Shadowing Practice: The Jesus Problem - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
1
Jesus Christ is the son of God and God himself, say the many different Christian groups.
2
No wait, if you ask these Christians, who most Christians don't agree on are actually Christian, Jesus Christ is solely the son of God.
3
Oh actually no, that's not true either.
4
Because if I ask these guys, they believe Jesus Christ was a holy prophet, who basically brought the second iteration of the Quran.
5
No no no no no no, you guys got it all wrong.
6
Jesus Christ is a false prophet and, uh, by the way, was a danger to society, Say the Jewish groups.
7
God, you guys are stu- I mean, peer-reviewed study.
8
You guys are stupid.
9
Jesus never existed.
10
And you're all following some code because you can't accept you'll die one day.
11
May that be a reminder for everyone in the comment section
12
that just because you don't agree with something doesn't mean you should assault someone for it.
13
Each group looks at Christ differently.
14
But one thing is for certain.
15
Almost all historians, no matter what group they are from, agree Jesus did indeed exist.
16
The real debate, however, is not whether Jesus existed, but whether he could really perform miracles or was just an ordinary man.
17
And while I answer you that question, which I have to before I can tell you about his life, first, I'm going to ruin every historian's day.
18
Classify the debating groups in percentage of world population
19
and add whether they believe Jesus performed miracles or was just an ordinary man.
20
And we get this.
21
34% of our world population is Christian, so they definitely believe Christ performed miracles.
22
0.2% of our population is Jewish and are basically the antagonist of Christ, since historically they claim he was a false messiah or even a slick sorcerer,
23
so in their opinion he was just a man.
24
Then we have the Muslims, who make up 25% of all humans, though they don't believe Jesus was the son of Allah since Allah has no children.
25
They do believe he performed miracles by powers that Allah granted him.
26
Then we have the atheists, who make up 16% of our population and they believe Jesus was just a man.
27
Finally, we have the, and I am so sorry for squashing all of you together, the Others.
28
So the Hindus, Buddhists, folk religions and other smaller religious groups.
29
They make up the remaining 25% and they believe and don't believe at the same time.
30
Very confusing stuff, because half of them don't even know themselves what Jesus really was.
31
Some Buddhists would argue he could really walk on water and heal others, which is definitely a miracle, but according to them that was because he was some high level monk.
32
Hindus in their regard have groups that argue Jesus was an avatar of Vishnu
33
and that his miracles were like those of Krishna or Rama.
34
It's very detailed stuff that requires a big theology brain and time, which we don't have for this video.
35
So our grand final results?
36
59% of humanity believes Jesus performed miracles.
37
16.2% believes he didn't and 25% are in Schrodinger's miracle, both believing and not believing at once.
38
Split the others group in 50-50 and we get this.
39
71.5% of humanity believes in Jesus' miracles and roughly 28.5% thinks he was just a guy.
40
Simplify it even more and 3 out of 4 people believe Jesus performed miracles.
41
Simplify it even, even more and humanity believes Jesus performed miracles.
42
Don't hate me, I'm just following maths and rules here that we all taught in primary in high school.
43
But historically you hack!
44
You're a history channel, not a Sunday school.
45
You can't let religion stray you away from the truth and history, the truth that is written in the books.
46
Well, these are books too, aren't they?
47
I get it though.
48
In our current state of the world, we want science to confirm miracles.
49
We can't simply follow the rule of a bigger group diplomacy.
50
Everyone believed for a long time washing your hands before surgery was ridiculous.
51
And look at us now, we wash our hands daily.
52
Hopefully.
53
There is no peer reviewed study saying
54
that you can shout BE HEALED at a blind guy and suddenly give him 20-20 vision.
55
Nobody in a lab has figured out how to resurrect someone
56
after three days of them passing without them smelling like a neglected lunchbox.
57
And no physicist is currently working on a walking on water for beginners tutorial.
58
But here is the problem.
59
Lack of scientific proof does not equal proof of absence.
