Are many Christian beliefs borrowed from previous religions?

Question

I know the Gilgamesh/Noah stories would be considered plagiarism nowadays.

TheShield: Just like that, huh? Nope it is. If I was religious I would now just go on my merry way believing that what you have told me is absolute fact.

Answer 1

They all are. Best wishes

Answer 2

Different things align in different ways. Values presented in the Bible reflect the time period in which the writers were living- that includes the influence of other religions in that place & time (and in history). To say that other religions are no influence whatsoever would be ridiculous. However, some values/ideas presented react to other prevailing ideas of the time- in other words going again the mainstream or historical ideas. Think about how the holidays (just as an example), group together. Christmas is near the winter solstice. Easter is near the spring equinox. The rabbits & eggs of Easter are old pagan symbols of fertility & rebirth. Of course some things were recycled but don't think that because ideas are borrowed that somehow it means less. Understanding the history of the Bible & Christianity (or your own particular denomination) is a great step to deeper understanding & appreciation of your particular faith.

Answer 3

Well technically the Christian religion was founded by Jews and gentiles (non-Jews) Who believed the Jewish Messiah (Jesus) had come. In the New Testament God promises Abraham a Messiah for his people. Then when Jesus came not every Jew believed he was the Messiah and therefore both religions exist today. Christians believe in the old Testament and the New Testament while Jews believe in the First 4 or 5 books of the Old Testament. Its not plagiarism because at the time there was no copy rights.

Answer 4

Of course Christian beliefs are borrowed from other religions. Christianity is a fairly new religion in the history of the world. Timelines nowadays in Christian countries follow the BC and AD format....Christ himself wasn't even a hundred years old when he was crucified, which means that the Christian religion is just about 2000 years old. Many, if not most, religions have that beat by a few thousand years, at least.

Answer 5

Yep. If you get together one very knowledgable person of each religion, you'll find that they all have the same theme and similar stories. It's all different now because, after so many millenia, some of the stories and teachings are twisted up and forgotten. Broken telephone is a good analogy for that one.

Answer 6

On the contrary, many religions barrow from Christianity in moral principle. Christianities' beliefs are based on the person of Christ: his deity, him being God in the image of man. His claim to be God is what killed him, not his teachings. His teachings come second to his personage. By trusting in that; his sacrifice, and forgiveness of sins, Christians should desire to follow his teachings.
So Christian beliefs don't barrow from previous religions. You can take the Buddha out of Buddhism, if you will, and still have the teachings, but you can't take Christ out of Christianity. It's belief, trust, and assurance of Jesus' work on the cros that we believe in, then seek his councel, and wisdom through the biblical teachings.

Answer 7

The concept of monotheism; that is, the belief in one god rather than many gods, had a very short and limited lifespan in ancient Egypt by a single Pharoah, who was then succeeded by the next Pharoah, who returned Egypt entirely to paganism.

It is not that paganism actually stopped during that time period, only that one Pharoah got the idea of a single god. Notably, that god DID have an image, just as all the other pagan gods did.

Throughout history, there is only one monotheistic invisible God. So the base concept of Judaism, upon which Christianity finds its roots, is definitely an original one.

Next is the law itself. If you examine the other 730 or so known world religions, you will find that each of them are fully attainable by man; in other words, you get your reward -- or whatever it is they believe in -- by doing or not doing certain things that are entirely within your power to do or not do; nothing is impossible.

Judaism and Christianity, on the other hand, essentially begin with this Mosaic law thing. If you read that law to mean on face value what it actually says and not what later Jewish interpreters have tried to minimize it to mean, that Mosaic law is fully impossible to obey and keep perfectly. In other words, the basic standard of behavior within Christianity and Judaism is NOT possible through man's own strength. The only way to fulfill the law, even in old testament times, was for God Himself to forgive and grant grace to the sinner. Again, because His law cannot be fulfilled by man.

This is both an interesting and important difference between Christianity and all other world religions. In each of those other world religions that were born at different times on different continents from dramatically different cultures, we see a consistent human logic in their creation; i.e., they wrote rules for themselves that they were ultimately able to obey. Only the monotheistic God of Judaism and Christianity ever dictated laws to man that man could not keep. This suggests that that law has an origin which is dramatically not human.

Next is the whole concept of the Trinity (for those who don't believe the Bible teaches this, refer to Isaiah 9:6 where we see a not yet born baby being called ALL the traditional, unspeakable and most Holy names of God Almighty.) Understand that this Trinity doctrine that says three distinct personalities within one singular monotheistic God is a thing that we, even now, can't quite wrap our minds around. You can't really describe it; there's no common frame of reference. There's no analogy that makes it clear.

Now supposedly some uneducated, far from philosophical homeless shephards invented that God. But how can man invent something that man even now cannot understand? So, again, the Bible presents us with an understanding of God that violates basic human logic, the human experience and the human ability to simply compose it without something or someone dramatically not human guiding them.

Now many thousands of years later, the dogma and doctrines of Christianity have been filtered through and tread upon by many diverse human cultures. So depending upon which specific religion or denomination of Christianity you follow, there may indeed be certain details which either were borrowed or just seem to be borrowed from other religions. However, the core truths that undergird the Scriptures and the two religions that are borne from the Scriptures are very much entirely original ideas, and not just, but ideas that no logical, critical thinking mind can reasonably believe had human authoriship. No other religion, not Islam, not Buddism, not Taoism, not Mormonism, not Jehovah's Witnesses, not Zorastarians -- NO ONE else can claim this but Christians and Jews.

Also mentionable is that no other religion has a man who says, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No man shall come to the Father but through me." Thus, the logical being who seeks spiritual truth and religious enlightenment must first reasonably exhaust Christianity because it is the only one that claims to be the only way. Logically, if Christians are not right, you haven't hurt yourself by trying. But if they are right and you don't call on that Christian God and seek to do things His way, according to the plan that He has laid out in the Scriptures, you go to hell for that one unforgiveable sin: Unbelief.

Hope this helps!

Rebecca
http://www.ipowergrfx.com
http://www.wlalwcc.org
http://www.publicadjuster.com

Answer 8

If we look good in all religion we will find a lot same things.The Cristial religion is one of the oldest in the world.There are a lot of things witch changes with time , everything grown, but if you see more clearly will see a lot same things in the religions:-)

Answer 9

Yeah. Greek, babylonian, egyptian, Zoroastrianism, Mithra and Celtic mythology.

Answer 10

I think plagiarism was first described by King Solomon, when he said "nothing new under the sun"

Answer 11

Nope.