Customer Reviews

The God Who Wasn't There

5 star:		(103)
4 star:		(45)
3 star:		(57)
2 star:		(47)
1 star:		(80)

 

 

The reviewer who felt "let down" by this DVD and who worried that it was "teasing Christians" is either totally clueless or is engaged in a subtle attempt to discourage viewership.

I was impressed by the manner in which the director laid out his case for the non-existence of a historical Jesus. The information comes from scholars, researchers, and amatuer investigators, and is all available elsewhere, but this DVD brings the ideas together quickly and concisely. He then engages in a series of short interviews with those same scholars, researchers, and amatuer investigators, essentially allowing them to state their part of the case directly. (More in-depth interviews are available in the special features section of the DVD).

Equally illuminating are the interviews with believers in Jesus, who are allowed to make their own statements of belief without interruption. The fact that none of the believers were able to demonstrate any knowledge of the known history of Jesus or the early church demonstrates just how effectively Christian leaders have been able to divert attention from these controversial issues.

But the most compelling part of the film is the ending, where the director (a former evangelical Christian himself) visits the fundamentalist school he attended as a child and interviews the current president of that school. I won't reveal the dramatic ending to that interview (and to the film) but it truly tied everything together (the history, the controversy, and the impact on individuals today).

If you are a big fan of the Rev. Pat Robertson, (who just advised the people of Dover, PA., that they are no longer entitled to God's protection because they voted out a school board that supported teaching "Intelligent Design" in science class), then don't get this DVD. For anyone with an open mind on the subject, even if you are already aware of the intellectual arguments against the existence of Jesus, this DVD brings focus and a human context to the debate.

In ten years of teaching world literature at the college level, I have learned that very few Christians from the most casual liberal believer to the most devout fundamentalist know anything at all about the early years of the Christian religion. While this film lacks the scholarly depth for which I had hoped, it does open the door to the beginnings of Christianity and to the sources of its sacred texts. I suspect many viewers will be surprised to learn what even casual Biblical scholars have known for many decades: that the Gospels, which come first in the New Testament, were not written by companions of Jesus; that the oldest of the Gospel stories is Mark; that Mark could not have been written before 70 AD, and was probably written much later, perhaps ca. 110 AD; that the letters of the Apostle Paul (a number which were not actually written by Paul), were most prbably written in the firs century, beginning about 20 years after Biblical dates for the Crucifixion; that Paul never met Jesus; that none of the Biblical epistles say anything of Jesus' life on earth. The film does not settle the question of Jesus' existence, but I doubt that it was intended to. Consider it a solid introduction. If you don't like the facts stated in the film, read the scholarly literature, which backs up all the evidence in the film, though thus far most scholars have stopped short of asserting that Jesus was a myth. It's a good film; I would recommend it to anyone the least bit interested in Christianity.

I found this DVD both richly entertaining and extremely informative. Having been an atheist myself for over thirty years now, I considered myself knowledgeable on the subject matter of this DVD. Yet I was surprised - and quite delighted - by how much new insight I gained from this superb documentary.

For example, I did not previously realize that the Pauline Epistles make no reference at all to the virgin birth, to Mary and Joseph, to Bethlehem, to Herod, to *any* words allegedly spoken by Jesus, to anything pertaining to Jesus' earthly ministry, nor to any of the miracles Jesus supposedly performed. Paul mentions only the cruci-"fiction," resurrection and ascension, tales handed down to Christianity from older mythologies, as Brian Flemming powerfully demonstrates here.

Better than any other source I've seen, this DVD explains how the time-gap between Jesus' alleged death and the writing of the Gospels lends credibility to the assertion that Jesus probably never existed. Moreover, even if Jesus did exist, the stories surrounding him, such as the slaughter of the innocents, have no historical corroboration and therefore lead an objective viewer of this DVD to conclude that the Gospel accounts couldn't possibly be true (whether or not Jesus existed).

This documentary was also extremely funny where appropriate. When Brian Flemming summarized the highlights of Jesus' career, the footage running in the background - along with Flemming's casual manner of speaking - left me laughing more boisterously than I have since watching the original Monty Python episodes. What was especially funny was that Flemming's summary of the Gospels was perfectly on-target and did not distort scripture in any way. The DVD therefore succeeded in showing that the Bible, when viewed objectively, is truly laughable.

I also thoroughly enjoyed this DVD because I got to see video of individuals whose writings I have admired for years, such as Bob Price, Sam Harris, and Richard Carrier. People sometimes come across differently on camera than they do in print. But all of the extended interviews on the DVD showcased the intellect of these scholars as impressively as their books.

