Atheists: How could a man like Jesus have dramatically changed the world?

People have certainly been following SOMETHING. Whoever Jesus may have been we have no way of knowing. He wrote nothing we know of and nothing was written of him until decades after he was gone. History shows us the amplifying effects of oral tradition, so the legend of Jesus could easily have eclipsed the reality, especially with him not around to disprove the hype.

There are clues even in the Christian texts. The earliest writings preserved, the letters of Paul, described a Christ with a very thin biography: "died and was raised by God". It was filled out to include his ministry in Mark's gospel, 25-30 years late. Matthew and Luke further built up Jesus' life with two contradictory infancy narratives, obviously responding to the idle curiosity of converts. By the time John's gospel was produced, 60 years after the fact, a complex theology had grown up around this Jesus, one that "Jesus" himself might not have recognized. All this offers circumstantial evidence that the biography of Jesus may have been invented, or at least profoundly altered.

Yet "Jesus" had some good ideas. Loving your neighbor, even your enemy, feeding the hungry, healing the sick, relieving the imprisoned and heartening the poor, these are all risky, admirable, heroic traits. Who would not be attracted to a faith that provides a compassionate alternative to the law of the jungle? As a persecuted, underground religious underdog, Christianity continued to gain converts through its promises of God's justice and mercy and its demonstrations of humble, altruistic service. The Church's numbers eventually swelled enough to threaten the stability of the Roman Imperial government. And once legalized, a funny thing happened to Christianity. Suddenly it was no longer about Christ's message of love but about conformity and obedience to hierarchical authority. If you didn't belong to the faith, you were a nobody The Church had turned into its opposite, but membership was nearly universal.

Since then, unity has taken a severe beating, but in most sects and denomination, the divisions are credal: "We're the right Christianity, they're the wrong Christianity." Membership and doctrinal conformity are all that matter. Compassion is dependent on conversion. This is hardly what the gospels teach, yet "following Christ" is now determined by who you know, not what you do. (Jesus himself said he was more interested in people who did what was needed to "build the kingdom of heaven" than in those who called him their buddy.

"Whoever is not against us is for us." Mark 4:40

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." Matthew 7:21

"Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." Matthew 25:40

And yet a vast number of "Christians" act like the priest and the Levite in the parable of the Good Samaritan, refusing to lift a finger on behalf of anyone who is not a fellow member of their faith. Sure, there have been billions of "Christians', but are they really? Did Jesus really change the world? Or did the world change "Jesus"?

A man like any other. Really, of what Jesus supposedly said and did, very few hadn't been said or done by other people in the past. Which, when coupled with the fact that no contemporary historian mentions him, lends some credence to the idea that he didn't exist at all. But I don't believe that. I do believe the Jesus stories are based on a man or several men who actually lived, but didn't do any of the miracles.

"How could a man like Jesus have dramatically changed the world?"

'He' didn't; Paul did.

"what was it about him that caused millions upon millions over the last 2000 years to follow him?"

Mostly it was FEAR and-or the sword.

"Name one other person other than Mohammed, who even comes close to having such an affect on civilization?"

Popularity does NOT make something true... it's the way the scam is sold that makes it 'successful'.

I am an atheist cos there are NO invisible sky critters.

Magic only exists in story books.

~

You say Constantine died long ago. If your supposed jesus ever existed which those who have to the time to educate themselves outside of sunday school knows he didn't, then he died long ago as well. If he survived his physical death he would be here. In fact where is Lazarus he raised him from the dead so shouldn't he be here? It is time you xtians learned where your book of fairy tales came from there are many good answers to your question but you have a wall of ignorance and fear that will not allow you to pursue the truth. It is well known fact that the Jesus Myth is a story that was repeated over and over long before the man was ever thought of. Osiris Dionysus had all the same miraculous things applied to him. He was born of virgin turned water into wine and yes was raised from the dead. Do some research and if your to lazy at least read something from those who have already done the research for you. Such as the The Jesus Mysteries which will explain the truth to you. Xtians have ran around killing Men women and children in order to push this fairy tale why do you think that 95% of Mexico is catholic. Because the church invaded their country killed the men forced them to accept their fairy tale book and over time when you brain wash enough people and destroy all other information then the lie becomes a truth. Same thing happened here in America so called xtians destroyed the North American Indian in the name of their fairy tale god and forced this crap on the women and children not to mention the slaves. So out grow your ignorance study something other than a book full of lies and fairy tales then you will be able to ask intelligent questions and be able to handle an intelligent answer. The old the Bible says it so I believe it no longer works we are starting to accept that we have been lied to unfortunately there are still some that accept BS as truth. If any of it was true do you think the founders of the Roman Catholic Church would be molesting little children if they thought for one min they could be punished for it? And where is your Jesus when this man of the clothe is shoving is shaft up the rear end of small child? Give me a break grow up and leave the fairy tales for the kids. what a freaking joke Jesus my ***!

