Many stories found in the Bible are found in Ethnic (not islamic, christian, Judaic) Religions and Cultures
eg The Flood, walking on water, resurrection and others
If lots of cultures keep on repeating the same stories; does that make their meaning less true?
No, the converse is true! It is stories that resonate through time , that have profound meanings which endure.
In fact, they are more likely to induce the thinking man to believe in the bible stories as containing important truths.
These facts that people find so confounding to belief, are taught in nearly every course on Biblical Theology!
2007-09-13 23:09:33 · 23 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
True, it is the Meaning behind the story. The flood shows how one is singled out because of his strong faith... walking on water is also a sign of faith. The reason people say these things are not unique is because sooooo many claim that those stories are 100% true and No one else has stories like that. Of course, this comes from people who have never read a history book concerning their own religion, or any other religion for that matter - they simply accept what their religious leaders and close friends/family tell them. Honestly, how many people do you know actually take a course on Biblical Theology? And how many of those only take courses like that to get what they want without really understanding what is being taught to them in the first place? I know of a couple of pastors who took comparative religion classes, yet still maintain that the Biblical stories are unique, without flaw and 100% Absolutely True...
The Bible stories are just like myths. People seem to ignore the fact that myths themselves also contain important truths within them - usually moral truths that apply to most societies, even if in just some small way. Instead they see the word "religion" or hear someone claim to believe in the Gods/Goddess those myths are speaking of and automatically think that the followers believes the myths (and the Bible stories) to be Absolute Truth.
No one really asks where another stands on that point anymore. Even in here, they simply assume a follower of any belief just believes everything is 100% Truth and doesn't bother with the individual belief at all.
2007-09-14 00:19:46 · answer #1 · answered by River 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Consider the following; Science only discovered dinosaurs in the 1820s. The word "dinosaur" is a recent word (1840s). Dinosaurs are mentioned in the Bible in parts that were authored thousands of years ago (Behemoth & Leviathan) The Bible also mentions "Dragons" which would be an apt description of a dinosaur (giant reptilian creature) Almost every culture on earth has ancient stories about giant reptilian creatures. Collagen has been discovered in T-rex bones. Observed science has demonstrated that collagen cannot remain intact beyond 3 million years - even under perfect lab conditions for preservation. Yet "popular" science tells us that the dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago - using dating methods that rely heavily on unjustified assumptions. So whilst this conclusion is widely accepted, it is far from scientifically proved. The evidence could easily (and reasonably) be interpreted to conclude that humans have in fact seen dinosaurs. This would be consistent with the Biblical account of dinosaurs being created with all the other animals. Notice that the discrepancy is not between the Bible and the scientific evidence. The contradictions are between the Bible and scientific "interpretations" or speculations regarding the evidence.
2016-05-19 02:21:38 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
repeating stories do NOT indicate that they are all referenced from a single true event. Nearly all children assume that the people on the television are inside their television, not because their is a children's rumour going round the world telling them so, but because the human mind works the same way for everyone. Hence, the strange things that people living thousands of years ago saw, things that are now explainable, they all came to similar conclusions about what it was. The Egyptians, the Mayans, the Africans and the Aborigines all saw the stars, and the sun rise, and dead bodies, release decomposing stomach gas from their mouths. All of them came to the same conclusions about what they were seeing, because, as I've stated, the human mind, where ever you are in the world, works the same. So the similar stories cropping up is natural and bound to happen. It certainly doesn't infer that they came from a single event.
2007-09-14 01:24:12 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well here is a story that credits many of the OT stories.
a poem written by Ovid Nasso in the 1 AD.
Read my comparisons here:
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-oCKvBCI1dKsp.a7axCN.v9h4wKThrXsk
You can tell by reading his the first book, Methamorphosis, that the Romans were influenced, and many believed in the OT stories.
It is completely true that the possiblity exists that the OT has was influenced by other cultures. After all, that is the truth that Jesus came to bring, that God loves all races.
So behind all these stories of all races, lies a universal truth, one that has to deal with the whole reality of mankind, one in which it notable the participation of all players. God, Jesus, Angels, Astrology and physical laws, etc.
Even when God has been framed in many ways by fallen angels, the victims have seen him the same as
GOD, Allah, Zeus, etc., = One Almighty Creator
Same Isis, Eva, Maria, Nature, Earth = Mother Nature
Same Hell, Abyss, Black Holes = Total and final destruction
But the best way as for God to speak to the nations is by following a single path even if they went wrong, then bring revelation to all nations under selected peaceful man. Jesus.
So God had search for a way to comunicate with us and show us in Jesus that we are really made in his image.
The hebrew story was not written accordingly and the same Jesus showed that by the way he talked about the Scribes.
The Jewish and Arab people have brought testimony of the true God in their flesh even when they had followed what's wrong. Everything has revolved around them, the beginning and the END. And they both have failed to get reconciliation offered to them in (The true Jesus that is) Jesus. They both call the other peoples Gentiles / or Infidels.
The right path is to see the reality of events in relation to all cultures, their impact in the past, present and future.
