If Jesus were born in the 20th Century, how would this have changed Christianity?

Wow...that question does torture the English a tad bit, though, doesn't it. Well, I'll just say (for now) that if any Yeshua were to have been born in the 20th century, it would make a difference of where that Yeshua would have been born, and maybe exactly when. I mean, for example, we can think pre-WWII, in Europe, USA, or Middle East, or we can think post Israel set-up in one of those places . . . and I'm pretty sure we'd get a great number of possible choices of outcome.

However, it must be said, without much doubt, that if the historical figure, Yeshua, upon whom the first leaders of that small 1st century sect had based their focus, had not been born then and there, Christianity, as it came to be known before the time of Constantine, even, would not have been there in the 20th century to have been changed.

The Christians probably would have him killed.

If Christ was not born until the 20th century, there would have been no Christianity to change, as noted by KaseiJin above.

People would be worshipping something else, and Jesus would just be one more pretender to the throne, and probably treated like a lunatic.

This is like asking, "If the first Homo Sapien had not come into existence until 2009, how would this have changed humanity?"

I think its easier to ask the opposite question, that is, what parts of christianism would remain intact, and, unless something incredibly paradoxial happened, that would be none =)

What if he came with the miraculous powers the bible claims he had?

The world would be in such a ruckus that I just cant imagine what would happen =)

Humans unfortunately don't do crucifictions much anymore, so they may have to opt for lethal injection or the classic beheading. But at least in this day and age we'd be able to freeze Jesus' head, instead of having to analyze some 2,000 year old tarp, to ensure we have remnants of him long after his death!

One would have to first establish whether or not Jesus is/was the actual son of God and that Christianity is the directed result of Jesus' existence and God's Plan.

If christianity it a directed result not an evolutionary result then , no (in general), because Jesus being the son of God and the result being God's plan. If Christianity is the symbiosis between man and the son of god it would be different but accomplish the same thing. If Jesus is not considered the Son of God, the game changes completely and Jesus might be all Chris Angel Midfreaking on the Las Vegas Strip.

But if there was no Jesus until just recently (let's say since yesterday afternoon), would humanity still have the conception of a son of God? Wasn't Jesus the one who said God was his father in the first place?

Which came first:

The chicken or the egg, or the Jesus or the God?

Lol Tick:
Just saying if its a God omnipotent plan etc... and it went how God wanted it with Jesus 2K years ago, It would prolly be a similar thing now, you know God being all Omnipotent with a plan and such.

Would there have been a bible to refer to, in regards to any of these so-called powers, had Jesus not appeared until last week?



I'm not a bible/religious scholar in any way, shape, or form, but don't some people say that Jesus is God?

Yes some say that, But really does it matter with the whole Omnipotence Plan thing?

No. It would not matter, as there would be no such thing as Christianity to provide an explanation for the arrival of what for all intents and purposes would be a superhuman being with unexplainable magical paranormal powers.

Plus, we'd all be doomed, because no one would know that we were supposed to have accepted Christ into our lives (deus a priori?) to be saved from damnation. How could we have known? The guy just barely showed up! It's like someone shows up hours and hours after the wine-tasting party has begun, after everyone is good and sloshed, and says, "hey, you morons, you were supposed to be drinking beer! Now I'm going to have to make you drink a bunch of my lager."

Also, if you've put all your faith in a non-Christian religion (and what other kind could there be if Christ is just now putting in an appearance), then you're really hosed.

Apparently, God's plan is that we all either drop everything we happen to believe and go His specific way, or we all get a epic spanking and an eternal time out . . . wait, isn't that kind of . . .
never mind.

TTM

Yeah Tick, it seems like a whole load of people damned, but hey if god is Omnipotent and has a plan, maybe all the people born before Christ were supposed to be Damned. There are Christian and Christian-like demoninations that account for this doctrinally or dogmatically. Aside from this I was not placing value judgment on any religion I was simply answering the question.

To paraphrase another saying, "Better to be damned on your feet, than saved on your knees."

Pascal can bite me.