The physical production and packaging of this DVD are equivalent to anything marketed by Sony Pictures or Warner Brothers. I was expecting to receive a one-off DVD with an adhesive label. But what I received was a highly professional product in every sense of the word. My enthusiastic compliments to Brian Flemming and to everyone who participated in this important project. I hope that additional DVDs will be forthcoming.

David Mills
Author of "Atheist Universe"

Like many Christians I was profoundly affected and moved by Mel Gibson's portrayal of Jesus in his well-made first film: "The Passion of Christ". Until recently, I thought my faith was even more affirmed by Gibson's version of Jesus' passion. However, this film affirmed my suspicions about Jesus, the Bible, if not God himself.

I recently decided to take it upon myself to do extensive research on Jesus to see if he is recorded anywhere in history as an actual historic figure. While I have found evidence of a person who closely resembles a man that is similar to Jesus, he was not divine. As this film points out, there are no records of Pontius Pilate having ordered the execution of anyone named Jesus at all.

Despite the film's terrible production values, it makes some interesting and factual points. For example, I was also stunned to learn about the 40 year gap between the year of the alleged 'death' of Jesus and when the Book of Mark was authored. The other points the interviewees brought up were interesting as well. For example, as the film points out when the Jewish Pharisees held their trial for Jesus on passover eve would have been contrary to Judaism and that the story of Jesus correlates with many other previous pagan/mythological tales.

My father was an Episcopalian priest. I was born and raised to believe in God, the Bible and Jesus himself and that Jesus and God actually exist. However, after watching this film and conducting my research I have concluded that, there are not any gods or supernatural phenomena to believe in at all.

If you are a Christian, Jewish, or even Muslim, this film is certain to provoke you to think and I urge you to watch it and/or question your religion's beliefs. While I do not regret my strong faith (which magnified the past few years since seeing Gibson's film) it is clear that one cannot base his or her beliefs entirely on faith which is the basis of religion itself.

As far as the alternatives to religion are concerned, I plan on getting involved in non-sectarian charitable work or even a secularist group. There are plenty of non-religious options and agencies out there that someone can use to spread good will to others.

Religion does not have a monopoly on charity or demonstrating good will.

In much the same way that very few right wing Republicans ever saw Moore's 911 film, few fundamentalist Christians will ever see this film. Which is unfortunate - everyone should challenge their faith from time to time. After being involved with bringing the Weekly World News' Batboy to off-Broadway glory, Flemming chose the logical next step for his career - making a film presenting evidence that Jesus was and is a fictional character. Much of Flemming's supporting source material has been around for decades (and usually centuries) though he presents numerous interviews with current scholars of varying prestige (from graduate students to respected university professors, though they all have books to sell). Flemming does not interview any scholars opposed to the Jesus-myth, save for the educated director of the fundamentalist Christian elementary school he attended as a child. Interestingly, it is this point that seems to be the underlying reason Flemming chose this project - to revisit his fundamentalist past and reaffirm his conversion to becoming an "Atheist Christian" as he calls himself in a Christianity Today interview. The DVD contains the film plus two full length commentary track interviews, exactly 66:06 minutes of extended interviews, and extensive slide show galleries with web content. Supporting documentation for the film's facts and quotes is rather limited, but as this is a DVD, there is hardly any way to include footnotes (the film's website does provide further supporting content though). Like all documentaries, the film manipulates its audience a bit, presenting a couple New Testament excerpts that seem to suggest that the Apostle Paul thought Jesus was never on earth (Hebrews 8:4, not written by Paul and presented in an unknown translation) and that Jesus wanted people killed in front of him (Luke 19:27 NIV, the last line spoken by a character in the parable of the three servants, not Jesus himself). The film does a much better job of presenting the "Jesus myth" as a parallel to other mythical heroes; the Oedipus and Dionysus myths for example have an abundance of similarities with the Biblical life of Christ and of course predate Jesus by centuries, so the scriptures would seem to be derivative of those myths. This argument is difficult to refute and Flemming presents the argument and common (though weak) refutations in a comical way. Overall, the film is entertaining but the sarcastic tone and content itself are unlikely to convert any fundamentalist evangelicals into raving atheists. On a final note, the trippy soundtrack is excellent and is freely available online, check it out.

The God Who Wasn't There is a daring documentary which explores the possibility that Jesus Christ did not exist. Director Brian Flemming provides a great deal of material to put into our thinking caps with fine interviews and historical fact, all presented in a rational, entertaining way.

There are interviews with leading scholars such as Sam Harris (The End of Faith), Dr. Alan Dundes (professor of folklore, UC Berkeley), Richard Carrier (Sense and Goodness without God: A Defense of Metaphysical Naturalism) and Robert Price (The Incredible Shrinking Son of Man). These interviews present logical arguments against the existence of Jesus. Dr. Dundes, in his jolly way, shows that the story of Christ is identical to the myths of other gods which supports the argument that all are just stories.

