Christianity is unoriginal

[LookingUp]

A friend shared with me that he can't believe in Christianity because it's obvious we borrowed our traditions from other religions that existed before Christianity. Any advice? This is his note to me:

The similarities of beliefs and religions that predate Christianity. take for instance: Horus 300B.C., Attis 1200B.C., Dionysus 500 b.C., Mithra 1200 B.C..............Most of which were born of a virgin, Dec 25th birthday, performed miracles, known as the Light Alpha omega etc., Dead for 3 days, resurrected.........It seems to me that traditional Christian values were infact barrowed from other predated beliefs. Including the pegan cross.......

[jesse]

When the Anti-Christ comes will you recognize him? OR will you say... he looks like Nero, Hitler, The Pope... etc.

The fact is that the birth of Christ was known even in the Garden of Eden.

And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Genesis 3:14-15

Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. Genesis 3:21

These are just fake Christs that your friend is talking about. If there is some religion that is older than the Garden of Eden, then you may be on to something. It is no surprise that Satan sent people to fulfill partially what Jesus fulfilled in full.

[quiet dove]

Hi LookingUp, just posting regarding the book Brother Mark recommended, or author., Josh McDowell, very worth in. 'Evidence that Demands a Verdict", he probably has others, but I know that one is excellent.

The thing about your friend, unfortunately....he is refusing the conviction of the Spirit in his heart, and the longer he does this, the more imbedded the deception becomes. And arguing it with him is not going to work, just present truth to him, that is your obedience, and either he will respond to the Spirit or he will choose not to.

It is the day in which we live and these deceptions are main stream..the inaccuracies, the blindness, the refusal....generally by those assuming themselves to be "intelligent" enough to know better than to follow fables as they consider the Bible to be..... but, having rejected the truth, then they turn around and follow what is a fable. But that is the genius of our adversary. The more you look around and see the deception rampant, you see just how brilliant and genius Satan really is. And he can be very beautiful also as he wraps himself around lies that kill.

This is his website, I apologies that there are things for sale, but there are things for free...I think, it says they are. I am fixing to find out as I intend on downloading some of it. Not sure what is there but maybe something that will help you. I think I did see something on the resurrection and since Christianity rises or falls on that issue, as it is proof of Jesus Deity, it is proof He lives, and it is proof through Him we too will live.

McDowells book "Evidence that Demands a Verdict" is really good, if I had the money I would buy everyone I know a copy, to go along with a new Bible......

The thing that is really hard, is that, if your friend wants to deny Christ, he will find a reason, regardless of the evidence. Evidence is only beneficial to the hearer if the hearer is honest and unbiased about the evidence he is hearing. These claiming to the Messiah prior to, after, and still today cannot fulfill the prophecies of the Bible....all they can do is present counterfeit.

[Saved7]

I have heard by many this same argument about Christianity being a copy cat religion. And after looking at the so called evidence each time I am left laughing. For example....there was some ruler in Egypt who died in BATTLE (Jesus didn't go to war) and he supposedly died in the river Nile (baptism I they say) and his wife cut his body up and sent it to different places around the country and then gave birth to a Son which she claimed was his and then he became a Sun God or the dead man or some sacked out stuff like that. It's been a while so the story is fuzzy, but those are the so called similar STORIES/religions. Funny stuff,that.

[LookingUp]

He's told me to check out The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Every Sold by Acharya Murdock. I basically told him that if he could offer me one primary source, I'd be willing to take a look at it. I told him to get evidence from these people making these claims and that they shouldn't be offended because it's a fair and honest request.

[quiet dove]

Well, to me, the prophecies were given long before Jesus was born....my point there is that there is no doubt that Satan desired to thwart the plan, of course he couldn't, but, he could-can-and continues to put forth one counterfeit or another.

The many prophecies about Christ narrow down the time frame for His First Advent. Also, none of the others fulfilled the time frame, or the many required prophecies. Sometimes what gets lost to our understanding is that there were Jews expecting the Messiah because they understood the time frame requirement.

What we also tend to forget when people throw this stuff at us, is God came first, so to speak. All else, outside of His revelation toward men in regards to Himself, is counterfeit. In other words...what appears to be either similarity, or even taken from other religions into both OT and NT teachings ....it is actually the other way around...because God came first and all that He revealed to true men of God. All others were taking from those truths and presenting counterfeit.

