The historical Jesus Christ was a doomsday cult leader

It has already been a learning experience for me. I will present my arguments, and, given space limitations, I will make counterpoints to many of the above arguments at a later point. Apocalyptic propheciesThe three earliest gospels, also known as the "synoptic gospels" of Mark, Matthew and Luke, each contain roughly the same set of apocalyptic prophecies, each with a certain deadline. The deadline was the death of the last of Jesus' immediate listeners. In Mark 8, the prophecies are as follows: If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels The deadline for these two prophecies is given as, "Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with power" (Mark 9:1, see also Matthew 16:28 and Luke 9:27). Mark 13 contains much fuller detail of the end of the world. In Mark 13, the prophecies are as follows: Many will come in my name and say, "I am he! " and they will lead many astray. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom earthquakes famines you will be beaten in synagogues brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child children will rise against parents and have them put to death those in Judea must flee to the mountains Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, no, and never will be False messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. the powers in the heavens will be shaken the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power The deadline for all of these prophecies is given as, "Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place" (Mark 13:30, see also Matthew 24:34 and Luke 21:32). When reviewing this set of prophecies, it is important to note, despite what many people (not just my debate partner) are inclined to believe, that theses prophecies do NOT "serve only as incentives for dutiful Christians to live a rich and fulfilling life. " Neither are these prophecies are metaphorical. On the contrary, Jesus was very specific about the horrible calamities that would soon engulf the world, and Jesus commanded his disciples to leave their homes, families and livelihoods, for the sake of following him and saving others, and they did, as I explain below. Imminent deadlineThe same imminent deadline is expressed in two different ways: (1) the death of all of "those standing here," and (2) "this generation" passes away. This pair of expressions was first recorded in the gospel of Mark, and it is repeated in both Matthew and Luke. The gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke were apparently written before the deadline, but we have evidence of embarrassment in Christian writings composed after the deadline passed. The two key passages are John 21:20-23 and 2 Peter 3:3-9. The Second Epistle of Peter was composed not by the disciple Peter but by a man writing in the middle of the second century CE, and by that time the apocalyptic deadline of Jesus could not be merely dismissed as a rumor, as in the gospel of John. Scoffers of Christianity were assailing them for the failed deadline of the apocalyptic prophecies, and doubts could be seen from within the church. So, the author of 2 Peter has an apologetic defense different from the author of the gospel of John: he claims that there is no slowness with God, even if the fulfillment of the promise seems slow to mere mortals. Further cult characteristicsIf you take the gospel accounts at face value, even regardless of whether or not you accept the theology or miracle stories, then a doomsday cult leader is the character profile that you find in Jesus. But, the Biblical evidence goes further. In addition to the doomsday prophecies and leading a small cult, according to the synoptic gospels, Jesus: strongly encouraged complete devotion to his self (Matthew 16:16-17). encouraged hatred of one's family (Luke 14:26) and complete separation from one's family (Matthew 19:29). made enemies of the religious and political authorities (Matthew 21:23-27). commanded the members to devote all of their time and their lives to his own leadership (Luke 9:61-62). These characteristics of Jesus are very narrowly and strongly expected of a leader of a "dangerous cult," not the Son of God, not a philosopher, and not a mere myth. A checklist of characteristics of a "dangerous cult" has been published by the cult studies journal. Each of those four characteristics are containted within that checklist (see . http://www.csj.org...).Though the synoptic gospels are among the earliest evidence for Jesus, they are still only beliefs, not necessarily historically-accurate accounts. So, what are the best explanations for these beliefs? Sociological pattern of doomsday cultsThere is a known personality profile of those who lead religious movements and tell others that the end of the world is directly at hand: doomsday cult leaders. History and the modern day are littered with those people, and they very much tend to be actual people, not mere myths. If you interpret the gospels at face value, then Jesus was a doomsday cult leader, even if such a phrase carries a derogatory connotation. If you interpret the gospels at face value, then Jesus led a cult and predicted the doomsday. This is a very plausible model of Jesus, given that we have many human characters in history who fit the same profile. Strong cults do not always predict the doomsday, but doomsday prophecies are almost exclusively the mark of a cult--they motivate adherents to go to extremes to evangelize, work for the cult and recruit, because they believe that the fate of the whole world is at stake in what they do. Many such cult leaders develop into myths, including myths with miracles. A particularly close comparison to this model of the historical Jesus is Haile Selassie of Rastafarianism. Recently, an article was written that explored the analogous myths of Haile Selassie, the figurehead of Rastafarianism. It was published in 2009 in the journal Think of The Royal Institute of Philosophy, titled, "Against Mythicism: A Case for the Plausibility of a Historical Jesus" by Edmund Standing. Though the historical Haile Selassie was a third-world dictator as authoritarian, violent, ambitious and amoral as any, the cult that was founded on his character portrayed him as a divine wise generous messianic enactor of miracles. The vestiges of the historical Jesus found in the New Testament portray little that is different. ConclusionThe reputed "golden rule of interpretation" is: "If the plain sense makes good sense, seek no other sense or it will result in nonsense" (Robert M. West, How to Study the Bible). There can be exceptions to this rule, but exceptions should carry a strong burden of proof. Anyone can find any number of ways to dodge the meaning of the words of the historical Jesus, but, when one and only one explanation has seemingly far-superior explanatory power, explanatory scope, plausibility, consistency with accepted beliefs and deficiency of ad hoc suppositions (C. Behan McCullagh, Justifying Historical Descriptions), then I think that is the explanation that we should accept.