Just going in terms of chronology as far as who is and who is not a heretic.
I mean, most Christians in this area are dead certain that Mormons are heretics, probably almost as certain as the Papacy was that Martin Luther was a heretic (I think they even formally charged him as a heretic).
Yes, there are other resurrections, but the resurrection of Christ is the foundation of Christianity. The rest is fluff in all honesty. It is the resurrection that shows without doubt that Christ is the savior of mankind, that demonstrates his divinity, that provides the foundation of everlasting life through salvation, etc.
Remove that anchor point, remove that myth that was taken as whole cloth from Mithraism, and you have stories about a great philosopher and moral leader… perhaps one not too different from Martin Luther King. The resurrection is what MAKES Christianity a successful religion, it embodies all that Christianity is and believes. Without it, you have nothing.
Well, you really need Christ to be God as well. Otherwise he is there with the three others in the Bible who died and were resurrected.
Yes, the mid-winter festival included holly, but holidays come from the conjunction of Holy and Day. You did not work on a Holy Day because it was against the tenaments of the Catholic Church. Thus you had HolyDays or Holidays.
BTW, the original midwinter festival was about being lude, drunk and rude. Christians turned it around into a day of remembrance for Christ and of sharing gifts and good will. Though, it was still a day of drunken lewdness for many centuries until around the turn of the century, last. That’s why America did not officially recognize the day originally, and, in fact, required the government to remain open on that day for decades after our creation.
Remove that anchor point, remove that myth that was taken as whole cloth from Mithraism
why do you suppose that Christianity flourished even though everyone was trying to kill them off and Mithraism died out?
It flourished because it was based on the original religion of the world. A monotheistic deity that based it’s stance on godhood by advocating love, peace and friendship which are aspects that man outwardly desire, even if inwardly we act for war, violence and hate.
Heck, even the Muslims worship the same God the Christians do. It’s just a different prophet they cling too.
Jews, Muslims and Christians worship God.
Pagans worship everything, including themselves. (Depends on your flavor of paganism.)
Polytheists worship multiple gods
Buddists/Scientologists worship themselves
Most scientists worship themselves
Athiests/Agnostics don’t worship anything, but they may or may not conceed that a God exists.
Jen, your last post shows just HOW LITTLE you know of other religions.
You can’t lump Agnostic and Atheist together. They are actually almost diametrically opposed.
And you OBVIOUSLY HAVE NO CLUE about Paganism.
If you can lump Catholics, Mormons, Luthrens, Church of Christ, etc together, I most certainly can lump all pagans together including Wiccans, Druids, etc, as well as Agnostics and Athiests.
Athiest: No God
Agnostic: God, but I don’t care.
Net Effect: Same thing.
Again you show that you know nothign about those religions. Quit while you are behind.
@ncscswitch:
Again you show that you know nothign about those religions. Quit while you are behind.
Just because you are confused on the facts does not mean I do not know what I am saying.
Aethist: no god
Agnostic: there may be a god but i don’t know
Agnostics (in practice) believe that no single religion has a monopoly on Truth, thus they follow no organized religion. Many however are still deeply spiritual and the majority have a strong belief in the Divine.
Atheists believe that NO GOD EXISTS, PERIOD.
Hell of a difference between the two.
@ncscswitch:
Agnostics (in practice) believe that no single religion has a monopoly on Truth, thus they follow no organized religion. Many however are still deeply spiritual and the majority have a strong belief in the Divine.
that sounds more like Bhai(spelling)
@ncscswitch:
Agnostics (in practice) believe that no single religion has a monopoly on Truth, thus they follow no organized religion. Many however are still deeply spiritual and the majority have a strong belief in the Divine.
Atheists believe that NO GOD EXISTS, PERIOD.
Hell of a difference between the two.
if indeed there is a hell . . . :evil:
@ncscswitch:
Agnostics (in practice) believe that no single religion has a monopoly on Truth, thus they follow no organized religion. Many however are still deeply spiritual and the majority have a strong belief in the Divine.
Atheists believe that NO GOD EXISTS, PERIOD.
Hell of a difference between the two.
Treat others as you would be treated (that is common to most religions isn’t it?) Be nice. Be fair. Act with integrity and honor.
I need to learn this from a god or God? If it is from a god, I need to squirm in church on Sunday’s or commune with the Goddess or slaughter some bulls or a lamb or a few infidels?
I would agree with your assesment Switch. No religion has a monopoly on truth. That of course begs the question, “What is the truth?”
Frimmel, being totally honest, I think the only “truth” that REALLY matters is your first sentence above.
@ncscswitch:
Jen, your last post shows just HOW LITTLE you know of other religions.
You can’t lump Agnostic and Atheist together. They are actually almost diametrically opposed.
And you OBVIOUSLY HAVE NO CLUE about Paganism.
The comparison of Buddhism and Scientology is quite humorous, though.
@ncscswitch:
Agnostics (in practice) believe that no single religion has a monopoly on Truth, thus they follow no organized relig
ion. Many however are still deeply spiritual and the majority have a strong belief in the Divine.that sounds more like Bhai(spelling)
Could be Baha’i faith, or Unitarian Universalism…
Back on track…
Another holiday song for everyone…
@ncscswitch:
Agnostics (in practice) believe that no single religion has a monopoly on Truth, thus they follow no organized religion. Many however are still deeply spiritual and the majority have a strong belief in the Divine.
Atheists believe that NO GOD EXISTS, PERIOD.
Hell of a difference between the two.
My brother’s an agnostic. They believe that there may be a God or many gods. They don’t care. They do NOT believe that there is no single monopoly on the Truth. They DON’T CARE.
Athiests believe that they are gods in that they are the pinnacle of life as we know it. No supreme beings exist.
recap:
Agnostic: There are supreme beings, they just don’t care about them.
Athiests: There are no supreme beings.
Net effect: Neither care about surpreme beings. Thus they can be lumped together just as you lump Luthrens, Mormons, Protestants, Christians and Catholics together.
The comparison of Buddhism and Scientology is quite humorous, though.
Buddism is Scientology 1.0. Scientologists believe that Budda was just a previous incarnation of L. Ron Hubbard. However, at the time Hubbard created Buddism, he did not have the technology available to get it 100% right. Thus, when he was alive and the technology was available, he fixed the Buddist religion and created Buddism 2.0, also known as Scientology.
Of course, if people like Switch want to lump Luthrens, Protestants, etc together, why can we not lump all religions that believe in reincarnation, or worship of ancestral spirits, or worship the earth, or worship nothing together?
The whole point is a demonstration on the lack of knowledge about religion evidenced in the postings of our esteemed moderator. He appears to have no clue about any religion but his own, and I’d argue that he’s a little off base on that too when he takes his domestic, local flavor of it and applies it to the global community.
Jen,
Do you now see the logical fallacy of equating lumping all the people that follow the same book into one category and everyone who does not use that book into one other groups that you try to claim is a homegenous group?
I lump Baptists and Catholics and Lutherans together because they all use the same 2 texts and they all consider them the one true and only words of God. Thus they are simply different colors on the walls of the same room. That cannot be said for, using your example, every religion that believes in reincarnation.
