All of christianity was taken from other religions.
The monothestic god was Aten, the sun god of Ankhenaten.
The story of Lucifer bringing forbidden wisdom to humans through Eve, the second woman, and then humanity being punished by God for her taking up the offer, is the same as the story of Prometheus who brought forbidden wisdom to humans, then the gods decided to punish humanity by getting the first woman, Pandora, to open up a box of sins.
The reason Lucifer inhabits the body of a serpent is because of the Egyptian god Apophis, who takes the form of a snake that eats the sun, then is driven off by Bastet, the Goddess who takes the form of a cat, giving rise to the sun's return.
The great flood was a story that was taken directly from the Epic of G-G-Garugamesh! (come to Sakura-con for gaybang!), the story of moses was heavily inspired by the stories of Ishtar and her curses upon those who repeatedly defied her.
Lots of the old testament was taken from other pre-existing religions of the region.
New Testament is included, lots of the parts of the story of Jesus were inspired by similar themes found in other pre-existing religions of the region, but also a lot of the stories may be traced back to various accounts of a real person who existed.
One guy who claimed to be the messiah out of many who made similar claims in the same time frame, he was one of many who claimed to be the prophesied savior of the jews.
Jesus also claimed that the world was ending soon, hence why his teachings were marxist bullshit, his religion was never supposed to outlast the period where it was a doomsday cult, the world was going to end shortly after his death, so there was no need to hope for the future, if Jesus were to see that his cult had grown as much as it did and lasted so long after his death, he would likely be in shock from the surprise, though he would also be taken aback at how long the world had lasted, since he was certain that he was living in the end of days.
A lot of the messiah claimants were killed, mostly because they had been leading religious schisms among the jewish people, the authorities of any church-state will want to crack down on those who undermine their authority by going their own way.
Messiahs coming back from the dead was a standard trait, Jesus resurrection was one of many, and only holds such sway today because we have no knowledge about the others, rebuking the jewish authorities is also something that comes standard, not just in the case of messiah claimants, but also in the case of anyone who orchestrates a schism, Martin Luther, for example, he condemned the christian authorities (the catholic church was the universal church, basically synonymous with christianity in the area) but he was still a committed christian.
Kind of lines up with how christ could hate the jewish authorities, but love the jews and the jewish laws and the jewish holidays, judaism, it's laws and traditions, and the jewish people were still very dear to him, even though he was challenging the leadership associated with them.
What do you think about the claims in this video? (< 5 min)
Could similarities to prior (or contemporary) pagan religious beliefs possibly strengthen the case?
Many people believe that because a religion has "borrowed" much of its foundations from previous faiths, that somehow makes it less valid. I believe the opposite is true.
We see the same kind of behavior in art and music. Painters and musicians always borrow ideas from previous generations. They then incorporate them into their own art...and deliver it in a way that is pertinent and understandable to the people of that time. Elvis Presley lifted much of his style from black musicians in the South. He then incorporated that into his own music...and delivered his message in a way that billions of people could relate to.
By doing this, he didn't make his own music less valid. He simply took what worked in a previous time, and modified the message to fit his own time.
Such is the way of humanity. Any healthy society will take what works from previous eras and incorporate it into their own. Religion is no different. So saying Christianity is a composite of many previous faiths, or that it is derived from Egypt, does nothing to discredit it, or its main character.
The true test of any religion is: do the teachings apply to the current state of affairs? Does the faith resonate with its believers? Does it contribute to a net positive for society?
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