The God Who Wasn't There

[CTZonEdit]

http://www.thegodmovie.com/index.php

Anyone seen this? Comments?

If anyone has questions or challenges please post them here.

We could even answer some of the FAQ questions (link below) and email them (link below) as a group and if they decide to respond then post it here.

Below taken from their website....


The movie that has been astounding audiences in theaters around the world is now available on a high-quality, feature-packed DVD.
In this provocative, critically acclaimed documentary, 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 Jesus will return to earth in their lifetimes
And God simply isn't thereDazzling motion graphics and a sweeping soundtrack propel this uncompromising and taboo-shattering documentary that Newsweek says "irreverently lays out the case that Jesus Christ never existed."
The God Who Wasn't There (http://www.nobeliefs.com/GodWhoWasntThere.htm) includes provocative interviews with:

Sam Harris, PEN Award-winning author of The End of Faith
Robert M. Price, Jesus Seminar fellow and author of The Incredible Shrinking Son of Man
Alan Dundes, Professor of Folklore at the University of California at Berkeley
Richard Carrier, historian and author of Sense and Goodness Without God
Barbara & David P. Mikkelson, authors of the Urban Legends Reference Pages at snopes.com
And many others(Click here to see clips from the documentary. (http://www.thegodmovie.com/clips.php))
Special Features
The special features on this DVD are both generous and carefully selected. As DVD Talk puts it: "This DVD delivers the film in a quality presentation, with extras that quadruple the amount of content in a positive way with no filler."
The extras include:

Two full-length alternate audio tracks with commentary from evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins (A Devil's Chaplain), scholar Earl Doherty (The Jesus Puzzle) and popular blogger The Raving Atheist (ravingatheist.com)
Over one hour of selected additional interview clips with each person in the documentary
An in-depth slide show on every topic in the film, with active links to the Web (Windows or Mac computer required for Web features)
Cast and crew biographies
Selected music from the soundtrack album
Full-motion chapter menusThe God Who Wasn't There (http://www.nobeliefs.com/GodWhoWasntThere.htm) is presented full-screen, with crisp Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo audio. The DVD is playable in all regions, but is English language only (no subtitles or captions). Many questions about the movie are answered in the FAQ (http://www.thegodmovie.com/faq.php). If you have any further questions, please email us (sales@beyondbeliefmedia.com).

[cbressler1976]

This is the exact stuff that I am having issues with....it puts bad thoughts in my head...for instance...i sometimes think...well, these are experts...that have to be some what right...so I guess the best thing for me to do is stay away from this stuff

[a.baker]

Some are stronger than others to expose them selfs to this stuff but I am not one of them. I would love to watch it and commit but I am not strong enough yet to expose my self to it yet... maybe later. I get enough from my husband on what my husband's denies with his "proof of no proof and questions".

[eahaddix]

Anyone seen this? Comments?


I have not seen this movie. As with the movie entitled "The Da Vinci Code," I usually do not place a high priority on viewing such movies as of this time.


We could even answer some of the FAQ questions (link below) and email them (link below) as a group and if they decide to respond then post it here.


The said FAQ section (http://www.thegodmovie.com/faq.php) is insufficient as is. Specifically, in and of itself, the FAQ section (http://www.thegodmovie.com/faq.php) makes many "because it says so" declarations, yet it offers no evidence to substantiate its claims.


In this provocative, critically acclaimed documentary, 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 Jesus will return to earth in their lifetimes
And God simply isn't there[...]


Where is the substantive evidence for these declarations?

I understand that the authors of the said FAQ section expect the reader to view the said film. However, it is unreasonable to expect the opposing viewpoint to repeatedly rewind, review, and "quote" various film clips to reference and debate against any specific substantive evidence for the said FAQ section's claims. The average person does not have the time or the resources to do this. So, really, they should include a "movie notes" section for those who wish to examine the contents of the said film.

[CTZonEdit]

Well is it beneficial to go thru some of the FAQ questions they pose and give an appropriate response regardless of the lack of evidence? I mean you and I know that is the game they are playing but for lurkers or seekers and non believers I think we could come up with something and hopefully get a reply beyond them stating the obvious. Which would be that we watch the DVD to understand their position.

If they are unwilling to back their claims outside anything the DVD shows then that shows something about their claims as well.

[CTZonEdit]

Lets go with the first FAQ question, I give us a start...



Weren't the Gospels -- Matthew, Mark, Luke and John -- written by actual disciples of Jesus? No. This is a traditional belief in Christianity, but it is not supported by evidence. The Gospels were written anonymously, starting 40 years or more after the supposed death of Jesus, and the names were tagged on to the Gospels much later. Christian leaders generally do not share this information with their flocks, but it is known to virtually anyone who attends seminary. The false assumption that disciples wrote the Gospels is one of many that Christian leaders allow their congregations to believe out of convenience or a concern that average Christians cannot handle the more complicated truth.

Right away this response is teeming with bias and is insulting twords Christians in general. Not a good start to an intellectual challenge.

First of all what evidence? If there was evidence to the contrary we would have certainly seen it with the years of scholarly biblical study that has taken place and has been scrutinized in great detail for centuries now. What stunning revelation that bolsters the unfounded belief that it has all been some grand conspiracy to fool the 'flocks' as you put it have you found?

[cbressler1976]

Lets go with the first FAQ question, I give us a start...

[quote]

Weren't the Gospels -- Matthew, Mark, Luke and John -- written by actual disciples of Jesus? No. This is a traditional belief in Christianity, but it is not supported by evidence. The Gospels were written anonymously, starting 40 years or more after the supposed death of Jesus, and the names were tagged on to the Gospels much later. Christian leaders generally do not share this information with their flocks, but it is known to virtually anyone who attends seminary. The false assumption that disciples wrote the Gospels is one of many that Christian leaders allow their congregations to believe out of convenience or a concern that average Christians cannot handle the more complicated truth.

How does one know exactly when the gospels were written?
Did they put a date on them?? <---someone could have copied them and then put a date on it....
do they know where the originals are??
people are so conceited now-a-dayz....
since we think we are so smart...we seem to know everything that people thought and did back then...we think that people of those times weren't so smart... we think we know exactly what they ate...dressed like...fealt....how could we possibly?? the smarter we think that we are becoming...the stupider we are getting....

[CTZonEdit]

Well we know because they can be dated to a specific period of time.

And we know the culture because of what recorded history tells us and what we know about ourselves.

There is more ancient material for us to study regarding the New Testament than any other ancient manuscript on the face of this planet. That should tell you right away that if there was some overwhelming error in the Bible regarding Christianity it should have been found by now.

There is far more textual evidence for the life of Jesus than there is for the life of Julius Caesar. Yet the critics do not question the life of Caesar now do they?

[cbressler1976]

There is far more textual evidence for the life of Jesus than there is for the life of Julius Caesar. Yet the critics do not question the life of Caesar now do they?

you know....i never thought of this....wow...thank you!!
...but what I often wonder though, is how much of what we know about other things is correct?? how do we know that dinosaurs really existed a billion years ago....what if they existed only 3 or 4 thousand years ago? and our dating is incorrect ?? is carbon dating or whatever they do 100% correct?? i don't know...i just think some scientists are so arrogant..