How do Christians explain this...?

Question

Almost all of the Christ story--virgin birth, ressurection after three days, son of god/is god, communion, etc--is found in other religions, be it the story of Krishna, Horus, Osiris, Dionysious, Mithra, etc. Doesn't it make sense that Christianity evolved from these earlier traditions? You could say that the devil planted those stories ahead of time to fake prohpecy (which was the early church explanation). But you have to believe that inspite of evidence, not because of it. Or that the will of god is written on the heart of men, so it is natural to presume that the christ story will pop up in different cultures using different wording. But how do you explain the religions of the Incas and Aztecs which are based on animism? Don't the atheists have the best and simplest explanation by looking at religion comparatively and seeing how they all relate to one another and evolve from each other?

Answer 1

google "equifinality"

Answer 2

"Christianity" rose out of the Garden of Eden [Genesis 3:15], wherein the promise of a Redeemer, whose children would be successively in conflict with the children of Satan, was first given by God. It does not get any older than that.

The entire 11th Chapter of Hebrews makes plain that faith in Christ is what saved the Old Testament believers.
Job was probably a contemporary of Isaac and Jacob - And almost certainly lived before Moses ... and a Saviour is known of at this time [19:25-26].

That foreign lands adopt their own versions and deities - pagan mythology, animism, idolatry - from the Hebrew Record, has no negative effect at all, upon the Word of God.

The point is, that within every culture, there was a knowledge that man fell short of pleasing deity; and that, due to sin which must be atoned for. That Incas carved out the hearts of sacrificial victims in perverted imitation of the Hebrew sacrifice of a lamb, is irrelevant.

What is most important, is that all cultures acknowledge God, sin, and the need for a sacrifice to make atonement for the sin of men. Even bloodthirsty pagans acknowledged divinity.

Christianity is the fulfilment and continuation of the same faith in the same Redeemer, that was promised to Adam in the Garden of Eden.

Sincerely,

Philip Livingstone
www.theforgottenbible.org

Answer 3

That sorta like trying to argue that all religions are basically the same because they all try "to teach you to be good". I will be the 1st to say that yeah, there is SOME simularity to the religions you mentioned. For example, I belive it was Horus and Osiris that talks about ressurection.

Most of these ideas are either too far or too after the fact though. I would agree with your point if Christianity sprung forth right after but you still have to explain the gap.

As for the "devil" idea, that is absurd. I wouldnt say that
AS for the athiest comment, no they do not have it "better" because the simplest explination is not always the best one. You can study comparitive religion too.. Dont forget truth by definition will be exclusive--meaning only 1 way. And that its possilbe for you to be absolutly right but you can never be absoultly wrong because all lies are based on truth. A counterfiet exists because of the original it tries to copy.

If you are right, you will be able to find the "true" story. Regressing back to an original.

Answer 4

Christianity....as it is called today, was not what Jesus taught...( I mean no disrespect to anyone who is a Christian). The story of the birth of Jesus, like many of the other revealed scriptures, were parables for us to study, and gain wisdom from. Jesus would not recognize the term Christianity.... although it has a very good meaning. This was the name I believe, given by his enemies to make mockery of who he was.

There names escape me, but I know that 2 or 3 of the earliest Popes were of African decent. Christianity was not this Eurocentrc or political religion we know it as today. I am sure it was not until the Europeans had started to become Popes, did we see this sort of Catholic shift and controlling of the masses of people with religion.

The symbol Jesus used to describe his work, was the fish.
But it was Constantine who envisioned the cross. "With this sign I thee conquer." And Christianity,(the opposite of Jesus) has been used to fight the crusades, to enslave the Africans... who were mostly Muslims by the way, and bring them to america. It has been used to call the same people 3/5 of a human being. Through the British, it has oppressed India. And also moved the Native Americans off their land.

All of the religions have many things in common, among which is after the master or leader of the movement is gone, the principals in which they taught are noticeably corrupted or changed.

Abraham was the father of the 3 great monotheistic religions. Jesus said he did not come to change Moses' Law he came to fulfull it. And the Muslims say that Jesus, although 600 years before Muhammad practiced Islam and is a Muslim.

There is only one way to God, and all of these religious practices, have embodied these principals. It is the infantile spirit of man, that divides God's revealed word thru his prophets or servants.That is why there are all these so called religions.

Answer 5

well, according to my beliefs and understanding the answer is this:
ever since the beginning of time, or the existence of men, which I take to be starting from Adam and Eve, God has imparted knowledge about His plan for us here on earth either directly (God spoke to Adam) or indirectly through prophets. The message has always been the same: this is a time for us to be tested, strive as we will to do goodly things always, and in the end hopefully come back to live with Him again, sinless, because where we fall short the Atonement of Jesus Christ will wash us of our sins. The Bible says that ever since the beginning of time prophets have taught the people certain sacraments they're supposed to follow to honor their God, including the building of temples. I have no doubt that over time, men has taken these teachings and corrupted them, twisted them, thus different aspects of them evolved into different religious practices. The Bible makes references to different groups that became idolatrous and began to worship false gods, for example. The "temple" is another-they are used by Christians as well as other religions, but no other religion except Christianity offers an explanation for their existence besides as another place of worship-in Christianity temples were built under commandment from God. So if we did an in-depth study it would show that yes, all of the world's religions seem to tie in together. That is for a reason--there is only one truth that hasn't changed; it's men who has. And I don't agree that God doesn't support religion. Religion is simply acknowledging the truth, truth that is eternal and sometimes even beyond our own understanding. God wants us to find Him for ourselves and learn of his true teachings, not just to follow any claims of higher power because they're "there", or "all the same".

Answer 6

Well, what the main difference in Christianity from SOME of those other religions is; Jesus. He's the main character in Christianity, just in case you didn't know. We Christians also have something called a Holy Spirit who is pretty selective as to who he works with. He doesn't work with everyone.

So with the Spirit of God and Jesus Christ we get a combination of soemthing called 'edification' as it is, one supports the other, which supports us. None of those other religions are supported by God-- it has something to do with his will.

You are probably wondering about what those other religions say about the same kind of spiritual experiences. I don't know what they are experiencing any more than you know what it is that I am experiencing, yet I'm not worried about it. It's none of my buisness what they are going through, and I'm not asking, having no desire to know.

And I guess that's the same with you. You probably have no interest in what I'm experiencing. And have no desire to believe what I believe. You see, God talks about those kinds of things in the Bible. He says that there are none who come to Him unless it's His will that they come to Him. The others that don't want to come to Him are therefore just telling me that He doesn't want them. So I don't waste my time.

So if you have any Atheist friends that really have no desire to come to God, let them know will you: That God has no interest in them either.

Answer 7

Have you ever seen a counterfiet brown paper bag?? I havent! I have seen counterfiet 100 Dollar bills for sure and why? Because it is valuable. Similiarly anything that is valuable for eternal life has to have counterfiets, simple. You choose.

Answer 8

Actually i would say agnostics have the best explanation by questioning and doubting religion and seeing what they all have in common.

Answer 9

God created or endorsed no religion....men did that. Atheists go too far by regarding as irrelevant, not only religion, but God as well.

Answer 10

The usual christian answer is "Christianity is different because it is real." In all actuality Christianity is just many previous religions all smushed together. It's actually quite fascinating really.

Answer 11

I am sorry to tell you but after asking plenty of these kind of questions myself I can guarantee you that Christianity has no other explanation than "they believe", "God did it", or some other silly circular argument based on a strawman or just plain cicumvention of addressing your actual question. You will NEVER get a logical, satisfying rebuttal to your argument... never. Its infuriating really.