Richard, Professor Richard Dawkins, you've already made a glittering
appearance on our program this morning, which has stimulated
a lot of debate. I wanted to ask you actually about, because I've read a lot of your books,
the great religious figures, I know we've got some questions from the
audience as well in a minute,
because somebody sent you a t-shirt, I know it was after, I think it was after a lecture you did,
I saw this on YouTube, it was atheists
for Jesus, explain that one, and also the figure of Jesus Christ, this extraordinary figure,
what do you make of him? I wrote an article called
atheists for Jesus, making the point that he was a very good man,
a great moral philosopher,
as an individual, I don't think that the
Christian values that say that he died for our sins, or redeemed our sins,
the idea of a sort of scapegoat, who dies for other people's sins,
especially dies for Adam's original sin,
when Adam didn't even exist, I don't think that that's great,
but Jesus himself, I'm sorry, look, I'm a scientist,
we know that, well, there may have been an individual,
but Adam in the biblical sense, I'm quite sure the
bishop will agree did not exist,
now the point I was making is that Jesus as an individual
was a very good man, and I made the slightly tongue-in-cheek suggestion
that if Jesus were alive today he'd probably be an atheist, that was all that
that article was about. What sort of character do you think he was? You see, he was a very good man, do you think he was an
extraordinary charismatic character? Yeah, he was a charismatic preacher clearly,
and he clearly had the ability to
excite people to follow him,
so I think he was clearly a very remarkable man,
needless to say, I don't think he performed any miracles, I don't think he was
born of a virgin, and I don't think he thought he was the son of God.
And you think he's gone?