Toto

This website was mentioned on the Jesus Mysteries list: Jesus Police. It appears to be an attempt to correct common misinformation about Jesus.I'm not sure how successful this enterprise can be. For example, the website takes the position that Jesus' home was clearly Capernum, and that Nazareth probably didn't exist at the time. The author goes through some interesting calculations to show that Jesus was probably in his 40's when he died and that his ministry lasted 12 years - which involves selectively accepting parts of the gospel stories and rejecting other parts.

wordy

I have no relation to the http://www.jesuspolice.com/ site and know nothing about historicity of Jesus, and I'm very skeptical to the historical jesus camp. I'm closer to the mythical Jesus camp cause the text behave as a mythical or ritual text would do if me had ability to write such. The most likely answer to me is that is mythical.

Yes I know this is some 11 month too late to comment.

But what about that site then. I http://www.jesuspolice.com/ belonging to a special fraction or camp or school or is he an individual thinker not related to the others?

That so few has commented on him support my gut feeling that skeptics of religion are poor on cooperation and are extremely individualistic, everyone doing their own thing and almost never get along enough to work together on anything except actions that looks more like emotional reactions rather than well thought out intellectual work.

Sorry me whining but 50 years of being an activistic atheist and realizing that religion is on the rise again here in Europe.

Ben C Smith

Is it? I thought that Europe had long ago decided that there is no God, and Mary is his mother.

Ben.

Julian

HA! Clever and funny. Not to mention startlingly accurate.

Julian

wordy

Europe Union has expanded and included very religious nations. I know very little about such but their Lobby organizations and spin doctors are very good at legal wordings and persuasive technics and have much money on their budgets so they 24/7 works for a christian Europe and step by step are to it.

I find us atheists to be into denial and wishful thinking. All is not sun and shine even here in Europe. The Christians also be backup from very determined Muslims who goes political and change voting here to go against liberal abortion laws and such. So they tip the balance.

The war between Israel and their neighbors also make the Political Left very positive to muslim views which also make the religious agenda successful here.

Or it could be the infamous "pendelum" swinging back and forth. Politics seems to go in waves. We are leaving the era of secularism and entering the Traditional Values politics again. Very sad but I see very little evidence that it will end soon. Religion seems to be here to stay and get much worse before we will have a secular mood again.

Toto

The website is a project of Dr. James Gardner who posts on the JesusMysteries yahoogroup. Gardner is the author of a book, Jesus Who?

That's about all I know, except that he does believe that Jesus was a historical figure, just not very much like the standard Christian figure. He doesn't represent an organized school of thought, and is involved in other issues.

wordy

Toto, much appreciated. Everybody seems to have their own twist on Jesus.

Is it not surprising that that a totally unknown guy who allegedly lived at that remote time even is cared about.

Has to be politics and commitment to explain such endurance. It is a bit like the Objectivists and their almost obsession with their heroine.

Ecrasez L'infame

Or blind chance. In a parallel universe, we're all arguing about whether Mithras existed.

wordy

Or about Marx or Mao or Castro or what was his name the Romanian guy? Politicians have their myths too. Like Ayn Rand and such. Atheists are not immune to delusions.