Why do non-Christian's think they know more about Christian history than Christians?

Question

Do you think because your liberal college professor told you a few of his or her own misconceptions you're the athority on the subject? Do you honestly think that because that the professor or the author of the book you read was non-biased simply because he/she wasn't a Christian?

How about I clear up a few things.

Christianity is more than an orginal idea, it's the truth. Pagan religions dating from around the same time borrowed from Christianity not the other way around.

The council of Nicea is where the Bible was put together not written. They basically came together and standardized what the vast majority of Christians were already doing/reading.

The Council of Nicea did not decide Christ's divinity but confirmed it. Some doubters were trying to influence Christianity to take away the divinity of Jesus and the Church felt the need to make a statement about it. Belief in Christ's devinity can be found in Paul's letters which go all the way back to within 2 decades...

of Christ's ressurection.

Alright because you've managed to bring up more misconceptions.

The actual date of Christ's birth is unknown. The Bible never comes out and gives a date. We are only left to speculate. Given that, why not celebrate the birth of Christ on an previously established time of celebration? It in no way confuses the message that Christ died for the forgiveness of your sins.

Easter is not a borrowed celebration.

Answer 1

they fear the truth and pile lies to try and hide it. typical for them. they can't hide on judgment day though.

Answer 2

Why do theists always insist on battling a lack of knowledge, using their ignorance as a weapon? You might have some of the facts straight, but your reasoning is off.

First of all, christianity is not the truth. The other 'pagan' religions are not from the same time either. Hellenism and Kemet existed well before then, and to give you a simple example the idea of a Satan is heavily inspired by Hades - his looks are based blatantly on far older descriptions of the Greek god Pan. Look it up, you'll find the stories and pictures interesting I'm sure. You might also learn a thing or two, but I shan't pressure you with high expectations. The Old Testament perhaps is as old as Hellenism, though I doubt even that. Perhaps both Greek mythology and christian mythology are branches on the same tree. The New Testament is very clearly inspired by the 'paganism' of that time however - even to the point of plagiarism. It's as unoriginal as the people who preach it.

What you say about the council of Nicea might be true though. To compare one book of fairytales with another; the brothers Grimm also never wrote fairytales, but heard them, took them from folklore and published them. It doesn't mean the Grimms wrote them, nor is the Bible written by the council of Nicea. All I can find on Pauls letters is that they were written around 50 a.D - which would mean it was after Christ was born and died. 'Pagan' religions go much further back than that.

Answer 3

They don't think they do. They know so. Non-Christians look at it from an unbiased point of view and they are correct 99.9% of the time. Christians are taught from birth that their beliefs and the church history surrounding them are infallible when history has proven that they are anything but.

Pagan religions were around for millenia before Christianity ever came into being. Ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, every single non-Hebrew culture was Pagan. Christianity was actually started by Paul and is in direct opposition of what Christ, who was actually a Jewish reformer, taught. Paganism is mentioned in detail in the Old Testament, which was long before Christianity. The reason that Christian rituals are so similar to those of Pagans is that the only way that Christians could get converts without inciting riots was to steal them all and pass them off as their own.

Before you go spouting lies about your own religious history and that of Pagans, you might want to want to read the entire story objectively so you get the details correct, which is impossible for nearly all who are part of the Christian belief system.

Edited to add:
The Bible is actually very clear on when Jesus was born. The fact that shepherds were watching their flocks is definitive that it was *not* winter or Dec 25 if you are the least bit aware of how shepherding works.

Answer 4

How can the Pagan religions that predated Christianity have borrowed from Christianity? That one makes no sense.

From what you were saying, it does sound like the Council of Nicea was making some very important *decisions* about what they would believe about Jesus and the Bible, and how they would proceed from there.

I'm non-Christian; I wouldn't say I know more about Christian history than an educated Christian. But I'm educated, too, and I've done research. I actually had very few "liberal college professors"--I went to college in Florida, and my professors were conservatives and moderates. Besides, Christians feel they can comment on Muslim history and every other kind of history and religion, so why can't we, really?

Answer 5

Depends on the particular people involved.

IME, most average Christians (or, at least, nominal Christians) haven't read the entire Bible cover-to-cover, haven't read a lot of extra-Biblical history of Biblical times, and haven't studied many other religions.

Someone who has done so, Christian or not, has a leg up on the person who hasn't, when talking about Christian history.

As for other religions borrowing from Christianity - perhaps some was borrowed from Christianity, yes. But you cannot deny that Christianity also borrowed in return, since there's many similar stories that are well-documented that occurred *long* before Christ was born.

Answer 6

I didn't go to college to study theology. I studied the Bible and it's History as well as Pagan religions for the past 20 yrs.... mainly as a hobby, something that interests me greatly.

Pagan religions were established for thousands of years before Christianity AND had the exact same story within their belief systems long before Christianity came about.... Some of these stories were around during Moses time, IN Egypt. Osiris. Mithras, one of the Pagan religions that was around when Christ was... was not something new to Rome. It started in Persia a couple of thousand years before Christ was even born and the story mainly stayed the same.

You're right, they put the Bible together at the Council of Nicea.... they Voted on it. So yes, they most certainly did "decide" the theology of the Divinity of Christ... it wasn't "confirmed" in the sense you are putting it (did your college professor tell you this? Or did you just read it in a book authored by a Christian and assumed they were telling the truth). The Council of Nicea was NOT the 1st council... and people died during these councils due to disagreements. Doubters were not trying to "influence" Christianity... they already believed in it and had their own idea of what it was about... just like we do today. Now assuming that those who supported the Divine Christ idea were "true" christians, then I would have to say the religion is a sham.... because they exiled half of the people who disagreed and killed a few others. History itself backs this up. Now, as for those who were at the Council of Nicea... you do realize those are the people the Catholic Church calls "Chuch Fathers" and base their own theology around those men.