Example is that today, for 2000 years there is not Temple for the Jews, they have not high Priest, they returned to the land before any other Messiah had come, they make no more sacrifices except in through Catholic Church; The Muslims have revived the all laws and traditions of hate, The knowledge of the Egyptians have not been of benefit to them but to the Jewish talismanic elite. They do not admit it but they know we entered the spiritual plane, same reason why the story is changed to talk about the Messiah might be in reality a Messianic Era.
2007-09-14 00:37:21 · answer #4 · answered by Davinci22 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You're so close to being onto something, its scary...
If you look at the story alone, you have an extremely valid point. The trick is, it goes much deeper than just the story. The details, holidays, in some cases entire sociological aspects, play an integral role in debunking this.
For instance, the messiah myth (hey, if we're gonna do this, let's go for the big one!)
The Christ tale closely mirrors multiple others (Hercules/Heracles, Apollonius, etc.) but the one that needs to be scrutinized the most is Mithras, a persian sun god.
We're not just talking about a point by point re-telling of the legend; replacing Mithras with Christ, and making cultural allowances. We're talking about a full scale bastardization of the Myth.
Both were born without any form of sexual intercourse.
Both claimed their father was the mightiest god (For the persians, this is the sun; Christ called out to Eloi on the cross...singular...while the OT speaks of the Elohim...plural).
Both were traveling teachers and ministers.
The birth of both is/was celebrated on Dec. 25. This is ironic (and important), because christian tradition asserts that Christ was concieved at the start of Dec. Chambers Encyclopedia says: "The most important of his many festivals was his birthday, celebrated on the 25th of December, the day subsequently fixed -- against all evidence -- as the birthday of Christ.
Both had 12 disciples.
Baptism, for the most part was unheard of until the Mithas cult came into being. It is never mentioned once in the bible, until the gospels.
"The disciples of Mithra formed an organized church, with a developed hierarchy. They possessed the ideas of Mediation, Atonement, and a Savior, who is human and yet divine, and not only the idea, but a doctrine of the future life. They had a Eucharist, and a Baptism, and other curious analogies might be pointed out between their system and the church of Christ (The Christian Platonists, p. 240).
By taking not only the tale, but the culture surrounding the tale (church, baptism, holidays, etc.) it does take away the credibility of biblical claims.
The Flood exists in so many different forms, across so many different cultures, that it is impossible to claim any sort of link between them (besides the fact that a flood occurred). Archeological evidences shows that what is referred to as the "biblical flood" was actually a localized event. An ancient king loaded a barge with goods, and rode out the flood, landing in an area near modern Baghdad. He gave thanks for his survival at a pagan temple, and eventually helped to found Zoroastanism (sp?).
The walking on water aspect, is attributed to the Horus/Christ connection...which is patently false. Egyptian mythology claims that this was a fish/crocodile god, not Horus. Most of the other connections are crap as well.
Strictly speaking, many of these tales are not simply being repeated throughout various cultures. They are localized, and it has been ascertained, parts of the culture absorbed into the christian faith, in an attempt to make conversion palatable. The trinity is a pagan concept, introduced in the late 1st century. The ways we celebrate Easter and Christmas are reminiscent of pagan fertility and winter solstice celebrations. More often than not, the pagan aspect has been stripped away, attributing the acts and deeds of many gods/demi-gods, to just one.
2007-09-13 23:46:12 · answer #5 · answered by Bill K Atheist Goodfella 6 · 3⤊ 1⤋
I`m inclined to agree with you .Because of the similarity of the stories from every culture i believe that the stories must have come from the same original events and being passed down from one generation to the next by word of mouth the details have been lost or changed over time
2007-09-13 23:29:29 · answer #6 · answered by keny 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The main problem with your argument is that many of the stories within the bible pre-date the bible.
In other words,the men who wrote the bible used stories from earlier mythology.
2007-09-13 23:34:16 · answer #7 · answered by darwinsfriend AM 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It suggests that the Bible stories, rather than being handed down by God, might have been copied from the human imagination of the non-believing civilisations before them.
It suggests that they should be regarded as wishful myths, not literal facts.
It diminishes your appearance of regard for truth when you don't seem to care that the Bible contains lies about the origin of its stories.
2007-09-13 23:22:34 · answer #8 · answered by Voyager 4 · 3⤊ 1⤋
No, IT IS CALLED PLAGIARISM ,you should look it up.
The bible plagiarized many stories and myths from earlier religions and mythologies.
Read about the Pandora story, the concept of evil coming from a woman it is very similar to the Eve's story of the bible, read about the epic of Gilgamesh, read about the pagan Gods before Jesus.
Read about Horus, Mithra, Bacchus, Dionysus, Krishna
It is a rehash of earlier mythologies, if you do not see it YOU ARE JUST IN DENIAL.
2007-09-13 23:19:24 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 1⤋
I love the King James Bible. It's the authorised version of God's word. This means that a man who thought witches had gone to sea in a sieve to cause a storm to sink his ship and kill him is the arbitrator of what is in the Bible or not.
2007-09-14 03:19:17 · answer #10 · answered by john m 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