I am genuinely interested in what it is that has convinced you that the existence of Yahweh/Allah/Jesus is more probable than the existence of Zeus.
In our modern age, mythology is seen as the stuff of fantasy. While Greek mythological gods are seen as figments of imaginative stories told to superstitious people, could there be an element of truth in their existence and activity in ages past?
Furthermore, can you make an argument specifically for the existence of Yahweh/Allah that also argues against the existence of Zeus? Why do you dismiss the arguments for the existence of Zeus as being mythology, while believing wholeheartedly that there is evidence for the existence of your particular deity?
From my perspective, I see the Bible as my only reliable source of truth.....but there are things written in it that correlate to many aspects of Greek mythology. The question then is....which came first? Which one is plagerizing the other by telling similar stories?
The other question to ask is...where did the Greeks get their legends from? Historians can trace all common religious beliefs back to one place....ancient Babylon. So what can we deduce from this?
My hypothesis is that the reason is that nearly everyone in the world today disbelieves in the existence of Zeus. The belief in Zeus is no longer culturally accepted, so you were conditioned by your culture to disbelieve in Zeus, but belief in Yahweh is widespread around the world in this era, so you believe in Yahweh because it is the cultural norm to do so, even though the evidence for both of these deities is equally lacking. Had you been alive in ancient Greece, I would wager that you would have worshiped and wholeheartedly believed in Zeus. But, I'm open to hearing your arguments.
If Babylon is the source of all religious beliefs (or the basis for them before a culture's particular embellishment) then we should see a common thread running through all of them. Do we?
Yes we do. The core beliefs in almost all religions is....
1) 'a multiplicity of gods'.....often with flawed characters. Often fighting among themselves.
2) belief in a spiritual realm, invisible to human eyes but where the various gods manifest their activity through nature......thunder, lightning, volcanos and earthquakes.
3) Also belief in 'an afterlife where the good are rewarded and the wicked are punished'......the names of various gods and goddesses are changed but the character remains the same. Zeus to the Greeks was Jupiter to the Romans. Ishtar was Astarte.
4) A flood legend is almost always included in these religions, perhaps with slightly altered details, but the same basic story.
In Genesis, we see the flood narrative begins with human women being taken in 'marriage' by "the sons of the true God" (Genesis 6:1-2) These were materialised rebel spirit creatures whose activities were impacting so negatively on humankind and with wickedness gaining such momentum because of the violent nature of their offspring, that the God of the Bible had to take drastic action. These gigantic bullies called the "Nephilim" (literally meaning "ones that cause others to fall") were taking human behavior to new depths of depravity and inhuman levels of violence. (Genesis 6:4-8)
God finds only one family who are not corrupted by their environment, and rather than save them in some miraculous fashion, he tells them how to save themselves and all the chosen species of animals that God would bring in. One mass destructive event would rectify the situation, save a remnant of living souls, and set a pattern for the future (Matthew 24:37-39)
Building such a massive structure was a monumental task for one small family....but Noah followed God's specific instructions to the letter in full faith that what he was told to do was worth the decades of work involved in the project. All the while Noah warned the people about what God was going to do....none responded. What is the lesson?
Can you see where the idea of gods and demi-gods came from? Materialised angels were powerful and their gigantic offspring, equally flawed in their character, were also licentious and violent. The demons are no longer able to materialise, but they are still very active in the world......sex and violence are still their trademarks.
In God's worship there are no female angels because gender Is of no use where reproduction does not take place. In the mythology of various cultures, there are many goddesses as we can assume that the materialised angels had offspring of both sexes.
Another other line of evidence for me is what happened after the flood, when humankind began to multiply and rebellion reared its ugly head again. (The flood was only to rid the earth of the consequences of demonic intervention and bring the human race back to base)
Nimrod, Noah's great grandson, began his relellion against God, by attempting to build his own empire. He built the city of Babylon and began a course in complete opposition to God's instructions to spread abroad in the earth. Nimrod and his followers began to build a huge tower "with its top in the heavens" (some believe that this was to have a place of safety to go if God ever flooded the earth again) But God confused their language and forced their exodus into other parts of the earth, taking their unique languages and their flood legends with them. (Genesis 11:1-9) This explains the common thread IMO.
I would like to see if anyone has a compelling reason as to why the existence of Yahweh/Allah/Jesus is more probable than the existence of Zeus. Remember, people in ancient Greece worshiped and bowed down in awe and reverence before Zeus with the same passion and fervor that you currently worship and bow down to Jesus/Yahweh/Allah.
I don't know that anyone can provide "compelling" evidence for any belief system....but I certainly think that the Bible explains way more about the origin of these religions and their beliefs than anything else.
