Why do Christians dismiss what came before their religion, when Christianity borrowed so much?

Question

Where did the story of the twelve apostles come from? It appears that in its earliest version, the story was understood to be an allegory. The first time that twelve apostles are mentioned is in the document known as the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles. This document apparently originated as a sectarian Jewish document written in the first century C.E., but it was adopted by Christians who altered it substantially and added Christian ideas to it. In the earliest versions it is clear that the "twelve apostles" are the twelve sons of Jacob representing the twelve tribes of Israel. The Christians later considered the "twelve apostles" to be allegorical disciples of Jesus.

http://mama.indstate.edu/users/nizrael/jesusrefutation.html

True or false?

EDIT:

Note to oversensitive Christians:

1. I am not trying to convince anyone, I am asking a question in the hope of an hones answer.

2. I didn't say ALL Christians so please don;t accuse me of saying it.

Edit 2:

If you say FASLE, then please have the integrity and intelligence to provide documentation other than the Bible, as the whole question is whether or not the Bible borrowed from other religions and myths.

Edit 2:

If you say FALSE, then please have the integrity and intelligence to provide documentation other than the Bible, as the whole question is whether or not the Bible borrowed from other religions and myths.

Answer 1

no, we don't dismiss what came before Christ. We only dismiss blasphemers and heretics like you.

Answer 2

Whatever the number, it's not important. Numbers in the Bible were very symbolic for other things.
http://www.christiangatheringplace.com/teachings/symbolism/numbers.htm
Have you ever read the Bible? I'm sure that you don't need to read too much before you realize that the book wasn't written as a historical document from that time would've been. There's a difference between *religious truth* and *history*. The Bible was written with faith and religion in mind, not history! Before the Bible, all we had was oral tradition. The Bible finally summarized all the stories of our faith into one book, but it was never meant to tell us exactly when Jesus lived, how many apostles He had, how old King Herod was, etc. Of course, I suppose it's possible that Jesus really did have twelve apostles...?

The ability to differentiate religious truths from history is a vital skill when interpretting the Bible. Remember that the next time you read the Bible ;)

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I also see that some people are saying that Christianity adopted ideas from other religions... SO WHAT!? Does that make the truth any less true? Even modern governments adopt ideas from other governments, but it doesn't make those governments any less of a government! However, the argument made in the question is much deeper than their answers. She's saying that the New Testament is an unreliable source because of how easily the idea of the Twelve Apostles fits into other fictional documents; the fact that the Bible adopted ideas from other religions is besides the point.

Answer 3

That can be said about holidays in general. Also everything the Christians believe came from other religions especially Pagan. Back during the times religion ruled the goverment and politcs like our present day dems & Repubs. The christians enjoy power, control , and money. IE Crusades. Anyone standing in their way was either converted or destroyed. You are asking the chrisitans a historical question and most can only answer by quoting bible verses or what they have been led to believe.
To answer the total question. religion has always been means of war and history is always written by the victor. Historical research will give you more answers. I suggest the history channel, discovery channel or even your local library unless you live in a small town. Want to see the truth read the responses and see how many people are offended by the question.

Answer 4

You're right and wrong, i didn't exactly understand what you were trying to say but yes the 12 sons of Jacob are the twelve tribes of Israel.
And Jesus Did also have 12 apostles. Its not a replacement of the same story, but 2 seperate groups at 2 seperate times.

Answer 5

first off lets start with this...

apostle - Apostle One of a group made up especially of the 12 disciples chosen by Jesus to preach the gospel.
A passionate adherent; a strong supporter.

disciple -An active adherent, as of a movement or philosophy.
often One of the original followers of Jesus.

just for those who seem to think that apostles and disciples are REALLY different.

Now onto the real answer.
Christians like to think theirs was the original and only religion, however they fail to see that even in their book there are MANY MANY faiths mentioned, which early christians took from.

