The God Who Wasn't There
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| The God Who Wasn't There | |
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| Directed by | Brian Flemming |
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| Produced by | Brian Flemming Amanda Jackson |
| Written by | Brian Flemming |
| Starring | Brian Flemming (narration) Sam Harris Richard Carrier Alan Dundes Barbara Mikkelson David P. Mikkelson Robert M. Price Scott Butcher Ronald Sipus |
| Distributed by | Beyond Belief Media Microcinema International |
| Release date(s) | May 21, 2005 |
| Running time | 62 mins |
| Language | English |
The God Who Wasn't There is a 2005 independent documentary written and directed by Brian Flemming. The documentary questions the existence of Jesus, examining evidence that supports the Jesus Myth argument against the existence of a historical Jesus, as well as other aspects of Christianity.[1] Critics of the film argue that the Jesus Myth is rejected by virtually all professional historians and Biblical scholars.[2]
Contents |
[edit] Overview
[edit] Jesus myth hypothesis
Most of the film is a presentation of the argument for the Jesus myth hypothesis. Claims made by Flemming and interviewees in the film include the following:
- According to Flemming, the divine Jesus was based on older, mythic "savior figures" - such as Thor, Balder, Deva tat, Dionysus, Mithras, Bacchus and Horus - and argues that these figures shared most of a set of key characteristics with Jesus, including being born of a virgin on December 25, being killed on a cross or tree, being visited by Magi from the East, riding donkeys into the city, being betrayed for 30 pieces of silver, etc.
- Flemming accuses Christian leaders of being reluctant to teach early church history because it supports, rather than debunks, the idea that Jesus was a mythic figure rather than a historic person.
- Non-Christians believe that Christianity's global success is based on its claim to historical accuracy, as compared to most other mythologies, which exist in the realm of metaphor and moral parable, such as those of the ancient Greeks, who did not claim that Zeus walked the earth thousands of years ago, or the followers of Mithras or Osiris, who never claimed to have documentary proof of the physical existence of their gods. Flemming argues that Christianity bases its claim to moral authority on the assertion that God placed his own essence on Earth at a particular time and place, which can be documented, and that the evidence typically offered for this does not withstand close scrutiny.
- Flemming argues that the Epistles of Paul, which were written before the Gospels, omit most of the events from the traditional life of Jesus which, Flemming argues, Paul would never have omitted from his arguments unless he had never heard of them. Flemming asserts that Paul mentions only the crucifixion, the resurrection and the ascension and presents them as having occurred in a mythic realm rather than an earthly one.
- Flemming asserts that Jesus's life as a living person can be disproven because Paul, according to Flemming, seemed unaware of Jesus's life despite writing shortly after Jesus was supposed to have died. An interviewer for Christianity Today suggested that Paul refers several times to meeting members of Jesus's family, and so he apparently believed Jesus to be a real person; Flemming disputed this interpretation.[3]
[edit] Other criticisms of Christianity
Besides defending the Jesus myth, the film criticizes some other features of Christianity:
- Flemming argues that moderate Christianity makes even less sense than a fundamentalist interpretation of Christian doctrine, asserting that the Bible contains many messages incompatible with toleration of non-Christians, particularly Jews, who reject Jesus as the Savior of Christian doctrine and (in Flemming's view) must therefore be regarded by Christians as damned.
- Flemming sees God's demand that people believe in him or be damned as essentially mind control. He interprets Mark 3:29 and similar passages as damning anyone who doubts the existence of the Holy Spirit. He is appalled by the notion that Jesus will forgive murder, theft, and any other sin but not this type of disbelief.
- Because Jesus knows peoples' innermost thoughts, and that therefore one must police one's thoughts to avoid any doubt, Flemming summarizes this idea with the statement that the greatest sin in Christianity is "to think."
- Flemming illustrates his viewpoint that Mel Gibson deliberately emphasized the graphic violence and suffering in his film, The Passion of the Christ. Flemming quotes a number of scenes from the film, and a running tally of depictions of violence, suffering or bloodshed is shown, and sees the success of The Passion Of The Christ as evidence that Christian audiences do not deplore, but rather revel, in the bloody, violent or even sadistic undertones of the Jesus myth.
- The film asserts that nearly half of Americans believe, to some degree, that the Rapture, or the End of Days, will occur in their lifetime (the next 50 years), and that this sort of thinking is not conducive to long-term governmental policies.
