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Flavians origins of Christianity?

 
 
 
DrZoidberg

DrZoidberg

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I found this documentary putting forward a theory on Christianity basically invented as propaganda tool for emperor Titus. Nothing I know contradicts this and while it sounds far fetched, it's not outlandish. What makes me wonder is the style of the documentary. This is filmed like one of those aliens-built-the-pyramids documentaries. My gut reaction to any conspiracy theory is that it's bullshit.

I do wonder, even if true, how we could possibly know any of this? Also, in the documentary they aren't exploring the possibility that Christianity (like every religion) is a mix of a little bit of everything and that it's impossible to direct the development of a religion. The fact that the bits of the puzzle fit a little bit too neatly, makes me wonder. Nothing ever works out like the instigator thought it would.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNtF1-Y-JJM

Is this nothing but a thought experiment?
 
This is old nonsense. Years ago, long before the internet, a number of magazines in the US had small ads peddling a book that supposedly proved that Christianity was a fraud created by one Flavius Josephus. This went on for years and years.
 
Cheerful Charlie said:
This is old nonsense. Years ago, long before the internet, a number of magazines in the US had small ads peddling a book that supposedly proved that Christianity was a fraud created by one Flavius Josephus. This went on for years and years.
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Thanks. As I suspected. Do you have a link to somebody explaining why it's bullshit?
 
MountainMan (used to be a member here, very active in BC&H) had a similar fringe theory about Constantine (4th century) inventing Christianity from whole cloth, including planting historical evidence. He still runs a website with his theories that's pretty easy to find by Googling for it. IIRC he lives in Australia.
 
Atheos said:
MountainMan (used to be a member here, very active in BC&H) had a similar fringe theory about Constantine (4th century) inventing Christianity from whole cloth, including planting historical evidence. He still runs a website with his theories that's pretty easy to find by Googling for it. IIRC he lives in Australia.
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I remember that guy. To me he came across as a bonafide lunatic. Just the style of his writing. As if he could find messages encoded in the pattern of an ordinary table cloth. "No, that doesn't prove Constantine used fabric patterns to control people. That's just a salsa stain". The David Icke of religious studies.
 
DrZoidberg said:
I found this documentary putting forward a theory on Christianity basically invented as propaganda tool for emperor Titus. Nothing I know contradicts this and while it sounds far fetched, it's not outlandish. What makes me wonder is the style of the documentary. This is filmed like one of those aliens-built-the-pyramids documentaries. My gut reaction to any conspiracy theory is that it's bullshit.

I do wonder, even if true, how we could possibly know any of this? Also, in the documentary they aren't exploring the possibility that Christianity (like every religion) is a mix of a little bit of everything and that it's impossible to direct the development of a religion. The fact that the bits of the puzzle fit a little bit too neatly, makes me wonder. Nothing ever works out like the instigator thought it would.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNtF1-Y-JJM

Is this nothing but a thought experiment?
Click to expand...

"The Perfect Plan" is not usually listed with the familiar logical fallacies, but it deserves a spot on the shelf. From Truthers to Birthers, the perfect plan requires us to accept that people in the past made perfect choices at each juncture, with the end goal always in mind.
 
Bronzeage said:
DrZoidberg said:
I found this documentary putting forward a theory on Christianity basically invented as propaganda tool for emperor Titus. Nothing I know contradicts this and while it sounds far fetched, it's not outlandish. What makes me wonder is the style of the documentary. This is filmed like one of those aliens-built-the-pyramids documentaries. My gut reaction to any conspiracy theory is that it's bullshit.

I do wonder, even if true, how we could possibly know any of this? Also, in the documentary they aren't exploring the possibility that Christianity (like every religion) is a mix of a little bit of everything and that it's impossible to direct the development of a religion. The fact that the bits of the puzzle fit a little bit too neatly, makes me wonder. Nothing ever works out like the instigator thought it would.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNtF1-Y-JJM

Is this nothing but a thought experiment?
Click to expand...

"The Perfect Plan" is not usually listed with the familiar logical fallacies, but it deserves a spot on the shelf. From Truthers to Birthers, the perfect plan requires us to accept that people in the past made perfect choices at each juncture, with the end goal always in mind.
Click to expand...

That's an excellent suggestion. I agree. I think you've discovered a new logical fallacy.
 
DrZoidberg said:
Bronzeage said:
"The Perfect Plan" is not usually listed with the familiar logical fallacies, but it deserves a spot on the shelf. From Truthers to Birthers, the perfect plan requires us to accept that people in the past made perfect choices at each juncture, with the end goal always in mind.
Click to expand...

That's an excellent suggestion. I agree. I think you've discovered a new logical fallacy.
Click to expand...

I have a friend who listens to too much right wing radio. He is convinced that President Obama's mother had his Hawaian certificate of birth manufactured and inserted into the Honolulu records, in order to be certain her son would have all the rights and privileges of a true US citizen. This included putting a birth announcement in the newspaper. Apparently, she knew it would be a big issue half a century later.
 
Bronzeage said:
DrZoidberg said:
That's an excellent suggestion. I agree. I think you've discovered a new logical fallacy.
Click to expand...

I have a friend who listens to too much right wing radio. He is convinced that President Obama's mother had his Hawaian certificate of birth manufactured and inserted into the Honolulu records, in order to be certain her son would have all the rights and privileges of a true US citizen. This included putting a birth announcement in the newspaper. Apparently, she knew it would be a big issue half a century later.
Click to expand...

Don't forget getting all those people he "grew up" with paid off. This is a huge conspiracy
 
I'm really surprised at how off the rails the right has gone with conspiracy bullshit since Obama's been in office. The Sandy Hook truthers have got to be the worst of the lot though.
 
braces_for_impact said:
I'm really surprised at how off the rails the right has gone with conspiracy bullshit since Obama's been in office. The Sandy Hook truthers have got to be the worst of the lot though.
Click to expand...

I think it's the Internet. The Internet has democratised authority. Today any moron is an expert. You don't need to be on TV or be a journalist on a big paper. You just need a blog that gets shared on Facebook.

I think we haven't seen nothing yet. This is a trend that only will get more extreme. I have no idea where this rabbit hole will go. I'm not saying everything will get worse. It'll just be different.
 
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