"The God who wasn't there"

[Don't care]

My only comfort will be my waving to the guys who produced this film, over the deep chasm between where I will be in Heaven and their place in Hell.

http://www.thegodmovie.com/?gclid=COON_O--z5YCFRJ4xgodil-vyQ

Bowling for Columbine did it to the gun culture.

Super Size Me did it to fast food.

Now The God Who Wasn't There does it to religion.

The movie that has been astounding audiences in theaters around the world is now available on a high-quality, feature-packed DVD. Own the taboo-shattering documentary that Newsweek says "irreverently lays out the case that Jesus Christ never existed."

In 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

From exposing the hidden history of Christianity to lampooning the bloody excesses of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ (which caused Gibson to attempt legal action against the documentary), The God Who Wasn't There pulls no punches.

Directed by award-winning filmmaker (and former Christian) Brian Flemming, The God Who Wasn't There includes stimulating interviews with:

    * Sam Harris, author of The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation

    * 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

Dazzling motion graphics and a driving soundtrack propel this uncompromising film that the Los Angeles Times calls "provocative - to put it mildly."

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 superb commentary tracks on this DVD are not the usual "making of" chat but instead consist of original material that director Brian Flemming crafted to deepen the experience of The God Who Wasn't There. The two separate tracks are:

    * "The Atheists." This lively track features evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion). Topics discussed by this towering atheist figure range from the horrors committed in the name of God to the power of science to combat "religion and all other forms of superstition." Relevant audio from other interviewees is also woven into this timely and candid examination of irrational beliefs.

    * "The Scholar." This track delves deep into the Jesus Myth hypothesis with pioneering scholar Earl Doherty (The Jesus Puzzle). If you are intrigued by the possibility that Jesus Christ did not exist at all, you will find this audio track fascinating. Doherty has been studying for decades the evidence that mainstream academics are only beginning to discover. Prepare to be astounded.

The DVD also includes more than one hour of additional interviews on video. These illuminating extended clips did not make it into the fast-paced main feature, but many viewers nonetheless highlight them as a favorite part of the DVD. Topics include:

    * The Rapture. Soft-spoken Rapture-believer 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.)

    * Legend. Barbara and David P. Mikkelson, the creators of Snopes.com, discuss the creepy lessons behind a certain urban legend popular among Christians.

    * What God wants. Philosopher Richard Carrier performs a thought experiment in which he asks, if there is a God, what does he want? The results are both hilarious and difficult to dispute.

    * Who needs God to be good? Author Sam Harris disputes the notion that morality has any relationship to dogma.

    * And many more.

We'll let DVD Talk describe one more special feature on this packed DVD: "There's an excellent slide show titled 'Explore the Myth,' which looks at the stories about Jesus and traces them throughout time, examining their effect right up through today's dangerous extremist conservatism, which has left America fractured. Viewing the slide show on DVD-ROM [any Windows or Mac computer with a DVD drive] will open Web sites related to the material."

And there's even more compelling material for you to discover on your own...

This DVD is sure to be a valued contribution to your DVD collection. Many buyers report watching it again and again, showing it to friends, and always finding something new and fascinating with each viewing.

[makattak]

Bowling for Columbine did it to the gun culture.

Super Size Me did it to fast food.

Now The God Who Wasn't There does it to religion.

Sooo... they promote their movie as a distortion of the truth that largely will preach to those that already believe it and just annoy those opposing it, ultimately fading into obscurity as it gets dismissed as propaganda?

Also, there is nothing new under the sun:

http://elvis.rowan.edu/~kilroy/christia/library/doubts-napoleon.html

(i.e. the same arguments were made hundreds of years ago and responded to in a most satirical way. Using the same arguments, Archbishop Richard Whately disproved the existence of Napoleon...)

[MicroBalrog]

I'm not a great believer, and yet this strikes me as... completely retarded.

[HankB]

With luck, after trashing Christianity, the authors will get the idea of doing the same to Islam . . . with an entirely predictable consequence.

[MicroBalrog]

With luck, after trashing Christianity, the authors will get the idea of doing the same to Islam . . . with an entirely predictable consequence.

Or they can get introduced to some Maronites.

[Marnoot]

Eh; (many) Atheists feel just as much need to proselyte as many of us that believe in a Supreme Being. I find it a bit amusing. "Must save the heathen (Christians / Muslim / etc) from their dark ignorance!"

