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by anil m on December 1st, 2009

anil m

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Atheists- If Jesus was imaginary who inspired Christianity?

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  • by Z-Weezy on December 1st, 2009

    Z-Weezy

    Although I know you most likely won't bother to respond to my answer, I still feel as if I should answer this question.

    Your analogy is easily destroyed:

    - If the Hercules from the mythology of the Greek gods wasn't real, how did he inspire thousands of works of art and stories?
    - If Muhammad wasn't actually the divine prophet of Allah, how could Islam exist?
    - If Joseph Smith didn't really receive golden tablets from an angel, why do over 12 million people follow the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints?

    The inherent human need to believe in something inspired Christianity, along with all other religions. Since when has anything real been required to write a story?

    Due to the comments section not working I am editing the answer to address ScienceSwamy's criticism. I don't think he quite understand the analogies I gave. These analogies all make perfect sense (at least to me) based on the way I would logically interpret them:

    - While Hercules didn't inspire a religion, he was an integral part of an existing religion. Just as Christianity evolved from the religion of Judaism, the myth of Hercules sprang from the pantheon of Greek gods. The analogy lies in the fact that there is an equal amount of proof for Hercules' existence as for Christ’s.
    - There is no physical proof proving Mohammad ever existed (same with Christ), and if Christ didn't start Christianity then who did? Don't even bother saying Paul....because without Christ the early Church in Acts would not have existed (unless fabricated by Paul). All "historical" mentions of either of these persons were not eyewitness testimonies.
    - Nothing good ever came from the CoJCoLDS? Hmmm, I think you are seriously lacking in knowledge on the subject. Proportionally, the give more than almost any other religion to charity

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  • by dea_ex_machina on December 1st, 2009

    dea_ex_machina

    I do not think that atheists argue that Jesis did not exist - rather that he was he son of a god who does not exist. The man may have existed, but the claims made about his deity do not.

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  • by Life Not Faith on December 1st, 2009

    Life Not Faith

    Think of an early religion, and it'll contain elements plagarised by christianity, such as Horus and jesus.

    That would be its main inspiration, the rest has been filled in by many different people over thousands of years. Even now it is getting re-interpreted on a daily basis as people tailor it to their preferred vision.

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  • by FRIENDS on December 1st, 2009

    FRIENDS

    The whole concept of Christianity provided a pretty substantial reason as to the creation of mankind and acted as strong teaching of its virtues. The use to believe that there is a God of good and a Devil of evil is insufficient in today's more complex understanding of the universe in Science. As Friedrich Nietzsche once said "God is Dead" implying that the past understanding of the universe (Christianity) died and the new better understanding was science. It must be said that the universe came from something a long long time ago just "something" and then established throughout that. It is contradictory to say that the universe came from "nothing" a long long time ago because nothing can come out of nothing. There was never anything there. Im not atheist nor agnostic just unenlightened.

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  • by Nuttsky on December 1st, 2009

    Nuttsky

    Jesus wasn't imaginary. But some think St. Paul shaped Christianity.

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  • by Ion on December 3rd, 2009

    Ion

    Im not an Athiest, but didnt Paul inspire christianity and the trinity. He was Jew who converted to chistianity. Saw a vision and all that stuff

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  • by Kierafaye on December 1st, 2009

    Kierafaye

    I believe jesus was a real man
    him being a Christ however...

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  • by IronMike1488 on December 1st, 2009

    IronMike1488

    Christianity has been shaped by people around it, people who want to hold onto something because they are afraid of death.

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  • by IDK on December 2nd, 2009

    IDK

    no. jesus was real. but he was a person such as your self that believed in god since their technology and knowledge of the world were behind. of couse jesus never really spit the ocean in half ir did any of that rediculous events
    and so those people who had "visions" (who we now call crazy people) were also considered a connection to god...see what i mean.

