Pagan Origins of the Christian Faith (Phil. Daily Inquirer)

[regnauld]

---

When the Church mythologists established their system, they collected all the writings they could find and managed them as they pleased. It is a matter altogether of uncertainty to us whether such of the writings as now appear under the name of the Old and New Testaments are in the same state in which those collectors say they found them, or whether they added, altered, abridged or dressed them up.

-Thomas Paine (The Age of Reason)

[regnauld]

Didn't you start this thread with an article?

And what's wrong with being defensive? Do you expect some people to take things like these passively?

Yes and that's why I posted another article to study objectively not one sided approach just because you believe in the Jesus Story as REAL and TRUE!

[regnauld]

The world has been for a long time engaged in writing lives of Jesus... The library of such books has grown since then. But when we come to examine them, one startling fact confronts us: all of these books relate to a personage concerning whom there does not exist a single scrap of contemporary information -- not one! By accepted tradition he was born in the reign of Augustus, the great literary age of the nation of which he was a subject. In the Augustan age historians flourished; poets, orators, critics and travelers abounded. Yet not one mentions the name of Jesus Christ, much less any incident in his life.

-Moncure D. Conway [1832 - 1907] (Modern Thought)

[regnauld]

Many people-- then and now-- have assumed that these letters [of Paul] are genuine, and five of them were in fact incorporated into the New Testament as "letters of Paul." Even today, scholars dispute which are authentic and which are not. Most scholars, however, agree that Paul actually wrote only eight of the thirteen "Pauline" letters now included in the New Testament. collection: Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and Philemon. Virtually all scholars agree that Paul himself did not write 1 or 2 Timothy or Titus-- letters written in a style different from Paul's and reflecting situations and viewpoints in a style different from those in Paul's own letters. About the authorship of Ephesias, Colossians, and 2 Thessalonians, debate continues; but the majority of scholars include these, too, among the "deutero-Pauline"-- literally, secondarily Pauline-- letters."

-Elaine Pagels, Professor of Religion at Princeton University, (Adam, Eve, and the Serpent)

We know virtually nothing about the persons who wrote the gospels we call Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

-Elaine Pagels, Professor of Religion at Princeton University, (The Gnostic Gospels)

Some hoped to penetrate the various accounts and to discover the "historical Jesus". . . and that sorting out "authentic" material in the gospels was virtually impossible in the absence of independent evidence."

-Elaine Pagels, Professor of Religion at Princeton University

[josephdc]

Yes and that's why I posted another article to study objectively not one sided approach just because you believe in the Jesus Story as REAL and TRUE!

Some of the articles didn't really sound so objective... But it's good that st.anthony and others are posting these other articles from the other side of the fence, at least we get to see the Christian perspective.

[regnauld]

I think the alleged parrallel of the Zodiac to the twelve disciples is simply ridiculous...

I can accept your opinion and the number 12 has a biblical and mythological basis!

[angelfyre]

Inner Awareness
Pagan origins of the Christian faith
By Jaime Licauco
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 18:11:00 04/13/2009

Filed Under: Religion & Belief

I have come to the inevitable conclusion that one’s degree of certainty about his or her religion is inversely proportional to his or her knowledge of the facts about that religion. The more dogmatic or fanatical a person is about religion, the more ignorant he is about the origin or basis of his beliefs.

always been a big fan of jimmy licauco. great guy, very open minded!

[regnauld]

Some of the articles didn't really sound so objective... But it's good that st.anthony and others are posting these other articles from the other side of the fence, at least we get to see the Christian perspective.

What makes it not objective about the original article?

[josephdc]

Elaine Pagels and Bart Ehrman belong to a minority of NT scholars who don't believe that Jesus is divine.

According to William Lane Craig, majority of NT historians consider these three as established facts: Jesus' empty tomb, his post-mortem appearances, and the change in the belief of his early followers. The thesis that best explains these facts is Jesus' resurrection from the dead.

[josephdc]

What makes it not objective about the original article?

For one thing, Licauco only mentioned in his piece that book by Freke and Gandy. Some scholars have pointed out that that book is very problematic.