There are also interviews with Christians that make it obvious that they do not have any basis for their beliefs other than blind faith.

This movie is informational and amusing at the same time. There is a six minute version of the life of Christ, complete with a countdown clock, contructed of old movie clips which is guaranteed to make you chuckle. The movie compares more contemporary Jesus movies such as Jesus Christ Superstar, The Passion of The Christ and The Last Temptation of Christ.

The director also interviews the superintendent of a fundamentalist school he attended. It becomes clear throughout the interview and subsequent narrative of his schooldays that what is being taught there is nothing but nightmarish dogma.

This DVD doesn't stop after the initial hour long film. There are excellent extended interviews and if it is put into a PC, there is an internet-connected slide show (what a concept!) that will give the viewer even more information.

A must-see for all!

I must admit, I love reviewing books and films about what H.L. Mencken might have called "heaving dead cats into sanctuaries*." For one thing, one of Mencken's own horse-laughs almost always lies in wait at the bottom of their Amazon pages. The page for Brian Flemming's "The God Who Wasn't There" is no exception. This time around, it's what I like to call "shy evidence": It never fails to amuse this reviewer when Christians boast about a "massive body of evidence" regarding the existence of Jesus and yet never seem able to produce this massive body of evidence. There is a massive body of refuted evidence (apology, historicization, and propaganda) regarding the chronicity of the Jesus figure, to be sure, in the sense that the evidentiary data and arguments formed around it have failed to satisfy the basic tenets of academia as well as to pass logical muster---but a "massive body of [valid] evidence"? We're still waiting. Our minds are open. Produce your god, and we shall bow down to him; that's a promise.

But with each good horse-laugh often comes a twinge of annoyance. True to form, the first Christian review of this documentary I could find makes an ad hominem attack against an informational source in the narrative, but fails to even speak to the arguments of the narrative themselves, let alone refute them. Is anyone still buying this tack? (if person bad, person wrong) I would have thought card-carrying members of the Christian Apology Club would have retired it by now. In truth, for the documentary's limited scope, its points are quite succinct and well made; and while there is much more to be said regarding the evils of organized religion, this documentary provides a wonderful jumping off point for truth seekers.

Indeed, viewers will miss the entire point of the documentary if expecting an airtight comprehensive proof of Jesus Christ as fiction rather than fact that not even Pat Robertson could fail to laud; such would be beyond the scope of any documentary. In the same way that physicians once ran the gamut in medical knowledge and practice, but today need to specialize due to the exponentially increasing body of medical science and application; authors, pundits, and documentary filmmakers must wage their wars on one focused front at a time in the modern day, avoiding the temptation to speak to points beyond the scope of their project. Some reviewers of this documentary have claimed that this is a weakness. I say otherwise. After all, what better way to entice viewers to do further, hopefully objective research on their own than to only reference and locate topics such as the astrotheological roots of religion and the phenomenon of moderate Christianity, leaving the viewers' interest exquisitely piqued? Besides, how reasonable is it to expect a filmmaker to pack that kind of information into a single documentary? As viewers will miss the point if expecting an airtight comprehensive proof beyond all doubt, reviewers hold the filmmaker to an unreasonable standard if expecting the documentary to take the place of tens of thousands of pages of hardcore scholarship. The filmmaker correctly, even expertly limits his content to the scope of the project and, in so doing, relies on the integrity of his reviewers to limit their critiques to that scope.

What this documentary offers is the provocation of thought upon a limited few subtopics regarding the question of whether Jesus Christ ever actually existed, presented in a well-organized and -rounded fashion which, while making no bones about where the filmmaker stands, still gives the viewer plenty of room to call the evidence and arguments presented to the tribunal of her or his own intellectual discernment, reason, and good sense---bite-size pieces of "things that make you go, `hmmm...'" to act as a jumping off point from which the truth seeker may launch into further objective research, rather than engaging in the wholesale adoption of belief systems formulated by others. Thus, for example, a zoologist---well trained in critical thought and the inductions of the scientific method---being interviewed regarding his thoughts on the historicity of Jesus Christ should not raise a red flag in the viewer's mind at all. That there are indeed glaring historical inaccuracies surrounding the Jesus account is a fact that remains wholly unaffected by the nature of the scholarship of the person proclaiming such historical inaccuracies, for the modern layperson, child of the Information Age, is increasingly well equipped to affirm or deny these inaccuracies on her or his own. Verily, this reviewer says unto you, if this film with its interviewees provoked afterthought in the viewer, then it has frankly done its job. If it has inspired serious discussion on the film's subject matter, all the better. If it has transcended its subject matter, has tickled the cinephile, and stands as a representative piece of documentary film art**...well that's the icing on the cake, isn't it?---the cat's meow, as it were, as she is heaved by a wild-eyed and smiling Mencken into a solemn sanctuary full of nodding sheep, hiding secret doubt and holy fear. In this reviewer's opinion, Brian Flemming is 3 for 3.

