Atheists on Jesus

[Erin-Rose-x]

What are atheist beliefs about Jesus Christ?

[mollykins]

Not tying to offend anyone but . . . if he was a real person, he was nothing special other than a kind, hard working person and probably a bit mad.

[rojash]

He was just the L Ron Hubbard of his day.

[Davethedog]

He existed, he was rebel - He wasn't the son of God.

Him Mum wasn't a virgin.

If he was born in the 20th century he probably would have been at a place like Waco or Georgetown.

[andy-hughes]

As an atheist, i cannot discount the existance of Jesus - but I see him as a preacher, and obviously a very powerful one, but not as a Son of God made man.

[naomi24]

Atheists do not belong to an organised group that has a belief system in the way that religion does, so it’s impossible to generalise. Whilst some believe Jesus existed and others don’t, none believe he was God, the Son of God, born of a virgin, miraculously resurrected after death, or supernatural in any way at all. To an atheist he can only have been a normal human being - although as Molly says, he was thought to be ‘a bit mad‘ at times - well, according to the New Testament that is.

[beso]

He is not the Messiah. He is just a very naughty boy.

[society]

If Jesus and the Bible didn't exist, then those people from that time, and centuries ago are much more smarter than people of today. They have quite some imaginations...

[Canary42]

Here's one atehist's view.

He was a con-man who got caught, tried, and executed. Some bright sparks then decided to make a martyr out of him so they wrote a series of fictional biographies - it all snowballed from there.

One day, people may worship Dumbledore - or Gandalf.

[ll_billym]

I don't believe any of the hype such as dying for sins, water into wine, etc. So apart from the hype what's there to say about the bloke? Not much.

[wildwood]

I have no reason to disbelieve that there was a man called Jesus Christ, but not as a God as proclaimed by religeon. He would have been one of the early cult leaders who was rather successful.
In the 'early' days people were unaware of modern day science which proves ecclesiastical teachings as a fairy tale. In medieval times Citizens were fearful of the religious doctrine since even priests often sentenced disbelievers to death.

[jake-the-peg]

Birdie's assertion that there is no contemporary reference to Jesus is contentious.

Because there are very few contemporary records - try and find any comtemporary records for anyone of that time and you'd be forced to conclude that there was almost nobody there.

It's more likely that his fame was exagerated than that he did not exist!

Moreover there is an alleged near contemporary record of him although at least one of the references is an obvious forgery.

This is Josephus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephus_on_Jesus (Caution on believing wikipedia on contentious subjects - this is a contentious subject!)

There seems to be little reason to think he didn't exist but there would have been many similar itinerant teachers at that time reputedly healing the sick and raising the dead. Look at the prolific number of witch doctors and faith healers in the world.

The only really special thing is that his teachings got taken up by Paul who spread them to the Roman empire, had them written down and most importantly of all that Constantine adopted them

[naomi24]

It always seems rather odd to me that this man's life wasn't documented in minute detail. He was God, for heaven's sake, so wouldn't you think that someone would have taken the trouble to construct a proper record of his time here on earth? However, no one did, which confirms to me that he wasn't considered to be God in his own lifetime. That handy idea came much later.

[LazyGun]

There is no "official" position adopted by atheists regarding Jesus. The term atheist refers only to a position on the belief of a God, or supernatural creator - which is of sceptical disbelief.
As to Jesus - I think that most atheists would agree that, if such a character even existed, all supernatural events ascribed to him are likely myth and fable.

[naomi24]

Jake - could you please email here ......

[email protected]

for a private word. Thanks. :o)

Apologies for the interruption, Erin-Rose.

[naomi24]

'Atheism' is the default mode for all human beings. It's only as people grow that the idea of God - and it is only an idea - is implanted. The word atheist shouldn't really exist at all because it implies a non-belief in something that no one can prove exists in the first place. Hence, the likelihood is that atheists believe in the nothing that does in reality exist - and therefore their opinion requires no description - if you see what I mean. :o/