History of Religion

[gypsea_PREV (deleted)]

Is it just me or are almost all the stories from all the different religions stollen from somewhere else, some pre-dated religion? The easiest of which to identify with is the Christian religion, and the story of Jesus. "The son of God", there have been COUNTLESS sun gods, born of a virgin, born during the winter solstic, there's no info on them between age 12 & 30, they use a common number 12 (desiples), was crusified and put in a tomb, decendes in to hell... why are all these so similar? Jesus, Ra, krishna? Why such similar stories?

the answer...

(removed)

[philosopher8659_PREV (deleted)]

`There are two approaches to religion, or what goes under the name religion. One is actually the myths of man, the other is to go to the source. Numbers 12:6 describes where the source is, it is today called Lucid Dreaming.

The question has always been though, does one interest in the topic comply with one's own function, or how one should function.

Does one seek God to learn how to think, or seek God in order to avoid the responsibility of being? Does one seek to learn what may be called God Craft, or does one seek to simply become a worthless dependent?

[pat6874]

.one does not "seek God." If you're lucky, God finds you.

[whollyheretic (deleted)]

`The origins of christian doctrine and its history is examined in meticulous detail and *nalytical depth,
freely available in the pages of jesusneverexisted.com
Regrettably, having comprehensively argued and proven his case, Kenneth Humphreys assumes the job is done.
Like most atheists, he demolished the doctrinal prison, but did not explore the beckoning beyond.

[getyamindrite]

`humans continually steal things and reinvent them, it is human nature. WE mimic what we see, hear, sense. If the idea is good it becomes replicated, if it is bad it falls to the wayside.

[rowrow2inarow1]

`i cant believe that people take the bible or any religion as literal truth, it seems really out there

[parmasean]

`That was a really entertaining--and informative--video. It is true that Jesus's birth is celebrated on a pagan holiday. But, let us explore why a bit...

Trying to make this short, so ask questions if you want:

-The bible is not factually accurate; this is well documented.
-political leaders re-named and re-used old religious symbols, numbers, dates, and ideas to manipulate the largely illiterate masses, from the time of Christ up until the industrial age (the 1800's)--that is why many "official" religions sound similar.
-Belief is more important than fact. Subjective truth is more persuasive than objective truth. Charisma trumps correctness. You dig?
-Historically, people waver between favoring subjective knowledge vs. objective knowledge. The brain is capable of both, in the right and left hemispheres (Jill Bolte Taylor). Which we favor culturally is just a matter of taste. Currently the pendulum is swinging towards the subjective (IMHO); in the 1800's and early 1900's people decidedly favored objectivity (ie, d---en's "hard times", john stuart mill, etc). Then the hippies rebelled, the pill was invented, and you know the rest. Peace!
-"he demolished the doctrinal prison, but did not explore the beckoning beyond. " --you might like "que creen los que no creen?" (trans: "what do non-believers believe?")
-In this world of spiraling BS, searching for god in the sanctuary of your own mind may be the only way to "know" god. It may not tell you dates and names, but how you feel could be the key...

"Truth? what is that?" -Pontius Pilate

[masimba]

`I tend to agree with the top commentator, religion is a chain reaction through the various historical phase of the history of mankind. The first really monotheistic religion was Zoroastrianism, and from there the evolution and the creation of the various religions really began. All in all we can argue that at each stage of man's history religion took from other religions its "raison d'etre", and if look at Christianity for example, it is clear that it derived its doctrines from Hellenic Judaism.