Johnny Skeptic

Even Jesus was put in Joseph of Arimathea's tomb, was he really dead, and did his shed blood and death actually remit the sins of mankind? Maybe not. It is equally plausible that he was an advanced alien, simulated his death, and lied about who he was because he wanted to be worshipped. In fact, his very survival might have depended upon being worshipped. Humans need food in order to survive. Maybe such a being needed to be worshipped in order to survive. The universe is vast, old, complex, and full of possibilties. Who knows how many advanced alien races there might be, and what their abilities, characteristics, and morals might be?

Doug Shaver

Yeah, I'll agree with you. That scenario is just about as plausible as the one where the gospels are factually true.

Fortunately, other scenarios are a great deal more plausible than either of those.

Johnny Skeptic

I agree, but my argument is directed against fundies, and they will immediately object to any plausibilities that you and I believe are the most likely plausibilities. So, I came up with another plausibility that I have found gives fundies much more trouble than the typical plausibilities that skeptics use.

Astreja

My theory is that, if "Jesus" existed at all and if he did undergo an ordeal similar to that described in the Bible:

- He faked his death, possibly with the collusion of the Romans; or
- Had someone else die in his place.

But in any event, the alleged death is devoid of meaning when one speaks of remitting sins. One can only fix one's own flaws. To have some supernatural being "forgive sins" is nonsense because the forgiving being is allegedly the one that declared the existence of the sins in the first place. Kind of like writing a random number on a piece of paper and then erasing it again on a whim, erasing a fictitious debt. The existence and then non-existence of the debt does not, in itself, alter our beings in any way. The only change is in the mind of the deity.

On the "worship=food" idea: I think it entirely possible that the biblical "god" is a being that thrives on negative energies, and consequently causes bad stuff to happen in order to feed on fear, pain and hatred.