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To: Soliton
The Greeks believed in Hercules as much as you do Jesus.

Yes, but the important point that you seem to be missing is that the Greeks did not view Hercules or their other mythological stories to be within the realm of profane time, within experiential history. You really need to acquaint yourself with the works of Mircea Eliade, especially his Myth of the Eternal Return. Like most ancient pagan peoples, the Greeks viewed the myths about their gods to exist outside of the "profane" time which we experience daily. For them, the myths represented "sacred time", and the repetition of symbolic ritual activities was understood as actually recreating or re-participating in these primal events - humanity translating itself over into the otherworldly realm of "sacred time", so that what is represented in the sacred time myth could become relevant to people normally stuck in our "profane time". However, if you had asked an ancient Greek exactly what year in the past he thought that Hercules had cleaned out the Augean stables, he'd have laughed at you for being silly enough to think that you could actually name such a date.

THAT'S a significant difference, then, vis-a-vis the case of Jesus Christ. Jesus exists entirely within history. He was an historical person who did historical things that historical people witnessed and wrote about. We can look back in our "real" time and assign a pretty reasonably secure date for the events in His life. They do not exist in "sacred time". The rest of the ancient world thought of religion in terms of humanity intruding or interposing itself into "sacred time". Christianity (and Judaism before it, and Islam after it) taught that God intrudes Himself into "profane time". Big, big diametrical difference which you are totally failing to comprehend.

84 posted on 08/08/2008 11:01:32 AM PDT by Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus (Here they come boys! As thick as grass, and as black as thunder!)
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To: Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus
Like most ancient pagan peoples, the Greeks viewed the myths about their gods to exist outside of the "profane" time which we experience daily. For them, the myths represented "sacred time"

First, that makes no difference to the point we are discussing. Second, you also believe, do you not, that your God lived in a special time before time and later during a time when a day could be a thousand years? Don't you believe that Jesus existed before the universe existed? Besides, your point doesn't pertain to Hercules, and the Greeks thought their gods existed concurrent with their own existence, hence all of the sacrificing and praying.

86 posted on 08/08/2008 11:11:57 AM PDT by Soliton (> 100)
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