I just wanted to quickly clear up a few things that I seemed to have been agreeing with concerning El, Yahweh and the baals. I am not in any position to try and start an entire new debate on these particular things. These are only a few of my personal thoughts on the new things that we read and briefly discussed.
El is a Caananite god that pre-dates Yahweh in both the written and archealogical record.
The source didn't say that El pre-dates Yahweh. The source says that he is thought to correspond to Yahweh. But men were calling on God even before the account of Noah. Therefore, God, the creator of the universe, would predate any Caananite tribes or form of worship... no matter what name is applied to him. If this were not true, then who spoke to Noah, who pre-dates the Caananite tribes? (Encyclopedia Mythica also concurs that the Cannanites descended from one of Noah's sons)
But even if there are any similarities, it stands to reason that the Caananite tribes would have been taking from the knowledge that had come from Noah's time and earlier since they are Noah's descendants. Did they warp it and fall away from the true worship of their Creator? Yes; by way of the Baals, and so explains Elijah and the many prophets of the OT who tried to bring this worship and its atrocious child/human sacrifices to a halt.
As for the account of the flood, archaeological studies would disprove a world flood, but there is geological evidence indicating a major flood in the middle east. But it does nothing to debate this point unless a major discovery comes to prove it. But even this does not negate the claim that the Caananites descended from Noah.
I don't believe in a young earth, btw. Science has proven otherwise. But this in no way conflicts with a existence of a Creator. How could we possibly prove without any doubt how much time passed from when the planet was formed to when man first walked upon it?
El's is also Baal's father. Therefore, according to your source and your agreement that El is Yahweh, Jesus is Baal's little brother. Jesus has some things similar to Baal (you DID say we should look for similarities in things) and some things different, just like any family.
I apologize. I was hasty in agreeing to that El is Yahweh. There is so much conflicting evidence to go through, I can't say anything one way or another at this time. Except to emphasize what I said above: that our God, the Father of Jesus, is the creator of the universe... no matter the name people may or may not have given to Him.
As for Jesus being Baal's little brother, Jesus of Nazareth was a man who was also the Christ - who's spirit was with God in the beginning, and through whom and by whom all things were created. (I use the NIV (Thompson chain reference edition) when I make references to the bible.) If the spirit of Christ was with God in the beginning, then there is nothing to say that Jesus is emulating 'big brother', or that Satan would have existed before him at all. Satan is a fallen angel. Jesus is not called an angel... except in the JW teachings that suggest he is the archangel Michael.
But most importantly, at least to me, Jesus gives all credit of his teachings to his Father in heaven. And it is through this Father that we get to Jesus... beginning with the creator and moving down to Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and finally Moses and the Jews. Jesus also emphasizes that it is those 'who do the will of his Father in heaven' who are his mother, brother, and sister. Making this union more important than any possible familial relations.
It is yet my third night of staying up to 3am to post on this thread. I can't keep up this pace, even in the friendliest of debates/discussions, especially since my intent was just to deal with the Christ-myth things. So I will bow out, though I look forward to discussing things such as these with you again in the future.
And thank you for saying that I also challenged you. I hope you have more of an understanding of why I do not trust the research or claims made by Christ-mythers. Hopefully, I have also learned to keep the emotion -negative or positive- in my debate from detracting from the message I am trying to get across.
While we may still disagree on things, and this is not a bad thing, I believe that the best thing that can come from a debate is that both parties learned something that helped them to grow personally.
Best to you,
Tammy
