Jesus was everything you would have wanted in a friend or perhaps more. With him you would have long romantic walks on the water, or, if you weren’t quite as romance conscious, these could turn into long fishing trips with the guys. Jesus after all taught love and forgiveness, not shooting wolves from an airplane.
On describing the character of Jesus of Nazareth CS Lewis (a Christian) states that Jesus must either have been a sick man, potentially evil, or that he must have strongly believed that the world was coming to an end very soon and that only he had the authority to preach this. This is a reference to Jesus’ proposition that, as Christopher Hitchens states, “you should take no thought for the morrow…..no investment, no thrift, don’t care for your children, abandon your family. Don’t worry about construction or anything. Just follow me!” Hitchens wasn’t refering to twitter. Now of course it is worth mentioning that, although he should need little introduction, Christopher Hitchens was, arguably, the most open and militant anti-theist that has ever to comment on the issue.
On the historicity of the story it is indeed proven that there was the figure of some kind of teacher at the time who may have been producing this rhetoric. There is also evidence that this teacher was indeed executed in a similar manner to that which is depicted in the Gospel. Only a few of ancient historians deny that this is historical fact. However, these facts seem to be isolated amongst many fictions in the story of Jesus. The prophecy first says that this man must be born in the house of David (bloodline relative to location), meaning that he must be born in Bethlehem. Jesus of Nazareth,obviously, was well known to have been born in Nazareth. It is the placement of him in Bethlehem at birth where the fabrication is found. A census is proposed by Caesar Augustus, in the story. This census never took place at the time of Jesus’ birth and therefore the people of the region were not required to return to their home town to be registered. It was also stated that Qurinius was governor of Syria at the time, around 4-5BC, but was actually governor around the time of 6-7 AD, a mere 11-12 years later. It is worth noting the Quirinius was a non official figure in Syria around the time of Jesus’ birth and there were different taxation laws at this time which could be seen as a quasi-census. However this association of the Quasi-census has not been proven to account for the Gospel story and it could be claimed that this is simply the positioning of ambiguous evidence to fit an interest.
“Which is most impressive to you, the fantastic fabrications, the unbelievably inane and inarticulate preachments, or the inconsistencies in story?” (Hitchens).
One could also mention something about the witnesses of the resurrection. Two illiterate people found the empty tomb of Jesus of Nazareth which could give some indication that they may perhaps prescribe to the popular argumentation technique called argument from ignorance. It goes something like this. Jesus isn’t in his tomb, I don’t know why, he must have resurrected. When one says “I don’t know why”, this is where one’s descriptive conversation should stop. Therefore this leaves us with three possibilities, Jesus was moved, Jesus survived the crucifixion, and wouldn’t have needed to rise from the dead, or the illiterate individuals were right and therefore we should trust their scientifically illiterate eye witness testimony. David Hume puts it quite well. To paraphrase and apply, he asks: what is more realistic, that the laws of nature have been suspended or that two illiterate women would tell lies?
Jesus could have never survived crucifixion, Romans were very careful to eliminate that possibility. Roman law laid the death penalty on anyone who bungled an execution. The fact that the Roman soldier did not break Jesus legs, the procedure for hastening death, indicates that he had already died. The other two prisoners legs were broken. To breathe while hanging on a cross one had to push oneself up with one of their legs, otherwise one would asphyxiate. That is why the legs of the crucified were often broken; to prevent the crucified person from pushing himself up to breathe. Obviously Jesus, out of exhaustion, stopped breathing and died before the soldiers needed to break his legs. If Jesus was not dead, it would have been obvious because he would have been pushing himself up and down the cross to breathe. The Roman executioners were experts, they would not have been fooled. Some people have claimed that the Roman guards were really trying to save Jesus’ life by not breaking his legs. Why would the Roman guards try to save someone who was a seen as a threat to the empire? Further, by not insuring Christ’s death, the Roman guards were putting their own lives at risk.
In Star Wars, the phantom menace, Anakin Skywalker is born of a virgin. So it made me wonder, where have I heard this before? I’m not saying that the Jesus story was a completely rectum derived edict. It has many characteristics of other prophet stories that were going around the mediterranean for at least 600 years before Jesus, which suggests a plagiaristic nature of the Jesus myth.
Firstly lets look at the long list of “similarities” between the Jesus story and Krishna:
- Krishna was born of a virgin whose adoptive father was a carpenter.
- Yeshua and Krishna were called both a God and the Son of God.
- He was sent from heaven to earth in the form of a man.
- He was called Savior, and the second person of the Trinity.
- A spirit or ghost was their actual father.
- Krishna and Jesus were of royal descent.
- He was visited at birth by wise men and shepherds, guided by a star.
- Angels issued a warning that the local dictator planned to kill the baby and had issued a decree for his assassination. The parents fled. Mary and Joseph stayed in Muturea; Krishna’s parents stayed in Mathura.
- He was identified as “the seed of the woman bruising the serpent’s head.”
- Jesus was called “the lion of the tribe of Judah.” Krishna was called “the lion of the tribe of Saki.”
- Both claimed: “I am the Resurrection.”
- Both referred to themselves having existed before their birth on earth.
- Both were “without sin.”
- Both were god-men: being considered both human and divine.
- They were both considered omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent.
- Both performed many miracles, including the healing of disease. One of the first miracles that both performed was to make a leper whole. Each cured “all manner of diseases.”
- Both cast out indwelling demons, and raised the dead.
- Both selected disciples to spread his teachings.
- Both were meek, and merciful.
- Both were criticized for associating with sinners.
- Both encountered a Gentile woman at a well.
- Both celebrated a last supper. Both forgave his enemies.
- Both descended into Hell, and were resurrected. Many people witnessed their ascensions into heaven.
Nonetheless Krishna is not the only person in which similarities can be found, after all there are many gaps between fabrication and plagiarism to be filled. The Persian God Mithra, 600 years before Jesus was:
- Born 25th December (the associated birthday of Jesus but not Jesus’ actual birthday-emphasising the artistic disagreements between ancient and now more modern fabricators).
- Had risen on the third day.
- Known as the lamb, way truth and the light……….
Nonetheless we shall press forward for the above emphasises how this religion of fictitious foundations used the word blasphemy to shut the door in the face of progress for centuries.
For those who are familiar with the story of the Jesus, the similarities here should be obvious if not carbon copies. Written in 1280BC the egyptian book of the dead describes a god, Horus, who is the son of the god Osiris, born to (you guessed it) a virgin mother. He was baptised in a river by Anup the baptiser,who was later beheaded. Like, Jesus, Horus was tempted in the desert whilst alone along with healing the sick and the blind along with the minor skill of walking on water. He also raised Asar from the dead. Asar translates to Lazarus. He was followed around by 12 disciples until his execution. Not to worry though because three days later two women announced that Horus, the saviour of humanity, has been resurrected.
Now unless, of course, many different people from different ages, who never met and who never came across each other’s work, happened to come up with exactly the same story (with a few personal touches), which admittedly is a possibility, then we could possibly argue for the originality of this story.
Thomas Jefferson wrote his own version of the new testament in which he maintained all the moral teachings of Jesus which are admirable and indeed worthy of practice for pragmatic reasons, even if they are obvious to everyone of hedonistic capacity. Yet it’s impressive that the evidence is so thin, feeble and cobbled together that people prescribe to this fantasy because of the suggestion that there was some character around at the time. This may have worked on the illiterate areas in which Jesus operated and in the times of conversion by the sword and fear, but should have no power to influence anyone reading this today. We have to have more self respect for our intellectual capacity than this.
“It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open that our brain falls out” (Carl Sagan)
beyond the Edge of reason 