"In the nearly two millennia since the story of Jesus Christ began to be circulated, millions of people have wondered, 'Who is Jesus Christ?' Much ink has been spilled, and many thousands of books have been written about this grandest of gods and men, in the quest to portray the 'real Jesus.' Practically every personality type and special interest group has been able to find a reflection of itself in Jesus, and countless people have looked to Christ as their example, inspiration and champion. Many millions, in fact, are quite convinced that Christ is indeed the God of the universe who came to Earth in a human body 2,000 years ago. Still others have settled into a comfortable position that Jesus was a 'nice guy' and a 'great leader' or a 'political rebel' who fought for the underdog. These individuals often believe that Jesus was simply a human being, not God, but that his enthusiastic followers added a series of fairytales to his biography after his death. A minority of others have looked at the gospel story with a jaundiced eye and found little evidence to be convinced of either of these two perspectives." (p. 1)
"A close examination does indeed reveal that the numerous inconsistencies and divergences of the canonical gospels and the ancient copies often were founded upon political, sectarian or doctrinal differences, which means that these texts are not necessarily recording 'historical' events that had occurred decades or centuries earlier. In this regard, 'holy writ' becomes not a historical record but a matter of political expediency. It is unquestionable that what has become accepted by some true believers as dogma, i.e., the 'gospel truth,' is asserted by other factions to be human error. This disparity, in fact, is at the root of the many fractures within Christ's church: For example, Protestant versus Catholic, as well as the countless sub-sects within each major break—all have determined that their doctrine is more accurate and authentic than the others, essentially impugning error upon the others. Such being the case, it seems impossible to make any honest claims of 'inerrancy' within any of these factions. In addition to an inspection of textual difficulties with an eye to detecting propaganda moves, we need to look at the nature of purported 'errors' charged by one faction upon another as well, and vice versa. Such an analysis, in fact, will reveal a significant latent fingerprint of the Christ." (pp. 216-217)
"It is because there appears to be so little honest admission—as well as, often, civil response—that many people feel put off and antagonistic toward biblical stories and doctrines. Instead of saying, "Well now, you're right—that doesn't sound too good," the rejoinder is all too often to attack the person making the observation. Judging by its "fruits," it seems to many people that Christianity teaches disrespect of human beings, such that its defenders feel they can personally attack those not convinced of the faith, addressing them with little respect and making offensive comments and insults. Among others, the Christian teaching that people are "born in sin" appears to make fervent believers hostile towards others. Other scriptures calling for the deaths and/or tortures of "evildoers," as well as remarks concerning "anti-Christs" as at 1 John 4:3 or the condemnation of non-believers at Mark 16:16—categories consisting of people who do not believe in Jesus—have contributed to an atmosphere of hatred and prejudice against individuals who may be moral and ethical but who simply cannot believe in something that may in fact be spurious and thus go against their morality.
"With so much of our global social structure based on holy writ of some sort or another, it is imperative that we examine thoroughly our sacred cows and not shirk from exposing them to the bright sunlight. In consideration of the current political climate, which includes an ardent movement to 'fulfill prophecy' by bringing about Armageddon and all of the attendant 'End Times' tribulations and horrors, the issue of who Jesus was is not to be taken lightly. We should not blindly follow mummified traditions and ancient texts that could very well prove to be misleading, misinterpreted and mythical. Leading our lives and creating—or destroying our futures based on such texts is perilous and irresponsible. It is paramount, therefore, that we consider the possibility that, rather than being the omnipotent Son of God, Jesus Christ is a manmade, literary character devised for a variety of purposes that no longer serve the greater good of humanity." (pp. 264-265)