Freethought & Rationalism Archive

stephan huller · 10-24-2010, 11:33 PM

Is it just me or does AA's interrogation sound like a kind of inverted Apostle's Creed:

Quote:

But, as a supposed Skeptic why do BELIEVE the same thing as Jesus BELIEVERS?
Do you not BELIEVE, like Jesus BELIEVERS, that Jesus lived in Nazareth although you have no external credible source that even mentioned that a Messiah called Jesus who lived in Nazareth?
Do you not BELIEVE, like Jesus Believers, that Jesus was crucified, although there is no credible external source for such a BELIEF.
Do you not BELIEVE, like Jesus Believers, the NT contains the history of Jesus?
Do you not DISCREDIT the NT yet depend on it for your BELIEF about Jesus?

Well, are you really a Skeptic, a convenient skeptic, or just a weak and confused Jesus BELIEVER ?

And now the parallel text from Hippolytus (whom AA undoubtedly thinks is a 'fiction')

Quote:

Do you believe in God the Father All Governing?

Do you believe in Christ Jesus, the Son of God, Who was begotten by the Holy Spirit from the Virgin Mary, Who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and died (and was buried) and rose the third day living from the dead, and ascended into the heavens, and sat down on the right hand of the Father, and will come to judge the living and the dead?

Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, in the holy Church, and (in the resurrection of the body?

This is why I shun ANY group affiliation, convenient labelling etc. All groups start acting and sounding the same, practicing the same methodology.

bacht · 10-25-2010, 06:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Weiss

All kinds of myths and stories circulated in various cultures each borrowing from the other, and all fictional. A lot of these myths probably had an Egyptian origin or origins in other areas of the Near East. Interesting stuff to talk about when sitting around the camp fires when each story-teller probably tried to out BS his associates. After a while people probably started to take these tall tales seriously, and traditions were formalized. My dad can beat your dad; my clan is better and more powerful than yours. Our god can kick the shit out of yours. And on and on it went.

Well, it's true there are a lot of details from ancient times that may remain unresolvable.

In the case of Canaan there is ongoing archeological work which shows that the area had been populated off and on for millenia. Then we have the Hebrew scriptures that claim to describe life in these parts from the Iron Age down to the late 5th C bce. As we all know, researchers in the 18th and 19th C were looking for physical confirmation of the well-known Biblical stories, with limited success. We have the legacy of Omri and his building projects in Samaria, we have the tunnel supposedly built by Hezekiah, we have fortified towns targeted by the Assyrians, we have a few inscriptions.

There seems to be consensus now that older parts of the Bible, like some of the psalms, include older Canaanite religious motifs. Whatever happened when Jews arrived from Babylon or Susa, they kept some of the older flavour in the monotheism of the Chronicler and his contemporaries.

Doug Shaver · 10-26-2010, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stephan huller

This is why I shun ANY group affiliation, convenient labelling etc.

I don't have any problem applying labels to myself. When I meet someone who reads more into a label than they should, I gladly set them straight. Or try to. Some people, of course, just won't learn, but my avoiding labels won't change that.

stephan huller · 10-26-2010, 01:20 PM

I know but I watched too many episodes of the Prisoner high as a kite to ever allow myself that luxury - i.e. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29JewlGsYxs

I think I was successfully brainwashed, transformed into that ape that appears in the final episode.

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10-26-2010, 01:20 PM	#324
stephan huller Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: seattle, wa Posts: 9,337	I know but I watched too many episodes of the Prisoner high as a kite to ever allow myself that luxury - i.e. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29JewlGsYxs I think I was successfully brainwashed, transformed into that ape that appears in the final episode.

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