Review of The God Who Wasn't There (2005) by Jason D — 27 Apr 2009

My belief is that there was a guy named Jesus who was a good guy and was crucified, but that well, let's just say his biography was embellished. This is the "Jesus wasn't real, let me show you by examining contemporary folklore" argument, not the "the Christian church conglomerated the contents of the Bible to justify themselves" argument, which I think is a more interesting argument and would turn more people.

The doc makes some interesting points, yes, and it makes at least some effort at balance and entertainment quality. Also, I am interested in reading the books by the authors interviewed. But the basic fact of the matter is this is really dumbed down and not very well produced.

I knew everything in here already and it looks tacky. The film focuses primarily on its creator's skepticism when a powerful academic argument is readily available. So my suggestion to Mr. Flemming is to find whoever wrote about the Gospel of Thomas and interview her about the early church of the 4th century CE.

Then he'll have some real dirt.