Why I Don’t Like the Jesus Story Anymore

The Presenter’s Central Argument

Derek Lambert opens with a candid confession: despite years spent trying to follow Jesus and teach Christianity, he no longer finds the Gospel story as compelling as stories about flawed heroes such as Gilgamesh, Hercules, Odysseus, or Jesse Pinkman.

He argues that Jesus is presented as an ideal of perfection, making him harder to relate to than characters who make mistakes, face the consequences, and change. Drawing on his own experiences with addiction and guilt, Lambert says that imperfect characters feel more human to him.

Flawed Heroes and Growth

Lambert uses Gilgamesh as his main point of comparison. The tyrannical king befriends Enkidu, loses him, and searches for immortality, only to learn that he cannot escape death. Lambert finds the story moving because Gilgamesh begins as a flawed person and grows.

Hercules is another example. Believing he is saving his family, he mistakenly kills them and then suffers over what he has done. Lambert argues that later writers and philosophers often “whitewashed” flawed heroes into models of virtue. He sees a similar tendency in the Gospels, where later accounts seem to smooth over some of Mark’s rougher edges.

Teachings and Episodes Lambert Questions

Drawing in part on Hector Avalos’s book The Bad Jesus, Lambert discusses teachings and Gospel episodes he finds troubling. He recalls a brief, compassionate exchange with Avalos, who declined an interview while seriously ill with cancer.

Among the passages Lambert criticizes are:

• Commands to leave one’s family and teachings that seem to keep outsiders from understanding.
• Warnings of hell and teachings that treat lust or anger as sins, which he says once contributed to his persistent guilt.
• The instruction to cut off body parts, Jesus calling a foreign woman’s people “dogs,” and the drowning of the pigs.
• Gospel stories that accept slavery without condemning it.
• Teachings about giving up possessions and not planning for tomorrow, which Lambert says could sound like cult-leader demands outside a religious context.
• Promises that believers will receive what they ask for in prayer, which he argues can cause harm when people rely on them, particularly in cases involving faith healing. He recounts the painful story of a teacher who prayed for his dying daughter but received no miracle.
• Strict rules about divorce, the unforgivable sin, and the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, with its image of irreversible punishment.

Lambert acknowledges that some difficult sayings may be hyperbole or may have been misread. However, he argues that ambiguity matters when people interpret the words literally and suffer because of them.

Teachings He Appreciates

Lambert also recognizes teachings in the Gospels that he values, including the Good Samaritan and the call to love one’s enemies. He notes, however, that some celebrated sayings may not be original to the texts in which they appear.

Closing Comparison

Lambert returns to the contrast between Jesus and flawed heroes. In his view, Jesus dies as an innocent and perfect figure, then returns to glory after only a brief period of suffering. He jokes that it is like “a few nights in a hotel in the underworld,” in contrast with Prometheus, whose mythic punishment for helping humanity is endless.

Lambert says he still enjoys studying the Bible but feels a stronger emotional connection to characters who fail and grow. He also rejects the idea that all ethics came from Christianity.

People and Characters Discussed

• Derek Lambert — MythVision presenter, discussing his former Christian beliefs and current views.
• Hector Avalos — biblical scholar and author of The Bad Jesus, whom Lambert recalls corresponding with.
• Gilgamesh, Enkidu, Hercules, Odysseus, Prometheus, Jesse Pinkman, and Jesus — figures used as examples and points of comparison.