Bible and Plagiarism

Considering that it is currently Christmas day where I am, this is a pretty opportune time to bring this up. Since many other deities and special religious events from before Christ fall on December 25th and other deities share Christ-like characteristics (12 diciples, etc.), is it fair to say that the Bible stole these ideas? I think so, because it is just too large of a coincidence, but is there evidence otherwise? Edited by PlanManStan, : Admin revision

I suppose I think it is fair to say that the Bible copied from these other sources, even though the evidence available amounts to "that's just too big of a coincidence".

I definitely see your point, especially about December 25th. I once saw a documentary on the History Channel (yeah, I know, history on the History Channel?) which talked about how the date for Christ's birth was moved to coincide with a pagan festival, to convert more peoople. You're right. I must've been quite tired when I wrote thisi

Ah yes, I remember this. I watched an old movie which was focused around a citron that was so beautiful, everyone tried to steal it.

Well the one I saw was called Ushpizin and it was in school.

Faith is most commonly defined as unfounded belief in something. While it is usually associated with religion, it could be something like "I have faith that fairies exist" (ignoring for the second any religion that may have fairies in it's belief system).

I fail to see what personal experience (in the sense it is commonly referred to, of course) would corroborate the claims of the Bible. Could you please elaborate? I try not to put too much unfounded trust in anything. However, as a human male, I am kinda susceptible to pretty girls telling me to do things XD. Just joking around...sort of. I think the big difference is that I have faith in someone's abilities, but not faith in THEM. Faith can mean trust or unfounded belief.

I see your experience and understand where your belief came from, but the one thing I never get is how you even know which God it was. Allah, Yahweh, etc. And while that is a great story, there isn't really a direct correlation that I can see between praying and having debts paid off. It wouldn't be the first time that someone, out of kindness, let something "slip under the radar", if you will. For example, when my sister was applying to West Point Academy, she wrote down that she had asthma (when in truth she had minor breathing problems in middle school and didn't even carry an inhaler). Out of kindness, the doctor managed to go to great lengths to set up an appointment to finally test her asthma, and she passed. She is a sophmore and is doing great today. I guess my point is that, without a direct correlation between the prayer/faith and the intervention, as well as a way to show that it must've been divine (albeit that is kinda of difficult, so I guess it won't be neccesary), and some way to show which god it was, I don't understand. If you were a deist, I could see this story being enough to prove your faith (not any one God in particular), but I assume you are Christian. I guess everyone has different requirement for evidence (I don't mean that in any biting way at all)

That is an astounding story. But when you say that the actions are like the Biblical God, you forget the Allah (I use that term in the way we usually do) also supposedly cares.

quote:

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{[]Allah supports with His help whoever He wills. There is lesson in that for people of insight.} (Al ‘Imran 3: 13)

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So while I see your point, I'm still iffy on that part. Also, while I'm not trying to batter down the story or anything, did you ever try contacting your great grandmother about the money? I'm not really seeing this part. You say that if this god exists, but then say that you mean the one mentioned in the Bible, just not the Christian God. Do you mean in the way that the three Abrahamic religions worship the same god? Whose other claims? Allah also says that there were no other gods, and there are plenty of divine hindu experiences or native American religious experiences. I'm a bit hazy.Have a nice day!-PMSP.S. - Yes, I did just noticed that I have accidentally created the worst initials possible

This is why people shouldn't use acronyms

I totally understand, man. Same with me. I wouldn't be so sure. A large part of the difference (well maybe not large, but the point stands) is that Muslims try not to reify Allah, meaning they try not to represent him in any one way the Christians or Jews do. I'm not seeing the connection between the question and the answer here. Plenty of Gods say they are the only one. Anywhere from the differents sects of Islam and Christianity to other, radical and less known, sects of other things. Oh, I never suspected that you did . I still don't see why Jesus, and not someone else. I find hope in the fact that every year, our lives and the human race are somehow getting better and better, improving constantly and setting new goals. Couldn't the same be said for believers (see "Cheesus, Jesus on toast, etc.). And while I don't go out hunting for reasons not to believe, I do see your point. Depending on your pre-concieved notions, we interpret things differently. No way to change it. I wouldn't be so sure. Evolution (yeah, I know, great time to bring this into the mix) has no evidence that I am aware of against it. Or gravity, to take a less controversial topic, has no evidence disproving it. That's where you and I differ, and I think it is what you are getting at, if I am correct. What you are saying in the fourth quote of this (I think 4th) is that everyone interprets things differently and reacts to things differently. Personally, I would hate having to think something without some reason to think it. While I may do it subconciously (e.g. believing that everyone sees the same color red, believing that the grizzly bear is still alive, even though I haven't reseached about them in a little while, etc.), it would be difficult for me to do it conciously. I wouldn't say so. What if we proved that Jesus never existed on Earth? Wouldn't that be somewhat proving him to be false?

So I guess it comes down to whether or not they recognize the Christian god as the same god, just misrepresented. Wait, but doesn't that seem like a somewhat weak argument? For example, that Quaran quote that I made, doesn't it affirm Allah's existence? I guess, as I said above, it depends on the relationship of the Christian and Muslim gods. I could see it going either way and it is pointless to argue it. I can respect that. Humans are naturally selfish and aggressive, but also social and somewhat moral (I'll stay away from morality for the sake of staying on topic). But at the same time, I would say that humanity is getting better. Not only is slavery widely aboloshed, but it is mostly the older generations that cling to racism and close-mindedness. I suspect that in 50 years time, the world will have quite a different outlook. So I see your point, but the question now is what are the benefits and negatives of religion. In other words, what can you get from religion that you get no where else and what negatives go along with it? I never doubt someone's faith; it's almost always sincere. So no, it's not that they died for something they knew was a lie (they didn't, they believed it was true). While the word absurd seems somewhat harsh, I find it surprising that people today would die for something like religion. The people of the past I give more leeway to, as religion was how they understood the world and made sense of everything, which is commendable.I see your point at the end, that there are reasons for belief. I totally think so. The only thing left is "are they valid reasons?".But yeah, let's politely ignore evolution and morality for the time being

Hey Raph, sorry for the late response! I see that, but is religion (and Jesus) really required for this? I mean, from a non-religious point of view, we are literally all one big family! I respect that. However, keep in mind that it is a requirement of Muslims to donate a given portion of their wealth each year to charity, as well as be good to one another. I remember hearing a story of a Muslim who was stranded in Indonesia, but found a Muslim church (?) who immediately took him in and cared for him until he could catch a plane out of the country and back home. Also, while what Jesus preached was wonderful (albeit he wasn't too separate from other greats), that isn't necessarily what people ended up practicing, and that is what you really should look at when examining a religion, not what was preached but what is done. I guess we're done here, then Have a nice 2014!