Welcome to Rescuing Jesus from the Bible!
In order to get the most out of the following material, I would ask that you please read the introductory material on Atheists for Jesus and the About AFJ Page prior to continuing here.
I hope that you will find the information to be of interest and of value to you. Please feel free to contact me with your feedback.
Sincerely,
Ken Schei

In 2006 I did a podcast intitled "Rescuing Jesus (and America) from the Religious Right". These podcasts are no longer available on iTunes, but can be downloaded or played by clicking HERE

Are Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Bill O'Reilly and David Barton correct? Is the United States a "Christian Nation" or is "separation of church and state" the more important concept? Are the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution based on the Ten Commandments and our legal system based on the laws of the Old Testament? We examine these questions in this episode. (Spoiler Alert: Glenn, Sarah, Bill, and David will not like my conclusions.)

A brief look at the battles of the Old Testament and how they relate to the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.

In this episode, we are going to take a look at the moral teachings of the Old Testament as exemplified in its "Hero Stories." Hero stories have been, and still are, utilized by almost every culture to pass on lessons about bravery, honesty, compassion, justice, responsibility and other values that the culture considers to be worth promoting and perpetuating. We will examine three such stories from the Old Testament, (Abraham, David, and Lot), to see if their moral message fits in with the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.

Genesis began as an honest search for truth. Unfortunately, when some people insisted on making it the FINAL word rather than the beginning of a wondrous journey, it became a hindrance to that very search. "Creation Science", "Intelligent Design", etc. are quite simply roadblocks that serve to slow our scientific and intellectual growth. They are also of absolutely no importance to the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.

Which is MOST important, Works or Faith?

In the story of the "Good Samaritan," Jesus told us exactly how He thought that we should live our lives. It is a message that can be used by believers and non-believers alike.

The question is: Will we respect him enough to listen?

Jesus: Liar, Lunatic, or Lord.
A look at the deification of Jesus.
Did Jesus believe that he was a deity?
Did the Original Apostles believe that he was a deity?
We examine the question from both an Ebionite and a Pauline perspective.

An examination of the Virgin Birth story.

In this episode, we'll take a look at the differing beliefs of today's liberal and conservative Christians. I'll introduce the history and beliefs of an early group of Jewish followers of Jesus and his original apostles known as the Ebionites. We'll hear what some famous people had to say about the self-proclaimed apostle, Paul. We'll take a brief look at recent scholarship pertaining to the so-called "Q Document." And, we'll examine the origins, the teachings, and the impact of two gospels that pre-date the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

This episode contains an introduction to Atheists for Jesus, a brief outline of the main topic for this series (Rescuing Jesus from the Bible), a congratulatory message to the US Airways crew, and a thought about our current economic problems.

"This final episode introduces my new podcast, "Atheists for Jesus: Rescuing Jesus from the Bible."