Spreading The Word..

[ck1]

So assuming the whole jesus thing didn't happen, somebody at some point would have come up with this elaborate story, told his mates, got them on board and they they start to pass the word around. How long did it take to get from the figment of somebody's imagination to being globally recognised as a common story?

[naomi24]

Chakka is right. The messiah still awaited by the Jews refers to a Jewish King, a descendant of the house of David, who will be anointed with oil, and who will lead the Jewish people. Sound familiar?

[goodlife]

Obviously you cannot put faith in someone if all you know is his name, any more than you could put faith in some remedy for an illness just through knowing the name of the medicine, simple.

[tamborine]

2013y since the bible was scrolled

[Ken4155]

Mikey 444, it wasn't Ceylon, it was Blackburn:-) I'm from Burnley, by the way.

[modeller]

The term gullible has been used in a derogatory manner but gullibility isn't always what it seems. People may appear gullible when the opposite might be the case. I always remember when my eldest daughter was 5 shortly before a Christmas, she said ." If you don't believe in Father Christmas , do you still get toys ? " I think I answered by saying " Well you do what you think is best ? "
I wonder if all Theists believe out of conviction or is it something else ?
They want to believe , they have a need to believe . Our local Baptist minister said the very thought of not believig was frightening. He wasn't just speaking as it affected him but he said he felt a great sadness for Atheists.
I know several ''believers '' who have quietly told me they only go along to keep the wife or wife's family happy.

[Zeuhl]

And remember

the main elements of the story were used and established prior to the Jesus version:

child of god fathered with mortal woman
lives as a mortal -performs a few miracles
is betrayed/killed by mortals
comes back from the dead
forgives mortals
goes to heaven

all appear in preceding myths e.g. Ra

so it was just recycling old favourites really

[cupid04]

Can I ask a question? Why do you resort to name-calling [i.e.-gullible]
because you and I don't hold the same beliefs. I take great comfort in my belief . I'm not daft, I'm well aware of some of the barbaric things that go on in the name of religion but that doesn't mean I approve.

[chakka35]

You are gullible, cupid04, because you are prepared to believe something irrational without wanting any evidence for that belief. It is not 'name-calling', it is a straight description of your state of mind.

[cupid04]

I might have known I wouldn't get a sensible answer, when you're not discussing, just attacking. Your loss!

[modeller]

cupid //I'm well aware of some of the barbaric things that go on in the name of religion but that doesn't mean I approve. //

As for barbarism , religion is steeped in barbarism, from the holy books to the Crusades, Inquisition right up to the present day.

If you don't approve how can you believe ? Even if you believe in an imaginary god , how can you believe in the practices of a man made religion.?

[cupid04]

The gospel is open and revealed to everyone except to those who refuse to believe. Satan is the god of this age. His work is to deceive and he has blinded those who don't believe in Christ. The allure of money, power and pleasure blinds people to the light of Christ's gospel. Those who reject Christ and prefer their own pursuits have unknowingly made Satan their god.

[naomi24]

Cupid, you're on a bit of a sticky wicket there with that statement about unwittingly worshipping Satan. You see, unless you're a Jehovah's Witness, which I don't believe you are, according to Goodlife, who claims to be a true Christian, you're doomed, just like the rest of us. Strange how you and he both listen to other people (who in fact know no more than either of you) and believe what they say - even though the two tales are contradictory and each as impossible to corroborate as the next. Just think, had you been hoodwinked by the JWs and he by, say, the Born Agains, you two would still be on opposing sides of the argument - only the other way around. What a dilemma you people have created for yourselves.

Personally, I think there's a very real and quite fascinating history in the New Testament, but it's not one of the non-existent supernatural. Christianity is founded upon fear, guilt, and self-obsessed wishful thinking - and Jesus wouldn't recognise it - in any guise.

[Zacs-Master]

'Those who reject Christ and prefer their own pursuits have unknowingly made Satan their god.'
Wow, do people actually believe such hippo critical nonsense?

[naomi24]

Sadly, yes, they do.

[Zacs-Master]

Logical debate I can argue with. Outdated nonsensical rhetoric.....well.

[tamborine]

Believers have souls & are divine ;)

[ck1]

So at what age do you develop a soul and divinity, are we all born soul less and profane until we start to believe when we are able to comprehend stories such as the gruffalo, horrid henry, the bible...

[seadogg]

I believe, Zeuhl, that the Baldur story in Norse Mythology runs along similar lines to the story of Ra. I guess the idea of purification through sacrifice is as old as humanity. As to gullibility, anyone can believe what they like-as long as they don't try to shove it down my throat.

[seadogg]

ck1 read Wordsworth's "Ode on Intimations of Immortality............." It handles that one beautifully

[modeller]

cupid //The gospel is open and revealed to everyone except to those who refuse to believe. Satan is the god of this age.// Now which gospel might that be ?
Not one of them was written by anyone who knew Jesus. That is hardly surprising 99% of the population were illiterate , which was still the case until the 17th century . They were all written in Greek by a few who were a member of the literate elite. , the earliest 40 years after Christ's death.
The others later in the second century ,all of it hearsay and all of them different .
You say Satan is the god of this age !! So the history of evil over the past 6000 years was the work of someone else . I assume you mean God because the 1200 pages of barbarism in the bible were attributed to God, not Satan but God himself.