Based on a careful analysis of the earliest Christian documents and recent archaeological discoveries, The Jesus Dynasty offers a bold new interpretation of the life of Jesus and the origins of Christianity. The story is surprising, controversial, and exciting as only a long-lost history can be when it is at last recovered. In The Jesus Dynasty, biblical scholar James Tabor brings us closer than ever to the historical Jesus. Jesus, as we know, was the son of Mary, a young woman who became pregnant before her marriage to a man named Joseph. The gospels tell us that Jesus had four brothers and two sisters, all of whom probably had a different father than his. He joined a messianic movement begun by his relative John the Baptizer, whom he regarded as his teacher and a great prophet. John and Jesus together filled the roles of the Two Messiahs who were expected at the time: John, as a priestly descendant of Aaron, and Jesus, as a royal descendant of David. Together they preached the coming...

Sent in by Ian "…It's too bad that you're going to Hell…" "…Hope you enjoy your special place in HELL…" "…Hope you have an asbestos suit, cause you're going to HELL…" It's 2:40 in the morning on June 16th, 2006. I'm sitting in front of my computer, my eyes weary, my legs sweaty, and my heart and mind heavy with anger. What a lousy way to end your first day of being twenty years old. Why am I here? It's because of this cancer that I have, buried deep within me. It's not cancer in a medical sense. You cannot see it with a microscope, you cannot cut it away with a laser. Yet it's there, buried deep within me. It's the cancer of fear. Only now, two years after leaving Christianity for good, do its effects finally start appearing. It's ironic in a way. Fear was the first thing that brought me into Christianity, and it's the last thing that clings to me after I left it. It was the threat of hell that brought m...

Excerpt from The Dark Side: How Evangelical Teachings Corrupt Love and Truth . Excerpts from this book will be published here every week throughout 2006. Faith of our fathers, holy faith! We will be true to thee till death. —Frederick Faber WHEN I FIRST STARTED HAVING MISGIVINGS ABOUT MY FAITH, I DID WHAT ANY GOOD Evangelical would: I prayed. I was fifteen at the time, earnest and devout; an eldest daughter with a caretaker’s heart and responsibilities; a good student surrounded by a good family, good friends, and a good church community. Even so, the cognitive changes that beset teenagers: increased ability to introspect, to think critically, and to envision the possible, were giving me trouble. As they do to most teens, these changes chewed at my self image. The world became one gigantic mirror, and I noticed for the first time that I had been born ugly. By extension, they chewed at my image of my parents, who became more and more annoying and less and less smart. But they also chewe...

Excerpt from The Dark Side: How Evangelical Teachings Corrupt Love and Truth (Each week during the summer and fall of 2006, one chapter from this book will be posted on exChristian.net.) Preface: A Nation Under God Our goal is a Christian nation.... We have a biblical duty; we are called by God to conquer this country. We don’t want equal time. We don’t want pluralism. We want theocracy. Theocracy means God rules.—Randall Terry, Head of Operation Rescue, 1993 NOT LONG AGO, AN ASSOCIATED PRESS STORY CAUGHT MY EYE. TEXAS GOVERNOR Rick Perry signed two bills into law, one opposing gay marriage and the other restricting abortion. Rather than conducting the ceremonial signing in a state office, flanked by officials or staff, he stationed himself in the gymnasium of an Evangelical school, with Christian symbols in the background and an out-of-state evangelist at his side. Shouts of “amen” rose from the audience. Meanwhile, outside the school, protesters called for separation of church and s...

By Lorena During my recent European trip, I visited more cathedrals and churches than I care to remember. When I was touring the places, I often wished I'd had a computer to type the multiple thoughts that crossed my mind. One recurring thought was how people choose to worship those they perceive as holy, instead of imitating them. I am not convinced that all the Roman Catholic saints were remarkable, but there must have been something about them that made people put them in a pedestal. Should Mother Theresa ever be canonized, she will be worth imitating, but most likely the masses will resort to worshipping her instead. During my trip, in every museum and church I visited, I saw at least one if not five plus pictures of St. Jeronimo. I have no idea what he did to be regarded so highly, but it became boring after a while to see him portrayed over and over again. He, more often than not, was painted doing penances, out in the woods by himself on his knees beating his chest with a ro...

Launch in external player Okay, this video is over a year old, and technically this pan has nothing to do with the Jesus Pan that is now for sale. But both are hilarious. Order your Jesus Pan today: Jesuspan.com Also check out this article: Breakfast with Jesus .

by Ian Earlier this year, I was getting a bit fed up with religions and Christianity in general. It was a period where I was in the last stages of breaking off from organized religion, and as one can expect, it’s a difficult process. At one point, I finally just got so fed up that I decided to do a little rant to try and get the frustration out of my system. This is the result: To Jesus: Okay Jesus, if you don't mind, I'd like to rant a little to get this out of my system. For one thing, why on earth did you come to earth? Did you have even the slightest idea how your teachings would be taken and used for centuries afterwards? Did you foresee the rise of fundamentalists and evangelicals? If you did...aw geez, I don't even want to go there. Those guys used to creep me out. Now, they just annoy me. Anyway, just why did you come here in the first place? I've heard so many answers and so many versions of those answers that my mind gets boggled down in thinking about i...

By Ian If you died this minute, went to heaven and met God, what do you think God would ask you? Would God ask you if you are a Christian? Would God ask if you if you accepted Jesus? Would God ask you if you went to church on Sundays? Or…what if God asked you none of these things? What if God asked you something else? What if God, instead of asking you if you were a Christian or not, asked you what you did with your life? Instead of asking you if you were a Christian or not, what if God asked you how many people you loved during your life? Instead of asking you if you accepted Jesus, what if God asked you how many people you helped during your life? Instead of asking you if you went to church on Sundays, what if God asked you how often you volunteered to help others who were less fortunate then you? If God asked you these things, what would your answer be? *** Most religions teach that one day we will be judged for all our earthly deeds, after which we will go to heaven and hell ...