Though I was raised Catholic, I long ago dispensed with beliving in Jesus as God and then God altogether, but as a student of both history and politics, I admire the campaign concept. The God of the Old Testament is very much a heavy-handed overlord type who threatened believers into behaving. But the Jesus figure is a clever turn because it offers a figure that humans can relate to and emulate. The basic doctrine says, "I am God, but I am also you. If you act like me, you can strive to become a god-man also". Putting aside whether you believe in it (if you're atheist, I assume you don't), do you admire the sales ptich?
I will respectfully ask for no hateful rhetoric from Christians. I am trying to ask a secular question about a religious idea. I will likely get it anyway, but I had to ask...
2006-10-05 08:41:08 · 21 answers · asked by Mark M 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
PColaSunshine, that's a good point. I admit I don't know much about other versions of this idea, but I'm sure the Christ version isn't the first.
2006-10-05 09:00:04 · update #1
Kithy, do you have any sources for those versions of the story? I would be interested to read just how much of the pagan concepts are in the Christ version. Please edit and add them if possible.
2006-10-05 09:10:40 · update #2
Paul, thank you for your respectful comments in dissent. I wish you would rub off on some of your fellow Christian Y!A participants...
2006-10-05 09:14:33 · update #3
Yeah, it's a good sales pitch... but not original to Christianity. That was a Pagan concept. God becoming a man or having a Divine Son who dies for the "sins" of the world, resurrected (usually 3 days later... some longer) and then ascending into the "heavens" to be with God. Though, the Pagan concept of it was an initiation into the Pagan Sect which promoted it. It was not literal by any means and was only a story to show the Initiation, as well as the personal dedication of the one joining the group. It was prominent during the time that Jesus is said to have walked the earth and it appears, to me at least, that the story of it was taken up and then made literal by those who were looking for a way to rule over people. "believe in his death and resurrection or you will suffer eternal torment" (Yet, if you noticed, nowhere does Jesus say that in the Bible). I have not found any evidence of the Pagan Sects going that far with it, as this was supposedly part of the Mystery religions and not something that was spread to just anyone who would listen.
2006-10-05 09:05:35 · answer #1 · answered by Kithy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I like the idea of Jesus being a human just like the rest of us. It makes Him easier to relate to. This was a clever concept to base a religion on.
But I must admit I never liked the crucifixion/atonement/redemption thing. You have this gruesome horror story of inhumane torture. Then you have an improbable plot twist with a man coming back from the dead. Then you have this overly complicated and contorted explanation of these events in which everyone starts out so sinful that they deserve to be burned in hell forever. (I am already lost and can't get past the premises in this argument.) Then you have the idea of one person being able to accept punishment in the place of the others who did the wrongs that merited punishment. This does not seem like justice. But instead of the court being satisfied that no one needed to be punished anymore because a volunteer has taken all the punishment on himself, all of the sinners are still hell-bound unless they do some mystical stuff like finding the one true religion on earth among all the others, and then dedicating themselves to it through various attitudes and rituals that no one can agree on.
2014-02-11 22:04:17 · answer #2 · answered by David B 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"Sales Pitch"? What a choice of words! I think that in order to develop a larger following, Christians had to "soften" God up a little bit, to make hm less scary. Thay also provided a role model who any person could admire (religious or not). Although I am not a Christian, I do see the validity in his teachings and I do try to practice His sprirtual priciples on a daily basis (honesty, respect, acceptance). If it was a sales pitch, I'm SOLD!
2006-10-05 15:49:16 · answer #3 · answered by Lou 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's not propaganda.. it's what people believe and strive to be. There is nothing wrong with striving to be a better person and emulating the ideal, while at the same time hoping to please God. There is no "sales pitch" involved.
The more people seem to move away from religion (not fanatism, but rather the doctrine of morals and consequences for bad actions) the worst the world seems to get.
2006-10-05 15:48:48 · answer #4 · answered by spanish kitty 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yes I am a Christian. But your concept is flawed. You assume that all religions or practices of Christianity attempt to control the followers by a power such as the Catholic church. What about protestant religions where no power is granted to the chuch by the followers? But if I was an atheist, I would have to say, yes, the sales pitch was amazing and probably the best ever invented. It allowed for billions of people to follow it!
2006-10-05 15:46:06 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
The whole thing is clever propaganda. Judaisms, Islam and Christianity, the three great monotheism's are all based on a collection of earlier pagan religions that where fused together.
The idea of a virgin birth is based on a pagan religious idea, and the story of Christ is used to fulfill earlier Jewish prophecies.
2006-10-05 15:45:25 · answer #6 · answered by trouthunter 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No because it wasn't a new concept. That is what bothers me about most Christians, because they are afraid to look at other religions, they just blindly believe that the bible is a 'first'...when in fact it is myth based on other myth with a few things added and taken away.
2006-10-05 15:44:13 · answer #7 · answered by FreeThinker 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Religion in general is FULL of clever marketing tricks.
"If you don't follow us, you will suffer terribly."
"If you do follow us, you will live in paradise forever."
"God is so powerful, anything you don't understand about him is simply not something humans can understand."
"God answers all prayers when and how he feels you really need it, since he knows best."
"Having this faith is a virtue."
"Anytime someone asks you about our book, you can just say it is the word of a supreme being, so it has to be true."
"God gives people the free will to do evil if they please because he loves you so much. It's not God who does the bad stuff, but those who choose to follow evil. He can't do anything about it because he gave us this free will because he loves you so much."
"Hate the sin, not the sinner."
Wow, as I go, it all seems more and more ridiculous.
2006-10-05 15:58:47 · answer #8 · answered by Phoenix, Wise Guru 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
He was a multipurpose tool. Like a spork. LOL. Seriously, they call him a man one moment, then god the next. Man-god about says it. I still think those advertisements for Trix cereal were more clever.
2006-10-05 15:52:47 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Jesus was/ is a Jewish con-job I've always felt that Religion was ,along with Law and Politics just tools for control & minipulation
2006-10-05 15:46:47 · answer #10 · answered by ? 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