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Home > Movies > Interviews > 2005

Debunking Jesus?
Director Brian Flemming, a self-described "atheist Christian," is trying to prove that the historical Jesus never existed in his new documentary, The God Who Wasn't There.
by Peter T. Chattaway | posted 6/07/2005

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You mentioned the culture of fear, and watching your film, I was continually reminded of Jack Chick comics—the very sort of graphic, sordid, lurid images of hell and all that. Do you think it's fair to characterize Christianity as a whole like that? How representative of Christianity, or even just evangelicalism, is that sort of mentality?

Flemming: Well I think it's the purest expression. Obviously there exists this thing called moderate Christianity, but it's really just a watered-down version of the same thing. If you press a moderate Christian and ask, if they have faith that the Bible is at least the inspired Word of God, how can they not believe in salvation? And if you believe in salvation, then obviously you're being saved from something and the other thing is bad. So it's all right there. That's basically what I disagree with. I don't think there's any such thing as salvation. I don't think that we're doomed and we need to be saved. If you do think we're doomed and we need to be saved, then everything I present in the film just follows naturally from that. It may be expressed more vividly than you would like, but it is what you believe.

Why "The God Who Wasn't There"? Even if you did prove Jesus didn't exist, there are plenty of people who believe in God without Jesus, and there are plenty of people who believe Jesus existed without believing in God. So why does one necessarily lead to the other?

Flemming: I don't think there's no God because Jesus most likely never walked the earth. That doesn't logically follow. But I do think that once you start investigating—Was Jesus real? What's the evidence that he wasn't?—and with an open mind you actually start exploring these other ways in which Christianity was built, who built it, why they built it, why they decided what they did—the whole idea of faith just starts to look absurd. You realize that this thing you have faith in is something that was created by men who had political agendas, and you discover one thing after another that just utterly challenges the idea of having faith. I think that knowledge is basically the enemy of faith, and so I'm basically encouraging people to seek knowledge.

To learn more about The God Who Wasn't There, or to purchase a copy of the DVD, check out the official website.

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Susan

Posted: October 13, 2009 2:18 AM

I think it was very good of you to take a look at this film before it came out. I think it is very important to teach young people that God can handle, more than handle, a little scrutinizing. We should never run from this stuff, but we should work to debunk it. Teens should realize that there are people out there that want to take their faith from them. They also need to know to look for Christian Apologetics and see that Christianity more than stands up to this sort of silliness. I also think it's pretty obvious that Mr. Flemming did not come to this issue with the "open mind" he claims. He just sought out "evidence" to reinforce his own bias. Especially since this is an issue of faith. His arguments about Paul are flimsy at best. Do NOT remove this from your archives, I enjoyed your rebuttals.

ejikplotnik

Posted: October 10, 2009 7:17 PM


The work that Brian has done with the God who wasn's there film is unprofessional, poorly researched, unethical and stupid! It is easy to notice his anger to God and Christianity in the film rather than any rational conclusions. I wonder how many classes had he finished at school? probably none...

Samuel

Posted: October 09, 2009 10:27 PM

Brian is wrong. Paul did speak of Jesus on earth, he just didn't see the need to talk about it much. "For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you. The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you, do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying "This cup is the new covenant in my blood: do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." 1 Crinthians 11:24. 1 Corinthians is dated early, and it says everything. He lived, he died, he rose, and he will return.

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