Christians, why do you profoundly deny the resemblance of Christianity and Egyptian / Greek / Roman mythology?
Please, no Zeitgeist references - yes, they are biased, but they deliver a point.
If you ask, I'll enumerate a few resemblances for you.
2010-01-29T14:43:05Z
@Chuck: Why do you claim all other gods to be false, when yours cannot provide any more proof they have?
2010-01-29T14:45:01Z
@Bianca: And Hinduism, which predates every other religion, has Krishna with two other avatars as well: Vishnu and Shiva. That's a resemblance, isn't it?
2010-01-29T14:50:16Z
@Justbenelson: The concept of a Virgin birth appears in many deities' biographies before Jesus. The "cross" is a derivation of the Egyptian ankh, which symbolizes eternal life (as the Christian cross represents the sacrifice the Christ made in order to repent sin, thus allowing you to have an eternal soul, correct?)
2010-01-29T14:52:48Z
@HeLovesUAll: What makes your beliefs contain the most truth of them all? Why doesn't Islam? Why doesn't Buddhism? Sikhism? Zoroastrianism? Hinduism? Baha'i?
Acorn2010-01-29T14:30:29Z
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It's useless to deny it; it's a historical fact.
But I don't agree those resemblances imply that Christianity is invalid or otiose.
Maybe God placed those paradigms in us -- miraculous birth, death, resurrection -- for a reason. Maybe they're so ingrained in our collective unconscious so we'd recognize it in Christ and when it happens on a spiritual basis in our lives.
Christianity is an ancient Egyptian religion period. Can not be denied. It was heavily influenced by the Greeks, Romans and Persians among some others. This can not be denied based upon historical evidence. I am looking forward to the "wonderful" answers that will be offered to deny all of this. For those wishing a pre-Christian reference, read Plato's Republic. The trinity and the function of the Logos is well covered. It is very similar to John. The Logos was also used in Egyptian creation mythology. There are many differing Egyptian creation myths, but this can be found with a little on line searching. Then go to POCM (Pagan origin of the Christ myth). You will find many legitimate references there. Or you could Just keep your head in the sand and turn a blind eye to what makes you uncomfortable. The assumption that the Egyptians had multiple gods has indeed fallen out of favor with serious Egyptian religious students. Read "Metu Neter" by Ra Un Nefer. Also any of the Egyptian religious material by Moustafa Gaddala. The writings of Jim Lyons (Bet Emet) . The material is plentiful. E.Wallis Budge did good work, yet he misinterpreted the concept of the Neter and Neteru. This has been ingrained in western thought and we can't seem to shake it off. Much like the Muslims, the Egyptians viewed God as the" all who are one".Not too far from the Christian concept of the Trinity.
There is perhaps Truth in all religions and beliefs as the Truth resides within us all (the right). Our Lord Jesus Christ taught and demonstrated Truth as if we trust men the Truth can be distorted for the gain of man. There is no denying that other religions have elements of Truth, however the Truth in whole can only be found in Jesus Christ, the Bible and taught through counsel and comfort of the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Truth). If its Truth we seek then its Truth we will find, we should be cautious of the source, as we all suffer an affliction within (the left) that likes to think it knows and likes to lie. Without Christ we are subject to the lies. In Christ we can put our Faith and Trust where it belongs, our Father God Almighty! Hope this helps. Love - D
If you are interested, there's a great discussion of this topic in a book called "The Everlasting Man" by G.K. Chesterton.
I believe that there are ideas present in humankind that predate the Christian community which were good dreams God gave people to prepare them for Jesus' coming into the world.
They were like whispers/imperfect pictures of the coming God who would fulfill all the promises/hopes of those good dreams.
No way to prove it, that's just what I have found to be true. If you've ever read the wheel of time by robert jordan, he writes "the Pattern will spin out false dragons until the true dragon is reborn and then there is no room for them anymore because when the true comes the false fade away."
In my attempt to be clever, I could say that egyptian greek and roman mythology all resemble Christianity.
Also Christians use current culture to help reach more people. Example, a Lot of the hymns sung in church are based off of drinking tunes.
The Bible says that there is only one God, and that all others are false. One of the core Christian concepts is that the Bible is God breathed and completely true. (However it is a book and there are different ways to interpret books, like taking a poetic passage as a literal/realistic/historical passage)