What made you give up on Jesus?

[Brian37]

A simple question a co worker asked me back in the late 80s. Now while it still took me several years to give up on the entire idea of any type of deity, the question that sparked my road was "What if Jesus was just a man". It made sense to me. I know now there is no evidence for the alleged character in reality, but even if he had existed, the only reasonable thing you could say is that a man, or group of splinter Jews started a movement that merely became successful but still would not make a god real or magic men real.

I still was a Christian after that but after that one the questioning chipped away more and more the fantastic claims in that book. What finally killed it completely, but still years before I got on line, was seeing a Smithsonian Museum exhibit. At the beginning of the hall it had Sandstone sculptures depicting the beginning of the Anchor Buddhist dynasty, about halfway through the hall, and in history in reality, Hindus started to mix with the Buddhists and then the statues took on a mix of Buddhist Hindu features. That is when the light bulb went off for me. I thought if one religion could be influenced by another, then the only conclusion I could come to was that there is no original religion and they all spin off from others.

It simply is more rational to accept that humans invent gods and make clubs they call a religion.

[Brian37]

Now even Jefferson, while he was a deist, he only valued Jesus like he did Plato and Socrates. He even wrote his own bible stripping it of all the magic. I would not be shocked today if he were alive as forward thinking as he was, if he too would go "Shit, even my watered down version is crap".

Thomas Jefferson, "Question with boldness even the existence of a god, for if there be one, surely he would pay more homage to reason than to that of blindfolded fear."

[Minimalist]

I thought if one religion could be influenced by another, then the only conclusion I could come to was that there is no original religion and they all spin off from others.

The word is syncretism.

syncretism

[sing-kri-tiz-uh m, sin-]  


noun
1.
the attempted reconciliation or union of different or opposing principles, practices, or parties, as in philosophy or religion.

[Cecelia]

A simple question a co worker asked me back in the late 80s. Now while it still took me several years to give up on the entire idea of any type of deity, the question that sparked my road was "What if Jesus was just a man".   It made sense to me. I know now there is no evidence for the alleged character in reality, but even if he had existed, the only reasonable thing you could say is that a man, or group of splinter Jews started a movement that merely became successful but still would not make a god real or magic men real.

I feel horrible for laughing, but this made me think of a horrible joke.

[Crossless2.0]

As Nay_Sayer's designated proxy, allow me to answer . . .

I plead the 5th,6th,7th and 8th

The less said the better. Keep quiet and let me handle this.

You know my retainer fee.

[Catholic_Lady]

This is in dedication to my love, Nay Nay:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMU6VrgP4JA

[God of Mr. Hanky]

A simple question a co worker asked me back in the late 80s. Now while it still took me several years to give up on the entire idea of any type of deity, the question that sparked my road was "What if Jesus was just a man".   It made sense to me. I know now there is no evidence for the alleged character in reality, but even if he had existed, the only reasonable thing you could say is that a man, or group of splinter Jews started a movement that merely became successful but still would not make a god real or magic men real.

I still was a Christian after that but after that one the questioning chipped away more and more the fantastic claims in that book. What finally killed it completely, but still years before I got on line, was seeing a Smithsonian Museum exhibit. At the beginning of the hall it had Sandstone sculptures depicting the beginning of the Anchor Buddhist dynasty, about halfway through the hall, and in history in reality, Hindus started to mix with the Buddhists and then the statues took on a mix of Buddhist Hindu features. That is when the light bulb went off for me. I thought if one religion could be influenced by another, then the only conclusion I could come to was that there is no original religion and they all spin off from others.

It simply is more rational to accept that humans invent gods and make clubs they call a religion.

I find it interesting that there's no evidence in support of a man named Jesus, but then "Jesus" is really "Joshua", translated into something else when Paul took to Greece, becoming the Latin "Iesus" when Christianity hit Rome (Latin doesn't have a "J" character, and then finally the Anglo-Saxons came to know the name "Jesus". On "Joshua": not an uncommon name at all in Jewish culture, so there could have been multiple Joshuas hatching their own social insurgencies against the hated status quo. In fact there were numerous such movements going on at the time, and Joshua/Jesus would have been only the most legendary of them, or he had the smartest boys on his side to promote him. One thing is sure about Peter, he was far too bright and educated to be a fisherman!

[Nay_Sayer]

This is in dedication to my love, Nay Nay:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMU6VrgP4JA

You know who my heart belongs to.....get out of my head you jezebel!



This one goes out to CL's formerly comatose sister Protestant Lady whom I am determined to marry even if it means we are left of out the will

[Catholic_Lady]

LOL! That was the cheesiest video I have ever seen. That kid needs a hair cut. He looks like a skinnier version of what I always imagined Dudley Dursely looking like when I read the HP books.

[Silver]

I kind of remember that show.