1. Atheists for Jesus

Comment #28832 by Enda80 on March 31, 2007 at 6:20 am

I also seriously doubt that the Biblical Jesus ever says that he thinks the stories from the Hebrew Bible are just myths or parables.

2. Atheists for Jesus

Comment #28831 by Enda80 on March 31, 2007 at 6:17 am

Note that the Biblical Jesus did teach that unbelief in him would lead to damnation and that there was a Gehenna/Hell. The Biblical Jesus also taught the concept of evil, with the idea of the Devil and the end of days. These were not parables or symbolic, as rendering them symbolic leaves them meaningless, and besides, what do liberals use these stories to teach? Most people today encourage planning one's life, not waiting for the fortuitous deus ex machina (literal or figurative). The fact that liberals do not often use these passages only shows how little they recommend themselves for figurative interpretation.

It seems incongruous to maintain that the Biblical Jesus was great or the greatest moral guide when one must dispose of so much of his thought.

3. Atheists for Jesus

Comment #28830 by Enda80 on March 31, 2007 at 6:10 am

"If the laws of physics are immutable then clearly Jesus, either alone or more likely in concert with others, was being deceitful when he claimed to have performed miraculous cures, resurrections and other miracles like walking on water."
That is a good point by Michaelmichael, one that McKee did not answer.
Of course, the problem is that in his article Mr. Dawkins did not clarify which doctrines or sayings of Jesus he felt were authentic and which were not.

"What was interesting and remarkable about Jesus was not the obvious fact that he believed in the God of his Jewish religion, but that he rebelled against many aspects of Yahweh's vengeful nastiness. At least in the teachings that are attributed to him, he publicly advocated niceness and was one of the first to do so."

For the latter, I doubt that with Confucius, the Buddha, Lao-Tzu, and others living centuries before the alleged Jesus he could be one of the first. However, I should note that Dawkins and many others would be wrong in thinking of the Biblical Jesus as nicer than the Hebrew Bible deity. In fact, the Biblical Jesus is worse. Why? He brings Hell into the Biblical picture!

The Hebrew Bible god killed people, but did not condemn them to eternal suffering. That idea does nto show up until the New Testament in the generally canonical Bible.

Also, the Biblical Jesus taught the imminent end of days.