[edit] Interviews and commentary
- Several notable personalities make appearances in the documentary:
- Scott Butcher is the creator of the Rapture Letters.com website.
- Richard Carrier is a philosopher and historian who holds a PhD in ancient history from Columbia University, New York.
- Alan Dundes was an anthropologist and folklorist. Until his death shortly after being interviewed for the documentary, he was Professor of Folklore and Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley.
- Sam Harris is a researcher into the neurology of religious belief, and author of The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation.
- Barbara Mikkelson and David P. Mikkelson are the founders of Snopes.com.
- Robert M. Price is Professor of Biblical Criticism at the Center for Inquiry Institute.
- Ronald Sipus, principal of Village Christian School, which Brian Flemming attended as a youth. Sipus walked out of the interview, accusing Flemming of misrepresenting himself and his reasons for the interview.
- The following only appear on the DVD's commentary track:
- Richard Dawkins is a British evolutionary biologist and popular science writer.
- Earl Doherty is a contemporary advocate of the Jesus Myth theory and author of The Jesus Puzzle.
- The Raving Atheist is a lawyer and former atheist blogger, who has since converted to Christianity.
Among the Christians shown in the film were attendees at a Billy Graham Crusade event at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California on November 18, 2004.
[edit] The Blasphemy Challenge
in December 2006, the atheist organization Rational Response Squad announced it would give free DVDs of the film to the first 1,001 people who participated in the Blasphemy Challenge, an Internet-based project encouraging atheists to declare themselves publicly.[4][5]
[edit] Criticism
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Film critic Keith Breeze accuses the film of "cross[ing] over into sheer propaganda" and characterizes it as "a self-referential slice of post-modern documentary filmmaking.... so ironic it’s painful, so hip it’s almost passé."[6]
New Testament historian Michael R. Licona observed that "no major or well-known scholars are interviewed" and argues that mainstream historians and Biblical scholars have firmly rejected the Jesus myth hypothesis, citing Günther Bornkamm, Rudolf Bultmann, Michael Grant, Paul Maier, Michael Martin, and Robert Van Voorst. He concludes that "[the] film is a rehashing of the same hypercritical skepticism that has failed to convince even most skeptical scholars for decades."[2]
Cliff Vaughn of the Baptist Center for Ethics criticized Flemming for characterizing all Christians by associating them with extremists who burn books, likening his approach to that of filmmaker Michael Moore and accusing Flemming of "relying on oversimplification for cheap laughs." Vaughn disputes Flemming's claim that the Inquisition was not a perversion of Christianity, but an expression of it. Vaughn also criticizes Flemming for characterizing Jesus through a quote in Luke 19:27, "But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them — bring them here and kill them in front of me," by pointing out that the passage in question is spoken by a character in a parable.[7] Flemming has responded to this criticism by claiming that Jesus often used parables to illustrate his own beliefs, and that in the parable in question, the King is obviously meant to be a stand-in for Jesus himself, in order to illustrate his view of those who disagree with him. Flemming has responded to other criticisms on the FAQ page of the film's official website.[8]
[edit] Soundtrack
The soundtrack is performed by DJ Madson and initially released alongside the film in 2005, but was then remastered and re-released a year later by Beyond Belief Media. [9]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ David Ian Miller (2006-02-13). "Finding my religion". SF Gate. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/g/a/2006/02/13/findrelig.DTL&type=printable.
- ^ a b Licona, Mike (2007-12-09). "A Review of Brian Flemming's DVD "The God Who Wasn't There"". http://www.answeringinfidels.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=87.
- ^ Peter T. Chattaway, "Debunking Jesus?", Christianity Today, 7 July 2005 (retrieved 23 January 2009).
- ^ "Beliefwatch: Blasphemy". Newsweek. January 8, 2006. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16409851/site/newsweek/. Retrieved on 2007-09-17.
- ^ The Blasphemy Challenge Official site accessed on February 18, 2007
- ^ Breese, Keith; filmcritic.com; 2005
- ^ CLiff Vaughn, "Movie Review: 'The God Who Wasn't There" EthicsDaily.com (retrieved 25 Jan. 2009).
- ^ "FAQ". The God Who Wasn't There's official website. http://www.thegodmovie.com/faq.php.
- ^ CD Baby Independent Music, "The God Who Wasn't There (REMASTERED)", Beyond Belief Media, 2005.
