made it, you KNOW it's gotta be true! Superman, Darth Vader, the government conspiracy to murder JFK - all true.... (if you're a liberal).........

And yes, you do have a dog in the fight. You're a lefty.

I love movies about history.

I have had this on my list of videos to watch but have not yet gotten to it. I have read much of the work he uses as source material cited however.

From what I have read of the source material, I don't suppose many true believers would find their faith seriously challenged, but those sceptics who now view Jesus as a historical teacher or philosopher who was subsequently deified by his followers might question whether virtually the entire story was later created out of whole cloth.

For an interesting interview with Brian Flemming, see this LINK

• The early founders of Christianity seem wholly unaware of the idea of a human Jesus

On what is that statement based? Seems as though the disciples were sort of aware of a human Jesus. What "founders" does this Best Documentary of the Grassroots Cinema Film Festival cite as the actual founders of Christianity?

I gotta see this. If for no other reason. It should provide some genuine laughs. : D

PAX

"n this critically acclaimed film, you will discover:

• The early founders of Christianity seem wholly unaware of the idea of a human Jesus
  
  
• The Jesus of the Gospels bears a striking resemblance to other ancient heroes and the figureheads of pagan savior cults
  
  
• Contemporary Christians are largely ignorant of the origins of their religion
  
  
• Fundamentalism is as strong today as it ever has been, with an alarming 44% of Americans believing that Jesus will return to earth in their lifetimes"
• 
  

HAHAHAHA!!!!!

Who were more fundamentalist than Paul, Peter, John and the others? And they were persecuted and even died for their beliefs.

Lest one regards the bible and Christianity through the lens of the Holy Spirit, then one will never get it.

but I'm sure there are better ways to waste your time ;)

I think I could enjoiy this one though:

Scott Butcher explains why he is certain that everything in the Book of Revelation is about to come true. (However, he is unable to explain where he got the idea that all airlines have a rule that at least one pilot in the cockpit must be a non-Christian, lest both pilots be Raptured at once while the plane is in flight.)

Didn't you see the news story a while back? <link>

Not addressing the movie claims, as I have not seen it, but according to many of the sources for the movie, evidence for Peter Paul and Mary John et al is, in itself largely non-existent. Without evidence of their lives and death, any conclusions based on their persecution or martyrdom is also inclusive. Paul is probably the best-supported source, although any actual evidence for a specific author is iffy.

I think a large part of what they are suggesting is that, especially in the early manuscripts of Paul's writings, the Christ described is not identified as being a real, physical being

My own hypothesis is that what became known as Christianity is really the merger of two or more independent cultural/political movements of the time.

We know, according to Josephus, that there were numerous Zionist, messianic movements in that period -- and since "Christ" is nothing more than the Greek for messiah, the adherents of these movements would be known as Christians. At about the same time, there was a more mystical, philosophical movement which combined Greek and other ideas (especially Mithraism) with Judaism -- with a totally different idea of the Jewish messiah.

Much as how political radicals and beat poets/mystics/drug experimenters all got lumped together by 60's straights, and how these factions began to merge, or at least support each other, this happened in first Century CE Palestine as well -- a trend that might well have accelerated following the military defeat of the Jewish uprising and the destruction of Jerusalem.

My suggestion is that following the destruction of Jerusalem, many of the zealots adopted the Pauline view that the messiah was metaphoric rather than literal -- and that the stories of the physical live and crucifixion was a matter of incorporation of the lives and deaths of the various zealot messiahs onto the Pauline story.

The eventual adoption of this hybrid religion as the state faith of Rome just accelerated the hybridization -- with even more elements from indigenous beliefs incorporated for political reasons.

But that is just a theory!

Keep us posted Cleaver. I like history, but the Christian theological history bores me to sleep. ;]

Lest one regards the bible and Christianity through the lens of the Holy Spirit, then one will never get it.

In other words, you've got to drink the Kool-Aid before you get the cookie.

This is the same logic mediums use to explain why they can only contact the dead in the presence of true believers. It's a con man's line.

None of this appears to be new information or even a new line of thinking. Christian scholars know as much. In Protestant america, at least, the idiomatic form of Christianity that is taught differs from what their own scholars know to be historically true. I could never speak to what the RCC is up to since their tactic from the beginning was keeping their followers as ignorant as possible.

OK, I'll bite. Could you explain what you mean by that?

In Protestant america, at least, the idiomatic form of Christianity that is taught differs from what their own scholars know to be historically true.

Scope for a whole new thread there.....with plenty of fireworks :) Please do elaborate....