The God Who Wasn’t There Review
So last night I was browsing through an online documentary site which lists full documentaries that you can watch online for free and I came across one called ” The God Who Wasn’t There ” by Brian Flemming.
You might recall Brian Flemming as the guy behind the shit storm that hit the news airwaves called ” The Blasphemy Challenge ” where folks were encouraged to create a video and deny God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. ( A big no no in the Christian belief ) Anyway you can view a fox news piece that was done on that here
Now the documentary isn’t very long and its kind of done in the style of Michael Moore.
The documentary really focuses in on the person of Jesus Christ and whether or not he even existed. Now I know this has been an ongoing argument for years and Christians will get in a real tizzy over it but I think that any level headed christian if they have a solid faith in Jesus shouldn’t be scared to watch this documentary or anything really that challenges the grounds of their faith.
I think the problem that exists today is that not enough of the religious community over all takes the time to look at claims made about the inaccuracy or validity of there religion. Having once been in it, I know that the majority spend more time looking at their own material. Viewing books that support their faith instead of question it.
And honestly the resistance to enter into conversations about other explanations and possibilities is just too damn soul shattering for many. It does however reveal the underlying drive behind what keeps many from entering into conversation and that’s Fear.
Fear of what others may say if they find out they are questioning
Fear of what God might do
Fear of mistake and how that might effect their identity which is so deeply entwined and held together by their religion.
Anyway that’s for another post, back to the documentary.
You find out as the documentary goes on that Brian was once a fundamental christian who like many at some point questioned his faith.
Some of the points he brings out aren’t anything new to anyone who has questioned the bible or the story of Jesus but it dives into a time-line of Jesus, and then how the message of Jesus was spread after his apparent death and resurrection.
For instance his reference to the various similarities between those who were considered folklore at the time of Jesus, having similar stories like:
Born a Virgin on December 25th
Stars Appeared at their Birth
Visited by Magi from the East
Turned water into wine
Healed the sick
Cast out demons
Performed Miracles
Transfigured before followers
Rode a donkey into the city
Betrayed for 30 pieces of silver
Celebrated Communion meal with bread and wine representing the saviors body and blood
Killed on a Cross or Tree
Descended into hell
Rose on the 3rd day
Ascended into heaven
To sit before father and become divine judge
Such as:
Zoroaster
Thor
Osiris
Orpheus
Mithras
Krishna
Horus
Hermes
Dionysus
Devatat
Beddru
Balder
Bacchus
BAAL
Attis
Adonis
A note to make is that these people came before Jesus, not after. The church fathers excuse at that time because there were so many similarities with Jesus and the others pagans who didn’t believe in the other Gods was to come up with an explanation that the Devil knew Jesus was coming so he setup false Gods ahead of time with a similar life story to make Jesus life look not so authentic. ( This excuse is still perpetuated today as the explanation)
The church never denied that these Jesus like characters were before Jesus otherwise they would have never resorted to using the Satan escape card 
Brian speaks with a number of Christians on video and christian leaders and asks them if they are familiar with such people and to which you get just blank looks and replies such as ” not at all or I know 1 of them ”
Now before someone says ok his video was made to paint christians in a bad light and make them look ignorant of history.. having been one for many years I can tell you that I met maybe a handful of people, literally i could count on 1 hand a few people who took the time to research their faith, history and various objective views and even those had only researched that which tended to support their faith.
Their is one point in the video that one guy replies ” Ah it’s all about Jesus, we just need to focus on him ” and unfortunately that is is the common tone held by many still today.
An interesting part in the video is when Brian returns to the Christian school he was taught, and he interviews the guy in charge.. as the questions get more direct and requiring better answers, the guy catches on that he thought the interview was going to be about one thing and it turns out it poses questions he just doesn’t want to answer. He response is to walk off camera and end the interview.
Brian poses the question, Is it responsible for kids be taught that if they don’t believe they will be damned for eternity?. I applaud Brians tenacity for grabbing the sacred bull by the horns and saying enough is enough!
All in all, nothing earth shattering being told in the documentary but definitely worth a watch for those who may have questions about Christianity or want to get a glimpse at what little is known about Jesus and how the message spread.
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