I thought this group was for free thinkers ?

@Moravian It is and always shall be, we ARE attempting to foster the idea of Freedom of Thought here with @Madisonian BUT it seem that recently he has done the midnight bunk and deleted himself and his comments, etc, as well.
Which I was kind of expecting since when the 'kitchen' seem a little warm the Chickens all run for cover so to speak.

@Madisonian IMO, you have been 'Force Fed' too many overdoses of the Anti-Atheist Propaganda that the Faithfools swallow by the gallons.
Let me explain a FEW TRUTHS to you here and NOW the TRUTHS that your Faithfool Buddies work so long and hard to taint with THEIR lies btw,

1. Atheists are NOT OUT to attack and vilify Christians, etc, because we hate them, we DENY the Tenets and Dogmas that they seek to embed into everyone else as if it Is THEIR SOLE and God given duty in life to do so, ergo, we do NOT hate you we hate and detest the tents, etc, that you and your ilk TRY to impose upon us,
2. You will FIND, and that is a well known and undeniable FACT, that at least 98% of ALL ATHEISTS ( myself included here btw) have read the bible from cover to cover, word by word in its ENTIRITY at least TWICE in their life-time, ergo we DO know what we are talking about AND do know the CONTEXT of it as well,
3. After my ACTUAL name I can, should I so desire, add the Following Letters, ThD, PhD, PhD, BSc and quite a number of others as well.
   Fyi, the notation of ThD, stands for Doctorate In Theology and Comparative Modern Religions work and toiled for through an Accredited University over 7 (SEVEN) long years.
   So, debate away but be well prepared.

@Madisonian PhD's are in Philosophy and Psychology btw.
Yes I am, according to the Australian Government, of Retirement Age and I receive an Aged Persons Pension, but prior to now and for the last 20 + years I have been a Child and Youth Crisis Counsellor, a single parent before that, a Carriage and Wagon Examiner on the Railways before that, a Trained and Qualified Nurse from the age 0f 18 years.
My 'higher' education, so to speak, ONLY commenced in earnest whilst I was a Sole Parent caring for my daughter, Lorrae.
I learned from a very young age that a mind that thirsts for knowledge knows no satiation and that is what drives me to learn what ever I can and how ever I can.
And so, on to the debate, shall we commence with the Lineage of Jesus as per the bible?
As an educated person I full REFUTE that claimed lineage on the MAIN reason being of which, since Jesus, Yeshua in Aramaic btw, was supposedly the "ONLY BEGGOTEN SON OF GOD" but claims are made that his Paternal Lineage goes directly back to David, Abraham, etc, is therefore TOTALLY INCOORECT since,
a) Hebrew/Aramaic Lineages are taken as from the Paternal side of the family ONLY, Joseph, Yusef in Aramaic btw, WAS NOT the GENETIC parent of Jesus ergo his genetic lines would NEVER have been passed down to this mythological Jesus, would you not agree?

@Madisonian 1) Aramaic/Hebrew Lineages discount the Maternal Blood-lines completely since the then governing ideology was that the female (woman) was "merely as a furrow in a ploughed field where a husband hath sown his seed for it to take root and develop into a child." - Hezikaiah, Chapter 11, verse 23, line 15 from the Writings and Lores as lain down by Hezikaiah, King of the Lands of the Hebrews.
2) " And God, Jehovah, sent forth an Angel to inform the virgin whom God had chosen that she would receive HIS seed and so bear His child and Son whom she shall name as Yeshua ( Jesus and that her betrothed, Yusef (Joseph) shall take upon this child, son of Jehovah, as his own and neither shall he curse the Virgin, blame the Virgin nor expose her to the Elders and Rabbis for punishment by Stoning but he shall love and cherish her for she is blessed by Jehovah himself." - Gospel of Simon, Eldest son of Yusef. this Gospel was deemed as being too favouriting towards women when read out for discussion and debate at the Second Council of Nicaea when the ORIGINAL Draft of the "Holy Bible," it was then deemed to REMOVE the Gospels of Simon and Mary as well as ANY other Gospels mentioning the " blessedness of the Virgin by Jehovah."
It may help you to REMEMBER here and later, THAT the ENTIRE Bible upon which Christianity is based WAS composed, written edited, re-written, presented, discussed, dissected and then re-assembled by ALL in Attendance at the #, THREE, Councils of Nicaea, IT was NOT written by nor under the guidance/behest of God ( Yahweh, Jehovah, etc, etc) but by up to 40 Scribes each being under the supervision of 1 of the self-proclaimed and self-appointed Bishops elected from the 180 in attendance and each group of Scribes was doing so in their OWN land separated from the rest by hundreds, if not THOUSANDS of miles with NO communications as we have today, hence the the over 1,890+ Contradictions, Errata, etc, etc, that this so-called Holy Book of the Words of God contains.
And, before you jump the gun, YES, I have had the opportunity to READ thoroughly a copy of the ORIGINAL bible IN the Aramaic Language that it was written some 1,300 = years ago.

@Madisonian Now on to the next,
For a FACT there are NO historically proven correct writings pertaining to a Yeshua (Jesus) from ANY small village/hamlet in either the regions of Judaea or Galilee.
The ONLY mention of a hamlet named something similar to Nazareth was in Galilee and it consisted of a few humble structures, possibly homes or short term dwellings that serviced the Hebrew Cemetery commonly known as "The Nazarema" where the Care-takers kept a check on the decaying corpses so as they could remove the bones from the crypt-like structures and them place them in to family ossuary's as per Hebrew Burial Traditions and Customs of the times.
The better off could afford an Ossuary made from stone and carved by a Stone cutter, the poorer and less well off, would be satisfied with an Ossuary made of wood, hence a Resident Carpenter would be required in the Hamlet.
To become/considered as a "Rabbi" one MUST first have been TUTORED by a Rabbi or a Member of the Sanhedrim, the High Council of the Hebrew Temple in Jerusalem, ergo, a mere child would NOT have been taken seriously by anyone other than, perhaps a like minded doting mother thinking that her illegitimate child was a 'gift' of God" as had so many other women down through the centuries B.C.E.
You see, @Madison, my knowledge, etc, not ONLY encompasses Theology and Religions but Ancient Languages and Histories, both Modern and Ancient, as well.
Combine ALL of those and it is very simple and easy to unravel the convolutions, contradictions, errata, etc, etc, that is the bible and show for what it TRULY is.

@Madisonian Yes, I know of John Dickson and he knows of me as well.
We have actually 'battled it out" in debates numerous times and, MOST definitely NOT blowing my own Horn/Trumpet, he has called a sudden halt to the debates and has REFUSED to give an satisfactory explanation as to why.
As is so often found with 97% of ALL so-called Christian/Bible Scholars, they are working blind-folded by their religious zealotry, they REFUSE adamantly to see, hear or think ANYTHING other than that which, in their own extremely limited concepts, DOES NOT support their belief system.
Hence you will find that the rest of the Scholastic Universe regards them and their 'findings' with a grain of sand or, at times even less than that.
Consider these matters, etc, BEFORE you next post, research deeper into your religion and religious beliefs and do so with a TRULY OPEN mind as well.