RADIO CALL — TAPES #653 & #654 EXCERPTS
Q: Mark Russell Bell
S: “Coast to Coast AM” radio show operator
B: Bill, caller from West Hartford
I: Ian Punnett, host of “Coast to Coast AM” radio show
M: Mike, caller from Fargo
(TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE: I WAS THE FOURTH CALLER DURING THE FIRST HOUR OPEN LINES PORTION OF THE AUGUST 27/28, 2000 BROADCAST OF “COAST TO COAST AM.” LATER, THE GUESTS FOR THE SHOW WERE TIMOTHY FREKE AND PETER GANDY, AUTHORS OF THE JESUS MYSTERIES: WAS THE ORIGINAL JESUS A PAGAN GOD?)
S: “Coast to Coast AM.” Did you have a question for Ian Punnett?
Q: Yes. I just wanted — (“IT”) related to the theme of the show tonight.
S: Okay, what is your first name?
Q: Mark.
S: And where are you calling from? (“ON”)
Q: I’m listening on the Internet and I’m calling from Los Angeles.
S: (pause) Okay, you’re on the wild card line. Make sure you turn your Internet audio off, okay?
Q: Okay.
S: Alright. Hang on.
(TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE: AS THE SHOW BEGINS TO BE HEARD OVER THE TELEPHONE RECEIVER, THE CALL-IN NUMBERS ARE HEARD WITH THE BUMPER MUSIC “EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD” PERFORMED BY TEARS FOR FEARS. I LISTEN TO THREE CALLS BEFORE IT IS MY TURN.)
B: . . . the God part of the brain and even talks (“WH”) about why there are atheists like myself. Because it’s like a bell curve where on the one hand comparing the two musicians are like a curve that goes up like a —
I: Right. (or “RIGHT”)
B: — bell.
I: Well I — these are things I look forward to exploring with him on an upcoming show and I’m sure we’ll make the opportunity. And, as you do every time you call, Bill, you prove time and time again that you do not have the God part of the brain. Mark is in Los Angeles on (BEEP) “Coast to Coast AM” for a half hour of open phones before we get to our guests. Mark?
Q: Good evening, Ian.
I: An(d) evening to you.
Q: In relation to that last call, I might say that well obviously Christ is (“OF”) active in all of our lives or we’d all eat at the same restaurant every night — (“OR”) be in trouble for that, anyway. (“BUT UM”) I was hoping that maybe you could ask your guests tonight if they’re familiar with Bel-Marduk or, as he was known in Egyptology, Amun-Ra or Amen-Ra? Apparently, that was the original —
I: Right. (or “RIGHT”)
Q: — resurrection story.
I: Right. And actually they do address that. And they get into all of the incarnations, if you will, of that story. And that’s why they believe that it was just a matter of time until the Jewish culture of the 1st Century also adopts their own version of it. And that the authors, you know, traced that with images which I believe — I don’t know this — I was told we’re going to try and get them on the website. So you might even be able to look up some of the idolatry from the ancient Egyptians that kind of speak to this issue as well.
Q: What’s interesting about that, though, in terms of Bel-Marduk being the first is being his (or “BEING HIS”) current reincarnation as described by the testament.org website. Are you familiar with that website?
I: No, I’m not.
Q: Um —
I: I will — I’ll be happy to check it out but I’m not familiar with it.
Q: Yeah. Basically, Bel-Marduk has been reincarnated as a film publicist. (“AND”)
I: A film publicist?
Q: Right.
I: (O)kay.
Q: And what he —
I: In Los Angeles?
Q: That’s right.
I: (O)kay.
Q: City of the Angels. I guess there’s an angelic connection there. When he’s tried calling some of the other hosts, they, like, disconnected him and cut him off so he has the actual transcripts of his conversations (“ON”) online in the New Testament section.
I: Alright. Well I will take a look on the website and I promise if he calls I won’t hang up. And that is the beauty of open phones as we —
Q: (off the air) That’s testament.org —
I: — never know quite sure where the show’s going to go and we’ll do it again. Coming up another round on the way before our guests join us coming up on “Coast to Coast A.M.” next. My name’s Ian Punnett. (commercials commence)
(TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE: THIS IS HOW THE FOLLOWING CALLER BEGAN HIS CONVERSATION WITH IAN PUNNETT.)
M: Yeah, hello. I just have a question for all these atheists who call your show. If I were to show you a brand new Pentium computer with all the extras and whistles and bells and whatever — and I were to tell you that this computer came into existence when a tornado went through a junkyard and the computer just evolved into existence, would you believe that? When you look at this universe, even any facet of this universe, whether the structure of atoms, DNA, the human brain, the cosmos, galaxies — every aspect of this universe is infinitely more complex than what we can build. But yet we’re asked to believe that all humans can be accidentally just evolved into existence.
(TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE: IAN PUNNETT BEGAN THE SECOND HOUR OF THE SHOW AS FOLLOWS.)
I: Live from the Butch Foster Memorial Studio where I sit with The Jesus Mysteries: Was The Original Jesus A Pagan God? by Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy on one knee and my Ask Jeeves Internet searcher on the other. It is that kind of a book — always challenging, never boring. I found myself going through not just material from my own studies towards my Masters in divinity but also spending a lot of time on the Internet in some of the books that I have accumulated in my own library, making sure that I understood exactly what it was that they were getting at. And, of the material that they referenced that had already been part of my experience as graduate student, I say they’re spot-on. Whether they come to the right conclusion, I’m going to leave that up to you. It’ll be a while before we get to open phones and I ask your patience with this subject and ask you to indulge our guests with your respect in hearing the case they’re going to make for the origins of Jesus being so directly tied to Pagan/Gnostic myths, which the authors maintain as was the Gnostic tradition, were never intended to be taken literally. It’s all a big misunderstanding according to Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy. We’ll let them make their case on what could be my last night on “Coast to Coast” or my last day in the seminary, depending if any of my professors are going to be listening to this show coming up next on “Coast to Coast AM.” My name’s Ian Punnett.
