Consider this...?

Question

If one takes a look and Greek and Roman mythology, we see old beliefs as mere stories. I'm sure that the people of the time believed in the very stories we read about. Considering that, do you think that one day your religion, or all people's religion, will become mere stories taught to children in the form of mythology? Everyone needs something to believe in, but if there was one actual truth, would we not all believe the same thing?

Oh don't get me wrong I'm not saying anything negative about religion at all. It's just a question I've often wondered about, and without knowing my own personal beliefs, what do you think? Interesting I thought.

Answer 1

I think you're probably right, particularly if you consider that it is already happening in societies that are becoming more and more secular. For example, you can be a Christian today, but believe that the stories in the Bible are just stories... stories that may have symbolic significance but that did not necessarily happen in a literal sense. Also, the transition from pagan beliefs to Christian beliefs around the time of the Romans was just as gradual and nuanced as what we are experiencing now. (eg. There are loads of examples of Roman religion moving towards the idea of one god - lots of examples about Apollo or some kind of 'sun god'. And at the same time, Christianity absorbed much of the symbolism of the pagan gods.) Also, lots of Romans and Greeks did not believe the stories about the gods in a literal sense - many of them saw them more as superstition and part of their tradition than something that was actually 'true'.

Everyone does need something to believe in, but there does not have to be one literal truth - it is perfectly possible for there to be many co-existing truths. That's the beauty of logic, philosophy and religion. And it is what is frustrating about fundamentalism.

Answer 2

No, because people have a tendency to believe what they want to. The failure to reach a consensus of belief simply implies that humans are biased.

BTW, people no longer believe in Greek or Roman mythology because the Roman Empire gradually became Christian (Constantine simply recognized the inevitable when he officially changed the Roman religion to Christianity).

If you were truly objective, then you would ask yourself which belief is more likely to be true, even if it is an unpleasant truth. Faith can never be proven conclusively, because then it would no longer be faith, but that doesn't mean that there is no circumstantial evidence for or against a particular religion.

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...Frank Morrison, a British lawyer of the 1930s, undertook an expedition to collect circumstantial evidence to disprove the resurrection. Such evidence, of course, is admissible in all courts of law in civilised countries to prove or disprove events of which there are no living eyewitnesses. When he analysed the evidence, he reached a stunning conclusion: The resurrection had actually taken place! Morrison presented his case in his book, "Who Moved the Stone?"

Another factor worth considering is the character of the disciples. They were eleven cowardly men who shut themselves in a room after the crucifixion because they were afraid. Yet what galvanized them into action so that within their own lifetime, much of the thenknown world could hear the message of Christ? Some of them paid for this message with their lives. Would they have done so if the resurrection were a hoax? ...

Answer 3

That just makes too much sense. How dare you!

I agree that if there were a universal truth, then we would all know it. What sort of chance do we have if a god only makes himself known to a minority of the people? According to some beliefs, even the ignorant would suffer in the afterlife even though they were never given the chance to convert.

I like Buffalo Springfield's quote: "Nobody's right if everybody's wrong." I think this nails religion. Every religion is wrong according to someone else. With that ugliness going on, how can we figure out which is right?

Edit: KryptonOne said, "The same could be said about evolution or a variety of topics." Indeed, many scientific notions have been re-examined and rewritten as more facts are known. People today no longer believe that the sun revolves around the Earth (not the sane ones anyway). Phrenology has been dismissed. As more evidence is discovered, the Big Bang notion may eventually be dismissed.

That is one difference between science and religion, though. Science is the pursuit of truth, while religion typically is the pursuit of stasis. Scientific notions change to fit the new observations. Religious dogma often remains the same in spite of the new observations.

Answer 4

I have this idea that there was a time, way back in the beginning, when all people did believe the same thing...
But, over time, as people drifted apart, those original truths got garbled
How long, do you suppose, does it take for truth to become legend? How long before legends deteriorate into myths?
Could this be the reason for so many similarities in different religions? For instance, nearly every culture we know has some story of a great flood...and how many dying and ever-living gods have there been, anyway?

Could the truth be right in front of us, but we simply refuse to acknowledge it??

Answer 5

The problem lies with literal interpretation. Whether Greek or Roman, Christian or Muslim, stories are meant to convey wisdom and metaphysical truth. Unfortunately people ignor the wisdom and instead worship the characters in the stories 'literally'.
I will not give up the Bible because it offers great insights into humanity's quest for spiritual understanding. As soon as it becomes a book of science or a book of history or a book for controlling the masses, it ceases to serve us, we become enslaved to it.

Answer 6

It might seem right and smart to compare Roman and Greek mythology with the Bible but if you think about it another way it is a deviation of the Bible. The Bible is the author of truth and it can be trusted, test it. The prophecies that are in it most of them have come true despite being written by so many different authors from time periods and languages they all agree. God has not left us to fumble about trying to find out everything for ourselves because we cannot find truth in our self. He left us the Bible as His sure word to guide us.

Answer 7

I think Christianity will fade the way of Greek, Roman and Egyptian mythology when something comes along to replace it. If we're ever contacted by intelligent lifeforms on another planet, that would probably do it: the people who need something to worship and submit their minds to would probably discover and embrace a whole new "truth".

Answer 8

Good question.
Could be quite possible.

But to be totally fair, The same could be said about evolution or a variety of topics.
Maybe one day people will look back on evolution and be like "how could those people have believed that?"
But they would then currently believe that we all spontaneously generated from twinkies.

At any rate, memes are an interesting subject. People should read into it a bit

Answer 9

The monster below the mattress is something the two politicians and faith with God in it have in consumer-friendly. interior the case of the politicians they first assure people who they Bogeyman would not exist then they tell the inhabitants the Bogeyman does exist and that they be attentive to who and the place he's. It does seem spectacular would not it. God is somewhat a monster below the mattress and The devil merely a distraction as God has been extremely substantial by out history. it extremely is not any longer the monster below the mattress human beings ought to worry yet themselves and what they might do to one yet another interior the call of their God or with the notice of their Holy Books to back their very own needs.God ought to be stated as a war criminal masks or device yet using fact the device remains there and the persons who've used it over centuries long previous the device ought to be convicted of being war criminal to show how unworthy that's that it became yet a prop used to justify crimes against human beings . God became propaganda used to administration the masses for the period of the Medievael a while like propaganda is used now .God is propaganda what became written interior the Bible ought to be banned as hate speech and definately might if non -religious in nature. Propaganda is excused if stated as religious however religious human beings have spoken against it the propaganda interior the Bible ought to be legally named as such.

Answer 10

Jesus, the bible, and Christianity, Are all based on stories taken from ancient Egyptian and Greek mythology, and there Gods. Don't take my word for it. Look it up. For example, look at Horus the Sun God, and the story of Jesus. One in the same. The story of Horus predates the story of Jesus by about 1500 years.