I know for a fact that the Christians stole from other beliefs in order to create their cults. I also know that the Holy Spirit they talk about was stolen from witchcraft. Do you know anymore things they have stolen from other beliefs. If so, please state them here.
2006-08-30 08:42:34 · 47 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Hi honey - Did you notice, even after you said "NON-CHRISTIANS ONLY!!" all the bible humping A**holes still answered this question! Don't you LOVE it!!!!! I do.. I don't know of anymore though. I just thought I would comment on the irony... AND aren't they supposed to be "forgiving and non-judgmental"?.. Looks like they don't follow so well huh.. Poor little sheep. Let's wait for the violations together shall we??
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2006-08-30 08:49:26 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 9⤊ 5⤋
All religions "steal", I would prefer the word borrow from other religions. This was not just the Christians. Many new agers (wiccans) borrow from native american practices, shamanism, and other such religions.
It is not a bad thing though. All religions should go through an evolutionary process, hopefully maintaining its root belief system. Besides witchcraft is not a religion. It is the practice of magic and only that. Wicca is a religion. I am not sure about the holy spirit being stolen I have never heard of such a thing. Somethings were borrowed that is what we do as humans. There is nothing original in this world. Everything started from something else it was just changed a little.
2006-08-31 04:28:12 · answer #2 · answered by Nelly 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What you think of as witchcraft did not exist until the 1950's -- so the idea that the "holy spirit" was stolen from witchcraft is absolutely ridiculous.
Like all other faiths, Christianity absorbed the beliefs of the people who converted. And there are many similarities between religions, although why there is is a matter of deeper debate than Yahoo answers can provide.
Although Christianity is known to have a history of aggressive and often unwilling conversion, to say that they are any more guilty of stealing than any other religion is a fallacy.
This sort of mentality simply encourages the victim mindset and does little to foster understanding and tolerance between people of different faiths.
2006-08-30 08:56:40 · answer #3 · answered by maeves_child 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
i don't really care if this question is for NON-christians only your talking about christians so therefore i can contribute ok
first of all if the holy spirit is from witchcraft then why is it a holy spirit and as for us stealing from others religions the fact is that christian have a friendship a relationship with God through his son Jesus and no other religion has that aslo no other ''religion'' state so coherently what is going to happen in the futre and answer many of the un-answered question.
also as for christmas that was not actually part of the original christian church it was itroduced by pagan convert who wanted to keep some other old traditions so if u did your reseach correctly u would see that no where in the bible does it state that december 25 is jesus birthday so christians didn't steal it it was introduced also not all christian celbrate christmas
and another thing religions are like designer bags there are loads of fakes but only 1 original , and i've got original sweetheart
2006-08-31 03:06:25 · answer #4 · answered by L£X 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Christmas - Birthday of every pagan sun god in history, because it was so close with the shortest day of the year, which they interpreted as the birth of the sun.
Easter - Seen as the resurrection of the sun god after being killed, because this would be near the longest day of the year.
Jesus' crown of thorns - His crown of thorns represented the sun's rays.
12 Disciples - Because there were 12 Tribes of Israel, due to the 12 signs of the zodiac.
Crucifixion - The Hindu god Krishna was crucified. He was also resurrected. Archaeologists found an amulet depicting Bacchus, a Greek god crucified. The amulet was dated to the 3rd and 2nd centuries before Jesus supposedly existed. All pagan saviors were crucified, because at the end of their one year ministry, they passed through the zodiac sign Saggitarius, the archer. In fact, Krishna was said to have been nailed to a cross using a large amount of arrows.
Miracles - I could go on and on about this. All pagan savior gods were said to have walked on water, fed incredibly large crowds with very little food, changed water in to wine at weddings, given sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, movement to the lame, etc.
Pope - The Roman Catholic Church adopted it's ecclesiastical hierarchy from Roman paganism. The pope stole many of his titles from the same titles used by the High Priest of pagan Rome.
Trinity - It has been said that every ancient culture had a concept of the Trinity. Hinduism has the Trimurti, with Brahma (the creator, or Father), Vishnu (the preserver, the Word, the Son), and Shiva (the destroyer, the spirit of God, the Holy Spirit).
