This is just awesome. Steven Colbert interviews/debates Bart Ehrman, author of "Jesus Interrupted".
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quote:Originally posted by DeepFat:
Ehrman has written over 20 books on Christianity. I think he understands it well. DF
quote:Originally posted by LMM:
Ehrman did not want a serious debate or he would NOT have gone on the Colbert report.
It was his stupidity showing, not Colbert's.
quote:Originally posted by DeepFat:
L,
No one goes on the Colbert Report to engage in serious conversation. The whole show is a goof.
It's to the credit of people like Ehrman who show their senses of humor there.
Dawkins laughed his butt off when he was on. DF
quote:Originally posted by DeepFat:
L,
No one goes on the Colbert Report to engage in serious conversation. The whole show is a goof.
It's to the credit of people like Ehrman who show their senses of humor there.
Dawkins laughed his butt off when he was on.
DF
quote:Ehrman has written over 20 books on Christianity. I think he understands it well.
quote:But that's Colbert's schtick.
Colbert is basically mocking Bill O'Reilly, who does the same thing, only he's serious.
The Colbert Report is not where serious issues are discussed, it's where accomplished people go to show they have a sense of humor. Or that they don't, which happens sometimes.
quote:Originally posted by NashBama:quote:But that's Colbert's schtick.
Colbert is basically mocking Bill O'Reilly, who does the same thing, only he's serious.
The Colbert Report is not where serious issues are discussed, it's where accomplished people go to show they have a sense of humor. Or that they don't, which happens sometimes.
Yes, I understand all that. I've seen the show before. Still, a comedian made a fool out of this guy and completely shredded his theory.
One of the funniest parts was at the end, "Jesus is an elephant". Within that joke is a very good point. I understood it, my friend who sent that to me understood it, Ehrman just sat there blinking.
He wrote 20 books trying to discredit Christianity, that doesn't mean that he understands it. When a comedian can completely dismantle your thesis, it wasn't very strong to start with.
quote:Originally posted by Bill Gray:quote:Originally posted by DeepFat:
L,
No one goes on the Colbert Report to engage in serious conversation. The whole show is a goof.
It's to the credit of people like Ehrman who show their senses of humor there.
Dawkins laughed his butt off when he was on. DF
Hi Deep,
Thank you. I knew there was something lacking in Richard Dawkins. Thank you for clarifying his impediment, his missing part.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
quote:
Comedy is meant to be funny, not necessarily accurate. Colbert has a team of writers looking to make people laugh at any expense. In this case it was Christianity and Bart.
Colbert roasts folks for a living. In a real debate, he'd be out of gas.
quote:Originally posted by NashBama:quote:
Comedy is meant to be funny, not necessarily accurate. Colbert has a team of writers looking to make people laugh at any expense. In this case it was Christianity and Bart.
Colbert roasts folks for a living. In a real debate, he'd be out of gas.
In a debate on a deeper subject, Colbert wouldn't stand a chance. In a discussion with a crack pot Christ conspiracy theorist, it doesn't take much for their whole arguments to fall apart.
Yes, I know this isn't a real debate, it's comedy. However, like Geddon said, comedians can usually make a good point within the comedy. Colbert showed that Ehrman's theories and similar "Jesus never existed" theories are a joke, and they are.
quote:Originally posted by 8I:quote:Originally posted by NashBama:quote:
Comedy is meant to be funny, not necessarily accurate. Colbert has a team of writers looking to make people laugh at any expense. In this case it was Christianity and Bart.
Colbert roasts folks for a living. In a real debate, he'd be out of gas.
In a debate on a deeper subject, Colbert wouldn't stand a chance. In a discussion with a crack pot Christ conspiracy theorist, it doesn't take much for their whole arguments to fall apart.
Yes, I know this isn't a real debate, it's comedy. However, like Geddon said, comedians can usually make a good point within the comedy. Colbert showed that Ehrman's theories and similar "Jesus never existed" theories are a joke, and they are.
Nash, I agree that everyone on Stewart's or Colbert's show gets roasted. Surely everyone coming on knows this.
Also, it may be reasonable to say Jesus existed, however, it isn't reasonable to believe that he(or any of the thousands of other Gods) had magic powers.
