Jesus Christ

Quoted from BlackandWhiteBarmy2

I believe that there could have been a preacher in those times and he may have been called Jesus, however as I like to point out to Christians this man would have been a jew, as were all his disciples. At no point in the bible does he renounce his Jewish faith and neither do any of the disciples and the crown of thorns was to represent him as King of the Jews. The christian religion was not founded for a number of years after the supposed death of Jesus. So the christian faith is based on fictional accounts written hundreds of years, in some cases, later. So why base a new religion on the teachings of someone who was obviously quite happy himself to be of another religion, why not just become another branch of Judaism.

I think the answer to this is Jesus preached a radical form of Judaism which wasn't in keeping with main Jewish orthodox views of the time. Its what ultimately got him killed as he was attracting such a following that the Romans were scared of his new message.

Quoted from Humbercod

I would class myself as an Atheist but I’m always intrigued and open to listening to alternative views, but the problem for me with the Jesus story is that the story has been told many times before his arrival.
Richard Dawkins covered this subject well in is excellent book the God delusion.

I think there were story's going on before Jesus's time of which parts  were amalgamated  into the bible eg Noah's Arc and the flood .I think this what parts of the Quran represents as well. Fragments of Christian thinking which became part of the Islamic holy book.

Thing is the founder of Judaism Abraham was the first ancient man to propose a belief in one God at a time when ancient peoples  believed in many Gods. This is what ultimately influenced later prophets eg Moses, John the Baptist and then Jesus.

Ive read the God delusion as well and wasn't entirely convinced with Dawkins arguments. Even he admits he hasn't got the answer to the universes' complexity and leaves some room aside for "something" which could of started everything off.

Quoted from Humbercod

I would class myself as an Atheist but I’m always intrigued and open to listening to alternative views, but the problem for me with the Jesus story is that the story has been told many times before his arrival.
Richard Dawkins covered this subject well in is excellent book the God delusion.

Dawkins is also famous for his evolution theory, and let us remember it is his words as a theory. Evolution is a fact of life going forward but he failed to state how the worlds were created. Lets go to the Big Bang theory of two worlds colliding, so far so good. So who created the first world and where did the second one come from.

Until their is some type of answer to these questions I am happy with the fact in Genesis 'God Created'. Incidentally you could also say two atoms collided to make the Big Bang and my question would still be the same, who created the first atom.

Quoted from DB

Dawkins is also famous for his evolution theory, and let us remember it is his words as a theory. Evolution is a fact of life going forward but he failed to state how the worlds were created. Lets go to the Big Bang theory of two worlds colliding, so far so good. So who created the first world and where did the second one come from.

Until their is some type of answer to these questions I am happy with the fact in Genesis 'God Created'. Incidentally you could also say two atoms collided to make the Big Bang and my question would still be the same, who created the first atom.

Likewise DB soon as science discovers something it opens up a pandoras box to something else. Its a never ending cycle for the holy grail.  For me the divine will never be summed up by science .

There is a series on the history channel called ancient aliens which looks at the possibility that aliens not God seeded this planet.

Also looks at how men in those days could move a stone weighing over 100 ton lift it and lay it perfectly in a wall.

Something we can not do today without very heavy lifting vehicles and other equipment .

Quoted from grimsby pete

There is a series on the history channel called ancient aliens which looks at the possibility that aliens not God seeded this planted.

Also looks at how men in those days could move a stone weighing over 100 ton lift it and lay it perfectly in a wall.

Something we can not do today without very heavy lifting vehicles and other equipment .

For me Pete I dont buy into the idea of aliens. Its all about the energy . I think the divine is somehow linked into this. Think of light over dark, good over bad ,love over hate. Jesus essentially preached the same thing and why he was often referred to as the light of the world.

There is no evidence that Jesus existed. The romans, if they were worried about the message he was preaching, certainly didn't think he was important enough to mention.

We only have the stories written years after his death by people who were followers of this new religion, and considering some of those stories said he could cure leprosy etc. with just a touch or that he fed 5000 people with 5 fish and 12 loaves of bread or some such nonsense, oh and the coming back from the dead thing. He is also considered a prophet in Islam, a religion which didn't rise until 700 years or so after his supposed death.

My point is that, in most circumstances, you would at least question something that had no basis in fact and that was only written about years after the alleged events and yet here we are a whole religion unquestioned.

Why would any god create the earth and all it’s living things and then send deadly viral illnesses, famines and natural disasters while allowing wars, genocides, sexual violence/crimes etc to happen?

Quoted from DB

Dawkins is also famous for his evolution theory, and let us remember it is his words as a theory. Evolution is a fact of life going forward but he failed to state how the worlds were created. Lets go to the Big Bang theory of two worlds colliding, so far so good. So who created the first world and where did the second one come from.

Until their is some type of answer to these questions I am happy with the fact in Genesis 'God Created'. Incidentally you could also say two atoms collided to make the Big Bang and my question would still be the same, who created the first atom.

Or go back further and ask where did God come from?

Religion is complete and utter bunkum and it staggers me that so many people believe. Never has something caused so many wars, deaths and subjugation of people in the entire history of mankind.

I'm with Penn Jillette in saying that I'm not even an atheist, as that suggests there is something to be opposed to and there isn't. He says:-

"Religion cannot and should not be replaced by atheism. Religion needs to go away and not be replaced by anything. Atheism is not a religion. It's the absence of religion, and that is a wonderful thing."

Quoted from DB

Dawkins is also famous for his evolution theory, and let us remember it is his words as a theory. Evolution is a fact of life going forward but he failed to state how the worlds were created. Lets go to the Big Bang theory of two worlds colliding, so far so good. So who created the first world and where did the second one come from.

Until their is some type of answer to these questions I am happy with the fact in Genesis 'God Created'. Incidentally you could also say two atoms collided to make the Big Bang and my question would still be the same, who created the first atom.

DB don’t confuse the scientific term ‘theory’ (ie a hypothesis with lots of evidence to support it as a good working explanation for the way things are or the way things work, but leaving just enough room for a better explanation that is supported by better evidence) with an opinion or a belief that has no proof. There is no equivalence between the theory of evolution and creationism. The latter is just a story. A myth if you like, that might hold a hidden meaning, but for which there is no proof.

The Big Bang theory isn’t about two worlds colliding either. It’s about all matter, space and time starting very very rapidly  from a singularity (at which point I get lost). If you’re going to dismiss a theory, understand what it is first. The Big Bang Theory does, as I understand it, allow for a ‘god’ to have started it off. Although some cosmologists think that our Big Bang might not have been the first.

Quoted from grimsby pete

Fair point but why have not the middle eastern countries taken those names as well. ?

Pete, I thought you were joking at first! A lot of those ‘English’ names are Anglicised versions of Latin and Greek versions of Middle Eastern names.

Exception is Peter, which is I think Greek or Latin for stone/rock and was a nickname given by Jesus to his disciple Simon (modern Hebrew = Shimon). There was no Hebrew Peter.

They were adopted in Christian countries as people wanted to give their offspring holy names. When they ran out of New Testament names, they started using Old Testament names too like Daniel, Samuel, Deuteronomy and Leviticus (only kidding about the last two).

Joshua is our version (in the Anglo countries) of Jesus or Jesu in the Latin countries. Jesus being the Latinised version of an old Hebrew name - for some reason (probably to do with who translated what and when) we call the Old Testament profit Joshua but the New Testament guy Jesus.