Not until gentle Jesus meek and mild is the concept of Hell introduced. Eternal torture, eternal punishment, for you and all your family for the smallest transgression. I have no hesitation in saying this is a wicked belief. Christopher Hitchens v Reverend Al Sharpton
If Jesus could heal a blind person he happened to meet, then why not heal blindness? Christopher Hitchens, God is Not Great p3
It is only in the reported observations of Jesus that we find any mention of hell and eternal punishment. ibid. p175
I have to accept that I am responsible for the flogging and mocking and crucifixion, in which I had no say and no part, and agree that every time I decline this responsibility, or that I sin in word or deed, I am intensifying the agony of it. Furthermore, I am required to believe that the agony was necessary in order to compensate for an earlier crime in which I also had no part, the sin of Adam. ibid. p209
However, I am still granted free will with which to reject the offer of vicarious redemption. Should I exercise this choice, however, I face an eternity of torture much more awful than anything endured at Calvary, or anything threatened to those who first heard the Ten Commandments. ibid. pp209-210
Jesus makes large claims for his heavenly father but never mentions that his mother is or was a virgin, and is repeatedly very rude and coarse to her when she makes an appearance. Christopher Hitchens
Even if I accepted that Jesus – like almost every other prophet on record – was born of a virgin, I cannot think that this proves the divinity of his father or the truth of his teachings. The same would be true if I accepted that he had been resurrected. Christopher Hitchens
I’m told I have to have a share in this human sacrifice even though it took place long before I was born. I had no say in it happening. I wasn’t consulted about it. Had I been present I would have been bound to do my best to stop the public torture and execution of the eccentric teacher. Christopher Hitchens v Alister McGrath, debate Georgetown University Washington 2007
Only when gentle Jesus meek and mild makes his appearance are those who won’t accept the message told they must depart into everlasting fire. ibid.
I would submit that the doctrine of vicarious redemption by human sacrifice is utterly immoral ... Compulsory love is another sickly element of Christianity ... I’m told that I have to have a share in this human sacrifice. Christopher Hitchens
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him will believeth in anything – Hitchens 3:16. Christopher Hitchens
Did you really say not imposed? What if you reject this offer? What are you told? … If you accept it, you can have eternal life … What a horrible way to abolish your own responsibility … I don’t want it: oh you don’t? You can go to hell. Christopher Hitchens
I would be curious to meet him. To find out what really happened. Professor Richard Dawkins, BBC Radio Ulster
Why’s didn’t he just forgive them? Why was it necessary to have a human sacrifice? To have His son tortured and executed in order that the sins of mankind should be absolved? Is that not the most disgusting idea you ever heard? Richard Dawkins, interview Nicky Campbell, Big Questions: Is the Bible Still Relevant Today? BBC 2011
Another key part of the Christmas narrative – the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem – is found in only one gospel. Mystery Files: Jesus, National Geographic 2010
Matthew does not cite any journey but agrees that Jesus is born in Bethlehem. It’s in Luke that the familiar story of arriving in Bethlehem where there is no room in the inn is found. ibid.
One festival of light is simply transformed into another ... But if the month of Jesus’ birth is debatable so is the year. ibid.
According to Luke, John the Baptist surfaces in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius. The year 29 C.E. So if Jesus is 30 in 29 C.E. this suggests the year 1 B.C.E. as a possible birth date. Jesus would need to be at least three years older to live in the time of Herod the Great, or seven years younger to be subjected to the Roman census. Therefore, at least a decade’s discrepancy is evident within Luke’s conflicting version of events. ibid.
Neither Gospel mentions anyone other than Mary present at the birth of Jesus. ibid.
He’s down there in the mud of human history. John Dominic Crossan, Biblical historian
I do not think the Nativity story in either Matthew or Luke is historical ... Parable rather than history. John Dominic Crossan
Neither of these stories is historically accurate and neither of them intends to be historically accurate. Neither of them knows exactly what happened. John Dominic Crossan
People all across the empire are celebrating the peace and the prosperity that Rome brought them, and they celebrate that by worshipping the Roman emperor as divine. He is called God, he is called son of God, he is called Lord, Redeemer, and all of those of course titles that are given to Jesus by the first Christians. Jonathan L Reed & John Dominic Crossan
Flavius Josephus was a near contemporary of Jesus. He describes Jesus as ‘a wise man and the performer of extraordinary deeds’. Which is about the simplest description of Jesus. Professor Geza Vernes
Shepherds even in Bethlehem did not keep their sheep in the fields at night in winter but in various shelters. Professor Geza Vernes, author The Nativity History and Legend
What was that star? ... Who were those three wise men? ... Search for the Star of Bethlehem
The Magi may well have ridden on horseback from one of the Persian cities. ibid.
There is a remarkable amount of documents and corroboration. Professor Craig Evans, Arcadia Divinity College
They are less concerned to tell us about the historical Jesus; they are much more concerned to tell us what they think Jesus was all about. The significance of Jesus. And so Jesus is more of a philosopher, more of a revealer of knowledge, not the Rabbi and prophet and saviour known by his own contemporaries. Professor Craig Evans
Although Cleopatra is considered to be the last of the Egyptian pharaohs, author Ralph Ellis claims that Jesus was the last of the Hebrew pharaohs of Egypt. Ring of Power, 2008
In the year 1887 a book was published in Russia which rocked the Christian world. It was vilified and condemned. It was called The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ. The writer, Nicolas Notovitch, was a respected journalist. Notovitch claimed his book was a factual report of a trip he made to the Himalayan mountains in remote northern India ... He was shown ancient scrolls which tell the story of a scholar and prophet named Esa. In these secret records Esa is described as a foreigner from a small Mediterranean country. ibid.
But the story of Jesus is incomplete: there is a gulf of time that is missing from the written record: from when Jesus was twelve to his encounter with John the Baptist eighteen years later. Jesus: The Missing Years, National Geographic 2007
These missing years baffle scholars, theologians and believers. In modern times attempts have been made to fill in the missing years. Wild stories of Jesus travelling to India studying with Eastern mystics. Even Jesus appearing in North America. Scholars agree these tales are just that: misguided attempts to claim the missing years. ibid.
Scholars agree Jesus was in Nazareth during the missing years. ibid.
Scholars believe Christ chose to align himself with John the Baptist because John preached the need for radical change. ibid.
I’ve become absolutely convinced that at the age of thirteen Jesus travelled to India ... Jesus survived the crucifixion and moved back to India. Beyond Belief: Jesus in India, 2012
The case for Jesus doing his training in India during the block of eighteen years unaccounted for in the Bible is substantial. ibid.
Jesus was known as Esa. ibid.
There is other evidence of Jesus doing his training in India such as inscriptions with their sayings carved into temple walls and customs and traditions Jesus brought back from India to Palestine. ibid.
There are some thirty manuscripts ... that mention Jesus travelling through those [Eastern] regions. ibid.
The Roman Church burnt and destroyed hundreds of other manuscripts. ibid.
Could this be the tomb of Jesus? Jesus in the Himalayas, Discovery 2001
According to ancient Tibetan scrolls there is a controversial legend that places Jesus’s influence in India much earlier. The legend claims Jesus survived the crucifixion and travelled to India. ibid.
There is another legend that concerns the so-called lost years of Jesus. ibid.
There is a large basis of legendary evidence that talks about Jesus in the Himalayas. ibid.