Ok...so you're forcing us to neglect other examples like mohammed so that your argument seems more sound....right...ok well people have already mentioned countless other people that have changed the world in similar ways, mohammed for one (who btw, on the list of the 100 most important people of all time, is ranked at number 2...Jesus is 3, and Sir Issac Newton is 1, since his contributions to the world actually did something useful), Buddah's teaching captivated much of the eastern world, and the Hindus, who have been around MUCH longer than Christians, have influenced thought in almost every other major religion and society. It is impossible to look at Jesus and neglect others who have made contributions rivaling and, at times, even exceeding his. And on the topic of Jesus, his message spread primarily through Paul and then was widely accepted by the Romans. Had it not been for the society in which he lived, he, like the multitudes of other prophets parading their divinity, would have been cast aside as a nutjob.

You have really been brainwashed if you believe the present day christians of whatever sect are following the teachings of jesus - even taking the edited and faked evidence of their own bible. Christianity did not start until about 300 years after he died (assuming he was one man and that he existed at all), when the control freaks started melding sun worship with judaism and backing it up with death to deniers. If you study what is known of Jesus's life (even after all the excisions, suppressions and bending of truth) even a person of moderate brain power would realise that he was a buddhist.

actually anyone with any intelligence would accept the possiblity that jesus did not in fact exist since while there is evidence of the existance of a "jesus" figure, at that time (preacher looking to reform the jewish religion), the evidence is suspect, but there is something.

that actually brings up my main point-

it wasn't jesus the "man" that changed the world- it was jesus' myth and followers after his death-

it was the STORY of jesus, not his lifetime actions (if he existed).

see- if you even knew anything about history of christianity, you would know it took a LONG time to gain acceptance, there were other competing sects looking for converts from teh jewish and roman and other populations in the province of judea at the time and after.

thus jesus' influence was not spread through his lifetime- it happened centuries afterwards as the followers and religion grew.

simonism or mithrism could have just as easily taken the place of christianity and been a major religion today that christianity is.

so its less the "person" of jesus, that may or may not have existed, but the stories and myths and legend about him and the "moral" teachings they attribute to jesus which the man may or may not have followed that inspired people.

Christ is not the only man that has influenced a lot of people. Consider the Buddha, or Mohamed

The spread of Christianity had a lot to do with Constantine's conversion, and the subsequent rise of the Roman empire. It is naive to assume that it was the result of some ultimate truth

"Assuming you have at least some intelligence to believe this man existed"

belief is the death of knowledge.

How about the Greek gods? Shows you what indoctrination, ignorance, and wishful-thinking all working together can do.

If you really want to know, it was his miracles. It is all about the miracles and that is all it has ever been about. No one gives a sh!t about his philosophy. They want the miracles and the promises. They want so desperately to believe and to maintain that belief so they will ignore reality to do so.

You should actually wait until the person is done before giving a thumbs down. How else do you expect me to cure that willful ignorance of yours?

You seem quite ignorant. Your first line is B.S. There is no proof of Jesus' existence or any of the deeds you credit him with, just ask any reputable historian. It is all 'hearsay' to begin with.

Just in the last 100 years, there has been Malcolm Luther King, Jr. who has drastically changed our society. The Beatles were also within the last 100 years, who themselves became 'more popular than jesus.'

Did you learn all your history from the bible? There are not just other holy books out there, but also really good historical books out there, founded in fact. Check them out, if you are open minded enough to, but it sounds like you are not.