60
See, history and science don't always play by the same rules.
61
Science needs repeatability.
62
You drop an apple, it falls.
63
You zap water with electricity, someone gets a very bad day. But history?
64
History is a one-shot event.
65
You can't rewind time and tell Julius Caesar, Hey, get stabbed 23 times again, but this time, let's get it on a GoPro.
66
Okay, I mean, I can, but you can't.
67
And that's where we get stuck because history relies on testimonies, documents and artifacts.
68
If we had thousands of documents stating a dragon attacked a city, do we believe it or do we disregard what history has written and interpret it with our current knowledge on science?
69
It's a matter of relative and absolute truth.
70
A Muslim will never believe that Jesus was crucified because their truth is the word of Allah, thus the Quran.
71
It's their absolute truth.
72
But an atheist, Jew and Christian would bring up that there are documents stating he was really crucified.
73
In their absolute truth, they would call the Islam view on it relative truth.
74
The Muslim though would call their view the relative truth.
75
The same can be said in reverse as well.
76
An atheist, though not all of them, will always claim karma isn't real and that everything happens according to the laws of nature.
77
For those people, it's the absolute truth.
78
But a Hindu would swear that karma is indeed a very real thing.
79
Absolute truth.
80
The way I see it, the concept of absolute and relative truth is simply a way to respectfully say you are wrong and I am right.
81
Your truth is fake, mine is real, but I'm not going to bluntly say that.
82
I'm simply going to say that your truth is relative to you and that mine is absolute.
83
Sure, some might be really enlightened and call their own truth relative as well
84
and follow it up by saying that no truth is absolute.
85
But if you start to really dig into that hole, then you'll quickly find out that they are lying.
86
Atheist would tell his Christian, Muslim and Jewish friend that he doesn't believe Jesus performed miracles.
87
The Jew would immediately be his best friend.
88
But the Christian and Muslim would immediately start arguing
89
that he really did do miracles and then continue to argue between each other to what extent he did things.
90
The atheist then says, but guys, that's just my relative truth to each their own.
91
Okay, then everyone else says in perfect unison.
92
Then you don't mind that the Christian teaches us in primary school to go to church each Sunday.
93
That the Muslim encourages people to cover up as much skin as possible
94
and that the Jew will circumcise you on the eighth day after birth.
95
No, no, wait, the atheist says.
96
That's not right.
97
I don't want to be forced to go somewhere on Sunday.
98
I don't want to be told what clothes to wear and I feel like circumcision is mutilation.
99
Wait, but why is that?
100
Well, it doesn't feel right.
101
It doesn't make me happy and it goes against my beliefs.
102
I want to do what I want.
103
Ah, so your truth isn't so relative after all, is it?
104
The atheist then probably snaps and circles back to science as the proof, and we start the whole cycle of absolute and relative truth again.
105
Everyone has an absolute truth when it starts affecting them.
106
The whole live and let live thing is great until someone else starts stepping on your toes.
107
Suddenly, the atheist doesn't want religion influencing laws.
108
The Muslim doesn't want secular values eroding their traditions.
109
The Jew doesn't want their faith mocked in public.
110
And this is where the real discussion starts.
111
Not on whether Jesus existed, not on whether he performed miracles, but on whose truth gets to shape the history of the world we live in.
112
Everyone has a truth they refuse to let go of.
113
And the moment someone else's truth starts to threaten it, boom!
114
War.
115
Comment section war.
116
Literal war.
117
The entire history of human civilization.
118
Just one big messy argument over who gets to be right.
119
So what do we do?
120
Well, lucky for us, we've got options.
121
Three of them to be exact.
122
We all just mind our business and agree that the truth is whatever makes people happy.
123
You believe in miracles?
124
Cool.
125
You don't?
126
That's cool too.
127
Just keep it to yourself and don't make a big deal out of it.
128
The problem with this option?
129
This only works in theory.
