Skeptics have attempted to suppress and discredit the gospel accounts of Jesus Christ ever since they were first circulated. The Christian faith itself has remained under sustained attack ever since the resurrection of Christ. This has taken many forms ranging from violent persecution and more prominantly in the western world through the “reason” and “intellect” of the scientific and academic arenas.
Apparently, for the last 2000 years we have all been missing something!
Next weekend will see the arrival of American Bible “scholar” Joseph Atwill for a one-day symposium in London entitled “Covert Messiah”. He will present what he claims is evidence that Jesus Christ did not actually exist, but was a creation of the Roman aristocrats who fabricated the entire story! The national media has also picked up on this to give more exposure to Atwill’s analysis – Story of Jesus Christ was fabricated to pacify the poor, claims controversial biblical scholar.
When asked if his evidence will mark and end of the Christian faith, Atwill remarks, “Probably not, but what my work has done is give permission to many of those ready to leave the religion to make a clean break. We’ve got the evidence now to show exactly where the story of Jesus came from. Although Christianity can be a comfort to some, it can also be very damaging and repressive, an insidious form of mind control that has led to blind acceptance of serfdom, poverty, and war throughout history“.
If he indeed proved the existence of Jesus Christ was a myth, it should mark the end of the Christian faith – it goes without saying that the Christian faith would not exist without the historical life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
There are already many sound rebuttals to his claims – this short video provides a very good summary:
The website for this video Caesars Messiah Debunked contains more detailed arguments against these claims. This Blaze article also makes the valid point that, “most mainstream Bible scholars, though, don’t seem to be buying into it”.
Whilst we are not in the least concerned by this latest attempt to cash in on some anti-Christian conspiracy, this will no doubt confuse and potentially lead away new Christians and those whose faith is not based on a firm foundation. We need to pray for Joesph Atwill and against this blasphemous event as Jesus Christ warns there are dire consequences for those participating with activity of this kind that leads people away from their faith in Him.
And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea. (Mark 9:42)
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