They will never undo what christian ancestors have claimed and will never look and us and say "darn, you're right". This would cause them to imploded in most cases.

And to those who say that Christianity isn't a religion, check again. You missed the memo apparently. The faith you have is your relationship Christianity is your religion.

Answer 6

I'm not sure what you are talking about. What is it that Christians supposedly dismiss?

We accept the stories about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses(etc) as historical fact, based on the historical documents held by the Jews (commonly called the Old Testament or the Talmud). The Jewish people had a very precise method of transmitting and keeping those documents down through the ages, ensuring their accuracy. There are several copies of many ancient texts, dating back hundreds of years BC (courtesy of the Dead Sea Scrolls), showing the continued accuracy of the copiers and their works. Comparisons of modern texts to the ancient Hebrew texts show VERY FEW differences between the writings, often just a stroke of a pen, and certainly NOTHING that would call any doctrine into question.

This is important, because the first Christians were, themselves, JEWS. Their record-keeping methods (for the books we know as the New Testament) would have been the same as their contemporaries: the same methodolgy, the same criterion, the same exactness. We have thousands of ancient copies of New Testament material, dating within 200 years of the events recorded, and based on eyewitness accounts. As historical documents go, the New Testament accounts of the Gospels are astonishingly trustworthy.

The only reason to reject their material, is a pre-existing bias against the stories within them.

The stories of 12 disciples being separated into apostles, and becoming Jesus "core" group, can only be based on 12 actual people. Why reject the record at face value? Because we can't find a record of similiar kind in excavations of secular sites in ancient Jerusalem? That is like rejecting the Talmud's record of the life of Abraham, because we can't find a reference to him in an ancient temple of Ba'al or Ashera in ancient Philistia.

Answer 7

God works in mysteries,signs and wonders. One of the ways he works is his use of numbers which have hidden meanings,and multiple significances. God seems to use numbers over and over. here are some of them.... 3,7,10,12,40,50,400,430,500,1000 and etc. Jesus did indeed choose 12 followeres representing the 12 tribes of Israel ,12 gates of Jerusalem , and the 12 gates of heaven. Christianity did not borrow any thing from Judaism. Judaism is part of the foundation of Christianity. It was founded by Jews, written mostly by Jews, the 12 and Jesus were Jews .
Christianity and Judaism are not seperable as they both are truth. In fact they are the only two true religions. All others are lies. This is it in a nutshell..... The foundation of Christianity are the OT Jewish Prophets, the NT Jewish Apostles and the Chief Cornerstone is Jesus Christ our Jewish LORD and Jewish Messiah. Come to Christ!

Answer 8

Dismissing what came before is a fear reaction. The twelve apostles comes from very early religions, even before Judaism. Twelve apostles join their head witch to make a coven of thirteen. It was when Christians decided to destroy the credibility of all other religions that they decided that 13 is bad, and that wise, from the word Wicca, was bad. The so called 'different' religions of the world have more in common than differences, and most differences are due to culture or language and climate.

Answer 9

it's simple.
it would mean they'd have to acknowledge their entire faith is based on nothing more then a patchwork of prior things and in the end meaningless. They really get mad when I compare Perseus to Jesus. both are born of mortal women, BUT one of them was actually touched by a god. the other an ANGEL.
and one existed FIRST.

Answer 10

God made the Universe, the earth, the plants, the animals, the people and one day will make this earth into a paradise when he destroys the wicked. Now if he can make a sun, moon and all the stars I feel certain he can bring us one little book that is accurate and truthful. Why would he put people here and not give us information about our history, our current events and our future. I believe the bible is inspired and true.

Answer 11

false. the christians didnt borrow or add anything to anything. the OT and the NT are one in the same. all metaphors such as 12 tribes and 12 apostles etc were for a reason. fulfillment of what was before. to show the current is equal to the past etc....

the hate monger above me is a perfect example of the so called "scholars" that put out information like that which you site. their base of work is fomented because of their hatred. nothing more and everything less.