Jesus was invented by the romans

[NotAllThere]

Sorry I thought this was already known...

The Romans had a documented meeting a few hundred years after the crucifixion and decided between them what went into the old testerment...

There was a very good documentary on it a few years ago

Kind of... that was after Constantine had caused Christianity to be the state religion of the empire. There was a bit of argument over what were the books of the bible, so he called a meeting of bishops throughout the Roman Empire to discuss. Didn't work brilliantly as different groups have different books as canonical. Oh - and it wasn't a one off meeting; there was a lot of debate over many years, with the main criteria for inclusion being authenticity and whether the books/letters were in general use within congregations.

But... the OT was fixed by the Jews, not the Christians. Further, it was Luther who decided that only books where they were originally Hebrew were included. So the documentary may have been good, but I guess you weren't really paying attention.

Let's see what he has to say. It's the consensus of historians that generally decide these things, not the theories of one man. I'd be very surprised if his evidence is as iron clad as he says it is. Joseph Atwill is a well known for roman/christian/bible conspiracy theories - he's certainly not mainstream in his views (which obviously doesn't make him wrong, but does mean that his views should be treated with more than a little skepticism).

[NotAllThere]

And the Gospel of Thomas contradicts an awful lot of what the other gospels say.

Maybe - but it's around 65000 words in four books from four seperate authors against, around 5000 words in the "gospel" of Thomas, which is really just a collection of sayings. Here's the text to so you can see for yourself: Gospel of Thomas (Lambdin Translation) -- The Nag Hammadi Library

On the balance of probability (without even going into the historical reasons for authenticity), any contradiction between Thomas and the four canonical gospels is likely to indicate that Thomas is faulty.

The last verse in the Gospel of Thomas is lovely: Simon Peter said to him, "Let Mary leave us, for women are not worthy of life."
Jesus said, "I myself shall lead her in order to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every woman who will make herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven."

[Freaki Li Cuatre]

Sorry I thought this was already known...

The Romans had a documented meeting a few hundred years after the crucifixion and decided between them what went into the old testerment...

There was a very good documentary on it a few years ago

The First Council of Nicea

My own view is that something that was made up wouldn't have the legs to have spread to all 4 corners of the globe and lasted for over 2000 years. Just a thought though....

[amcdonald]

The First Council of Nicea

My own view is that something that was made up wouldn't have the legs to have spread to all 4 corners of the globe and lasted for over 2000 years. Just a thought though....

Do you think scientology will be around in 2000 years ?

[MyUserName]

The First Council of Nicea

My own view is that something that was made up wouldn't have the legs to have spread to all 4 corners of the globe and lasted for over 2000 years. Just a thought though....

Why not? All it takes is for people to believe it and a government to take it up. Also, even if everything claimed about Jesus was true we have no reason to believe he was telling the truth about anything.

Do not forget the part about all of the dead saints coming back to life and wandering around! Although only one gospel saw fit to record that. Although it is also strange how God is all powerful but there are various things he cannot do etc.

As for contradictions in the bible ... surely not ... although ... Quiz Show (Bible Contradictions) - YouTube

[d000hg]

I really want to start a parody thread "Jesus was invented by the Mormons" but I don't think that sends the right kind of message. If one of you heathen lot wanted to, that'd be OK though

[doodab]

Jesus said, "I myself shall lead her in order to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every woman who will make herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven."[/I]

So heaven is full of transvestites? You can see why the 72 virgins thing caught on can't you.

[NotAllThere]

So heaven is full of transvestites? You can see why the 72 virgins thing caught on can't you.

Only if you think the gospel of Thomas is true.

[mudskipper]

Only if you think the gospel of Thomas is true.

Are you a-doubting Thomas?

[OwlHoot]

Are you a-doubting Thomas?