Reply to If Jesus wasn’t a real historical figure, where did Christian theology come from?

Forum Index » Religion

Reply to "If Jesus wasn’t a real historical figure, where did Christian theology come from? "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This thread has gone so far off the rails. Seems like the like the people who want to debate Jesus’ divinity or what “fulfill the law” means need to start their own threads.[/quote]

Yup.

There is zero evidence of his divinity.

There is some evidence that he “most likely” existed in history.
[/quote]

I just don't see how the two issues can be separated. If the OP asks where did Christian theology come from? it has to assume the historical figure was divine or there wouldn't be any "theology."  No one builds a religion about some itinerant preacher who spoke in nice parables and beatitudes.  [/quote]

Buddha, anyone?[/quote]

There are no contemporary accounts of Buddha. You can't base a religion around someone who may or may not exist. And if he did exist, was he divine? And even if he was divine, how many class hours of comparative religion have you had?[/quote]

a) there are no contemporary accounts of Buddha.  Like Jesus, the evidence is circumstantial.  b) Correct, you cannot base a religion around some one who is not divine. See the definition of "religion." (indeed Buddha was an atheist, so if Buddhism is a religion it's based on atheism).  c) Buddha, like Jesus, has been elevated in death to godhood among some - indeed he is revered in parts of the world as Lord Buddha.  d) as for hours of comparative religion, that's just silly, no answer needed.  [/quote]

[b]How can Buddha die if he didn't exist? [/b]Atheists can't be Buddhists. Buddhism is anti-science. [/quote]

Another person (or maybe the same one) confusing the existence of only circumstantial evidence with denying the existence -- two completely different things.[/quote]

Another person. I am simply pointing out to the atheists that Buddhism seems to get a pass despite having the exact same problems as Christianity. It requires belief in supernatural elements, like rebirth and karma. There is no direct evidence for the founder. [b]But for whatever reason, atheists give it a pass, and many practice it. [/b]Wikipedia devotes an entire page to proving the historicty of Jesus. Buddha gets a paragraph that says, "yeah, he existed." [/quote]

They give it a pass because it's a philosophical system, not a religion. It has no deity and indeed it's founder was an atheist.[/quote]

DP. It has temples and statues of its founder all across Asia. It has supernatural beliefs in karma and rebirth. [/quote]

There are statues of the US founders across the county and the US capital city, Washington, DC has numerous monuments to its founders.  We don't believe that they are gods.

In the Library of Congress there is a beautiful mosaic of the Goddess Minerva https://www.loc.gov/item/2007684425/ -- Roman Goddess of Learning, and everyone knows it's symbolic.

There's even a fresco in the center of the Capitol dome called the "Apotheosis of George Washington" that is pure symbolism.  https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/apotheosis-washington 
[/quote]

And there are statues of Jesus. So the statue thing could go either way.

Meanwhile you haven’t been able to deny that Buddhism is an organized religion in the sense of having temples and even persecuting minority groups. [/quote]

So who said anything about statues of anyone meaning anything about religion?  There are statues of Micky Mouse and someone could chisel a statue of me.  That would't make me and Micky gods.

[b]Is someone denying that Buddhism is a religion?  Don't think so[/b].[/quote]

Actually that was me. I should say it's as much a philosophical system as a religion, since it has no deity - which I believe is required for a religion to have -- and the founder was an atheist.  I understand, however, it has many of the trappings of a religion like temples, holy scriptures, rituals.[/quote]

There are several valid definitions of “religion.” Your definition of Buddhism would certainly fall into one of these.

Definition of religion
1 : a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices
2a(1) : the service and worship of God or the supernatural
(2) : commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance
2b : the state of a religious
a nun in her 20th year of religion
3 : a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/religion[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics