Regarding the current flurry of letters between members of the SPGB and

local Christians, I'd like to add the following comments.

Mr P. McGrath lists the writings of Josephus and Tacitus among his

evidence supporting the existence of Jesus as an historical figure.

However, neither of these people were contemporaries of Jesus (being

born in 37AD and 55AD respectively), and so their opinions were based on

second-hand testimony at best. Also, the reference made by Josephus is

considered to be a later, forged insertion. For those who have access to

the internet, these issues (and many more relating to the historicity of

Jesus, far too much to include on the letters page) are dealt with at

the website http://www.atheists.org/church/didjesusexist.html

Having said that, even if Jesus existed, that is no reason to think he

may have been anything more than just a man. After all, Julius Caesar

was said to have been of a virgin, and there are miracles attributed to

Mohammed. Should we take these and others at face value as well?

H. Jones also criticises the SPGB, suggesting that they are claiming all

religions are false - but then goes on to support Christianity,

presumably as the One True Religion. Isn't that saying the same thing?

All religions are wrong, except for hers? As she correctly points out,

Christianity has lasted for 2,000 years and accounts for a third of the

population of the world. By that reasoning, the other two-thirds of the

planet are not Christian which means that Christianity must be wrong.

Why pick on the SPGB when four billion others also "deny the faith"? You

can't vote for reality - a billion people can deeply and sincerely

believe something that happens to be false. She twice suggests that the

members of the SPGB may have some, presumably sinister, "hidden agenda".

Perhaps they are merely expressing honest doubt? Should people not be

skeptical in the face of extraordinary claims? (To allay suspicions that

I have my own hidden agenda, I am not associated with the SPGB in any

way, and only heard of them when I saw these letters in The Citizen.)

In closing, I would agree mainly with Mr M. Parker, and say that whether

or not Jesus (or any of the other thousands of deities, for that matter)

existed, it is up to humans to deal with the problems we face and not

expect help from the supernatural. As Robert G. Ingersoll said, "Hands

that help are far better than lips that pray."

Adrian Barnett, Scott Ave, Morecambe