Heaven/Hell (Immortality) - In the Old Testament, there was no concept of an afterlife. All blessings and cursings were in this life only. But the New Testament makes it quite clear that there is immortality, and this is a concept taken from the Greeks, who believed in immortality. Bacchus and Dionysus were both Greek gods who lived the exact life of Jesus (virgin birth, crucifixion, resurrection, miracles, ministry, 12 followers, betrayed for 30 pieces of silver, etc.).
So as you can see, almost ALL of Christianity was stolen from previous pagan religions. If you take out the parts of the Bible that don't emulate paganism, all you have is the teachings of a first century Jewish rabbi, at most.
2006-08-30 09:07:20 · answer #5 · answered by Nowhere Man 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Ideas, unlike physical things, can't be stolen. Stolen implies taking something away from its rightful owner.
Have I "stolen" all of the knowledge I have gained from other people?
Of course existing beliefs influence newly developing beliefs. This isn't a "Christian" thing, but a human thing.
Everything that Christians believe that coincides with what Jews believe would fall into your category, no? (Old Testament)
And many of those ideas came from people before, such as Proverbs, and the idea of the power of the word (god saying "let there be light" actually brought light into being) coming from Egyptian belief and practice.
Don't forget the flood in the Gilgamesh Epic.
Also, when Catholics convert peoples, they incorporate their local deities as saints.
So, what's the point of this exercise?
Did Richard Dawkins "steal" from Darwin? Is there something wrong with that?
2006-08-30 08:54:55 · answer #6 · answered by tehabwa 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Steal? Cults? People do sometimes steal ideas and create cults in the name of their "god" or belief. Some "Christians" are guilty of this. Jesus, however, said, Give to Cesar what belongs to Cesar and to God what belongs to God. So if you feel you were stolen from, I apologize (in so far as I call myself a christian). Are you sure the Holy Spirit and what was taken from witchcraft? Are you sure? I am not convinced of that. Nor, have you given me any evidence of that.
I will be glad to share my beliefs with you and if you feel I have stolen some- I will gladly give it back. Then again, some beliefs are too big to keep to yourself.
Peace and may God's Hand be upon you. And may His Grace and Mercy and Blessings cover you.
2006-08-30 09:00:03 · answer #7 · answered by Jack B 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I don't know if I would call them "stolen". As far as Christianity goes, there is about a 15 year gap between 12 year-old Jesus found at the temple after his parents lost sight of him, and the Jesus that started his ministry. Many think that during that time, he may have gone to the Orient and got some of his ideas from Hinduism and Buddhism and blended them into the judeo teaching and that's how Christianity started, basically.
Of course, there is a huge difference between early Christianity and what we know today and it can get confusing where there are tens, if not hundreds of different Christian beliefsets.
2006-08-30 08:51:31 · answer #8 · answered by Maria M 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Hmm...-Are you on a "Christian Hunt", or something? Your question kind of smells like it. The fact IS, ALL the religions "borrow" stuff from one another- you might as well be accusing the sky of being "blue". I'm not Christianitys biggest fan either, -but let's be fair; there are zealots & extremists in ALL religions, cults & otherwise. If you want to pick on any particular ONE to grind your axe upon- fine. -But Christianity is little better or worse a target than any of the others. And singling IT out- just lets all the others- go free.
2006-08-30 09:04:58 · answer #9 · answered by Joseph, II 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The sun god is born on December 21 (Winter Equinox and Yule). Even Christian talk about yule and the yule log. They also put up trees and a star on top which is all pagan and dates back before Christianity. Also Easter is called Eastara in pagan religions. The Easter bunny is a symbol of fertility and is a celebration of fertility. Even the date of Christian Easter today is the first Sunday after the first full moon when Spring starts. It doesn't get more pagan than that.
2006-08-30 08:52:22 · answer #10 · answered by closetcoon_fan 5 · 6⤊ 0⤋
Christmas Day was stolen from the Roman holiday Sol Invictus. The bread and wine was stolen from Mithraic rites. Jesus, I could go on and on for days. But what's the point? This is the standard way to get a new religion off to a good start - borrow the things that people in the area are already superstitious about. If I wanted to start a new religion in my hometown, I would include ladders, black cats, the number 13, stepping on sidewalk cracks, fish fries, and lots and lots of football and NASCAR.
2006-08-30 08:49:00 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 6⤊ 1⤋