TJ, you do realize that the Pharisees described in the Gospels *literally were* the "religious right" of their time and place, right?
Do you really think that being a member of the correct religion, nominally based on what Jesus said, has changed the basic nature of the class of people who make up the "religious right"…

I don't think the OP meant if Jesus *came back* today, were clearly actually Jesus, and presented himself to the religious right telling them they were wrong about stuff.

I don't think the OP meant if Jesus *came back* today, were clearly actually Jesus, and presented himself to the religious right telling them they were wrong about stuff.

I feel like this kind of thing is a lot like arguing whether King Arthur "really existed", or Robin Hood.

I feel like this kind of thing is a lot like arguing whether King Arthur "really existed", or Robin Hood.

The most interesting thing is you can get from Paul's letters that he was a controversial, polarizing figure in the church at the time. Half of his letters start with him going off on some other leader in the church who was feuding with him and talking about how they can fuck off because he's right. (The most notable…

The most interesting thing is you can get from Paul's letters that he was a controversial, polarizing figure in the church at the time. Half of his letters start with him going off on some other leader in the church who was feuding with him and talking about how they can fuck off because he's right. (The most notable…

There is a hilarious MadTV sketch involving the Terminator being sent back in time by Christians to save Jesus by shooting Judas, resulting in Jesus having to repeatedly miraculously resurrect Judas and lecturing the Terminator on how the basis of Christianity requires that Judas betray him.

There is a hilarious MadTV sketch involving the Terminator being sent back in time by Christians to save Jesus by shooting Judas, resulting in Jesus having to repeatedly miraculously resurrect Judas and lecturing the Terminator on how the basis of Christianity requires that Judas betray him.

He is, actually. He's the one of the apostles who serves as their bookkeeper and takes care of their cash.

He is, actually. He's the one of the apostles who serves as their bookkeeper and takes care of their cash.

To the degree that Hitchens helped non-religious people justify the belief that supporting the US's military adventures in the Middle East was not only compatible with not being a crazy fundie but actually required by a commitment to religious freedom — which he really did think, and which he saw as a bigger public…

To the degree that Hitchens helped non-religious people justify the belief that supporting the US's military adventures in the Middle East was not only compatible with not being a crazy fundie but actually required by a commitment to religious freedom — which he really did think, and which he saw as a bigger public…

1) You didn't even read the goddamn thread. There's a surprisingly huge chunk of honest, sincere Christians and other theists here talking about their beliefs. AV Club is actually a rare Internet forum where the hipster atheist/agnostics seem to mix with the openly and thoughtfully religious on a regular basis, and…

1) You didn't even read the goddamn thread. There's a surprisingly huge chunk of honest, sincere Christians and other theists here talking about their beliefs. AV Club is actually a rare Internet forum where the hipster atheist/agnostics seem to mix with the openly and thoughtfully religious on a regular basis, and…

@avclub-472d722b57a4ed37e41e70c9c9d7d0f3:disqus Oh my God, you're the guy who took those hostages at Discovery Channel headquarters last year, aren't you?

@avclub-472d722b57a4ed37e41e70c9c9d7d0f3:disqus Oh my God, you're the guy who took those hostages at Discovery Channel headquarters last year, aren't you?

Interesting note: A pastor once pointed out in a sermon I attended that Job receives *double* back what he lost at the end of the story — twice as many cows and sheep, twice as many fields, etc. — but the number of new kids he has is equal to the number of kids who died.

Interesting note: A pastor once pointed out in a sermon I attended that Job receives *double* back what he lost at the end of the story — twice as many cows and sheep, twice as many fields, etc. — but the number of new kids he has is equal to the number of kids who died.

But that's just it — such determinism is a death knell for the Christian idea of an omniscient, omnipresent *and* omnibenevolent deity. Most theodicies I've seen rely on some idea of a "free will" to make any sense — that God, on some level, relinquishes control over human choice such that evil and suffering must be…