TheDiddleyMan

One of the common arguments I hear for the divinity of jesus is that nobody has ever been deified so fast. What are some responses to this claim? Is it valid?


Kevin

Magus55

What do you mean by he was deified fast?

Toto

I think you are talking about the "insufficient time for legendary development" argument that was discussed and demolished in this thread:

Minimum time necessary for legendary development ?

It is a very flimsy argument. Augustus Caesar and Alexander the Great were "deified" immediately after their deaths

TheDiddleyMan

My question is: what other people have had followers who believed they were God in the flesh, after their deaths, before their deaths, whenever. Where can I find info on these people?


Kevin

Toto

For Caesar and Alexander the Great, check out some of the standard history books.

You could also look into the Rebbe Scheerson, who died in 1994, but whose followers still think will be resurrected:

http://www.momentmag.com/archive/feb02/feat1.html

Or read the newspaper. These divinities pop up all the time.

keyser_soze

Alexander was deified in some areas of his campaigns even before his death. I guess he one up's yeshua then.

MortalWombat

The Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie was deified by the Rastafarians within his own lifetime, and was quite perplexed to find this out on his visit to Jamaica.

MortalWombat

One could also argue that if Jesus were mythological, then the question of being deified fast becomes moot. That is, if the myth of a dying and rising Christ-God came first, then was later historicized, his life could have been placed in any point in history, including around 40 years in the past (which is about the length of time between when he was supposed to have died to when the first gospel, Mark, was written).

Greg2003

David Koresh, Rev. Sun Young Moon, any number of god-men in India. Hercules was made into a god right after his death. Mithra was too. It's just not an original or unique phenomena upon which to base an argument for the superiority of Christianity.

Also, don't forget the Cargo Cults. These were pacific islanders who saw and interacted with white men who flew in on airplanes bringing cargo of riches such as exotic foods and shiny things. After WWII these white men left in their planes and boats and dismantled their landing strips and docks. The Cargo Cults believed these people were gods and that the reproduction of the landing strips and docks would bring them back with their cargo of riches. So they reproduced everything in crude bamboo, but in minute detail.

keyser_soze

Does it just make you irritable when you know that if you could just get a fundie to clear their head for 5 minutes, and look at the evidence, that they would immediately convert FROM religion? That if they could just set aside the fear of the unknown, accept reality for such even a short time, they could be well. Drives me right up the freaking wall.:banghead: