Why believe in god?
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Anonymous
This isn't one of the Muslim threads, where atheists can toss out some simple-minded snark about "ignorant posts" they respond with something misogynistic about mini-skirted grannies with STDs who can't cook, and everybody goes home happy. Too bad for you, as you seem a little frustrated about that. |
Anonymous
no I didn't say that. If you examine the bible, you'll see Jesus compared to light.
John 8:12 is one such example. But many of you are too dense to see how humans RUN on metaphors. And with the sun giving light to the pagans, helping them grow their crops, giving them warmth, it's only natural to have a sun god. Again, so many of you can't accept that b/c you're fearful of the truth. Any basic research 101 will help you. I suggest you look beyond the bible as your main source. You may learn something. Here are a few more: (translation - The "great light" is the sun!)
metaphors - all connected to the sun and light |
Anonymous
wtf? No, really - I'm fine. You, however . . . one for the cuckoo's nest |
Anonymous
So metaphor = proof? I don't think so. This fails basic tests of logic. Congratulations on learning the word "metaphor", though. I'm fine with metaphors like the one someone brought up earlier, about Jesus saying he came to bring a (metaphorical) sword. But your attempt to torture an actual metaphor in the literary sense (Jesus as light) into proof that Jesus is some sort of sun god is laughable. |
Anonymous
Hehe. If you don't get it, you don't get it. No reason to be ashamed. It's your loss, though, because those were some great threads. |
Anonymous
Maybe Darwin was a metaphor! That's right, the whole Voyage of the Beagle thing was a religious quest. The stop at the Galapagos was a search for demons of the mind. The Straits of Magellan were actually the atheist's philosophical straight jacket. Australia was a metaphorical desert of the soul. See how that works? |
Anonymous
uh not really But you seem happy with your simplistic "aha" moment. I'll let you bask in your glory. |
Anonymous
Yes, we simple minded Muslims learned that a while back. Best to let the cuckoo go. |
Anonymous
You completely missed the point. That was obviously pointing out the absurdity of your own attempt to twist a literary metaphor into some sort of historical truth. BTW, you or someone DID try to claim that Son of God = Sun of God, right here on this thread at 12/29 @ 9:50. You can't deny it. As if everybody was speaking English in 30AD. |
Anonymous
Your insults about women who had STDs and were bad cooks were called misogynistic, which they were. Not simple minded. Just to be clear. |
Anonymous
| If anything, the Christian "God is light" metaphor comes from a long tradition of dualism between good/evil and dark/light. The Manicheans were the extreme form of this dualism. The attempt to connect this metaphor to Zeus, the sun god, is silly. Sometimes a metaphor is just a metaphor! |
Anonymous
Zeus was not the sun god. Ra was. Zeus was the god of the sky and the ruler of all lesser gods. Ra was part of ancient Egyptian culture. Metaphors are based on our thought process, which is shaped by culture. In Western culture, up is good; down is bad. We have the concepts of heaven and hell. We view time in a linear fashion with the past behind the present and the future in front of the present. However, there are some South-American Indian languages that view the present as behind and the past in front, as we KNOW the past (we can see it), but we can't yet see the future. We do indeed live by metaphors, and religion is just an extension of that way of thinking, as it helps many people make sense of their world. So Jesus is light. You can see during the day. The sun heats us and helps with crops. Therefore, it's good. It's only a natural progression to move from a sun god to Jesus. The Manicheans were no different - very pagan. Have you examined the history of that belief system? cosmology, demons, elements (Fire, Water, Air, Ether, and Light), very violent and dark origin, btw Read Metaphors We Live By by Lakoff. http://www.amazon.com/Metaphors-We-Live-George-Lakoff/dp/0226468011 It should open up your mind. I still have my copy from college. |
Anonymous
You're an idiot. I cleared this up a few posts ago. Who mentioned using English? The sun is the sun. It's a big fireball. Ancient Egyptians saw the same thing the Romans saw. In the bible, Jesus is light. It's cross-cultural. the Quran:
Look at Diwali - a festival that celebrates the victory of light over darkness.
http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/f/festivals-of-light-islam/ Sadly, YOU can't see the light! |
Anonymous
That was my post. We agree to the extent that light has existed as a metaphor for millenia, and sun worship (or, related, worship of the god of the sun) has been a feature of certain religions. It's where you make the leap to Christianity having roots in the sun god, apart from a simple metaphorical relationship, that you lose the plot. You haven't established or traced a direct link from the sun gods to Jesus, and you can't. Further, it's not a very rational leap, if you read the Bible (which you won't, so you'll have to take my word for it). Rather, in the absence of being able to trace such a link, this is nothing more than your own "belief" about the origins of Christianity. |
Anonymous
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Of course if there is a real god, other cultures will be influenced by his existence, and you will see themes in them that point towards the truth. God has been revealing himself through all times, through all people. You seem to think Christians believe God only revealed himself through Jesus. That is not their belief.
And, why do you keep talking about ancient Roman Gods? While it is true that the Romans did eventually adapt Christianity, Jesus and his disciples were Jewish and more influenced by Jewish religious beliefs. Of course, all the ancient Mediterranean religions influenced each other, but the Jews were monotheistic long before the council of Nicea. No educated Christian denies that early Christianity was influenced by both Jewish and other local religious traditions, though. What makes you think educated Christians deny this? |