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To: A.J.Armitage
Examine "The Jesus Mysteries" by Freake and Gandy for an objective treatment of the origins of Christianity by modern historians. Relying exclusively on the self referential scriptures of any religion for the validation of its historical authenticity is commonplace among the believers. The followers of alternate creeds and the nonbelievers look at the believers and wonder why they persist in purposely deluding themselves.

Pagan resurrecting god/men were common mythical characters dating to Sumerian times. There is no "historical fact" known about Jesus Christ that was not a part of some previous pagan myth. All the miracles, parables, and important events of the gospels are from stories told of previous god/men.

The Christian sect of Judaism was the creation of educated Alexandrian Jews who were steeped in the culture of the Greeks. They melded a popular Pagan Resurrecting god/man myth with the Jewish Messiah concept. The Jews for the most part weren't interested because they wanted their Messiah to be a military conqueror not a spiritual savior. Instead, Christianity found its most enthusiastic followers from among the uneducated slaves and disenfranchised commoners of Rome. The rise of literalist scriptural Christianity was attended in large measure by roving mobs of ignorant fanatical zealots whose primary task was the practically complete destruction of Pagan civilization. They also destroyed Gnostic Christianity in the process. You may have recently noticed that this is the characteristic attitude of certain present day religious fanatics toward Western Civilization.

44 posted on 10/15/2001 7:55:49 AM PDT by Vercingetorix
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To: Vercingetorix
Examine "The Jesus Mysteries" by Freake and Gandy for an objective treatment of the origins of Christianity by modern historians.

"Objective" meaning anti-Christian. Instead of simply refering me somewhere else, why don't you make the arguments yourself?

Relying exclusively on the self referential scriptures of any religion for the validation of its historical authenticity is commonplace among the believers.

Christianity obviously got started somewhere. You assert(with no proof whatsoever) that it was invented in Egypt. I could take that on faith, but I won't. The early Christians were often killed for their beliefs. Would you suffer and die for a belief you knew to be false because you invented it? If it were invented in Egypt, they'd have a problem: everyone in Jerusalem would know it was total bunk. Not only that, but some people, such as traveling merchants, would have been there at the time and been in Egypt when Christianity was invented. If it started too late for witnesses to confirm or deny, that in itself would be a problem, because if it were true there would already be Christians. The lack of Christians would ruin the whole thing.

If something like the story in the Gospel didn't happen, there'd be no Christians and thus no Scriptures.

The rise of literalist scriptural Christianity was attended in large measure by roving mobs of ignorant fanatical zealots whose primary task was the practically complete destruction of Pagan civilization.

You're projecting your image of modern fundamentalists, with coloration provided by Islamists, on to ancient Christians. It doesn't fit. Classical civilization was destroyed by geopolitical events, and such of it as did survive was saved by Christians. In the East it didn't fall at all, it simply evolved into a new form(which was destroyed by Turks).

49 posted on 10/15/2001 10:22:26 AM PDT by A.J.Armitage
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