Wol

(Cutting and pasting from Wikipedia)

The Anno Domini system was developed by a monk named Dionysius Exiguus (born in Scythia Minor) in Rome in 525, as an outcome of his work on calculating the date of Easter.

It wasn't even in Jesus's day, so the people of the time weren't *that* concerned <g>.

esperanza

Exatamundo, and then it says it wasn't widely adopted until the eighth century, so it still took at least two hundred years before any one thought it was worth using.

annqldau

I was once stuck in a hotel room with only a husband and a Gideon bible. It's full of crap. One minute people lived to be 400 the next minuter for no real reason this was carved down to 100 just a lets knock 300 ff for the hell of it.

Also, Adam and Eve were supposedly the only people so one of them had to go on to have an incestuous relationship with their child, think the apples on that tree must have been turning to cider as they seemed to be having a good time of it.

Wol

The real disgrace of all religions, as Hitchens rightly says, is that they brainwash children at an age when they are able to be frightened into anything. Look at the Jesuit mantra - give me a child for seven (?) years and I will give you the man. Very true - and actually quite evil.

The establishments of all religions hold their flocks by fear, in one way or another, so that they (the "leaders") can dictate their own terms.

Whether it's the Japanese committing appalling atrocities to appease their man-god, paedophile Catholic priests in their thousands being shielded by the Vatican, young suicide bombers being told they will have access to 70-odd virgins in paradise, fanatical rabbis telling...... oh well, you get my drift.

Organised religion of all colours just stinks - to high heaven, if you will <g>.

Notice that I say nothing about the existence of god - just the way that man will always bend the concept to attain power.

PS: Being metaphysical - what does the phrase "existence of god" mean, if anything? "Existence" means able to be seen, touched, smelled, heard at least in principle. I would really like to know!

ub40fan

Wasn't the first misktake in the bible the fact that they left out the page saying

"These characters are fictional and any resemblance to any persons living or dead is entirely conincidental"

TraceyW

Oh so that's what happened then according to Wikipedia?

Not quite the case according to The World Book Encyclopedia ;

Even calendars today are based on the year that Jesus was thought to have been born. “Dates before that year are listed as B.C., or before Christ,” explains The World Book Encyclopedia. “Dates after that year are listed as A.D., or anno Domini (in the year of our Lord).”

So what about the actual existence of Jesus?

Cornelius Tacitus, a respected first-century Roman historian, wrote: “The name [Christian] is derived from Christ, whom the procurator Pontius Pilate had executed in the reign of Tiberius.”

&

With reference to early non-Christian historical references to Jesus, THE NEW ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA states: “These independent accounts prove that in ancient times even the opponents of Christianity never doubted the historicity of Jesus "(1976), MACROPÆDIA, VOL. 10, P. 145.

....and lots more waffle copy and pasted out of huge books.

So, according to some historians, the B.C and A.D where created to signify the birth of Jesus, whom according to other historians, did actually exist.

esperanza

Nobody has denied that BC & AD were created with reference to a person called Jesus.
Plenty of people would accept that there is a lot of evidence that a person called Jesus did exist and did have many followers. That's not proof that he was son of God, or that God exists, or that the bible is true.

Wol - I rather like the Terry Pratchett idea (don't know if he nicked it off someone else) that Gods only exist if people believe in them. I suppose it's quite obvious really. Belief = God. No belief = no God. Therefore God does not exist except as a concept in our minds. Doesn't make the whole thing less real though, or less important. In fact it probably makes it a damn sight more powerful. Gosh am being far too philosophical, need more wine!

TraceyW

Exactly my point. Jesus did exist (probably!). So, if Jesus did exist and he was a preacher who brought about the new religion of Christianity....where the heck did he get all of his ideas from?

Look, I'm not a believer, but it fascinates me how people can quickly decry a theory that has been around for over 2000 years. I agree, most of the writings in the Bible are totally ludicrous and too far fetched to be given any credence, but, what about if there was some tiny little element of truth in there somewhere?

I personally find it a lot simpler to be a bit of a fence sitter. It gives me a little comfort to hope that just maybe there is a 'bigger picture' than the one we see. At the end of my days here, there will hopefully be something better than this.

judge dredd

man, this is getting heavy

rossifumi

Fancy a pint of heavy?

esperanza

I think there is some confusion between people saying that they don't believe in the bible, and that being taken to mean that they don't believe in a God or in the existence of Jesus. Clearly you could not believe in all three, or you could believe in one but not the other two.

As far as where Jesus may have got his ideas from, I don't know, maybe he was schizophrenic, or had multiple personalities and one of them was 'God'? Maybe he was a bloody good conartist. Or maybe he had a direct line to the man upstairs. No way to ever know any of it for sure. I can't help but think of Brian - he's not the saviour, he's a very naughty boy!

TraceyW

I just reckon it's easier to sit in the 'grey' area and take little bits from my understandings of Christianity and evolution, blend them all together and hey presto...

"Blessed are the cheesemakers!"

esperanza

and the makers of other dairy products too, don't forget!

Wol

I surmise that Jesus was the Jim Jones of his day. (Jonestown Massacre, to save you the trouble of looking it up <g>)

History is crammed with oddballs who really believe themselves to be something special, as well as the common-or-garden conmen. Lord knows, there are plenty of *them* in the evangelical mould!

It's very worrying really to see audiences of tens of thousands in raptures at some of these charlatans - just look at some of them on several channels of a Sunday. (Even accepting that digital trickery makes a few hundred into thousands). Ask yourself the question: "Would you buy a used car from this man?"

I think there's probably enough evidence to say that Jesus lived at the time he's supposed to have, and that he gathered a following. It seems to me unlikely in the extreme that there's any more to him than that.

lesleys

Just a thought.....

If Jesus MKII showed up in Gaza now would he be taken seriously? Would the pope dash over to worship him?

I'd rather find dark matter than God.