EXCAVATING the empty TOMB (youtube series)

[Nemesiah]

TruthSurge (Youtuber) made this series and I found it interesting; the gist of it is that parts of the new testament are based on the Mark godspell and that the mark godspell is based on greek writings such as the Odisey thus making JC a fictional character.

First video


Series (so far)
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDAAAF0B1C9AE0AFE&feature=playlist-comment

I hope you enjoy it and would like to read you comments.

Have a nice day!

Ed.

 

[Laurens]

I've been watching this series this afternoon. Its very interesting, the parallels with Homer's Odyssey are very interesting.

I'm about to finish watching it now I'm home. From what I've seen so far I would highly recommend it.

 

[Nemesiah]

Did you ever finish watching the series? what did you think of it?

Any one else want to watch it and give his/her opinion?

Have a nice day.

 

[Metalgod]

the parallels with Homer's Odyssey are very interesting.

Why?

 

[Hamster]

I am now on part 10 of the series. The parrallels to Homer are quit clearly presented and the presentation that Mark is writing fiction sounds reasonable. I would be curious to see what response the book used for this series received from other bible scholars.

Now on part 13. Be curious to see if Jason touches any of this.

 

[Frenger]

the parallels with Homer's Odyssey are very interesting.

Why?

Harry Potter had many parallels with other fictional stories, it is therefore safe to assume that Rowling was influenced by these other works.

With this in mind, the fact the Marks writings have many parallels with Homer's Odyssey could suggest that his writings were influenced by this, and not factual events.

 

[Laurens]

the parallels with Homer's Odyssey are very interesting.

Why?

Because I hadn't heard them before, and I thought it was a very interesting line of reasoning. Can't really explain it any further its been ages since I watched this...

 

[Metalgod]

There is nothing really new here. I've read something about this like 10 years ago.

 

[Nemesiah]

I seem to remeber that one of us was a religiuos historian by trade (Anachronous Rex I believe but I might be mistaken), I would love to hear what he thinks about it, (even if it is like a full decade old)

 

[Metalgod]

Me too.

 

[Laurens]

There is nothing really new here. I've read something about this like 10 years ago.

Fair enough. I'd not heard the conjecture prior to watching this series, so it was interesting to me

 

[Metalgod]

Fair enough. I'd not heard the conjecture prior to watching this series, so it was interesting to me

That's cool.

Does anyone here actually want to make a case for Christianity being derived(sp?) from greek mythology?

 

[Frenger]

Fair enough. I'd not heard the conjecture prior to watching this series, so it was interesting to me

That's cool.

Does anyone here actually want to make a case for Christianity being derived(sp?) from greek mythology?

There are many stories in the bible that look, well, stolen. Noahs ark for example is almost identical to the story of gilgamesh, although this was based in Mesopotomian mythology, not greek.

 

[Darkprophet232]

Does anyone here actually want to make a case for Christianity being derived(sp?) from greek mythology?

I'll bite. However, I won't say Christianity was derived from the Greek pantheon, but Jesus does share many similarities with Dionysus, who himself shares traits with many other god-men.

Both were born from a virgin woman impregnated by a god who came to earth.
A star played a prominent role in both births.
Both Converted water into wine.
Both used wine as symbols (although differently).
Both had 12 disciples.
Both were executed around the spring equinox.
Both rose into heaven (Olympus) after being in hell (Hades) for three days.
Both shall (allegedly) come again to judge mankind at the end of days.

There are also many other parallels with Biblical figures and Greek ones.

Pandora and Eve
Pan and Satan
Ares and Yahweh

Saying this, even in the case of Jesus, I would not say that the characters were copied from one source straight to another. No, I think it is more likely that legends and cultural folklore mixed together as people traveled and conversed with other people. The ancient world isn't known for having a vast population of literate farmhands, servants, and soldiers. Memories and traditions can be blurred when one is not home for years at a time. Complicating this further, Rome at the time was a hodgepodge of religious traditions where even members of the same house worshiped gods of vastly different backgrounds.

I would also like to add these gods and figures often represent a shared desire or trait of humankind. Whether it be mercy, hate, curiosity, cunning, or hatred of women. It would only be expected these creatures imagined by people would be fairly similar to one another.

 

[Metalgod]

Does anyone here actually want to make a case for Christianity being derived(sp?) from greek mythology?

I'll bite. However, I won't say Christianity was derived from the Greek pantheon, but Jesus does share many similarities with Dionysus, who himself shares traits with many other god-men.

Both were born from a virgin woman impregnated by a god who came to earth.
A star played a prominent role in both births.
Both Converted water into wine.
Both used wine as symbols (although differently).
Both had 12 disciples.
Both were executed around the spring equinox.
Both rose into heaven (Olympus) after being in hell (Hades) for three days.
Both shall (allegedly) come again to judge mankind at the end of days.

There are also many other parallels with Biblical figures and Greek ones.

Pandora and Eve
Pan and Satan
Ares and Yahweh

Interesting. I've noticed noticed that some Christians put alot of effort into "debunking" claims like this. I guess they take it as an attack on Christianity, althought I cant figure out why..

Saying this, even in the case of Jesus, I would not say that the characters were copied from one source straight to another. No, I think it is more likely that legends and cultural folklore mixed together as people traveled and conversed with other people.

Sure, why not?

 

[Noth]

Interesting. I've noticed noticed that some Christians put alot of effort into "debunking" claims like this. I guess they take it as an attack on Christianity, althought I cant figure out why..

Well I guess they feel that it undermines the validity of the character of Jesus, or at least his divinity, as he is equated with other gods, demi-gods and heroes that they do not believe in. If your religious conviction rests on the premise that Jesus must have all the supernatural traits and done the supernatural deeds attributed to him in the Bible, then showing how Jesus compares to other mythological figures with regards to this sort of undermines his special status.

 

[Metalgod]

Well I guess they feel that it undermines the validity of the character of Jesus, or at least his divinity, as he is equated with other gods, demi-gods and heroes that they do not believe in. If your religious conviction rests on the premise that Jesus must have all the supernatural traits and done the supernatural deeds attributed to him in the Bible, then showing how Jesus compares to other mythological figures with regards to this sort of undermines his special status.

Yeah I know what you mean. But I just dont see it like they do.

I dont believe that the wise men who came from the east to honor Christ when he was born, were jews.

 

[Noth]

I dont believe that the wise men who came from the east to honor Christ when he was born, were jews.

Are there people who think that then? :facepalm:

What's interesting is that ealy Christians did not care much about the actual validity of the 3 kings/wise men or the shepherds (both are in different gospels) but saw them as simple analogies suggesting Jesus was an important person. Whether either really happened did not actually matter to them. The worrying about specific details and the insistence that everything must have taken place literally is a much later invention.

What I understand about this way of thinking, though, is that if you are comfortable accepting that some stories were just analogies and there to appease the various social/cultural and political crowds that the early Christians were proselytising to, it becomes hard to judge what to actually take as having happened literally. In other words, why not take Jesus as simply an influential Rabbi whose ideas might sometimes inspire you and take any supernatural story surrounding him with a grain of salt since they don't matter to the overall picture?

 

[Jen Martense]

In other words, why not take Jesus as simply an influential Rabbi whose ideas might sometimes inspire you and take any supernatural story surrounding him with a grain of salt since they don't matter to the overall picture?

1 Corinthians 15 addresses this.

When you excise the supernatural elements, what's left of Christianity?

 

[IBSpify]

When you excise the supernatural elements, what's left of Christianity?

The parts that are actually testable.