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  • by ScienceSwamy on December 3rd, 2009

    ScienceSwamy

    Not only Christianity, but
    All organized religion is a con:
    it's the anticipation of speculation
    by spiritual ritual undertaken
    by motionless emotional people,
    who are sentimental, mentally inferior, superstitious, insecure and unstable, and who'd feel more secure
    in a stable called a temple-pagoda-synagogue-church-mosque-or-gurudwara!
    +
    The virtual product of ‘salvation-or-afterlife’
    has unlimited, almost ‘eternal’ shelf-life,
    --but absolutely no value, no credibility,
    No use, “no money-back, no guarantee”,
    no effect other than waste of life-time resources
    just utility-in-futility, and making from men, horses.
    + + +
    On the other hand, atheists are
    ‘people with no invisible means of support’!

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  • by Im Alec has abandoned this account on December 1st, 2009

    Im Alec has abandoned this account

    Possibly St Paul?

    However, I do not believe that Jesus was imaginary. He may well have existed. But I do not believe in his resurrections and even if he was resurrected I do not believe that he was the Son of God not, indeed, that God exists.

    There probably was a preacher from Galilee, with a rather good moral and ethical system. There probably was someone who was crucified, and it may have been the same person. The crucifixion may have been botched, or a story may have arisen about the resurrection, but without better evidence I don't believe in a miraculous resurrection.

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  • by ScienceSwamy on December 1st, 2009

    ScienceSwamy

    The Birth of the ‘Christianity’ brand after pious Jesus was crucified.

    …And the 11 so-called ‘disciples’ of Jesus (Judas was the fall-guy, scapegoat) sat huddled in a small room and contemplated: “Oh sugar! How do we clean up this mess and redeem ourselves? People have seen us with Jesus, seen us denying and betraying him as well, they will stone us to death!”! – (as per the tradition of that time)

    Peter said (and Paul-John seconded) to the group: ‘Lets hide/destroy Jesus’s body and start a new business, creed in the name of Jesus –the dead Jew. John sprinkled some water on Jesus as a ritual (Baptised) which everyone saw. Lets sprinkle –‘holy water’-- on our consumer-group as loyalty-scheme!’

    ‘But who would believe us? We have no service to offer, no product to sell!
    We will tell everybody we saw him rise & go to skies/heaven. There would be no body for evidence! Then we will offer those who vouch to follow us: God’s promise of ‘life after death’! Everybody is afraid of death & nobody will return to ‘call our bluff’!

    How would we entice & recruit consumers before making them loyal?!’
    ‘That’s easy! Just make them ‘consumers-by-birthright’ by (1) labelling all natural life-processes from womb-to-tomb, especially sex & conception as the ‘original sin’, so everybody automatically becomes a sinner-by-birth and has to seek redemption and (2) keeping customers ignorant of truth by calling ‘ignorance is bliss’ & ‘seeking of knowledge’ as a sinful temptation, a taboo, a bigger sin, such that eating the fruit of [carnal] knowledge of good & evil drove Adam & Eve out of paradise [where thery could live in ignorance forever… just like ‘heathen’ animals]…!

    ‘Then all of us and our club of generations of clergy would be ‘set up’ for a cozy life, eternally! Free solid-stone, high-ceiling housing, free food that too ‘best-cut’, we shall never need to work again, just ‘gob the gospel’! --- plus those sick child-molesters among us would have continuous supply of young boys to bugger as a ‘bonus bounty’ from our Lord, Jesus’s father-God, Amen!’

    Thus was born the first business with brand-name ‘Christianity’ – the fore-runner of Coca Cola, Microsoft, Virgin and F C U K, with a board of 11 directors and it remained by far the most profitable ‘service’ industry by late 20th century AD, establishing monopoly by deceit and subterfuge, circular-illogical-irrational arguments of ‘divine authority’, selling an abstract, intangible faith-‘product’: “promise of immortality in afterlife”, a product with long, almost ‘eternal’ shelf-life, --but absolutely no value, no credibility, “no money-back, no guarantee”, no effect & no utility-in-futility.

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  • by Swan7 on August 9th, 2010

    Swan7

    im sick of all you people why cant you just respect your fellow man if you dont believe in god or allah or any of that stuff fine but if you dont belive in respecting your fellow man then what do you belive in and maybe just maybe you are all the insecure ones are you afraid to belive in something maybe the christians the jews the muslims the budhists are the brave ones because they believe

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  • by tastiger on December 1st, 2009

    tastiger

    Jesus was real, that was a fact in all religions and worlds. He inspired Christianity, whether he was telling the truth or not.

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