These issues won't be dealt with overnight, and they won't be dealt with in a single documentary or book, nor even by a single filmmaker or author. Don't judge this documentary by what isn't there but by what is. Put simply, good social commentary is whatever opens dialogue and stimulates discussion, and this documentary does both, in spades. As we are all affected in one way or another by Christianity, this documentary is for everyone. No matter what you believe and no matter why you believe it, give "The God Who Wasn't There" an honest viewing with a truly open, objective mind. I dare you. If your beliefs are worthy of you, then they can surely stand up to the scrutiny.


* "The liberation of the human mind has never been furthered by dunderheads; it has been furthered by gay fellows who heaved dead cats into sanctuaries and then went roistering down the highways of the world, proving to all men that doubt, after all, was safe---that the god in the sanctuary was finite in his power and hence a fraud. One horse-laugh is worth ten thousand syllogisms. It is not only more effective; it is also vastly more intelligent." --H.L. Mencken

** Indeed, this documentary film won the Best Documentary award at the 2005 Grassroots Cinema Film Festival.

I think I should start my review by saying that I am an atheist, since readers will wonder on what side of the fence I stand before they decide whether they should take me seriously. So, if you are a Christian, you probably won't find anything useful in the paragraphs below.

That said, I was disappointed with this documentary. I bought it mainly because Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins are mentioned in the presentation of the material, and I am a fan of both. What I was expecting to see in this video is something neither Harris nor Dawkins covered in any great length in their books: a detailed analysis of the historical origins of Christianity. Among the questions I was hoping to see discussed is whether historical opinion is more inclined to believe that there was a popular leader behind the Jesus legend or whether even the common person was a later invention. I also wanted to see something about the role the Roman Empire played in the diffusion of Christianity. Both are basic questions for any documentary aiming to discuss the beginnings of the creed.

But the movie doesn't touch those points. Instead, it shows that the miraculous passages in the gospels were written by people living after the time when Jesus is supposed to have lived, and that the figure of Jesus inherited traits from other "savior" figures in older mythologies. Both those things are common knowledge among people with minimal reading about this subject. But Flemming presents them with sensationalist soundtrack and images, as if they were something very new and shocking. Perhaps they may shock believers, but Flemming is very naive if he thinks he will convince them.

When I expected him to go deeper into his subject, he switched the focus, and the question of historicity was abandoned. The rest of the documentary consisted in interviews with Christians (with welcome comments by Harris, Carrier and Price) showing how simple-minded modern Christians can be. This may be amusing to watch for atheists, but it doesn't teach them anything they don't already know. And the sensationalist soundtrack and visual effects are still there all the time, suggesting that they should be shocked by what they are seeing. In more than one moment, I felt that my intelligence was being underestimated.

In a word, the movie lacks any consistent argumentation, and assumes its public will be astonished at seeing what is no more than an exposition of the basics. Serious atheists with an interest in history will find nothing here that they don't know already. But perhaps people who attack Christ not on firm grounds, but because they find it fun to be iconoclasts, may like the movie.

As a note, the interview with Dawkins is on the phone.

I thought it was very enjoyable. Good presentation, graphically and visually intense and involving.

The treatment of the issues discussed wasn't very in depth. It seemed like more of a commercial for atheism (and a good one) than a rigorous investigation of the facts. Which means that while you shouldn't accept it's suggestions on face value, it points you in good directions if you are interested in taking the time to learn about the facts.

Although I've been an atheist all my life, I'd never seriously considered the idea that Jesus wasn't an historical person at all. Now it seems like a strong possibility, though I'm not familiar enough with the evidence to make an informed judgement. For me, this was the main impact of the film.

It also familiarized me with several atheist thinkers and ideas that I am now interested in learning more about.

Within this documentary are some compelling arguments that should lead to questioning the true history of the so called Christ. This is an especially good DVD for someone who is in a transition period from Christianity, or someone who has just began to study this subject. For those of us who have gone more in depth on researching these and similar topics, there are still a few pieces of information that when brought out are quite enlightening. Even though I did know most of the material, it was nice to be able to visualize it and have someone else explaining. There is so much knowledge you can get out of other peoples writings on these issues but I have to give a 5 star rating simply because this is one of very, very few documentaries on this thought level. So in recap: if you are curious or looking for answers in reality, this is defiantly a good way to start a good foundation of research. If you have read almost everything possible and just like to keep up with any new ideas and or concepts...this is a great visual; comparatively to Christian documentaries, we are very limited to such visuals. I would absolutely love to see these types of videos go out into the mainstream audience to give people a new idea of the reality of this life!