Filmmaker Brian Flemming used to be a fervent Christian and now he is a fervent atheist. He sets out to prove that Jesus didn't exist, but all that he proved to me is that radical atheists can just be as bloody annoying as proselytizing Christians. Flemming used to live in a black-and-white world then, and he does so now: whereas once he used to think that the man from Galilee was so real that he could have a *personal* relationship with him, now that he has fallen out with Christianity he necessarily concludes that Jesus H. is as *fictional* a figure as Gandalf or the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. But of course it is just as impossible to prove that there was no historical paradigm for the Jesus story as it is to prove that Jesus was indeed the son of god. Actually I am more sympathetic to most Christians here, who only claim to *believe* in their story whereas Flemming shrouds his flaky little theory with the claim of scientific-mathematical accuracy.
Like Michael Moore's more recent films, Flemming asks interesting questions (I agree with him that many Christians do not read the New Testament critically enough, and do not give sufficient consideration to the considerable time gap between JC and his apostles), but then he equally goes off into an esoteric rant backed up by flashy graphics, soundbites from academic talking heads, and the brainfarts of passer-bys who were naive enough to allow him to interview them on camera (in one case he interviews a woman attending a Billy Graham rallye about the origins of the New Testament, and when she understandably vacillates a bit trying to come up with a succinct answer to such a complex and offhanded question, Flemming, in a fallback to his days of being a model bible school student, sneeringly informs us in the subtitles that she has been a Christian all of her life, and that her parents were even missionaries).
Just a two more points I want to comment on: Flemming seems to think that the grand unifying element of Christianity is Mel Gibson's 2004 bible Schlocker "The Passion Of The Christ". Yeah, psych!!!
Secondly, there is an internet campaign in which you can get a free copy of TGWWT by posting a YouTube-like video of yourself bravely denying the Holy Spirit (according to Flemming this is the one thing in Christianity that you will not be forgiven for). I'd just like to say this: up until now, being an atheist was a cool thing. I have always associated it with being an open-minded, freewheeling and live-and-let-live type of guy with a different girl in every port. Let's just keep it that way and leave the whole public-confession-born-again-shtick to the Christians, OK?
Like Michael Moore's more recent films, Flemming asks interesting questions (I agree with him that many Christians do not read the New Testament critically enough, and do not give sufficient consideration to the considerable time gap between JC and his apostles), but then he equally goes off into an esoteric rant backed up by flashy graphics, soundbites from academic talking heads, and the brainfarts of passer-bys who were naive enough to allow him to interview them on camera (in one case he interviews a woman attending a Billy Graham rallye about the origins of the New Testament, and when she understandably vacillates a bit trying to come up with a succinct answer to such a complex and offhanded question, Flemming, in a fallback to his days of being a model bible school student, sneeringly informs us in the subtitles that she has been a Christian all of her life, and that her parents were even missionaries).
Just a two more points I want to comment on: Flemming seems to think that the grand unifying element of Christianity is Mel Gibson's 2004 bible Schlocker "The Passion Of The Christ". Yeah, psych!!!
Secondly, there is an internet campaign in which you can get a free copy of TGWWT by posting a YouTube-like video of yourself bravely denying the Holy Spirit (according to Flemming this is the one thing in Christianity that you will not be forgiven for). I'd just like to say this: up until now, being an atheist was a cool thing. I have always associated it with being an open-minded, freewheeling and live-and-let-live type of guy with a different girl in every port. Let's just keep it that way and leave the whole public-confession-born-again-shtick to the Christians, OK?