Ok, these are my answers to these questions.

1. I think that if Jesus were born in the 20th century, in a time when there is science and scientific method with structured and systematic ways of logical thinking and information gathering, Jesus' claims as being the son of God would be greatly scrutinized.

2. Miracles such as turning water into wine, feeding thousands of people with a few fishes and loafs of bread would be scientifically examined to determine the validity.

3. Jesus would not be crucified.

4. If Jesus' claims and miracles can be verified scientifically, the world would be in total chaos, as everyone would want to meet him.

If Jesus' claims and miracles cannot be verified scientifically, most people would dismiss him as having a psychological disorder known as Delusion of Grandeur.

Why are you so attached to the Christian conception of reality????

What do you mean attached to Christian conception of reality?

Hello Alex. "If's" presents us with interesting mind games, especially when "what" comes before it. It's hell to live in a "what if" world. This man, and let us call him Jesus, created quite a stir didn't he? Now to answer your "what if" one has to consider what is predominately known about the man and all we have are those words he spoke.........that's all; and even those words are subject to interpretation and rationalization.

Let's see if we can encapsulate what the story of Christ said in a few words and go from there.

Basically, Jesus was here to introduce God to us and perhaps that was all her was here for. To let us know there was "something else" involved in this whole life on earth thing and was crucified for that. Hmmm? Interesting considering he represented an "omnipotent" diety, don't you think? That one always puzzled me. He could be the virtual "toe in the water" to test the temperature of the mind of man. That's just one thought.

In short he came to die and would return to save those who believed what he said. What is important here is to understand what "omnipotence" means. Just trying to wrap your mind around that can keep you busy for a while. So let's just go with it for now and stay with the subject of your thread. What would happen if he were here now 2009 years later. One would have to wonder if he ever did not exist. Surely if he could come back once, the could come as often as a "deity" wanted him to, right?

Now let's for a moment consider what an omnipotent diety could do if it were meant to be known an "avatar/messiah/savior" did exist; what would prevent him from being so crucified if he were indeed speaking on behalf of that omnipotent deity. Do you honestly think anyone could get to him that would cause him harm?

He would be utterly surrounded by those who would protect him even though "they" didn't realize they were doing such. Ha! He would be able to walk among us without the slightest notion that anyone could conceive, that he was anything more than one of us. An omnipotent deity could see to that now couldn't he? Sure he could, no doubt!

This is all I will say for the moment. Please respond if you disagree with anything I have said. I encourage you to do so. Interesting thread.

William

While we can ask whatever questions may come to our minds, in order to throw imaginative ideas around some (which can be fun, of course), it will surely contain much, much less meaning if we were to fail to apply good thought and logic.

We have this somewhat clear image, in English, of a character named Jesus, based on some writings from the mid first century to the early second, and commentaries from the Apostolic Fathers, and Church Fathers, and some other fragments of lost texts. However, these are mostly in Greek, in which that figure is Iesu, which, in turn, is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name Yeshua. Yeshua would have, with very, very little room for doubt, been Jewish--a follower of the Mosaic Law (in some way or another).

It is not clear at all that the actual, historical character was just of that character...personality...nor that the historical man acted, and did, as is ascribed to that character in those works. Much less, can we determine that any Hebrew male (a charismatic leader of a cult-like movement [and there were a possible number of such before the first century, and before the Roman sack of Jerusalem]) would have been able to do some of the unnatural miraculous things also ascribed to that character. So, even more so, can we suddenly jump to any conclusion that any historical Yeshua could have been deity, or YHWH? The far most likely answer is no.

It is a historical error to not take into careful consideration the setting, circumstances, and religious belief-system, in which and by which the cult which one Yeshua, along with a few of his relatives had formulated, had been a part of--and that major connect.

Of course here, the OP question is logically incorrect--impossible. We can think, however, that a possible intention might have been to ask,'if Jesus were to have come back again in the 20th century, what difference would that have made in Christianity?'

The man or the myth. The dogmatic interpretation or the message of hope. I think his church would collapse and we would realise the true message he wished to bring.