Are Christendom's teaching from the Bible or from Plato?

Question

The World Book Encyclopedia, Britannica, and all reputable reference materials traced Christendom's teaching to the Greek and Pagan Philosopher, Plato. Among these Platonist idea engrafted into the "Church" teachings are: (a) the Trinity, and (b) Hell- fire.

The Bible says that there is only one true God (Jehovah), and that Christ is the worshipper of Jehovah. Read John 20:27; John 14:28; 1Corin 11:3.

Also, the Bible says that the dead knows nothing. A dead person returns to dust, not to an imaginary place or condition. ( Eccl 9:5)
Even Jesus said that no one--those born before him including Abraham, and Moses, etc--have gone to heaven. ( John 3:13)

So, how do you refute these reference materials. Say, that they are wrong? But really how?

John 20:17 (i/o John 20:27)

Answer 1

Not all of Christendom's teachings are from Plato. Certainly, the Christian idea of Hell does seem to have some Greek origins in it. The word itself comes from the Germanic, Hel, which originally meant "to cover".

In Rabbinic Judaism, the closest thing to Hell is Gehenna, and that's more along the lines of a purgatory than a place of punishment.

Christ's teachings of "do unto others as you would wish them to do unto you" and "it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to pass into Heaven", have rather Buddhist connotations. (See the second resource).

The resurrection of Christ has similar themes to Mithras' crucifixion and Odin's crucifixion to Yggdrasil. His rebirth also has a smattering of Dionysus' rebirth as well (Dionysus meaning, twice born).

And I think there's a Hindu God that has a similar Trinitarian aspect to the Christian God, although I'm not quite sure of that.

Whether the similarities are coincidences or not, is another question altogether. But there are similarities and it is not that difficult to imagine Christianity borrowing elements from the religions it subverted.

After all, the Christian image of Satan having horns on his head comes from the Church's attempts to demonise the pagan god, Pan.

And Lucifer? That's a Latin name for the Dawn Star, which in Isaiah 14:12-17 is supposedly thought to be talking about Satan. However, if you look at the original context, you'll see that the original name used in place of the Dawn Star, was Helel, which is the name of a Canaanite god, whom coincidentally tried to usurp the throne of Heaven but was thrown down as punishment.

So, many of Christendom's teachings come from other cultures, not just Plato.

Answer 2

Christendom has worked hard to keep the nature of God and God's purposes as mysterious and unknowable as they possibly can, in order to keep the 'flock' as dependent upon the clergy as possible. Many of Christendom's religions pretend that God's Kingdom is some mushy feeling inside a person's heart!

By contrast, Jehovah's Witnesses understand from the Scriptures that God's Kingdom by Christ Jesus is a real government which will soon replace all earthly governments.
(Daniel 2:44) God of heaven will set up a kingdom... It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite

That Kingdom will rule over the vast majority of mankind, most of whom will have been raised from the dead after Armageddon.
(John 11:23,24) Jesus said to her: “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him: “I know he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.”
(Acts 24:15) There is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.

Until that resurrection, there is no suffering in "hell", or the grave. Sometime after the resurrection, death and "hell" will themselves be destroyed.
(Ecclesiastes 9:5) For the living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all
(Ecclesiastes 9:10) there is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol ["hell"]
(Revelation 20:14) And death and Hades ["hell"] were hurled into the lake of fire

While a limitted number of humans will be resurrected to heaven to share in ruling over mankind, the vast majority (literally more than 99.9%) of Jehovah's Witnesses expect an EARTHLY hope, the same hope given to Adam and Eve.
(Genesis 1:28) God blessed them and God said to them: “Be fruitful and become many and fill THE EARTH and subdue it [caps added]
(Genesis 2:17) You must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it you will positively die [so never eating from that tree means never dying]

Interestingly, the Scriptures are full of references to this earthly hope.
(Psalms 37:11) 'the meek will possess the earth'
(Proverbs 2:21) 'upright will reside in the earth'
(Isaiah 45:18) 'God formed the earth to be inhabited'
(Matthew 5:5) 'the mild will inherit the earth'
(Revelation 21:3) The tent of God is with mankind

Learn more:
http://watchtower.org
http://watchtower.org/library/jt/index.htm

Answer 3

I would also like to see the answers to this question.