Monday, December 13, 2021

Jesus never existed: a beginner's guide

Humphreys (Sangam Talks, 7/21) Crystal Q., Sheldon S., Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Jesus never existed: a beginner's guide | Kenneth Humphreys
Even among modern atheists, a fragile consensus holds that "Jesus" was at least a real person, whose historical presence, though embellished, has been reliably established in the order of disinterested scholarship.

I totally exist. Just ask anyone!
Whether he is envisioned as a peace-loving rabbinical sage or as a militant prophet of doom, this man is widely assumed to have had an important impact on the course of world history.

But in the early years of the 21st century a radical though not new thesis has become difficult to ignore. This thesis, as it is argued over and spreads across the internet and becomes accessible in many new books, threatens to knock out the old fantasy -- the historical fiction that Jesus existed.

It's a devastating proposition. Jesus never existed at all. Having devoted much of his life to the careful study of ancient history, Humphreys harbors no doubt: Jesus, the non-existent son of a non-existent father, will soon be consigned to a place among the ancestors Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Moses in the realm of mythology, not history. Let this be an introduction to the ultimate heresy.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Kenneth Humphreys is a British scholar and activist, writer, radio broadcaster, and public speaker. He studied for five years at university, graduating with a Master's degree in history and social sciences. He subsequently taught for many years at a tertiary level in the UK and abroad, interlacing his academic pursuits with a career in the computer industry during its formative period. A writer with a consuming passion for religion and history, Humphreys has never had any religious affiliation and has been a lifelong atheist.

Jesus Never Existed (Ken Humphreys)
"I remember as a lad being asked to leave the cub scouts after three weeks because I refused to attend the church parade, but by then I could tie my own knots. Now I enjoy tying Christians up in knots." Humphreys launched his internationally-renowned website jesusneverexisted.com in Dec. 2001. Since then, the site has received more than eight million visitors. In Dec. 2005, a companion book Jesus Never Existed was published and has been exported to more than 30 countries, republished an abridged edition in India in 2007, and translated into Korean in 2013.

In Dec, 2011 Humphreys began to make available material on the Jesus Never Existed YouTube channel, which has attracted around 20,000 subscribers and more than 5,000,000 views.

In Nov. 2014, Jesus Never Existed, An Introduction to the Ultimate Heresy was published in the USA. Humphreys has appeared on numerous TV and radio shows, has debated many Christian apologists, and was a contributing scholar in the documentary Caesar's Messiah and was the guest speaker at the International Mythicist Conference in Athens in May 2016.
TOPICS
  • 0:00 Introduction
  • 2:35 Enthusiasm based on fanaticism is dangerous
  • 4:50 How Humphrey’s own views changed
  • 7:11 search for Jesus and Nazareth
  • 8:47 The towns recorded by Roman historian Josephus are not there in the Gospels
  • 11:14 For Mark, Jesus was an allegorical character
  • 11:52 95% of Mark’s Gospel appears in Matthew.
  • 19:20 Julius Ceasar hired people like Josephus to write
  • 24:28 Incidents in Bible identical to those in Dead Sea Scrolls
  • 27:19 James, the brother of Jesus, alternate Jesus story
  • 34:56 Rivalry between Islam and Christianity
  • 36:21 Christianity took its best ideas from Judaism
  • 43:20 Christianity’s story keeps changing with time
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