The God Who Wasn’t There
The God Who Wasn’t There is a film that has been generating a fair bit of controversy in the US, and now it’s available on DVD, so you can see for yourself what all the fuss is about.
Bowling for Columbine did it to the gun culture.
Super Size Me did it to fast food.
Now The God Who Wasn’t There does it to religion.Holding modern Christianity up to a bright spotlight, this bold new film demands answers to the questions few dare to ask. Your guide through the world of Christendom is former fundamentalist Brian Flemming , who unflinchingly examines believers and the origins of their beliefs. He gets help from such luminaries as esteemed folklorist Alan Dundes ( Holy Writ as Oral Lit ), Jesus Seminar fellow Robert M. Price ( Deconstructing Jesus ) and neuroscientist Sam Harris ( The End of Faith ).
Along with Brian, you will discover:
• The early founders of Christianity seem wholly unaware of the idea of a human Jesus
• The Jesus passed down to us in the gospels bears a striking resemblance to other ancient heros and the figureheads of pagan savior cults
• Contemporary Christians are largely ignorant of the origins of their religion
• Christianity is as obsessed with blood and violence now as it was in the 1 st century
• Fundamentalism is as strong today as it ever has been, with an alarming 44% of Americans believing Jesus will return to Earth within the next 50 years
• And God simply isn’t thereBrian Flemming also explores his own experiences within fundamentalist Christianity at a cult-like school that taught him how how and what to believe. Ultimately, he confronts the man in charge of educating the school’s 1800 students, and this superintendent’s inability to justify what he teaches is revealing and distressing.
“Dazzling motion graphics and a sweeping soundtrack by DJ Madson help tell this tale of one person’s journey from the darkness of first- century thinking to the enlightenment of reason.”
The Trailetr
Quicktime: One size fits all
Sunday 28 Aug 2005 | Paul | Documentary
What a great documentary this is! Information, education and humor all rolled up in a neat package.
Director Brian Flemming gives us more than we could have hoped for when it comes to presenting arguments against the historical existence of Jesus Christ. It was especially enlightening to find that the story of Jesus could easily have been the story of Zeus or Apollo - only the names had been changed. The late Alan Dundes jovially gives us several examples of identical or nearly identical stories right down to the virgin birth.
All the interviews with the scholars mentioned in this original post were riveting, especially Sam Harris. (I feel that his book, The End of Faith, should be required reading.)
Flemming has taken on a subject that many of us haven’t had the fortitude to take on in a public manner. Yet, he says the things that need to be said.
It was a great film. And I still have all the bonus interviews to get through