130
The moment someone has to live by a law that contradicts their beliefs, the gloves come off.
131
Back to war.
132
Then we have the second option.
133
We go full science mode.
134
No feelings, no faith, just pure empirical data.
135
If we can't test it, it's not real.
136
That's great, except that means killing a lot of cultural beliefs and traditions.
137
And humans tend to get very murdery when you try that.
138
Okay, then how about option 3?
139
We acknowledge that the phenomenon absolute truth is probably real, but we also admit that no single human has the full picture.
140
Meaning, everyone's right, everyone's wrong.
141
And we all have to live in that uncomfortable space where we tolerate each other without losing our own convictions.
142
But that requires humility.
143
And let's be real, humanity sucks out humility.
144
So yeah, Jesus did miracles.
145
Or he didn't.
146
Or maybe he did, but for different reasons.
147
What really matters is, what are you gonna do about it?
148
Oh yeah, right.
149
Here's Jesus in 4 minutes.
150
Introducing our jury.
151
Each will press a button when it corresponds with what the majority of the group thinks.
152
So if what's being said is true in the eyes of the majority of the group, they will press the big button.
153
And for you Christianity, might as well tape your finger down onto the button.
154
Four minutes to oversimplify our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, go!
155
Cue the Middle East.
156
First century Roman Empire.
157
Not a fun time to be alive, unless you were Roman and rich.
158
If you were poor, life expectancy wasn't great.
159
Taxes were insane.
160
And being crucified was literally a common punishment.
161
In the year four, not zero.
162
An angel came to a woman who was a virgin named Mary
163
and said she would conceive a baby that will literally be the son of God.
164
But I'm a virgin.
165
The Holy Spirit will make you pregnant.
166
Mmm, okay.
167
So Jesus was born nine months later and shepherds and wise men arrive to give frankly terrible baby gifts.
168
Like Myr that's literally used to embalm dead bodies.
169
Anyway, Herod, Rome's puppet king in Judea, hears a new king has been born and immediately loses his mind.
170
He orders a mass baby genocide.
171
So the mother of Jesus, the dad, Joseph and Jesus flee to Egypt till Herod died.
172
Which luckily he shortly did.
173
They then return and settle back down.
174
Then for the next 12 years there is nothing about Christ.
175
Aside from one incident where he ran away from home to debate Jewish theologists.
176
Then again 18 years nothing.
177
Jesus and his family were attending a wedding when suddenly the wine ran out.
178
Jesus!
179
They have no more wine.
180
Woman, why do you involve me?
181
My hour has not yet come.
182
Do whatever he tells you.
183
Fine, bring me six jars of water.
184
And Jesus turned it into the finest wine they had ever tasted.
185
Finally, at age 30, Jesus steps onto the big scene.
186
And he doesn't do it alone.
187
Meet Jesus' cousin, John the Baptist.
188
John is a wild dude.
189
He wears camel hair clothes and eats locusts and honey.
190
Then one day, Jesus shows up and and asked John to baptize him in the Jordan River.
191
Uh, shouldn't you be baptizing me?
192
Nope, do it.
193
So John does.
194
And the moment Jesus comes up from the water, the heavens open, the Holy Spirit descends like a dove, and a voice from the heavens says,
195
This is my son, in whom I am well pleased.
196
Game on!
197
But first, Jesus has to face the devil.
198
Right after his baptism, Jesus goes into the wilderness for 40 days to fast and pray.
199
And who shows up?
200
Satan himself.
201
The devil hits him with three temptations.
202
If you are really the son of God, turn these stones to bread and eat it.
203
Men shall not live by bread alone.
204
Prove you are really the messiah by jumping off the temple and having angels catch you.
205
Do not test God.
206
Worship me and I'll give you all the kingdoms of the world.
207
Get lost, I worship God alone.
208
Satan dips and Jesus wins.
209
Jesus Christ continues to walk along the Galilee, calling out fishermen and a tax collector to follow him.
