Jesus Vs Horus

by Christ Alone 89 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  tec

  Christianity -the doctrines and such -has elements brought in from other myths/sources. Giving Jesus a Dec 25th b-day is more in line with whatever holiday had been celebrated at that time... than it is on when Christ was actually born. So yes, Christianity did bring into it some things from other myths. I don't think that is in question. Some of those might even have been put in the gospels. But I have not seen evidence for that last one. I have only seen evidence of similarity with the religion and its evolving doctrines... but not with Christ himself.

  Peace

  tammy
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  Christ Alone

  Even if that were so, cofty, the writers of the gospel were still willing to die for their writings. You can claim that all the gospels were written by people other than who they are acredited to. However, the time in which they were written was during a period of intense persecution towards Christians.

  Also there is alot of evidence of who wrote the gospels. Take for example Luke:

  The Muratorian canon (c. 170) states, "Luke, the physician...wrote in his own name what he had been told (ex opinione), though he himself had not seen the Lord in the flesh."

  Irenaeus (130-c.200) writes, "Luke the companion of Paul set forth in a book the gospel a preached by him (Paul)" (Adv. Haer. 3.1.1)

  Tertullian (c. 160-225) attributes the Gospel of Luke to Luke (Adv. Marc. 4.2.1-5).

  The Anti-Marcion Prologue (2nd century) says that Luke the physician from Antioch, Syria wrote the gospel known as the Gospel of Luke.

  The Monarchian Prologue (2nd or 3rd century) affirms that Luke wrote the Gospel of Luke.

  The oldest manuscript of Luke, the Bodmer Papyrus XIV (p75), dated about 175-225, attributes the Gospel of Luke to Luke, using the title "The Gospel according to Luke."

  It is reasonable to conclude that the Luke was the author of the Gospel of Luke.
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  Christ Alone

  So yes, Christianity did bring into it some things from other myths.

  I could agree with that. December 25 is a good example.
• 

  cofty

  You can claim that all the gospels were written by people other than who they are acredited to - Christ

  I do.

  What about Justin Martyr's own goal?

  "And when we say also that… [Jesus] was produced without sexual union, and that He… was crucified and died, and rose again, and ascended into heaven, we propound nothing different from what you believe regarding those whom you esteem sons of Jupiter.”

  “…And if we even affirm that He was born of a virgin, accept this in common with what you accept of Perseus. And in that we say that He made whole the lame, the paralytic, and those born blind, we seem to say what is very similar to the deeds said to have been done by Æsculapius.”
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  sabastious

  Christianity -the doctrines and such -has elements brought in from other myths/sources. Giving Jesus a Dec 25th b-day is more in line with whatever holiday had been celebrated at that time... than it is on when Christ was actually born. So yes, Christianity did bring into it some things from other myths. I don't think that is in question. Some of those might even have been put in the gospels. But I have not seen evidence for that last one. I have only seen evidence of similarity with the religion and its evolving doctrines... but not with Christ himself.

  I think it's important to note the recurrence of the number 12 within the whole Bible and it's seasonal significance. The zodiac has Scorpio poisoning the Sun which creates it's decent to death for 3 full days and then resurrection upward. This IS paralleled quite nicely in the Gospel narrative. My personal opinion is that Jesus had a band of trusted followers and that his betrayal WAS what lead him to his death. However the exact way that happened should be left to uncovering more archaeological evidence or some other discovery. Maybe because astrology was used in the first place that people felt justfied saying Jesus was born on the 25th of December. If someone questioned that with logic they would have to question the entire narrative. That seems built in, so anyone calling it a perfect historcal account is not correct and most likely very confused.

  -Sab
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  Christ Alone

  Context: Justin Martyr was making an attempt to convince the Roman emperor that the Christian's teachings were not that dissimilar from other Roman religions which were favored by the empire. If you examine Justin Martyrs examples, he was making an extreme stretch to compare Jesus to the other gods. He speaks about Aesculapius who was struck by lightening and then taken to the heavens. He was making an apologetic speech to gain recognition from the Romans for Christianity and to show them that Christian beliefs were not as bizarre as they were thinking it was.

  But again, the parallels are unclear. Research into the gods that are mentioned by Justin Martyr shows that they were not similar at all in regards to the actual details. The first clear account of a god dying and raising again does not even occur til after Jesus crucifixtion. The earliest versions of the death and resurrection of Adonis appeared after A.D. 150. The accounts of Attis, the Phyrgian god of vegetation who was responsible for the death and rebirth of plant life, are not until the 3rd century A.D. (200 A.D.) or later. In the accounts of Marduk there is no clear death or resurrection mentioned. Adonis, in the earliest visions, contains no death or resurrection reports. His first death and resurrection accounts do not occur until after A.D. 150.

  Also, these other gods were not considered to be "real" people or humans like Jesus was.

  Finally early Christianity was birthed in a Jewish cultural context. The early Christians, in fact, worshipped in the Jewish temple and believed that Christ's resurrection fulfilled Old Testament prophecy). In light of this, these Jewish Christians believed in a physical resurrection which was a view that was not accepted by the Greco-Roman culture who ridiculed such an idea. Therefore, it is unlikely that these Jewish Christians would adopt pagan mythology.
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  james_woods

  Wouldn't it be the ultimate JW-related irony if the historical Jesus actually WAS born on December 25?
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  dog is god

  The 4 gospels were not written by their namesakes. The writers were anonymous.
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  sabastious

  The palindrome is right. (wait almost palindrome)

  -Sab
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  sabastious

  dogsgod is one.