and what he taught was written by his followers, not himself.
how then is his teaching reliable? how then can one say that he truly existed in history? how would i know he's not a made up figure whose follower copied teachings of earlier people to make himself sound credible?
2007-06-12 09:14:59 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
oh, make that applicable for Plato as well.
2007-06-12 09:17:28 · update #1
Pythagoras said beans contained human souls, are you sure that was tested and proven?
Plato believed in reincarnation, you sure it was proven?
2007-06-12 09:19:02 · update #2
You make an EXCELLENT point.
May I add another?
We have no evidence whatsoever about where Plato was buried or what he looked like. No one ever made a bust of him during his lifetime, and all those made of him now are 'representations'.
How we do know HE existed?
2007-06-12 09:19:41 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 4⤋
How was Pythagoras' teaching reliable? Well, for starters the Pythagorean theorem works perfectly, every time. You could safely bet your soul that C^2 = A^2 + B^2. Numerous proofs have been devised, both deductive and inductive. You can be assured he existed in history because there are numerous examples of many of his contemporaries documenting his existence. This literally means numerous people who knew him wrote about him while he was still alive. Also, he himself founded the Pythagorean philosophical school, which survived for centuries after his death.
Nothing of the sort happened with Jesus. The earliest known records of Christ originated 35--45 years after his death. No known records of Jesus originated during his life. The original Christian church was not founded by Christ, but rather by Paul.
Pythagoras was also known for another significant contribution. He was the first to figure out the rules of musical harmony and that "harmonious" sounds had wavelengths that were low whole-number ratios of each other. The central point of Pythagorean philosophy is that the natural world operates according to mathematical rules which can be discovered and understood by man. This fact of nature is as valid today as it was 2500 years ago, and has been proved to be a verifiable fact in literally countless ways.
Absolutely nothing Christ taught has ever been independently verified to be a true fact.
2007-06-12 16:53:03 · answer #2 · answered by Diogenes 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
What a poor analogy to christianity.
Pythagoras existence is corrborated by independent contemporary sources, as well as his own personal writings.
No one has ever made (modern) claims that Pythagoras was divine or any other UNBELIEVABLE claims.
The only thing I know about pythogaras in practical use today is his theoroem on triangles, which can, and has been, scientifically tested for its veracity.
Did Jesus physically write any of the bible?
-No.
Was the bible written by anyone during he life of Jesus or by first hand witnesses?
- No it was written nearly a century after the purported existence of Jesus, and was put through a processes of selection at the council of Nicea in 300 AD.
Is there any independent documentation corroborating Jesus' existence?
-No. Romans known for their strict census and detailed state documents had NOTHING corroborating the existence of Jesus.
2007-06-12 16:28:05 · answer #3 · answered by Dark-River 6 · 4⤊ 0⤋
So what if he is, doesn't make his theorems any less true (seeing as we can test/prove them on a daily basis).
And Plato DID write his own stuff. It's Socrates who never wrote anything down himself. And it has been speculated that Plato just invented Socrates as a character to get his philosophy across.
And noone touts the writings of Pythagoras/Plato as the "inerrant word of God."
Are you really this bad at making an argument?
2007-06-12 16:18:02 · answer #4 · answered by mark r 4 · 6⤊ 1⤋
You make your point very well when you ask how can his teaching be reliable?
You seem to be missing the point, his teaching, or at least the teaching attributed to him can be tested, and it works!
It doesn't matter a jot whether he existed, although there is more than enough CONTEMPORARY evidence to suggest he did.
Or else you are an aetheist having a laugh, Christians really aren't that dumb -are they?
2007-06-12 16:28:06 · answer #5 · answered by hog b 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
historical evidence.. many people wrote of pythagoras and Plato.. not just three or four men several decades after their alleged deaths.. no one claimed that either of them was a god-man who rose from the grave either.
Your correlation is invalid. Try again.
2007-06-12 16:20:10 · answer #6 · answered by Kallan 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Little did you know how applicable your example is. Pythagoras had his own cult. People said he was born of a virgin, could walk on water, and had raised someone from the dead. His cult was partially mystic, partially mathematic, and had many secret codes and cyphers in their writings and hidden messages.
2007-06-12 16:19:57 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Well, Pythagoras is not being touted as a messiah. The Pythagorean Theorem works even if you call it something else.
2007-06-12 16:19:02 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 6⤊ 1⤋
You seem to be suffering from the mistaken idea that if Jesus actually existed, then it would follow that the claims made about him must be true.
Complete nonsense.
2007-06-12 16:40:10 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Because mathematics can be logically proved by anyone anywhere and the results will be the same
2007-06-12 16:18:23 · answer #10 · answered by nikola333 6 · 4⤊ 1⤋