Fictional Jesus as propaganda

[OxQQme]

>"Although to many scholars his theory seems outlandish, and is sure to upset some believers, Atwill regards his evidence as conclusive and is confident its acceptance is only a matter of time. “I present my work with some ambivalence, as I do not want to directly cause Christians any harm,” he acknowledges, “but this is important for our culture. Alert citizens need to know the truth about our past so we can understand how and why governments create false histories and false gods. They often do it to obtain a social order that is against the best interests of the common people.”

Atwill asserts that Christianity did not really begin as a religion, but a sophisticated government project, a kind of propaganda exercise used to pacify the subjects of the Roman Empire. “Jewish sects in Palestine at the time, who were waiting for a prophesied warrior Messiah, were a constant source of violent insurrection during the first century,” he explains. “When the Romans had exhausted conventional means of quashing rebellion, they switched to psychological warfare. They surmised that the way to stop the spread of zealous Jewish missionary activity was to create a competing belief system. That’s when the ‘peaceful’ Messiah story was invented. Instead of inspiring warfare, this Messiah urged turn-the-other-cheek pacifism and encouraged Jews to ‘give onto Caesar’ and pay their taxes to Rome.”<

more
http://www.corespirit.com/ancient-confession-found-invented-jesus-christ/

[Thomas Hurt]

1. I present my work with some ambivalence, as I do not want to directly cause Christians any harm,

(scratches head) How is this guy's theory going harm any christian?

He might certainly offend some of them, but until we become a theocracy and institute blasphemy laws....TS.

[Dawson Leery]

2. Most likely.

The Roman's were masters at bullshitting.

[defacto7]

3. Good material..

There's no evidence whatsoever of the Christ of the bible and never has been. There have been confessions of monks who wrote "medicinal fictions" into historian's materias,, and a reasonable liklihood of messiah claims during that general period (many), but absolutely no evidence. Even texts within their own holy book discredit the idea of a son of god on earth if they would actually read the entries of Saul of Tarsus (Paul) without reading preconceived notions into them.
With all the available materials concerning Roman politics of the time and the rewrite confessions of Monks (Eusebius?) for the sake of the church, I can't see why some atheists still accept the idea of a real Jesus Christ of the bible who was supposedly some nice guy. He most likely did not exist.

[John1956PA]

6. +1

There exists not one word, referring to Jesus Christ and written during his supposed lifetime, which has been passed down to us today.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. It's been around many years without convincing many - on edit: he posted here once

Published in 2005. Here's a less than impressed review by Robert Price, a scholar who doesn't think Jesus existed, but doesn't think that means the Roman emperors made him up: http://www.robertmprice.mindvendor.com/rev_atwill.htm

The talk in London happened in 2013: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/story-of-jesus-christ-was-fabricated-to-pacify-the-poor-claims-controversial-biblical-scholar-8870879.html

On edit: I thought I vaguely remembered this idea, so I searched, and it turns out he posted here in 1 thread in 2012 about his theory: https://www.democraticunderground.com/121826856

(plus a couple of easy-come, easy go new members who just loved his work ...)

[SCantiGOP]

5. Another example of this type of manipulation

Is the King James bible. It was not an attempt to create an accurate translation in the vernacular of the day; it's intent was to emphasize the "obey your Masters" and "render unto Caesar" aspects of the Old Testament that was the foundation for the Divine Right of Kings, and thus the basis of the requirement for unquestioning obedience to the Crown.

[mountain grammy]

7. Interestng assertions.

I mean, for a human who made such an impact, we know about his birth and death and not much else.. Made up? sounds about right to me, he has as much, if not more evidence to back his claim as the Jesus is real people.

[uriel1972]

9. uh we have many contradictory accounts in the bible...

Of his birth and death... There is as much evidence for his life as say Robin Hood and William Tell.

[Mr.Bill]

8. I think jesus is a composite character.

Take a few parts faith healer, a few parts snake oil salesman, a few parts con artist a few parts charlatan, a few parts political opportunist, etc, add some legend, stir, bake for a century or two, and presto! Jesus and christianity.

[rurallib]

10. Amen to that, Mr.Bill