80 Reasons To Doubt Christianity

[Sheild Maiden]

Thought I would share this with you all.

 

http://www.kyroot.com/ (Posted below is the introduction)

 

By Michael Runyan  (mfrunyan@icloud.com)

 

Many Christians fail to comprehend  the implications of the belief system they embrace.  Much of what they ‘ know’ about their religion is a highly sanitized version that is promoted by their priests and pastors.  Few bother to read and understand what is written in the Bible or think critically about what Christian doctrine implies.  This article may not cause a Christian to abandon his faith, but it should stimulate him to re-examine it.  The 80 points listed below reveal a convincing circumstantial evidence case that Christianity is untrue.

 

(1) Jesus Seminar

 

The Jesus Seminar was a collaborative effort of approximately 200 professionally trained specialists in the field of religion tasked with the effort to separate the historical Jesus from the mythical Jesus.  Membership was limited to scholars with advanced academic degrees (Ph.D. or equivalent) in religious studies or related disciplines from accredited universities worldwide and to published authors who were recognized authorities in the field of religion (by special invitation only).  This task force convened on and off from 1985 to 2006.

 

http://www.westarinstitute.org/projects/the-jesus-seminar/

 

The significant finding of this group was that most of the Jesus’s quotes and deeds documented in the gospels are very likely to be mythical.  In fact, only 18% of the sayings and 16% of the deeds attributed to Jesus were thought to be authentic.  The scholars used cross-cultural anthropological studies to set the general background, narrowing in on the history and society of first-century Palestine, and used textural analysis along with anthropological, historical, and archaeological evidence.

 

Other findings of the group included:

 

Jesus of Nazareth was born during the reign of Herod the Great.

 

His mother’s name was Mary, and he had a human father whose name may not have been Joseph.

 

Jesus was born in Nazareth, not in Bethlehem.

 

Jesus was an itinerant sage who shared meals with social outcasts.

 

Jesus practiced faith healing without the use of ancient medicine or magic, relieving afflictions we now consider psychosomatic.

 

He did not walk on water, feed the multitude with loaves and fishes, change water into wine or raise Lazarus from the dead.

 

Jesus was arrested in Jerusalem and crucified by the Romans.

 

He was executed as a public nuisance, not for claiming to be the Son of God.

 

The empty tomb is a fiction – Jesus was not raised bodily from the dead.

 

Belief in the resurrection is based on the visionary experiences of Paul, Peter and Mary Magdalene.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Seminar