For example, with the timing. One place it is found is in Daniel 9:24-26. We know the starting date of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem, and we know that the promised One would be cut off prior to the destruction of the Second temple, which we know happened in 70AD.

There is another that comes to mind, though there are more I think. In Genesis 49:10, before the sepulcher, ruling authority over Jerusalem, leaves Judah. I think it is 49:10.

Maybe do some digging around. Your friend is wrong. Plus, none of those was born a virgin. There is not a hoot of evidence to back it up, plus we know from God's word, it didn't happen.

He is talking like he knows something and is stating facts and it is all bologna. I mean, those things were probably claimed, but they are bogus imitations brought forth by the father of lies.

There is much more out there I just can't remember all I have read and studied about it. I know it is frustrating though.

[Ta-An]

Well, to me, the prophecies were given long before Jesus was born....my point there is that there is no doubt that Satan desired to thwart the plan, of course he couldn't, but, he could-can-and continues to put forth one counterfeit or another.

The many prophecies about Christ narrow down the time frame for His First Advent. Also, none of the others fulfilled the time frame, or the many required prophecies. Sometimes what gets lost to our understanding is that there were Jews expecting the Messiah because they understood the time frame requirement.

.

Exactly!!
Sorry I can't rep you again....

[ewq1938]

Exactly!!
Sorry I can't rep you again....

You can just rep me instead lol Then I'll rep Dove Circumventing the system!

[Ta-An]

You can just rep me instead lol Then I'll rep Dove Circumventing the system!

[RollTide21]

Prominent Christian scholars such as William Lane Craig, among others, have thoroughly refuted the "copycat" theory. It's garbage.

[jesse]

Umm... I had something to add that was on the topic of siting sources. My friend at work had this book by David Icke which was just so crazy! I am not even sure what the book was about i just picked it up and read a little about how Jesus was based on the story of Joseph because they had so much in common and how Josephus and Pliny the Younger wrote the new testament and on and on and i only read maybe 3 pages of this book... and you could write like a 500 page book trying to prove those 3 pages. Needless to say, there were no proofs of any claims, no sources cited, just paranoid ramblings of a lunatic. And my friend at work totally thinks all that stuff is highly probable and its just madness. But it just goes to show you where not doing your research will take you! I am sure this doesn't help, I just felt like sharing.

[ewq1938]

lol .

[Brother Mark]

A friend shared with me that he can't believe in Christianity because it's obvious we borrowed our traditions from other religions that existed before Christianity. Any advice? This is his note to me:

The similarities of beliefs and religions that predate Christianity. take for instance: Horus 300B.C., Attis 1200B.C., Dionysus 500 b.C., Mithra 1200 B.C..............Most of which were born of a virgin, Dec 25th birthday, performed miracles, known as the Light Alpha omega etc., Dead for 3 days, resurrected.........It seems to me that traditional Christian values were infact barrowed from other predated beliefs. Including the pegan cross.......

Check out some books by Josh McDowell. He was an atheist and was challenged to prove the bible false. His studies led him to God. He wrote "Evidence that Demands a Verdict" and "More than a Carpenter"

One thing that is hard to get by, the apostles were eye witnesses to Jesus. They were tortured and eventually killed for their preaching. If Jesus wasn't real, and if Jesus didn't rise again, why were his apostles willing to be martyrs? Is it worth dying for a lie when you know it to be a lie? The response of the eye witnesses to Jesus is a strong support of his truthfulness and deity. Personal testimony is very strong. What will he say when you tell him what God has done for you? What can he say to that?

Finally, keep in mind that salvation is a miracle. How do you describe the color red to someone who has been blind since birth? When will he understand? Only when his eyes are opened. Don't forget the spiritual warfare around unbelievers who have been blinded by the god of this world.

[BrckBrln]

I recently watched a debate between Mike Licona and Shane Puckett (link to apologetics315.com) where Puckett brings exactly this charge and uses the same people listed in the OP. Licona dealt specifically with a few of them and points out the parallels are anything but actual parallels. But I think the question that needs to be asked is who is borrowing from whom? I think the answer Licona gave is that the sources we have for some of the supposed Christian parallels all post date Jesus by a great deal, which means it's more likely they copied from Jesus rather than the other way around. So you should ask your friend for the specific sources for each of those listed and see if they are actual parallels and also make note of the date of the sources.

[LookingUp]

Thanks all. He's pretty adamant that there are sources that will prove that Christianity is a copycat religion. I'll try to get the sources from him and look at them.