The Jesus Delusion

How the Christians created their God: The demystification of a world religion through scientific research
1. Auflage 2016
ISBN: 978-3-8288-3538-2
Verlag: Tectum

Buch, Englisch, 281 Seiten, broschiert, Format (B × H): 148 mm x 210 mm, Gewicht: 375 g

Die Bibel ist das am meisten ?bersch?tzte Buch der Weltliteratur, Jesus von Nazareth die am meisten ?bersch?tzte Person der Weltgeschichte. Mit solchen Thesen hinterfragt der Autor, selbst promovierter Theologe, die in Europa vorherrschende Weltreligion des Christentums. In gut lesbarer Form und nicht ohne Ironie wird gefragt, ob die Bibel denn tats?chlich ein gutes und ethisch wertvolles Buch sei, wie die Kirchen immer wieder behaupten, oder ob sich im Alten Testament nicht vielmehr ein zorniger Kriegsgott austobt und das Neue Testament f?r das Ende der Zeiten die Vernichtung aller Ungl?ubigen ank?ndigt. ?Wer da glaubt und getauft wird, der soll selig werden, wer aber nicht glaubt, der soll verdammt werden.? (Mk 16,16). Und es wird gefragt, ob sich die Kirchen denn zu Recht auf jenen Jesus von Nazareth berufen, den sie als Gottes Sohn verk?ndigen. Denn die wissenschaftliche Forschung hat l?ngst erkannt, dass Jesus ein ganz anderer war und mit dem Jesus der Kirchen fast nichts gemein hat. Das Christentum bewegt sich in der Weltgeschichte ohne Fahrschein. Dieses Buch richtet sich sowohl an Gl?ubige und Anh?nger der Kirchen, die sich nicht scheuen, auch mit unangenehmen Fakten konfrontiert zu werden, als auch an der Kirche Fernstehende, die immer schon vermutet hatten, dass mit dem Christentum etwas nicht stimmen kann.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Kubitza, Heinz-Werner

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Alternative Glaubensformen Agnostizismus, Atheismus, Säkularer Humanismus
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Bibelwissenschaften Neues Testament: Exegese, Geschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

INTRODUCTION

1. THE EMBARRASSING GOD OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
Yahweh – God of war and violence
A hodgepodge of history in the Old Testament
Career of a God – part 1

The Old Testament – deficient ethics

2. THE QUESTIONABLE GOD OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

Career of a God – part 2

Can a God change himself?
Jesus – a religious fundamentalist?

Dubious stuff in Paul’s writings

The terrors of the Apocalypse
So which God it is supposed to be?

3. JESUS OF NAZARETH – A DEMYSTIFIED SON OF GOD
The silence of the sources
The long march to the gospels (The theory of the two sources – Paul’s lack of interest in Jesus – The gospels (questionable sources on Jesus) – Pious cheating to the higher glory of God – It started with Paul – Invented authors’ names – Falsifications by the synoptic authors – John - a whole gospel as pious fiction – Old and new research on the life of Jesus)
Jesus’ birth and lineage (The appearance of Jesus)
Legends of the birth

Jesus, a disciple of John the Baptist? (John baptizes Jesus)
Jesus’ cardinal error – the Kingdom of God did not come (Proclamation of the Kingdom of God by Jesus – The role of Jesus in the Kingdom of God – Embarrassments – the adventism of the first Christians)
Jesus did not want a world mission

Jesus as a miracle worker and exorcist (Are miracles possible?)
Was Jesus’ teaching really new? (Positive aspects in the teaching of Jesus – Dubious matters in his proclamation – Contradictions – final remarks on Jesus’ ethics)
The execution of Jesus (The reinterpretation of the defeat on the cross – Idealizations in the gospels – Who is to blame for the death of Jesus? – The beginnings of Christian hatred of Jews – Inconsistencies in the trial of Jesus – Why was Jesus killed? – Other turbulent figures around Jesus)
The legends of the resurrection (Hypotheses on the original miracle of Christianity – Contradictions in the records of the resurrection of Jesus – Apparitions of an undead person – “If Christ did not rise from the dead, your preaching is in vain”)
So who was Jesus in reality? (Who did he think he was? Jesus’ self-concept)
The gradual apotheosis of the man Jesus
Christianity as an error of world history – preliminary conclusions

4. IN THE SORCERER’S FOREST OF DOGMAS – THE MAIN TEACHINGS OF CHRISTIANITY

True God and true man – contradictions as higher wisdom

The Divine Trinity
A bloody redemption on the cross
A distorted view of the world and of human beings (The mythological derivation of sin – Sin in the service of the Church)
Poverty and shortcomings in the view of man

Defamation of women (Celibacy and the degradation of marriage)
Mythological explanations of the world (Hell – Purgatory – Abolishing limbo – Devils, demons, and exorcismv The angels)
The cult of Mary (The misunderstood mother of God – Virgin birth – Glorification of Mary, debasement of women)
Belief in the Bible and biblical fundamentalism

Christianity as an ideology and esotericism (Religion is ideology – Belief is superstition – Religion and esotericism – Esotericism as a sellout of the mind – Is Christianity an esotericism?)
Prayers

5. IN SEARCH OF CHRISTIAN VALUES

On the value and shamefulness of the Ten Commandments
Evil words in the Bible

Are faith, hope, and love really virtues?

Jesus, a dubious model
Where do our values really come from?

Why still Christianity?

CAREER OF A GOD – FINAL PART (IN PLACE OF AN EPILOGUE)

LITERATURE CONSULTED

Über Autor(innen)

Heinz-Werner Kubitza lives in Germany and studied Protestant theology in Frankfurt, Tübingen, Bonn and Marburg and graduated with a Ph.D. in theology. He is the founder of the Tectum Verlag publishing house in Marburg and a member of the board of the Giordano Bruno Foundation, which works toward promoting Enlightenment values and a humanistic ethic. In 2007, the foundation awarded Richard Dawkins the Deschner Award. While Dawkins takes a critical view of all religions, Kubitza focuses specifically on Christianity.