Um...we live in 2005 AD. 2005 years ago Jesus was born. Our whole calander is based on him?
You DO realize that the Gregorian Calender, the one we use today, was not adopted until
February 1582?
quote:
The Gregorian calendar is the one commonly used today. It was proposed by Aloysius Lilius, a physician from Naples, and adopted by Pope Gregory XIII in accordance with instructions from the Council of Trent (1545-1563) to correct for errors in the older Julian Calendar. It was decreed by Pope Gregory XIII in a papal bull in February 1582.
After 1582 yeears (give or take), I think it would be awfully hard to figure out the exact year of Jesus death. Especially without anything remotely like modern archeology.
Also, Jesus had a lot of enemies that were still alive when the gospels were written. As likely as it is that those who were actively trying to eradicate Christianity could have simply written a rebuttal to the writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, no such rebuttal writings exist. This seems to suggest that the gospel accounts were considered to be factual. The onus seems to be not on me to produce more documentation of his existance, but on you to prove he didn't.
If I write a story about counter-terrorism, and I use real-life people like Osama bin-Laden as enemies for my protagonist, does that make my book true? Does it make it even remotely based in reality? Of course not!
Note also that the Catholic Chrurch actively destroyed and/or banned many early Christian writings for their own purposes. It is also conceivable that the Church would falsify or destroy any historical documents they needed in order to keep their position of power. After all, if Jesus didn't exist, the Catholic Church would have lost everything.
What we need, Tal, is conclusive evidence that He DID. And the burden of proof for that is on YOU. You can't ask me to prove a negative - that's impossible.
Also, I'd really like to see your comments about the quote I posted about Mithraism. You seem to have simply ignored it, but Mithraism has existed for a much longer period of time than Christianity. As I recall, some Mithra worship (including all of the very Christian parts) date back around than 800 BC!
I'll post it again here just so you don't miss it.
quote:
For over three hundred years the rulers of the Roman Empire worshipped the god Mithras. Known throughout Europe and Asia by the names Mithra, Mitra, Meitros, Mihr, Mehr, and Meher, the veneration of this god began around 2800 years ago in Persia, where it was soon moved west and became imbedded with Babylonian doctrines. There is mention of Mithra or Mitra (et al) before 2800, but only as a minor diety and without much information. It appears to be after 2800 when Mithra is transformed and starts to play a major role among the gods. The faith spread east through India to China, and reached west throughout the entire length of the Roman frontier; from Scotland to the Sahara Desert, and from Spain to the Black Sea. Sites of Mithraic worship have been found in Britain, Italy, Romania, Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey, Persia, Armenia, Syria, Israel, and North Africa. In Rome, more than a hundred inscriptions dedicated to Mithra have been found, in addition to 75 sculpture fragments, and a series of Mithraic temples situated in all parts of the city. One of the largest Mithraic temples built in Italy now lies under the present site of the Church of St. Clemente, near the Colosseum in Rome. The widespread popularity and appeal of Mithraism as the final and most refined form of pre-Christian paganism was discussed by the Greek historian Herodotus, the Greek biographer Plutarch, the neoplatonic philosopher Porphyry, the Gnostic heretic Origen, and St. Jerome the church Father. Mithraism was quite often noted by many historians for its many astonishing similarities to Christianity. The faithful referred to Mithra as "the Light of the World", symbol of truth, justice, and loyalty. He was mediator between heaven and earth and was a member of a Holy Trinity. According to Persian mythology, Mithras was born of a virgin given the title 'Mother of God'. The god remained celibate throughout his life, and valued self-control, renunciation and resistance to sensuality among his worshippers. Mithras represented a system of ethics in which brotherhood was encouraged in order to unify against the forces of evil. The worshippers of Mithras held strong beliefs in a celestial heaven and an infernal hell. They believed that the benevolent powers of the god would sympathize with their suffering and grant them the final justice of immortality and eternal salvation in the world to come. They looked forward to a final day of Judgment in which the dead would resurrect, and to a final conflict that would destroy the existing order of all things to bring about the triumph of light over darkness.
Purification through a ritualistic baptism was required of the faithful, who also took part in a ceremony in which they drank wine and ate bread to symbolize the body and blood of the god. Sundays were held sacred, and the birth of the god was celebrated annually on December the 25th. After the earthly mission of this god had been accomplished, he took part in a Last Supper with his companions before ascending to heaven, to forever protect the faithful from above.
However, it would be a vast oversimplification to suggest that Mithraism was the single forerunner of early Christianity. Aside from Christ and Mithras, there were plenty of other deities (such as Osiris, Tammuz, Adonis, Balder, Attis, and Dionysus) said to have died and resurrected. Many classical heroic figures, such as Hercules, Perseus, and Theseus, were said to have been born through the union of a virgin mother and divine father. Virtually every pagan religious practice and festivity that couldn't be suppressed or driven underground was eventually incorporated into the rites of Christianity as it spread across Europe and throughout the world.
And here's the
link for additional info.
This appears to show that Christianity is a copy of a previous faith. What say you?
Every time a fundy breaks the laws of thermodynamics, Schroedinger probably kills his cat.
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