Regards
quote:If really understood it, he wouldn't have been pwned by a comedian.
quote:Originally posted by gbrk:quote:Originally posted by 8I:quote:Originally posted by NashBama:quote:
Comedy is meant to be funny, not necessarily accurate. Colbert has a team of writers looking to make people laugh at any expense. In this case it was Christianity and Bart.
Colbert roasts folks for a living. In a real debate, he'd be out of gas.
In a debate on a deeper subject, Colbert wouldn't stand a chance. In a discussion with a crack pot Christ conspiracy theorist, it doesn't take much for their whole arguments to fall apart.
Yes, I know this isn't a real debate, it's comedy. However, like Geddon said, comedians can usually make a good point within the comedy. Colbert showed that Ehrman's theories and similar "Jesus never existed" theories are a joke, and they are.
Nash, I agree that everyone on Stewart's or Colbert's show gets roasted. Surely everyone coming on knows this.
Also, it may be reasonable to say Jesus existed, however, it isn't reasonable to believe that he(or any of the thousands of other Gods) had magic powers.
Regards
I'm sure some claimed that Jesus Christ had magic powers and by those powers He performed his miracles. I personally don't believe Jesus performed magic or had magic. I believe that Jesus Christ IS God, just as He said He was in the Gospel of John. God in Human Form.
This is why Jesus had to be born of a Virgin. The conception was not by man's seed/sperm but rather was by the Holy Spirit a miraculous conception. Just as human/man/woman has an inner spirit/soul so did Jesus Christ only that Spirit was the Spirit of God. Father/Son/Holy Spirit and all three are one.
quote:gb, there are several Gods before JC who claim virgin births as well.
quote:Originally posted by Skeptik:quote:If really understood it, he wouldn't have been pwned by a comedian.
Good stuff, Nash, but you either don't watch much Colbert or do not understand satire.
He and John Stewart are quite atheist-friendly and are expert satirists. Their satire - like any really good satire - is hard to detect and is funny only if you are able to "get it." You don't get it.
What you fail to understand is that Colbert -- by playing the fundamentalist buffoon -- is actually agreeing with the author.
Example: You probably thought Colbert was serious when the said (paraphrased), "Look, the bible us inerrant because is says so right there in the bible!" Fundies see that as a perfectly logical statement. Everyone else sees it as the satire it was meant to be.
Examples: "If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and raises the dead like a duck, it's probably a duck." (referring to Jesus as the son of God)
"'Does the bible contradict itself'? Did Jonah aat a whale? Please!"
In utter deadpan: "God is not a fan of puns, sir."
And, of course, "Jesus is an elephant."
No, Nash, Colbert didn't "pwn" this guy, he gave him a voice. The author made his case quite succinctly, I thought.
quote:Like Horus? Do you believe his story claims that he was born to a virgin?
quote:Colbert made a nut look silly, why defend the nut?
quote:Originally posted by Skeptik:quote:Colbert made a nut look silly, why defend the nut?
Because I don't think the author looked like a nut. He only looks like a nut because he states something you disagree with. My take is that he stated his case quite succinctly and Colbert smartly fed the guy with talking points.
Give us one example of something he stated that was "nuts"?
quote:Originally posted by Skeptik:quote:Like Horus? Do you believe his story claims that he was born to a virgin?
It is debatable. The text that I've studies indicate that Horus was born after Isis (god of motherhood and fertility) had sex with the dead remains of her brother/husband Osiris. Isis evidently has never had sex before thus was a "virgin."
I believe that story about as much as I believe in the virgin birth story of Jesus (which is hotly debated even amongst Christians).
What is NOT debatable is the fact that there are dozens (Hundreds? Thousands?) of other deities who had a human mother and god-fathers. Mother/child deities are as common as dirt, Nash.
quote:Your statement about Isis contradicts itself. Also, if Isis was married to Osiris, how can she be still considered a virgin?
quote:Give me another example of a deity born to a virgin.
quote:I question though why, are my beliefs so threatening to others that feel that they have to try and deny them or prove them false
quote:Originally posted by NashBama:quote:gb, there are several Gods before JC who claim virgin births as well.
Like Horus? Do you believe his story claims that he was born to a virgin?
quote:Originally posted by Skeptik:quote:I question though why, are my beliefs so threatening to others that feel that they have to try and deny them or prove them false
I question why you would ask such a question on a forum known for hearty debate?
Care to respond to the fact that Jesus was simply one of a long line of great virgin birth stories? That is either true or not true. Which is is, GB?