Justin70

Greetings!

I spent some time last night trying to find some information for the research that I'm doing and came across these forums. Oh man, was I hooked! I think I spent the next 4 hours or more just solidly reading the threads all through IIDB.

I thought I'd introduce myself so that you all don't wonder who this 'nutcase' is when he posts

I'm a rather young atheist at 32. I've been an atheist for about 10 years now. I'm like a lot of atheists here that have a religious background (14 years as a moderate Cathloic and 2 years as a Fundamentalist Baptist) so I'm very familiar with the entire range of belief that these forums talk of. =)

I'm not a Ph.D or someone with any sort of degree but I am very well read on Christianity and to some extent Mithraism (a pet project for me) and Egyptology.

I've gone through the bible scholarship with authors such as Schurer, Martin, Arnheim, McDowell, Teeple, Wells, Baigent, Leigh, Unger, Wilson, Jackson and Habermas. I've read both pro and con for OT and NT scholarship so I think I'm very well read on the pro and counter to almost every inconsistency that pops in the bible.

I've also read many authors that have helped me understand where Christianity might have come from. Churchward, Cooke, Frazer, Jung, Kuhn, Massey, Mead, and Weigall.

My bibliography is HUGE. I've taken the time to reference and document almost every piece of information that I've come across. I don't take research lightly and I've taken the time to illustrate and be as thorough as possible with the proofs that I have. I am very much looking foward to correcting and maybe even adding to my own knowledge through posts here. I find the whole thing quite exciting. =)

After the 4 or so hours of reading, one lingering question still remains: How do you honestly put up with Magus55?! But seriously, I've seen literally dozens upon dozens of Christians and their 'proofs' for the hundreds of inconsistencies and straight out myths in the bible and I can literally count on one hand how many have actually even TRIED to back up their claims with any sort of valid reference.

Just to clarify to any religious people out there: Yes, I call myself an atheist but I do not ever intend to PROVE why I am. As many have pointed out on these forums, there is no proof for the negative. I do not claim to have all the answers but I'm absolutely and firmly convinced that the current incarnation of Christianity as we know it is not only literally disgusting to anyone with a mind but filled with incredible inconsistencies and many many problems when interpreted as history.

My current belief of Christian origins stems from the research of Alvin Boyd Kuhn and Gerald Massey back in the early 20th century. They believed that the whole of Christianity came from the long forgotten and interpreted wisdom in Egypt. To summarize, the Christianity that is practiced now is a very badly mangled form of the Egyptian mysteries. A good introductory work on the subject would be a rather recent book by Timothy Freke entitled The Jesus Mysteries. I think it does quite a good job of putting things in perspective.

Anyways, not to ramble on, I just wished to introduce myself and lend a helping hand and say that I'm excited about the absolutely wonderful amount of knowledge and talent that I've seen on these forums! There's already been several people that have impressed me with not only their knowledge but their sheer poetry in ability to present the information with wit and accuracy!

Keep searching for the truth, because it truly WILL set you free. =)

JEST2ASK

Wecome .... Really interested why you think the egyptian mysteries influenced Christianity (IMO it would seem that early pre-exile Judiasm would owe more to the egyptians) more than the other post exile cultures especially Zorastarism (sp) and the Greek / Roman philosophical schools of thought .....


OH FYI there is a Welcome / Introduction Forum .......


And yes many of the posters here both Theist & Non are

:notworthy :notworthy :notworthy :notworthy :notworthy

Justin70

Alvin Boyd Kuhn and Gerald Massey made rather lengthy books on this discussion. I could put up some information if you're interested. Let me know.

As for Zoroastrianism (Mithraism), my research wasn't clear cut that the Roman varient (that had a HUGE amount of similarities with early Christianity) actually was developed before Christianity. It seems to me that they both changed and evolved alongside each other and could very well have borrowed ideas as they flourished in the Roman Empire.

And thanks for the welcome.

Kosh

Welcome Justin!

As to your question about Magus, have you ever watched a cat play with a mouse?

Justin70

Aye! It's entertaining somewhat, but I think I've gone past that facination for more than a few minutes

Magus, to me, is just like every other Christian that I've talked with. They aren't listening. They don't absorb what you have to say. They're more concerned with throwing SO much material at you (i.e. Diana's 'Snowstom') and then when you rebuttal, it goes in one ear and out the other. So what's the point?

I found Albert's response a LOT more interesting cuz he proved that he was listening (i.e. rebuttal to scigirl's link on the Dino tracks) and that he was following along with with the basic concepts on Evolution as a random system.

Anyways, it's great reading. =) I'll be sure to interject time and time again when I have something worthwhile to say. =)

Answerer

Hi justin, welcome to the dark side. Anyway, we can't really change the way that most chrisitans think but we can prevent their numbers from increasing.

Atticus_Finch

I guess we Christians could say the same thing to you.

Welcom Justin. I am sad to hear that you no longer believe. I hope that you will continue to evaluate Christianity with an open mind because that is a very biblical perspective.

Regards,

Finch

Jeremy Pallant

I think I'm going to move this one to the Welcome! Introduction and Help forum.

Justin70

Finch,

I spent about 2 years going through every book I could find in the UC library system on everything religious and believe it or not, started out trying to prove Christianity was RIGHT!

After the first few months it looked very dire. Even though I pulled just as many pro-Christian books as anti, the proofs and arguments against were insurmountable. It would have been going against common logic to deny the hundreds of pages of photocopied material and hundreds of pages of notes I had already taken. <shrug> What can I say? The evidence absolutely and definately pointed in a very different direction than I thought.

I would have been totally lying to myself if I had stayed a Christian at that point.

And so, here I am. =)

Justin

JEST2ASK

Yes really have to agree personal honesty (intellectual integrity)

over the warm fuzzies ..... explains why I am here as well ....


Oh and will check into the Alvin Boyd Kuhn and Gerald Massey


(response to why you think the egyptian mysteries influenced Christianity (IMO it would seem that early pre-exile Judiasm would owe more to the egyptians) Thanks