210
In total, Jesus picks 12 men to follow him.
211
And yes, that is Judas, the one who betrays him later.
212
This is where Jesus starts going viral.
213
He heals the sick, feeds 5,000 people with just 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish, walks on water, calms storms,
214
casts out demons, and raises people from the dead.
215
The crowds love him.
216
But you know who don't love Jesus?
217
The Pharisees.
218
Who were the die-hard, let's follow the rules
219
so God will cast out the Romans and we get Israel back kind of people.
220
They hated Jesus because they loved rules.
221
Jesus kept breaking their rules.
222
He ate with sinners, he heals on the Sabbath and they called out hypocritical religious leaders.
223
At this point, the Pharisees start plotting how to kill him.
224
Jesus and the gang enters Jerusalem where he continues to expose corrupt people and even predicted his own death in parables.
225
Then, that night at dinner, he calls all his disciples together and tells them, like it's the most normal thing in the world, that one of them will betray him.
226
Oh, I wonder who would do that?
227
Turns out, he would.
228
Jesus, watch out!
229
Judas is going to betray you!
230
You seem to be in the wrong era, time traveler.
231
Judas was offered 30 silver coins, which equals to about $200 nowadays to rent out Jesus.
232
Judas then went back inside
233
and kissed Jesus as a mark for the Romans to identify who to capture and Jesus was taken to trial.
234
Immediately he was sentenced to crucifixion to death.
235
Jesus was beaten, whipped, mocked and forced to drag a huge cross outside the city.
236
There he was nailed to it next to two criminals.
237
But Jesus forgave his sins.
238
Shortly followed Jesus cried out to the heavens, Father forgive them for they know not what they do.
239
After six excruciating hours on the cross, Jesus softly spoke, It is finished, and the Son of God dies by the hand of mankind.
240
Then the sky turned to pitch black and one nearby Roman was like, Uh, guys, I think he wasn't kidding about being the Son of God.
241
Jesus was then put into a tomb and after three days turned back alive.
242
He hung with his disciples for a bit and 40 days later, Jesus ascends into the heavens, promising to come back one day on Judgment Day.
243
His followers go on to spread his teachings worldwide.
244
Christianity explodes across the Roman Empire and Jesus Christ becomes the most influential person in history.
245
You can move your head now.
246
And this is the absolute relative truth about Jesus Christ.
247
Listen, whether you believe the story or not, you can't deny the story of Christ is a part of history.
248
It shaped the thought process of literally everyone on our planet and still does to this day.
249
Kingdoms were raised and destroyed in the Lord's name.
📺 Same Channel
B29
HEISENBERG: The Dumber Oppenheimer
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepCambridge Exam Prep
B218
The God of Horror
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
B24
The Dumbest Heist in History
Cambridge Exam PrepUniversity Students
B28
Meet WW2's Villains
Cambridge Exam PrepHigh School StudentsUniversity Students
B23
The Longest War EVER
University Students
B2The ENTIRE History of ROME
University Students
✨ Recommend Video
B21
94 sentences
Why Do I Believe in Jesus?
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B23
138 sentences
This Is What Anti-Muslim Propaganda Looks Like Today
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
166 sentences
Gen Z's Morality Crisis
TeensDaily ConversationHigh School Students
B2128 sentences
Friendly Trump interview goes south INSTANTLY amid disaster answer
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B21
165 sentences
Philomena Cunk vs Prof. Jim Al Khalili CBE (2025 Edition)
British AccentDaily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
34 sentences
A Great Reason to Not Be Religious Anymore - Anthony Jeselnik
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
161 sentences
Ex-Buddhist: You Don't Understand Buddhism
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B2189 sentences
محامٍ أمريكي شهير : هل الإسلام يكرهنا؟… والجواب يفاجئه!!!