S: “Coast to Coast AM.” Did you have a question for Ian Punnett?
Q: Yes. I just wanted — (“IT”) related to the theme of the show tonight.
S: Okay, what is your first name?
Q: Mark.
S: And where are you calling from? (“ON”)
Q: I’m listening on the Internet and I’m calling from Los Angeles.
S: (pause) Okay, you’re on the wild card line. Make sure you turn your Internet audio off, okay?
Q: Okay.
S: Alright. Hang on.
(TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE: AS THE SHOW BEGINS TO BE HEARD OVER THE TELEPHONE RECEIVER, THE CALL-IN NUMBERS ARE HEARD WITH THE BUMPER MUSIC “EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD” PERFORMED BY TEARS FOR FEARS. I LISTEN TO THREE CALLS BEFORE IT IS MY TURN.)
B: . . . the God part of the brain and even talks (“WH”) about why there are atheists like myself. Because it’s like a bell curve where on the one hand comparing the two musicians are like a curve that goes up like a —
I: Right. (or “RIGHT”)
B: — bell.
I: Well I — these are things I look forward to exploring with him on an upcoming show and I’m sure we’ll make the opportunity. And, as you do every time you call, Bill, you prove time and time again that you do not have the God part of the brain. Mark is in Los Angeles on (BEEP) “Coast to Coast AM” for a half hour of open phones before we get to our guests. Mark?
Q: Good evening, Ian.
I: An(d) evening to you.
Q: In relation to that last call, I might say that well obviously Christ is (“OF”) active in all of our lives or we’d all eat at the same restaurant every night — (“OR”) be in trouble for that, anyway. (“BUT UM”) I was hoping that maybe you could ask your guests tonight if they’re familiar with Bel-Marduk or, as he was known in Egyptology, Amun-Ra or Amen-Ra? Apparently, that was the original —
I: Right. (or “RIGHT”)
Q: — resurrection story.
I: Right. And actually they do address that. And they get into all of the incarnations, if you will, of that story. And that’s why they believe that it was just a matter of time until the Jewish culture of the 1st Century also adopts their own version of it. And that the authors, you know, traced that with images which I believe — I don’t know this — I was told we’re going to try and get them on the website. So you might even be able to look up some of the idolatry from the ancient Egyptians that kind of speak to this issue as well.
Q: What’s interesting about that, though, in terms of Bel-Marduk being the first is being his (or “BEING HIS”) current reincarnation as described by the testament.org website. Are you familiar with that website?
I: No, I’m not.
Q: Um —
I: I will — I’ll be happy to check it out but I’m not familiar with it.
Q: Yeah. Basically, Bel-Marduk has been reincarnated as a film publicist. (“AND”)
I: A film publicist?
Q: Right.
I: (O)kay.
Q: And what he —
I: In Los Angeles?
Q: That’s right.
I: (O)kay.
Q: City of the Angels. I guess there’s an angelic connection there. When he’s tried calling some of the other hosts, they, like, disconnected him and cut him off so he has the actual transcripts of his conversations (“ON”) online in the New Testament section.
I: Alright. Well I will take a look on the website and I promise if he calls I won’t hang up. And that is the beauty of open phones as we —
Q: (off the air) That’s testament.org —
I: — never know quite sure where the show’s going to go and we’ll do it again. Coming up another round on the way before our guests join us coming up on “Coast to Coast A.M.” next. My name’s Ian Punnett. (commercials commence)
(TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE: THIS IS HOW THE FOLLOWING CALLER BEGAN HIS CONVERSATION WITH IAN PUNNETT.)
M: Yeah, hello. I just have a question for all these atheists who call your show. If I were to show you a brand new Pentium computer with all the extras and whistles and bells and whatever — and I were to tell you that this computer came into existence when a tornado went through a junkyard and the computer just evolved into existence, would you believe that? When you look at this universe, even any facet of this universe, whether the structure of atoms, DNA, the human brain, the cosmos, galaxies — every aspect of this universe is infinitely more complex than what we can build. But yet we’re asked to believe that all humans can be accidentally just evolved into existence.
(TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE: IAN PUNNETT BEGAN THE SECOND HOUR OF THE SHOW AS FOLLOWS.)
I: Live from the Butch Foster Memorial Studio where I sit with The Jesus Mysteries: Was The Original Jesus A Pagan God? by Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy on one knee and my Ask Jeeves Internet searcher on the other. It is that kind of a book — always challenging, never boring. I found myself going through not just material from my own studies towards my Masters in divinity but also spending a lot of time on the Internet in some of the books that I have accumulated in my own library, making sure that I understood exactly what it was that they were getting at. And, of the material that they referenced that had already been part of my experience as graduate student, I say they’re spot-on. Whether they come to the right conclusion, I’m going to leave that up to you. It’ll be a while before we get to open phones and I ask your patience with this subject and ask you to indulge our guests with your respect in hearing the case they’re going to make for the origins of Jesus being so directly tied to Pagan/Gnostic myths, which the authors maintain as was the Gnostic tradition, were never intended to be taken literally. It’s all a big misunderstanding according to Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy. We’ll let them make their case on what could be my last night on “Coast to Coast” or my last day in the seminary, depending if any of my professors are going to be listening to this show coming up next on “Coast to Coast AM.” My name’s Ian Punnett.
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