You should read Celsus. Taken from Origens writings and replies... of course the "Church" destroyed Celsus' writings because he was Pagan... so they had to re-write it based on Origens' writings... as Origen wrote to Celsus on many occasions, discussing the Christian Faith.

I also direct you to one of the Church Fathers, Eusebius (spelling?) Who wrote an entire chapter on Pious Lying, stating that it's ok to lie to people, so long as you're doing it for God.

I'm not so sure that you understand exactly what it is you are supporting here. And the thought that the majority of Christians were reading the Bible is silly. Do you have any idea how long it takes to copy even one book of the Bible? With the idea that you are copying "God's Word"? And if you did a study, you will find there were several Different "Gospels of Matthew" as well as different one's of all of the others, including Paul's writings. They also had more "scripture" than what is given in the Bible and some things in the Bible today were added much MUCH later.

The reason so many non-Christians know more about the Christian faith is because of the Christians themselves. Such as your post here. You don't think people will look this stuff up themselves and find out how truthful you are or not? You don't think that when a Christian tells an unbeliever that their soul is in danger of being tormented for eternity in fire, that at one time they didn't dig deeper to find out how honest people are about this? I'm truly surprised that, with so many Christians doing these things, that you really don't know How or Why non-Christians know more about your religion than you do.

Answer 7

I think I know more about the history of Christianity than you, because you present such good evidence to support this assessment.

For example even if we restrict our source of information to the bible it is obvious that you are not correct. In the Old testament (which for arguments sake, I will accept may have existed in a form that is roughly equivalent to the one it has now) there are many parts which mention the existence of many of the "pagan" religions that originated the beliefs and customs that shaped and structured Christianity. Since these accounts existed before the birth of Jesus - they provide solid evidence that Christianity adopted these ideas from the pagans, rather than originating them.

Consequently, to me you seem like a child, proud of the fact you can swim in a wading pool - and I agree that is a good first step - but now you need to step into the ocean and discover the meaning of depth...

Answer 8

Read most of the posts above. We can go on arguing if Christianity is true or not until our faces turn blue. In Jesus' day he was constantly trying to get people to understand that he was the way to a relationship with God. He spoke the truth and if people accepted it then they were set free. If you don't accept it, then that's on you, but you can't say that you didn't know. Jesus didn't force anything down anyone's throat either. It was their decision. I'd like to challenge "non-christians" to take the time to read the gospels. Start in John and find out what Jesus' mission truly was. Don't just assume; read. Read it for yourself and don't just listen to what everyone else has to say.

Answer 9

... No. No, Paganism definitely predates Christianity. You're making **** up. It is a well-established FACT that Christianity took Pagan holidays in an effort to convert Pagans. Stop spewing bullshit.

Edit: It kinda bothers me that you can't report someone for stating blatantly incorrect information.

Edit: Actually Christmas was used to steal the Winter Solstice/Yule from the Pagans. Easter was used to steal Ostara, one of our spring festivals.

Answer 10

Without delving into the religious aspect of your question, I'll take a stab at it's underlying theme of self-knowledge.

It's widely known that groups (unlike individuals, groups tend to be less motivated), unless under strict control or instruction, tend to understand little of their own personal/group history. Whether through blind ignorance or poor motivation, the interest to know one's "roots" has little concern for most people who are just trying to make it day to day. Unless there is an external 'motivation' (ie, (positive) the 'desire' to know, or (negative) punishment, exile, execution, etc) imposed by leaders/etc, most people could care less.

Most outsiders who know more about your own personal history usually have motives for their actions. Governments will study the history of a rival country's military/politics/religions to find vulnerabilities to use against said country. For example, back in the Cold War era, Soviet military officers were regularly schooled in US history (and not the kind you learned in high school - but really in-depth study and analysis). The Soviets believed a thorough understanding of the US structure would give them an edge in confrontation. Fortunately, they never used this information to their advantage.

Most people within a group agree to the group's known history as passed down through word of mouth, classroom instruction, or local leaders (both civil and religious). But unless individuals either have the self-determination to learn their histroy, or the learning is imposed by an outside influence, most people will remain ignorant.

Answer 11

Do i think of atheists are evil - NO Do i've got have been given self perception atheists are immoral - now not consistently Do i think of which you in hassle-free terms in spite of if might opt to be forgiven and settle for Jesus in an attempt to be saved from an eternity in hell - useful. replaced into I taught this via means of mum and dad -sensible and no, replaced into as quickly as I taught this via means of church - variety of besides the incontrovertible fact that now now not extremely.Have I experienced atheists who have been advise and variety of rude - a stable useful. Have I met atheists who thought that they have got been staggering and had condescending attitudes - sensible. Does that advise we could now now not be acquaintances indoors the extremely international - Nope. I extremely have been an atheist, I extremely have been a Pagan, I extremely have been a witch, I extremely have been a Buddhist, I extremely have located my savior in spite of the incontrovertible fact that throughout the time of Christ and unquestionably for the explanation that an atheist thinks i'm incorrect, does now now not great distinction who i'm and what i think of. i'm liable to talk approximately faith and all, yet mutually as atheists anticipate i'm ignorant for the explanation that of my concept in Christ, that's what irks me; as at as quickly as as they call names, or get irate - that bugs me too. Atheist have a desirable to think of what they like, without being aggressively harrassed from others - in actuality as we Christians do.