Christianity Options

[sadolakced acid]

christianity stole a lot of things from pagan religions.

so how can you say it is different?

[AngelinaTaylor]

Whoa, whoa whoa.. Wait a second.

First of all, Christianity isn't as original as you think, not to mention it's ignorant of all other religions. But anyway. Have you studied the religion(s) of ancient Egypt? Or any other religions for that matter?

Let me give you a few examples as to why Christianity isn't that original.

The Vedic god Mitra, who was believed to be a sun god, was known to have been born on December 25th; he's also known to have died and buried, and after three days, a resurrection occured. Does it sound familiar? The 25th of December is also the birthday of Osiris, who is an Egyptian god of the dead and the underworld.

How about, let's say, Noah's ark. The concept of that story has occured in many tales in Mesopotamia - in ancient Babylon, for instance, and Assyria. Long before the bible was even written.

Hmm. Or another little interesting fact. In ancient Egypt, they had a pretty elaborate and complex belief in the afterlife. So,Anubis weighs the heart of the deseased, and if the heart of the deceased outweighs the feather of Ma'at (goddess of justice), his heart has been believed to be heavy with evil deeds. In that case, the heart is eaten by Ammit (a god with crocodile head and hippopotamus legs), which makes it unfit for eternity. But if the feather outweighs the heart, the deceased has been believed to have led a "good" life, and then is presented before Osiris to join the afterlife.

Kind of like the concept of hell and heaven. If you're good, you go to heaven. If you're bad, you go to hell.

It's not original. I can give you more examples, but I'm tired and I can't function unless I've had coffee.. Au revoir.

[*kryogenix*]

Whoa, whoa whoa.. Wait a second.

First of all, Christianity isn't as original as you think, not to mention it's ignorant of all other religions. But anyway. Have you studied the religion(s) of ancient Egypt? Or any other religions for that matter?

Let me give you a few examples as to why Christianity isn't that original.

The Vedic god Mitra, who was believed to be a sun god, was known to have been born on December 25th; he's also known to have died and buried, and after three days, a resurrection occured. Does it sound familiar? The 25th of December is also the birthday of Osiris, who is an Egyptian god of the dead and the underworld.

No one is sure exactly what Mithras is since we have very few details about it, and it's quite possible that Mithraism copied Christianity, not the other way around. You can read more from a Catholic perspective at the bottom of this page:

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10402a.htm

How about, let's say, Noah's ark. The concept of that story has occured in many tales in Mesopotamia - in ancient Babylon, for instance, and Assyria. Long before the bible was even written.

Obviously, since the story of Noah's ark occurs in Genesis, which is the Old Testament of the Bible. The Old Testament books are Hebrew works, so it would make sense that the flood would take place in ancient times. In fact, wouldn't other civilizations knowing of a flood validate the story instead of debunking it?

Hmm. Or another little interesting fact. In ancient Egypt, they had a pretty elaborate and complex belief in the afterlife. So,Anubis weighs the heart of the deseased, and if the heart of the deceased outweighs the feather of Ma'at (goddess of justice), his heart has been believed to be heavy with evil deeds. In that case, the heart is eaten by Ammit (a god with crocodile head and hippopotamus legs), which makes it unfit for eternity. But if the feather outweighs the heart, the deceased has been believed to have led a "good" life, and then is presented before Osiris to join the afterlife.

Kind of like the concept of hell and heaven. If you're good, you go to heaven. If you're bad, you go to hell.

It's not original. I can give you more examples, but I'm tired and I can't function unless I've had coffee.. Au revoir.

The claim that Christianity "copied" other religions is absolutely baseless. You have to understand that Christianity is the second covenant after Judaism, so naturally it would have elements from Judaism which was an old religion in itself.

[AngelinaTaylor]

No one is sure exactly what Mithras is since we have very few details about it, and it's quite possible that Mithraism copied Christianity, not the other way around. You can read more from a Catholic perspective at the bottom of this page:

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10402a.htm
Obviously, since the story of Noah's ark occurs in Genesis, which is the Old Testament of the Bible. The Old Testament books are Hebrew works, so it would make sense that the flood would take place in ancient times. In fact, wouldn't other civilizations knowing of a flood validate the story instead of debunking it?
The claim that Christianity "copied" other religions is absolutely baseless. You have to understand that Christianity is the second covenant after Judaism, so naturally it would have elements from Judaism which was an old religion in itself.

Since no one is exactly sure about Mithras, how can you say that Mithras indeed copied Christianity? It could very easily be the other way around.. just like you said. Nothing is certain.

I don't see your point with Noah's ark. If the story has appeared before in ancient writings, why would it be original when it appears in the bible? More importantly, how can it be considered true if the concept was borrowed from ancient writings before the bible emerged?

Also, Christianity and Judaism are extremely close. They're very similar. Christianity derived from Judaism.

Both religions believe in one God who is almighty, omniscient, omnipresent, eternal, and infinite. Both religions believe in a God who is holy, righteous, and just - while at the same time loving, forgiving, and merciful. They both share the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament) as the Word of God. Both Christianity and Judaism believe in the existence of Heaven, the eternal dwelling place of the righteous, and Hell, the eternal dwelling place of the wicked. Christianity and Judaism have basically the same ethical code, commonly known today as Judeo-Christian. Both Judaism and Christianity teach that God has a special plan for the nation of Israel and the Jewish people. The only major difference is the belief in Jesus Christ - Christians believe he's the son of God, while Jews believe he was a normal man (which he, indeed, was).

Christianity is not "copying" other religions, but it's simply not original.

