I'm Just Wondering.... how, in the middle of this current crisis of economics and deep personal struggle on the part of many in the West, how the apologists (ie, thought-defenders) in the Christian church will be able to effectively respond to this one...
It's a movie called THE GOD WHO WASN'T THERE. It is showing around the country in many of the 'art house' movie venues. It's sub-titled "a film that's beyond belief". It seems to be drawing a significant amount of viewers, and is now for sale in DVD, and will be widely distributed by Blockbuster and Netflix for rental and viewing.
No small deal.
It's getting a fair amount of attention by Time and Newsweek magazines. Newsweek said that it "irreverently lays out the case that Jesus Christ never existed" and wrote that it will definitely bring up the church-vs-secular culture wars to a new notch.
I encourage you all to go to YouTube and type in the movie title, and watch the 2-and-a-half minute trailer. (I won't put the link here... it keeps bogging up my blog account)
SOOOO... looks like this rather articluate group of scholars and social scientists are saying that there have been many stories of Jesus-types who yes, born of a virgin, did miracles, was killed by execution, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven... all part of the 'Hero Myth' of the 100 AD timeframe. Oh, and that the Jesus of the Gospels didn't exist for real.
Wow!
I'm going to investigate more, so further comments pending... but this may be a better-formed attack than everybody in churches thought would come from the DaVinci Code a few years back...
One thought off the top... the apologists of today had better suit up for the back-and-forth debate without using or quoting the Bible as their key text... that book gets shot down and dis-regarded pretty early in most debates today, and most non-believers will dismiss everything you say that is 'chapter and verse' there...
That means the Living Christ, signs and wonders and vibrant "I talked to God today, so I know He is there" will have to come into the conversation...
cbaj
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