In a discussion at Rutherford Lawson’s blog, Postman linked to thegodmovie.com. The God Who Wasn’t There has been out since 2005, so some of you may already be familiar with it. I’ve never seen it myself, but I have every intention of doing do so the minute I can lay my hands on a copy. I saw the trailer and then found a ten minute clip on YouTube which I immediately decided to post here.
But first, from the above linked website:
In this critically acclaimed film, you will discover:
- The early founders of Christianity seem wholly unaware of the idea of a human Jesus
- The Jesus of the Gospels bears a striking resemblance to other ancient heroes and the figureheads of pagan savior cults
- Contemporary Christians are largely ignorant of the origins of their religion
- Fundamentalism is as strong today as it ever has been, with an alarming 44% of Americans believing that Jesus will return to earth in their lifetimes
Now, on with the show:
Thanks, Postman!
Rambling On 
October 30th, 2008 at 9:15 am
Por nada. I think I Netflixed it, if that helps.
October 30th, 2008 at 9:17 am
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life– the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us– that which we have seen and heard we declare to you [1 John 1:1-3]
October 30th, 2008 at 9:22 am
Postman: I’ve been wanting to try Netflix anyway. No time like the present!
Russ: Uh huh. It all makes perfect sense now. Thanks for posting such a profound and compelling argument. ‘Cause, see, I’ve never read a bible before.
October 30th, 2008 at 9:32 am
I had forgotten how well-done that is.
Boy, you’ve got to give it to old Satan. To go back in time and plant false prophecies before the Real Deal, phrew! That’s forward thinking… backwards.
I wouldn’t want Gawd to hear me saying this, but I think this Satan fellow must be a good deal smarter than Him. I shall watch Satan’s future career with interest.
October 30th, 2008 at 9:35 am
I’m really impressed myself. Both with the film and with that Satan fellow. Clever devil!
October 30th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Wow! I had never heard before about the 40 year gap between Jesus’ supposed death and the gospels. I’m a big netflix fan …. I’ll see if I can rent this one.
October 30th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
“Clever devil.” [Bonnie snickers]
I’ll expect a critique of this movie. I may want to put it on my own Netflix queue.
October 30th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Rutherford: I didn’t know about that either. I suspect I’m in for a few more surprises when I see the film.
Bonnie: I’ll do my best, although giving reviews isn’t one of my strong points. But you know me, I always have something to say.
. 😀
October 30th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Along those lines, a fellow believer friend of mine posted an entry awhile back about church steeples.
http://thedissidentblog.wordpress.com/2008/05/19/the-origin-of-the-church-steeple-new-motivational-poster/
October 30th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
That’s a very interesting article, Selena. Thanks for the link.
October 30th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
I got my copy gratis from the Rational Response Squad as part of the Blasphemy Challenge – I merely had to video myself denying the Holy Spirit, which apparently is the one unforgivable sin. (You can deny the Father and the Son, but not the Spirit, even though they’re all supposedly the same entity. Go figure.) This notion informs the arc of the movie itself, which I greatly enjoy.
I don’t know if they’re still giving away DVDs (probably not, they only had 1001 to begin with) but the site’s still active at http://www.blasphemychallenge.com so do take a look. There are some very interesting and creative blasphemies there (mine is pretty boring).
October 31st, 2008 at 7:31 am
Thanks, B.T. I’ll definitely check it out. 😀
October 31st, 2008 at 3:41 pm
I immediately put this at the top of my Netflix queue – – I should get it on Tuesday. YEAH!! 🙂
Thanks for posting this!!
October 31st, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Excellent! You’ll probably see it before I do, then. Come back and let me know what you think about it.
January 11th, 2009 at 9:13 am
The God Who Wasn’t there was really disappointing. It had such potential, but it just comes across as conspiracy theory like. I blogged about this movie.
January 11th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
There were a few parts that I thought could have been better. I wouldn’t call it a complete disappointment, though.
Like you said in your post, the intention of the film to compare the story of Jesus to other mythological characters, and to discuss the violence of Christianity and how the religion scares people into belief. It think it accomplished those goals.
It also did a nice job of showing that Paul didn’t seem to regard Jesus as an actual person, which I think is a very significant point given that Paul supposedly wrote a large chunk of the New Testament.
I don’t really care about the lighting or the attitude of the narrator, because neither of those things have any bearing on the facts presented. I wasn’t expecting a big-budget film anyway.
Overall, I was satisfied. I particularly enjoyed all the special features.
Thanks for stopping by and for commenting!
May 29th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Real quick why do you all bother worrying about something that you believe is not true. Weird. Why even bother denouncing it. Like I dont believe in budda Ala or ali or whatever it is. I dont even talk about it. they dont exist. The other thing is What happens if it is all true. AAAA that would really suck for you all. Anyway just a word of advice stop wasting time on something you do not believe in. It kills you alls whole arguement. Gosh wasting all that time proving something is not there, real, or true. Kind of makes me wonder. Owell its never to late God Bless
May 30th, 2009 at 7:47 am
Wow! So many fallacies, so little time. 😆
Thanks for commenting. I’ll have to come back and answer your questions later when I have the time to kill. Of course, if any of the other readers would like to take a shot, please do.
June 1st, 2009 at 10:09 am
I only have a second, myself, but I’ll get the ball rolling.
Paul,
If your daughter tells you there’s a monster under her bed and she’s afraid it’s going to eat her when she falls asleep, do you say to yourself, “There’s no point in proving it’s not there, real or true. What a waste of time.”
What about when your daughter bangs on your bedroom door every time you and the wife get a little “alone time” in order to ask you if you’ve heard the Bad News about Underbed Monster? And when she starts telling you and all her friends that if they don’t follow a specific bedtime ritual, the monster under the bed will eat them, too – do you bother to refute it then?
June 1st, 2009 at 11:38 am
Excellent, Postman! I can always count on you. 😀