Underseer

About 200 years before the supposed time of Jesus, king Asoka of India sent Buddhist missionaries to the Roman world. Given what we know about Gnostic Christianity, it is not hard to imagine Christianity rising out of an intersection of Buddhist ideals with Jewish teachings.

ApostateAbe

It didn't begin just like it says in the Bible, but it couldn't have begun had Jesus not existed. There are many skeptics who think that maybe Jesus never existed, but none of them have formulated even a possible detailed and coherent explanation for the beginnings of Christianity without a living human Jesus. There are many coherent explanations for the beginnings of Christianity that do involve a historical Jesus, and you find them variously in the secular New Testament scholarship. I recommend the book by Bart Ehrman, Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millenium (or via: amazon.co.uk). The best place to find out more on the topic is the BC&H forum, where we have very lively debates on the topic.

DancesWithCoffeeCups

Moving to BC&H.

mountainman

Constantine's bloodthirsty sword.

Minimalist

In the same way that religions extolling Odin, Osiris, Marduk and Zeus began. Or, are you stipulating that these must have "existed" too?

gdeering

Very true. Whether he existed (as a man) or not really does not matter to Christianity. Clearly the Gospels are works of fiction that steal from the OT for validation and include howlers like those goofy apostles. It's like Jesus and the Bowery Boys. Will they never get anything right! Yet I entrust them with all my teachings because I can not find anyone that can write!



Gregg

Andykiwi

Good points. I like this one best...
Juststeve's explanation sounds good too...

aa5874

Well, there are many religions that have begun without an actual human being being worshiped as a God.

There is no evidence that the Jewish religion was started by worshiping a man as a God.

There is no evidence that the Muslim religion began by worshiping Allah as a MAN.

There is no evidence that Mormonism was started by worshiping a man as God.

Now, if Jesus was an actual Jew in Judea, and was claiming to be an actual God, then there would be no actual believers. They would all be dead.

You can't start a religion in Judea and attempt to start by saying you are a real God, that would be the end of your religion in the 1st century.

If you don't believe me just try and find out what happened to a Jesus who said, "Woe unto Jerusalem" during the time of Josephus. He got his butt beaten to a pulp and declared to be crazy. And, as you might have guessed, he had no actual followers, he was a loner.

See Wars of the Jews 6.

So, if you see a story where a Jew born of a Virgin and the Holy Ghost was worshiped as a God in Judea, it must be a story. Those things did not happen in real life IN JUDEA when Josephus and Philo were alive. And Josephus and Philo when taken together practically covered the 1st century or up to about 93 CE.

See "Embassy to Gaius"

Chili

For what it worth, Christian-ity is the end of religion and should never be a religion. The -ity designates a condition of being and not a religion.

Christianty as a religion is for a bunch of wannebe's who really do not know where they are going except that they have to die before good times begin.

Ever heard anyone say 'duh?'

Chili

I call them hawkers, squakers and gawkers but none of them really know what really is going on.