Four Thousand Years of Christian History

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   DennisBarkerposted 14 years ago

   Ok, I admit it, I've got a bit of a thing about putting religion
   into historical context, as well as the personal.Christianity in the context of the cultures in the mediteranean area before, during and after its birth.
   
   I live in an area of the UK with many Roman settlements and the Greek and Roman societies of 2000 years ago are a major part of the christian religion and its development.
   
   With luck, and a following wind we can have a more rational discussion of in here than occours elsewhere in the christian forum at times.
   
   Regards
   Dennis

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   1. 60

      mealdatesposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Does the flood baffle the scientists?
      I am a Christian.

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         ionericeposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         No because it’s now known that the flood story in Genesis never happened.  The cuneiform tablets now stored in the British Museum in London, England house the original story entitled “the Epic of Gilgamesh” which is the Babylonians flood tale. The Hebrew Scribes borrowed it and changed the name of the characters. This story was hijacked after the Israelites exile in Babylon, present day Iraq, during the 6th century BC.

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   2. 61

      ionericeposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      The name “Christianity” wasn’t born until years after the alleged crucifixion of Yeshua.  However many of the attributes of Christianity had been around for thousands of years simply because the New Testament writers borrowed and hijacked stories from previous cultures and religious beliefs.

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   LondonGirlposted 14 years ago

   4,000 years of Christian history? Eh?

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3. 59

   Jonathan Jancoposted 14 years ago

   Well, if you're talking about an icon who was born of a virgin, performed miracles and was crucified . . . well, that was Hermes. And that aspect of Greek mythology does date back almost that far. The Dead Sea Scrolls portays a totally different character. The NT was obviously designed to convert Hellenists to Christianity, just like Christmas was timed to conflict with Yule, The Festival of Light, which was celebrated by the pagan Celts. The Christians in Japan celebrate Christmas in July, a time many historians claim was much closer to Jesus' birth.

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4. 59

   DennisBarkerposted 14 years ago

   I'm not sure that the flood baffles scientists mealdates. There are cultural references to a flood in many cultures of the middle eastern area. Many people describe floods in their literature and presumably in their oral traditions before the stories were written down.
   
   Scientists would look for additional evidence for and against a theory before coming to a conclusion. On balance the evidence for a biblical style flood is inconclusive.
   
   The old testerment account obviously differs from the account in the epic of gilgamesh - It is possible that the epic of gilgamesh is the original text on which parts of the old testerment is based but I don't claim to be an expert on such matters.

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