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Gee, not ONE one of my Xtian relatives or friends have liked this on FB. On the other hand, the pagans have liked it!

No offense to my Xtian friends and family, but if one studies mythology, it is clear to see that the Hebrews took their tales from preceding religions. So did Xtianity.
For instance, every creation myth I've read has the same elements: there is darkness and a void, abyss or simply nothingness. From the void/abyss/nothingness, the first god arises. In Egypt, there was a watery abyss. And Atum arises from it, applies order to chaos, and creates the universe. There are variants of the myth and Atum might be called by another name in some. This does not detract from the myth. In fact, in the Hebrew Scriptures, deity is referred to as Yahweh (singular and masculine) and Elohim (plural and feminine, aka "goddesses" ).

The ancient Egyptians also believed that nothing could exist without a name, and Atum called/named "things" into being. In the Hebrew myth, Yahweh/Elohim did the same, "And god said 'Let there be light' . . ."

Another myth is the dying resurrecting god. The Hebrews did not have this myth, but Xtianity does. Before there was Jesus, there were Osiris and Inanna, both who died and resurrected. Osiris' death and resurrection meant that humans could do the same--if their remains were preserved. Egyptian burial practices still exist per embalming bodies to be raised in the resurrection when Jesus returns. It is not clear why Inanna descended into Kur, the Sumerian underworld, but it seems to be for knowledge of death. She was Queen of Heaven and Earth, but death was the unknown. She was resurrected but could only stay out of Kur if she appointed someone to take her place; she chose her husband, Dumuzi, who had been living it up while she was below ground. There is a shift in the myth from Inanna to Jesus is that Inanna had to find someone to take her place while Jesus takes the place of humans condemned to hell.

The descent into hell is also a common theme: Osiris, Inanna/Ishtar, Persephone and the Aztec Divine Twins all made this trip. So did Jesus--when he was dead for three days, he "harrowed" hell, bringing up the patriarchs who had been sent there because they died before he was born. If you have not heard this, it is because you have been raised Protestant instead of Catholic. The tale was a staple in Xtian lore for centuries.
Mithras, a Persian/Roman god, was born of a virgin in at least one variant myth in which his mother was the goddess Anahita. In other myths, he was born from a cave. The father of Perseus, a demi-god, was apparently a stream of gold. While the gold was ostensibly Zeus, the conception was still "virginal."

And lest you be thinking that the Hebrew Scriptures do not have variant myths, there are two versions of creation and the flood. There are different accounts of aspects of Jesus. I have read apologists explain the differences for Jesus as being from different perspectives of the spectators . . . Hmm, one would think it a book which contains not errors, their experiences would be the same.

I have also read Xtian apologists claim that the similar myths were planted by Satan because he knew that Jesus would be born thousands of years beforehand, so he manipulated the myths. Of course, I have read apologists say that Satan also planted dinosaur bones to make the earth appear to be older than 6,000 years.

Unlike evangelical Xtians, I am not sharing this information to persuade anyone from their Xtian faith, but that there are reasons why people do not buy into the religion.
I could write a lot more--in fact, I even began writing a book about these issues years ago. Maybe I will finish it when I retire.

Gwen_Wanderer 7 July 30
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8 comments

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3

This is a handy cheat sheet.

Here is a video which I made for a class which I used to teach. I also made a couple on Inanna.

2

Unfortunately, you are quoting facts and all they want is fiction based faith.

That sums it up!

3

Thank you for the mini lecture - much appreciated. 🙂

I'm quite good at lecturing! I've made a living of it. 🙂

6

Apologists are there in any religion to explain away the errors. Christianity has lots of them.

On a looooong defunct chat program called Firetalk, the Xtians used to come into the atheists' room. I was practicing paganism then, but preferred to hang out with the atheists. There was an apologist who used to come into the room--as did other Xtians--to point out the error of our ways.

He said that he didn't need the Bible to let him know that Jesus was the son of god, blah, blah, blah. He said that he had a "personal experience" that allowed him to know this. I said I had a personal experience with the goddess, and he told me that my experience was fake while his was REAL.

HA!
Both of our experiences were born of need. I needed a female goddess figure after decades of being told that god was male. He needed a deity to reinforce his need to be right and force his views on others.

His name just came back to me: Matt Slick. He was not very slick but Xtians thought he was--and must still think he is as I just Googled him and he has written books and is head of some apologist group.

@Gwen_Wanderer When an opportunist finds a willing audience they run with it. It can be very lucrative.

8

Religion recycles because it works. Mystery and magic is always a draw to those who are disenfranchised or looking to belong, searching for hope. It is attractive for opportunists because it gives access to power, control, and wealth.

Betty Level 8 July 31, 2024

Yes.

If Jung were right and archetypes are embedded in our psyches, this would also account for why the same elements are in religions and why they appeal to us. However, there is no way to prove his theory. The archetypes do exist, though, as seen by the similarities--most likely, they were spread by diffusion/emigration and passed down. That does not detract from their general appeal.

It is interesting how different cultures adapted the myths, i.e. in Norse myth, there is an abyss, but there is fire on one side and ice on the other--volcanoes and glaciers!

I see the "need" to believe in one of my cousins--she has had a hard life and at 75ish, is living at poverty level. She "needs" to believe in Jesus and an afterlife to give sense to her life and to comfort her. She hurts no one.

On the other hand, she is semiliterate and would not read my post or understand it.

On the third hand, she hates Trump--she does have some common sense.

8

You do know they don’t like you to point those things out. It upsets them.

I know!

1

As may people assume, "it is taken from ... " or to say plagerzed, is incorrect in view that the biblical text gives reference to its source to say that the "Lord " of Israel is Egyptian and moved to Israel.

The LORD Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.”
Isaiah 19:25

Meme organism evolution gives us understanding of the meme organism movement from Egypt, thru Israel into Rome to mutate further across Europe into denominations of christianity and eventually crossing the Atlantic to rise up the world government of control- submit to Authority-666 pay taxes capitalism slavery.

Word Level 8 July 31, 2024

I have no idea what you are talking about. I don't get my information from memes: I have spent decades studying mythology and I have taught several college/university courses in myth. The issues you mention have nothing to do with what I discussed.

And no offense, but the word is spelled "plagiarized" not "plagerzed." Your points are not connected and lack context in relation to each other.

@Gwen_Wanderer Welcome to @Word's way of "thinking".

@anglophone I don't think that I will be privy to his thinking for very long!

@Gwen_Wanderer myth in the mind is meme that is passed from person to person thru a culture.

@Gwen_Wanderer not many people are privy to understanding evolution, especially meme organism.

8

Yes, finish writing that book. Our society needs to see that we are in a "You are here" moment, in middle of a sea full of myths that have come and gone. There will likely be more myths, legends, metaphors, literature, movies, art, etc., in the future to help us to navigate from where we are now, lighting the way to forge our path forward.

All these stories are helpful, when seen as myths and metaphor, to understand human nature a bit more clearer through the abstract.

I keep saying that when I retire, I will write. When that happens, I plan to finish the book--or make it a series of articles. Thanks for the vote of confidence!

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