Edit: Besides, the reason I wanted to post here was because the idea of "It's different, so it must mean it's real" is absolutely absurd in my opinion. The concept of that statement is just.. >.<

[sadolakced acid]

kryo, could you explain then, how conviently:

jesus looks like zeus

posiden's trident because the devil's pitchfork

a pentagram became evil

pagan rituals became witchcraft

etc.

check out this link as well

http://www.seiyaku.com/customs/pagan-symbols.html

[oXMuhNirvanaXo]

Christianity is the only one that has a god that forgives every one for there sins.

[ghetosmurph]

kryo, could you explain then, how conviently:

jesus looks like zeus

posiden's trident because the devil's pitchfork

a pentagram became evil

pagan rituals became witchcraft

etc.

check out this link as well

http://www.seiyaku.com/customs/pagan-symbols.html

Ok, I'm just going to address the pagan holiday and symbol borrowing as a collective topic..... For anyone who does the research, you can easily find that many of the symbols and items associated with some of the pagan holidays have become prominent sybols in christian culture today...... christmas colors being red and green..... the easter bunny...... the wedding ring....... there's a whole slew of them...... now the reason for this is not that Christianity decided that they'd just borrow from here and there to create their own customs.... It has to do with the fact that as Christian began converting people from the pagan religions, those people brought with them the traditional customs that they had been using for ceturies and applied them to their new religion...... Christmas time nearly coincided with Saturnalia and so the converts would use the customs and symbols as a reminder of their past...... The church allowed this because they knew that if they didn't the people would refuse to give up their traditional customs all together and revert back into pagan ceremonies just so they could continue what had been done for centuries....... This is why christian culture today has so many customs traditions and symbols hat actually date back farther than christianity itself......

Now as for jesus looking like zeus.... that would be artistic license seeing as we dont have any real portraits of either..... and maybe something to do with the fact that a lot of artists borrowed from roman and greek styles especially during the renaissance, when many of the most renowned depictions of God and Christ emerged....... early christian icons of christ don't bear that much resemblance to zeus.........I'm pretty sure it's not in any christian doctrine that the devil actually has a pitch fork, so that would fall under artistic license too...... The pentagram became "evil" when satanic worshipers adopted it as one of their symbols....... it was deemed "evil" b/c satanists pretty much stand against everything christianity stands for...... And pagan rituals evolving into witchcraft wasn't christianity's fault either....... Christianity had nothing to do with the fact that Wicca developed from paan rituals....... Good concept, bad examples.......

I don't see your point with Noah's ark. If the story has appeared before in ancient writings, why would it be original when it appears in the bible? More importantly, how can it be considered true if the concept was borrowed from ancient writings before the bible emerged?

Also, Christianity and Judaism are extremely close. They're very similar. Christianity derived from Judaism.

Both religions believe in one God who is almighty, omniscient, omnipresent, eternal, and infinite. Both religions believe in a God who is holy, righteous, and just - while at the same time loving, forgiving, and merciful. They both share the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament) as the Word of God. Both Christianity and Judaism believe in the existence of Heaven, the eternal dwelling place of the righteous, and Hell, the eternal dwelling place of the wicked. Christianity and Judaism have basically the same ethical code, commonly known today as Judeo-Christian. Both Judaism and Christianity teach that God has a special plan for the nation of Israel and the Jewish people. The only major difference is the belief in Jesus Christ - Christians believe he's the son of God, while Jews believe he was a normal man (which he, indeed, was).

The Tora (or as now known as the old testament) dates back far before the bible itself anyway...... it is considered an ancient writing..... nothing in the Old Testament is origional because as both you and kryogenix pointed out Christianity is a continuation of Judeaism..... Judeuism is founded on the "Old Coventant" and the "Old Testament" as Christians refer to them...... Their coventant was a coventant between God and man out of fear..... The New Covenant was the continauation of Jewish covenant, a coventant between God/Jesus and man out of love...... The entire history of Judeaism has been spent awaiting the arrival of the Messiah, as prophecied in the old testament...... Christianity was basically the sect of judeaism that believed that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, and followed him as a continuation of the Jewish religion....... You both had the exact same point......

[ichigofan]

The similarities with most if not all religions is that they all hail from Paganism! which happens to be the first religion-during the age of the neantherdals. I dont support religions that segregate people and that teach others to hate people that are different. Not all christians/catholics hate others but i hate closed minded individuals and people who commit "sins" and think that all they have to do is confess and they can go do it again.... Actually JEYSUS is dead but the dalai lama survives

[innovation]

kryo, could you explain then, how conviently:

jesus looks like zeus

posiden's trident because the devil's pitchfork

a pentagram became evil

pagan rituals became witchcraft

etc.

check out this link as well

http://www.seiyaku.com/customs/pagan-symbols.html

You claim that Christianity "stole" many things from Paganism. Now, I certainly hope that in saying this, you're distinguishing religion from culture. Things such as Jesus's appearance and the devil's pitchfork are trivial to Christianity; they are not components of the religion, but rather cultural aspects that were perhaps adopted by Christians. I agree with ghetosmurph.

That website certainly isn't a reliable source of historical and theological information. It's a homemade website about Japanese weddings that somehow was converted into a website on the supposed links between Christianity and Paganism. You should know better, Justin.

[sweetangel2128]

this is why i dispise christians. because there are those out there who think you're the enemy if you don't belive if jesus and they think thier religion is all that.

That is one of the reasons why I had stopped being a Christian until God showed me that those people are hypocritical Christians, they are not Christians at all. A real Christian wouldn't say stuff like that

and after 3 days accended to heaven. which could be interperated as dying, no?

He actually didn't die because in reality Jesus is God, God is Jesus...God came down to earth AS Jesus to save us from our sins because he loves us that much.