[Gewehr98]

Bowling for Columbine did it to the gun culture.

Super Size Me did it to fast food.

Now The God Who Wasn't There does it to religion.

Says who?

Bowling for Columbine made me buy more guns.

Super Size Me made me go to Wendy's a couple more times a month.

The last flick is supposed to make me go to church less? 

Yeah, sure, ok.

[Racehorse]

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

Yeah, Peter, James, John-all of those guys-had no idea that Jesus was human or even that he existed.  :rolleyes:

    * Contemporary Christians are largely ignorant of the origins of their religion

Maybe so. What bearing does this have on the reality of Jesus?

    * 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

Again, maybe, but so what? It's not even relevant to the question of whether Jesus existed or not.

These types of anti-religion screeds have been around for thousands of years. :yawn:

[ArfinGreebly]

Silly humans.

It's important for you all to understand that ALL religion is wrong!

 

Religion continues to be the primary carrier for the idea that there are consequences -- of some kind -- for our actions.  Morality, if you will.

If we can just get rid of the whole "consequences" concept, we can entice people to engage in whatever heinous stuff we dream up.

We'll need some kind of substitute . . . hey -- let's use science! . . . so we can explain away anything awkward that shows up.  And then . . . yeah . . . we can do a little ad-hoc science of our own, once we've moved "science" into religion's old slot, and we can justify anything!

This will be great!

And, since we're in charge of what gets to be called "science," we get to be in charge of everyone!

Hah!  The power!  It is ours!

Ahem.  Anyway.  Religion is Bad, m'Kay?

[MicroBalrog]

     * 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

Why is this 'alarming'?

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

Why is this 'alarming'?

They associate it with this, I guess:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heaven%27s_Gate_(religious_group)

[Nick1911]

Why is this 'alarming'?

Presumably, the authors are rather firmly convinced that this event isn't going to happen, have convinced themselves that it's completely unreasonable to believe it will based on the assumption that the bible is purely fictional.  (An assumption that they themselves have a stone cold belief in...)  Therefore they find it alarming that almost half the country believes that this event will occur in the near future when they consider it impossible to ever happen.  That's my guess.

[Kyle]

"Quote
    * The early founders of Christianity seem wholly unaware of the idea of a human Jesus

Yeah, Peter, James, John-all of those guys-had no idea that Jesus was human or even that he existed. "




You DO realize that when the Bible says "The Gospel According to ____" that the individual's name in the title is NOT the name of the person who wrote the Gospel. The Gospels were written by groups of people  70-80 years after the death of Christ, written down from two generations of oral history. The Gospels are very inconsistent, if not outright contradictory.

You also must realize that the meat of Christian theology has it's roots in the letters of Paul, and that Paul never claimed to have met Jesus Christ, and he is not concerned with the life of Christ at all, but rather with the conduct of new early Christians. Paul's letters could easily exist outside of Christ.

[taurusowner]

"Quote
    * The early founders of Christianity seem wholly unaware of the idea of a human Jesus

Yeah, Peter, James, John-all of those guys-had no idea that Jesus was human or even that he existed. "




You DO realize that when the Bible says "The Gospel According to ____" that the individual's name in the title is NOT the name of the person who wrote the Gospel. The Gospels were written by groups of people  70-80 years after the death of Christ, written down from two generations of oral history. The Gospels are very inconsistent, if not outright contradictory.

You also must realize that the meat of Christian theology has it's roots in the letters of Paul, and that Paul never claimed to have met Jesus Christ, and he is not concerned with the life of Christ at all, but rather with the conduct of new early Christians. Paul's letters could easily exist outside of Christ.

You do realize that none of that has anything to do with them not being aware of the idea of a human Jesus?

[buzz_knox]

With luck, after trashing Christianity, the authors will get the idea of doing the same to Islam . . . with an entirely predictable consequence.

No chance.  People attack Christianity because it's acceptable in today's society and there is no chance of their being killed in retaliation.  Attacking Islam is neither permitted nor survivable.

[Pb]

"Quote

You also must realize that the meat of Christian theology has it's roots in the letters of Paul, and that Paul never claimed to have met Jesus Christ, and he is not concerned with the life of Christ at all, but rather with the conduct of new early Christians. Paul's letters could easily exist outside of Christ.

Paul did claim to have met Jesus in a supernatural experience on a road.  That is why he converted.  You are incorrect.

