Plagiarism In The Bible

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

Out of curiosity, how are you "serving" him (or me for that matter)? You certainly are not part of my faith.

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

That's what Rome continued to do after legalizing it. Ever heard of the pagan persecutions? Rome FORCED Christianity on its people by death threats and genocide. Did god work through the Roman authorities to persecute and torture/kill pagans? Romans 13 says so.

I want a stop to the forcing of (any) religion on the people, whether it's through force or persuasion (brainwashing/indoctrination). Did you know that the Roman people BELIEVED that their pagan gods actually existed? They believed in their gods just as much as you do in the bible. That came about through child indoctrination, it's no different with Christianity today.

a reply to: Noinden

Personally, I work in the medical field. I serve people who hate me because they misunderstand their health coverage. My point is, Christians are in all social classes. It seems to me that Enligtened would be happier if we just went away.

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

That's what Rome continued to do after legalizing it. Ever heard of the pagan persecutions? Rome FORCED Christianity on its people by death threats and genocide. Did god work through the Roman authorities to persecute and torture/kill pagans? Romans 13 says so.

You see, the point is that ROME did that, specifically after Constantine bastardized Christianity by splicing the Roman panteon into the churches.

Followers of Christ are not to blame.

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

The same Rome who embraced and enforced your beliefs on its people. Romans 13 says that those in power (authorities) are God's servants, that implies Rome went through with Gods plan by murdering and torturing pagans (and Christians).

My issue is not with followers of Christ, I am one myself, it is with those in power that my issues lie with. How can you acknowledge the pagan influence in the church but not the bible? Pagan symbolism is all throughout the bible.

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

Im sorry, but you dont understand, because you choose not to. You'll believe theosophical crap that some new ager cooked up it their basement, but you wont let the bible speak for itself. Rather than pointing the finger, try asking God the real questions?

This op has nothing to offer. No textual support, no dates, and you seem to be content with that.

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

What don't I understand exactly? I'm a former Christian so I understand full well your position, I used to be in it.

I have asked God and he has given me an answer: the bible is of this world, meaning it is corrupted by men and their agendas.

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

The truth.

a reply to: Jenisiz

Hmm.
If I'm understanding you right, you're saying that despite the fact that the stories are dissimilar, they must still be connected. Why would you make that assumption? Do you have some evidence, say, connecting the Legend of Keret to Job? Or am I misreading you?
I'm sure you've read enough fiction and/or mythology to know that there are many common themes, "tropes," if you will, that reoccur frequently. To assume that unnamed Powers that Be have edited the Bible seems like a much more extraordinary claim to me than to note similarities between different religions, myths and stories.

I don't think we should be entirely surprised to find similar religious or even irreligious stories throughout the world, simply because they're all written by humans.

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

The truth is that the bible is corrupt and has served those in power beautifully so far, the MIC specifically. It has made the world complacent to war because Jesus will come back "someday" to fix it for us, all while having war as a precursor to his return and peace being a deception. How long have we been warring now? When will it end? When we destroy the planet? Jesus will be a little too late to the party by that time.

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

We didn't evolve to be religious, we are programmed to be religious by the people who came before us. If we evolved into religion then everyone would be religious, but we're not.

If we evolved to be able to hear, then no-one should be deaf, right?

It is widely agreed among evolutionary psychologists and biologists that religion is an evolved trait of our species.

Here's an interesting research paper in PDF about how atheism may have evolved in religious societies.

An explosion of recent research suggests that religious beliefs and behaviors are universal, arise from deep-seated cognitive mechanisms, and were favored by natural selection over human evolutionary history.

However, if a propensity towards religious beliefs is a fundamental characteristic of human brains (as both by-product theorists and adaptationists agree), and/or an important ingredient of Darwinian fitness (as adaptationists argue), then how do we explain the existence and prevalence of atheists even among ancient and traditional societies?

The null hypothesis is that, like other psychological traits, due to natural variation among individuals in genetics, physiology, and cognition, there will always be a range of strengths of religious beliefs. Atheists may therefore simply represent one end of a natural distribution of belief. However, an evolutionary approach to religion raises some more interesting adaptive hypotheses for atheism, which I explore here. Key among them are:

1. frequency dependence may mean that atheism as a ‘‘strategy’’ is selected for (along with selection for the ‘strategy’ of belief), as long as atheists do not become too numerous;
   
   
2. ecological variation may mean that atheism outperforms belief in certain settings or at certain times, maintaining a mix in the overall population;
   
   
3. the presence of atheists may reinforce or temper religious beliefs and behaviors in the face of skepticism, boosting religious commitment, credibility, or practicality in the group as a whole;
   
   
4. the presence of atheists may catalyze the functional advantages of religion, analogous to the way that loners or non-participants can enhance the evolution of cooperation. Just as evolutionary theorists ask what religious beliefs are ‘for’ in terms of functional benefits for Darwinian fitness, an evolutionary approach suggests we should also at least consider what atheists might be for.

originally posted by: BELIEVERpriest
a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

Im sorry, but you dont understand, because you choose not to. You'll believe theosophical crap that some new ager cooked up it their basement, but you wont let the bible speak for itself. Rather than pointing the finger, try asking God the real questions?

This op has nothing to offer. No textual support, no dates, and you seem to be content with that.

Be specific. What "theosophical crap" cooked up by what "new ager" does 3NLIGHT3N3D1 believe?

a reply to: Astyanax

So being non-religious is a disability? Because that's what deafness is. Are religious people "better equipped" than non-religious people? Because that's what your analogy implies.