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
119 sentences
How to Win Every Argument (Even if You Are Wrong)
Business EnglishInterview EnglishDaily Conversation
B22
63 sentences
Only Certain People Should Have Long Hair. Gabriel Rutledge
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B23
70 sentences
The Day No One Expects | Matthew 24:36-End
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
193 sentences
What Did Ancient Humans Actually Do All Day?
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “The Jesus Problem”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: Jesus, truth, miracle, Christ, absolute. This video has 249 sentences and 2714 words to shadow. The speech runs for 14:57. The speaker talks fast, about 182 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 83% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| miracle noun | /ˈmɪɹ.ə.kəl/ | An event that appears inexplicable by the laws of nature and so is held to be supernatural in origin. |
| atheist noun | /ˈeɪ.θi.ɪst/ | A person who does not believe in deities or gods. |
| betray verb | /bɪˈtɹeɪ/ | To deliver into the hands of an enemy by treachery or fraud, in violation of trust; to give up treacherously or faithlessly. |
| crucify verb | /ˈkɹuːsɪfaɪ/ | To execute (a person) by nailing to a cross. |
| heal verb | /ˈhiːl/ | To make better from a disease, wound, etc.; to revive or cure. |
| baptize verb | /ˈbæptaɪz/ | To perform the sacrament of baptism by sprinkling or pouring water over someone or immersing them in water. |
| disciple noun | /dɪˈsaɪ.pəl/ | A person who learns from another, especially one who then teaches others. |
| satin noun | /ˈsæt.ɪn/ | A cloth woven from silk, nylon or polyester with a glossy surface and a dull back. (The same weaving technique applied to cotton produces cloth termed sateen). |
| simplify verb | /ˈsɪmplɪfaɪ/ | To make simpler, either by reducing in complexity, reducing to component parts, or making easier to understand. |
| messiah noun | /məˈsaɪ.ə/ | The one who is ordained by God to lead the people of Israel, believed by Christians and Muslims to be Jesus Christ. |
| humility noun | /hjuːˈmɪlɪti/ | The characteristic of being humble; humbleness in character and behavior. |
| mock verb | /mɑk/ | To mimic, to simulate. |
| karma noun | /kərm(ə)/ | The sum total of a person's actions, which determine the person's next incarnation in samsara, the cycle of death and rebirth. |
| prophet noun | /ˈpɹɑ.fɪt/ | Someone who speaks by divine inspiration. |
| historically adverb | /hɪˈstɔɹɪkli/ | In a historic manner; with reference to history or the historical record. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| call out verb | To specify, especially in detail. |
| show up verb | To appear, arrive, or attend, especially suddenly or erratically. |
| bring up verb | To mention. |
| come back verb | To return to a place. |
| come off verb | To become detached. |
| cover up verb | To conceal or disguise. |
| figure out verb | To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce. |
| find out verb | To discover, as by asking or investigating. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Ah, so your truth isn't so relative after all, is it?
- You believe in miracles?
- If we can't test it, it's not real.
- What really matters is, what are you gonna do about it?
- Woman, why do you involve me?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is written · BE HEALED · was crucified |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has figured · has written · has been born |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | others, which is · woman who was · one who betrays |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 49 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, doesn't, can't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: atheist /ˈeɪ.θi.ɪst/, theology /θiˈɒ.lə.d͡ʒi/, threaten /ˈθɹɛt.n̩/, mathematics /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/, eighth /eɪtθ/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: circumcision /ˌsɜː(ɹ)kəmˈsɪʒən/, crucifixion /ˌkɹuːsɪˈfɪkʃən/, excruciating /ɪkˈskɹuʃi.eɪtɪŋ/, fisherman /ˈfɪʃ.ɚ.mən/, civilization /ˌsɪv.ɪ.laɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: humility /hjuːˈmɪlɪti/, historically /hɪˈstɔɹɪkli/, antagonist /ænˈtæɡənɪst/, circumcision /ˌsɜː(ɹ)kəmˈsɪʒən/, crucifixion /ˌkɹuːsɪˈfɪkʃən/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like miracle, atheist, betray.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.