[nobody's_hero]

What did "Supersize me" do to fast food?

Last time I checked, a small drink from Wendy's was friggin' huge.

[MicroBalrog]

Therefore they find it alarming that almost half the country believes that this event will occur in the near future when they consider it impossible to ever happen.  That's my guess.

I do not share any of the beliefs of Christians, apart from a core belief in objective morality.

Yet I do not find it in any way alarming that people believe Jesus might return, or whatever else people believe I don't agree with.

[Nick1911]

I do not share any of the beliefs of Christians, apart from a core belief in objective morality.

Yet I do not find it in any way alarming that people believe Jesus might return, or whatever else people believe I don't agree with.

Well, while you don't find it alarming, clearly the author did.  Or,  far more likely - my theory is completely wrong about why that is alarming to the author.

[Balog]

I do not share any of the beliefs of Christians, apart from a core belief in objective morality.

Yet I do not find it in any way alarming that people believe Jesus might return, or whatever else people believe I don't agree with.

The people who write these kind of books (Dawkins) and make these kind of movies think that their religion (atheistic, humanist, materialist etc) is so obviously correct that anyone who dares disagree must be a blithering idiot. Not agreeing with their dogma is proof, to them, of mental incompetance. And teaching your beliefs to your kids is child abuse. And the Bible is full of hate speech.

[ArfinGreebly]

Because . . .

"Religion is BAD, m'Kay?"

And science isn't something you have to actually learn -- we have Scientists for that.

Just listen to them, believe in what they tell you, and -- despite the human race being the world's biggest problem -- you can have redemption.

And remember, kids, Religion is Bad, m'Kay?

 

[freedom lover]

The Gospels are very inconsistent, if not outright contradictory.

Have you ever actually read them? They do have their small contradictions, but just because some mention events that others don't, that doesn't automatically discredit them.

Paul's letters could easily exist outside of Christ.

You've obviously never read them. I seem to remember them mentioning him.

Religion is not silly because everyone believes in something that they can't prove, ergo, they have faith. I think it takes alot more faith to believe that all matter had to come from nothing some time before the big bang, than to believe that a powerful being created matter.

It had to come from somewhere! You can't get something out of nothing!

[MechAg94]

You DO realize that when the Bible says "The Gospel According to ____" that the individual's name in the title is NOT the name of the person who wrote the Gospel. The Gospels were written by groups of people  70-80 years after the death of Christ, written down from two generations of oral history. The Gospels are very inconsistent, if not outright contradictory.

You also must realize that the meat of Christian theology has it's roots in the letters of Paul, and that Paul never claimed to have met Jesus Christ, and he is not concerned with the life of Christ at all, but rather with the conduct of new early Christians. Paul's letters could easily exist outside of Christ.

You DO realize your two paragraphs contradict each other?  Paul's letters = oral history ?  

[roo_ster]

"Quote
    * The early founders of Christianity seem wholly unaware of the idea of a human Jesus

Yeah, Peter, James, John-all of those guys-had no idea that Jesus was human or even that he existed. "




You DO realize that when the Bible says "The Gospel According to ____" that the individual's name in the title is NOT the name of the person who wrote the Gospel. The Gospels were written by groups of people  70-80 years after the death of Christ, written down from two generations of oral history. The Gospels are very inconsistent, if not outright contradictory.

You also must realize that the meat of Christian theology has it's roots in the letters of Paul, and that Paul never claimed to have met Jesus Christ, and he is not concerned with the life of Christ at all, but rather with the conduct of new early Christians. Paul's letters could easily exist outside of Christ.

I'd suggest a little more research on your part if you want to be taken seriously on this matter.  I'll leave it at that, along with a bit of wisdom from an undeniably (formerly) corporeal person:

"It isn't what we don't know that gives us trouble, it's what we know that ain't so."
----Will Rogers

[Nick1911]

You can't get something out of nothing!

Truism.

It had to come from somewhere!

Did it?  Perhaps matter always existed in some form or another.  This is what I personally believe.  It's my understanding that matter can not be created or destroyed - and I have no reason to believe that it could have been at any point in the past.  Additionally, if it did have to come from somewhere - where did god get it from?  Matter can't simply be created out of thin air, as you noted.  To suggest otherwise would be seemingly contradictory.

I swear, I'll never understand or be able to accept religion.  :|   The concepts are just flat out foreign - almost surreal - to me.