The film opens with a brief discussion of Copernicus, the medieval astronomer who turned The Church on its ear by proclaiming the Earth revolved around the Sun, and not the other way around. I gotta tell ya, the theory you're about to hear for the next 53 minutes will also turn your universe around. And, like Copernicus' discovery, it will probably take hundreds of years for it to receive mainstream acceptance.
I remember asking some of the same questions this film asks when I was 15 years old and my family was attending a very conservative Christian church. How come Paul never mentions any of the major events in the Gospels? Why does he say Christ's sacrifice was "in the heavens" when the whole point was that it was supposedly on earth? Given what purportedly happened, how come none of the contemporary historians mention Jesus? (I was astonished to find only one very puzzling paragraph in Josephus' "Testimonium Flavinium" that sounded "strange" -- only to find out later that all scholars agree that *at least* 50% of the paragraph was created by much later scribes, not Josephus.) Why, in fact, did not a *single* "Super" apostle write down anything for at least 40 years? The answers to those questions were unfailingly bizarre, vague and misleading.
This film answers factually, concisely and provocatively -- all with a great sense of humor and consideration for the Christians being interviewed. Thousands of people are miseducated and misled by religious leaders on a daily basis. Intellectual dishonesty is commonplace in the Christian faith, a religion that relies on the fact that Jesus was a real man who walked the earth, died and rose again.
I had only three criticisms, which kept it from being a "10": 1) the sound of the narration was a bit problematic; 2) I wish he'd spent more time discussing Paul of Tarsus and the spiritual climate of Tarsus in general; and 3) THE WHOLE THING SHOULD BE LONGER, DAMMIT. :)
I don't recommend the film to anyone who has an emotional investment in an historical Jesus. Those investments will override any rational discourse.
Don't say I didn't warn you.
I remember asking some of the same questions this film asks when I was 15 years old and my family was attending a very conservative Christian church. How come Paul never mentions any of the major events in the Gospels? Why does he say Christ's sacrifice was "in the heavens" when the whole point was that it was supposedly on earth? Given what purportedly happened, how come none of the contemporary historians mention Jesus? (I was astonished to find only one very puzzling paragraph in Josephus' "Testimonium Flavinium" that sounded "strange" -- only to find out later that all scholars agree that *at least* 50% of the paragraph was created by much later scribes, not Josephus.) Why, in fact, did not a *single* "Super" apostle write down anything for at least 40 years? The answers to those questions were unfailingly bizarre, vague and misleading.
This film answers factually, concisely and provocatively -- all with a great sense of humor and consideration for the Christians being interviewed. Thousands of people are miseducated and misled by religious leaders on a daily basis. Intellectual dishonesty is commonplace in the Christian faith, a religion that relies on the fact that Jesus was a real man who walked the earth, died and rose again.
I had only three criticisms, which kept it from being a "10": 1) the sound of the narration was a bit problematic; 2) I wish he'd spent more time discussing Paul of Tarsus and the spiritual climate of Tarsus in general; and 3) THE WHOLE THING SHOULD BE LONGER, DAMMIT. :)
I don't recommend the film to anyone who has an emotional investment in an historical Jesus. Those investments will override any rational discourse.
Don't say I didn't warn you.