I’m bored. I wanted your opinion.
I think that even though John said it to shock people and be offensive (IMO), he was right in what he said…….which is always the case with John. In general, to the average teen at that time, the Beatles did mean more to them than Jesus.
March 5th, 2010 at 12:15 pm
That quote was taken way out of context…and, at the time, in the US, I do believe that he was correct.
He was not making a theological statement, just a statement of what he thought of the Beatles fame at the time.
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- Yggdrasil, Christian (M.Div., Fuller Seminary), Beatle Fan, Musician
March 5th, 2010 at 12:32 pm
does john lennon have millions of people listening about him on sunday mornings?
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March 5th, 2010 at 1:15 pm
Maybe during this day and age where Christianity has faded out some.
Not then, back then they were just another rock band, bigger in America than in the UK.
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March 5th, 2010 at 1:50 pm
at the time of the comment, it certainly was a fact!!
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March 5th, 2010 at 2:38 pm
I think that even though John said it to shock people and be offensive (IMO), he was right in what he said…….which is always the case with John. In general, to the average teen at that time, the Beatles did mean more to them than Jesus.
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March 5th, 2010 at 3:25 pm
"Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue with that; I’m right and I will be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first – rock ‘n’ roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me."
He was, as reported, reading extensively about religion at the time. It was a small part of the article. No one took notice of it in Britain.
And then, five months later, a teen magazine in the US of A (land of the free, especially religious freedom, if your christian), Datebook, reprinted the quote out of context instead of submerged in an article, and used it as a part of a front cover story.
Radio stations in the south banned Beatles music. There were rallies of boys and girls stomping on their records and bonfires of Beatles material. John recieved death threats, and the KKK protestsed a Beatle concert in Alabama (because, apparently, it seemed like the Christian thing to do).
This statement, hardly noticed in the UK, was completely taken out of context and the bible belt of the hypocritical southern states was used to beat Lennon and The Beatles in a very unfair and very non-Christian way
Do I agree that the Beatles were "BIGGER" than Jesus as you put it?
No , I do not, I am a Christian and a Beatles fan.
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March 5th, 2010 at 3:35 pm
no, jesus is way bigger. im sorry but the beatles suck i hate them
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March 5th, 2010 at 4:14 pm
Yes at that time, I think it was true.
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March 5th, 2010 at 4:55 pm
No not at all!!
Jesus forever!!
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March 5th, 2010 at 5:35 pm
No I don’t agree that he was bigger than Jesus nor could he ever be. That comment should have never been made by him.
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March 5th, 2010 at 5:47 pm
1st of all john was saying that the beatles were more popular than jesus and not that they were bigger or better than jesus,now the irony is that i think john lennon was actually trying to piss of the english because the statement he made was referring to england not america.in a certain context the beatles were more popular than christ and john was actually condemning that.i think he was actually dumbfounded that more people were going to beatles concerts than were going to church on sundays.john even said that he didn’t have a problem with christ,just his disciples for twisting christianity.i think he was referring to the people who were and are taking the positive message of christ’s teachings and twisting it for their own ends.people like the KKK or others who use the teachings of our lord and savior to justify prejudice and bigotry.and please don’t get me started on the whole thing with the KKK hopping on the anti-beatles bandwagon,i think they were just doing it for the publicity considering that the KKK and the south in general were getting a lot of bad press over the last 10 years or so(remember this was during the civil rights movement)and i guess they thought that if they got on the anti-beatles bandwagon that they could rehab their image.just a thought.
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March 5th, 2010 at 5:57 pm
yes.
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March 5th, 2010 at 6:38 pm
Not until they start building shrines to the Beatles on every corner and people gathering in them every Sunday morning.
I love the Beatles and understand what John was really commenting on was how silly fame can be.
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March 5th, 2010 at 7:23 pm
he never said that they were BIGGER and GREATER than Jesus. He just meant teens were more into that kind of stuff then. I defend Johnny!
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March 5th, 2010 at 7:47 pm
no, nobody was ever as big or great as Jesus, not even Lennon or The Beatles. if it werent for Jesus, The Beatles wouldnt have existed, or anyone else! remember that
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March 5th, 2010 at 8:24 pm
Well no one is bigegr than Jesus but at the time they where more popular than Jesus, yes.
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March 5th, 2010 at 8:44 pm
All the previous answers are right,his statement was taken out of content but…He didn’t exactly say The Beatles were bigger than Jesus,he said…
"Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue with that; I’m right and I will be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first – rock and roll or Christianity."
I think that sort of was what he was saying,just not in so many words.I believe that it was taken out of content,not the meaning of his statement but the fact that he didn’t want it to be so offenst to people who are religious and he probably didn’t want the controversy that the bigots caused.
In my honest opinion,I agree.I am an Agnostic Atheist.I believe The Beatles were greater than Jesus.
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March 5th, 2010 at 9:09 pm
No .
No man is bigger then Jesus
they may have been big at there time while on Earth
but at the end of the day we all face face Judgment from God
no matter who you are or what you "think you were"
When the end of the world comes and it’s time to seal our fate
there is no going back to change anything that we once did in our past it’s either Heaven or Hell and while we are alive and still living the choice is up to us
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March 5th, 2010 at 9:54 pm
no…whoever said that is stupid
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March 5th, 2010 at 10:01 pm
I think both of them are equal because who doesn’t know either of them?
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March 5th, 2010 at 10:34 pm
No. Jesus rose from the dead on the 3rd day. John and George are still in their graves.
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March 5th, 2010 at 10:52 pm
YUPPERS
^__^
Even though he didn’t really say they were bigger, I think they are.
This coming from a person who’s not very religious, though.
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