The only reason we're religious is because we are raised that way. A person raised Muslim will be Muslim, a Jew a Jew, etc. If a baby is not exposed to religion then it will not grow up religious the majority of the time, the opposite goes for babies who are exposed to it.

Maybe we have evolved to communicate (religion is a type of communication) but we did not evolve to be religious. Religion is a product of man not evolution. Did we also evolve to enjoy TV or video games as well?

a reply to: Jenisiz

Plagiarism is a strong word especially when very few were able to read or write during the times these stories were created. I was raised a baptist-Methodist but do not prescribe to either myself but do find comfort at times from all of these stories, I suppose this is how one could describe faith..comfort...which is not such a bad thing.

This is why I hate to see anyone bashing another faith..be it Islam...Christianity...Buddhism...or what ever so try to have this conversation without bashing faith...its all some people have these days and if you take that...whats left for some...they have no one and nothing...let them have their faith...not everyone bashing you over the head with a bible in one hand and a bottle of gin hidden a paper bag in the other...those are usually those without faith in anything so they try to sway others so they are comforted themselves in someone else's faith.

This is the way I see it. Mostly an oral history during the times these stories were first introduced, passed down from generation to generation, especially among the poor who didn't read or write in most cases so why would a man of mainly middle eastern descent tell a story of a Asian man...easy enough to change it to someone that better looks like the man in the mirror...same the world over...changes here and changes there...all essentially the same story but with the cultural differences that exist throughout the world.

They are all beautiful stories meant to provide comfort and fulfill a human need...not a Buddhist need or a christian need...or a Muslim need but a human need...something that provides answers where there are none...something that we can look forward too be it virgins in heaven....the pearly gates...another life right here....ect.

Sometimes the corrupt people in power...be it present day preachers that distort words of a story to raise more cash, or an Imam who needs to control a populace without any freedoms many of us take for granted, or a monk desperately trying to keep hold onto relevance in other regions, take a story and rewrite it to fit their own end...especially in the days that the only people who could read and write were those rich and with the power.

a reply to: Jenisiz

Plagiarism is a strong word especially when very few were able to read or write during the times these stories were created. I was raised a baptist-Methodist but do not prescribe to either myself but do find comfort at times from all of these stories, I suppose this is how one could describe faith..comfort...which is not such a bad thing.

This is why I hate to see anyone bashing another faith..be it Islam...Christianity...Buddhism...or what ever so try to have this conversation without bashing faith...its all some people have these days and if you take that...whats left for some...they have no one and nothing...let them have their faith...not everyone bashing you over the head with a bible in one hand and a bottle of gin hidden a paper bag in the other...those are usually those without faith in anything so they try to sway others so they are comforted themselves in someone else's faith.

This is the way I see it. Mostly an oral history during the times these stories were first introduced, passed down from generation to generation, especially among the poor who didn't read or write in most cases so why would a man of mainly middle eastern descent tell a story of a Asian man...easy enough to change it to someone that better looks like the man in the mirror...same the world over...changes here and changes there...all essentially the same story but with the cultural differences that exist throughout the world.

They are all beautiful stories meant to provide comfort and fulfill a human need...not a Buddhist need or a christian need...or a Muslim need but a human need...something that provides answers where there are none...something that we can look forward too be it virgins in heaven....the pearly gates...another life right here....ect.

Sometimes the corrupt people in power...be it present day preachers that distort words of a story to raise more cash, or an Imam who needs to control a populace without any freedoms many of us take for granted, or a monk desperately trying to keep hold onto relevance in other regions, take a story and rewrite it to fit their own end...especially in the days that the only people who could read and write were those rich and with the power.

The dreaded double post ! Hope this doesn't mean I am going to ****

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

Ok well in the medical field fine. As a Christian, you don't serve my pagan ass

originally posted by: DJMSN
a reply to: Jenisiz


They are all beautiful stories meant to provide comfort and fulfill a human need...not a Buddhist need or a christian need...or a Muslim need but a human need...something that provides answers where there are none...something that we can look forward too be it virgins in heaven....the pearly gates...another life right here....ect.

I suggest you actually read the entire Bible before claiming that "they are all beautiful stories meant to provide comfort...". The Bible is filled with God-ordained slaughter, rape, slavery, and war. And let's not forget the apocalypse and hell. Or maybe you consider these Bible stories to be beautiful and intended to provide comfort. If that is the case, could you explain how that works?

Are you sure about the validity about these facts? I am fairly certain that Krishna was never crucified, or had a last supper that was as significant and meaningful as Christ's was to his life and story. If these facts are erroneous, then there is a very good chance that many of the other details are incorrect as well.

I understand that you are using this as a spring board for discussion, but that discussion has to be rooted in facts and not false information.

The christian bible was never about religion itself it was about the means of convincing, without having to use force, that people should pay their taxes and always do what they are told to do by the emperor or whoever held the reins of power.

The whole book is a pretty pathetic book, made up from other cultures myth, giving instructions on how to live under the empire with a few bits of sci-fy and horror to scare its reader. Its main blessing is that precious few have ever bothered to read it from end to end - were they do do so, I suspect they would have a number of observations they would find hard to reconcile with the notion of religion they had before completing areading of the bible. Blind faith and obedience was and always will be with books whose content matches that of the bible.

a reply to: the2ofusr1

Well archeology for one. Physics disproves literally ALL the miracles in the bible. Geology disproves the flood account (and throw engineering in there since the ark's dimensions create a boat that can't float).