Christianity and earlier religious traditions

[snowybear100]

What do people here think of the theory that states that Christianity can be disproved based on the things in its writings that have been taken from other religious traditions? I've been researching this for a while, and I've found a lot of interesting information on it. This article summarizes some of the evidence well:
http://see_the_truth.webs.com/Old Testament.html
Does anyone else have any thoughts on this? I've had an interest in this for a while and was looking for more information on it.

 

[metis]

Not only do all religions evolve over time, they also tend to learn from other religions as well.

 

[George-ananda]

I agree. I don't see why taking things from pre-existing cultures is necessarily a bad thing.

 

[Deeje]

What do people here think of the theory that states that Christianity can be disproved based on the things in its writings that have been taken from other religious traditions? I've been researching this for a while, and I've found a lot of interesting information on it. This article summarizes some of the evidence well:
http://see_the_truth.webs.com/Old Testament.html
Does anyone else have any thoughts on this? I've had an interest in this for a while and was looking for more information on it.

Has it ever occurred to you that the Bible, along with much of what became law in Israel was written only 1500 years before Christ came to the earth?

Moses wrote down the whole Pentateuch over a period of just 40 years and Genesis takes us back to the "beginning" of creation. Then we have a history from creation right down to the release of the Hebrew slaves from Egypt, which covered thousands of years.

Just because the things in other ancient cultures are similar, isn't proof that the Jewish religion was copied from other cultures, but more that other cultures committed them to writing before God chose Israel as his people and inspired Moses to write man's history.

 

[psychoslice]

Yes of course they all plagiarize from each other, its been happening since the time they sat around the fire and made stories about what they couldn't understand, and these stories over many years turned into what we call religion.

 

[Politesse]

What do people here think of the theory that states that Christianity can be disproved based on the things in its writings that have been taken from other religious traditions? I've been researching this for a while, and I've found a lot of interesting information on it. This article summarizes some of the evidence well:
http://see_the_truth.webs.com/Old Testament.html
Does anyone else have any thoughts on this? I've had an interest in this for a while and was looking for more information on it.

What would this "disprove"? At least one ancient religious tradition was overtly central to Jesus' teachings, given that he was in fact a devout Jew, and he seemed to pretty much accept all comers regardless of religious background. I'm not seeing where novelty is or ever was a key feature or goal of Christian philosophy. Also, given that your article there starts out by quoting a well-known to-be-fabricated antisemitic text, there's definitely a pot meet kettle moment waiting in someone's future!

 

[1robin]

What do people here think of the theory that states that Christianity can be disproved based on the things in its writings that have been taken from other religious traditions? I've been researching this for a while, and I've found a lot of interesting information on it. This article summarizes some of the evidence well:
http://see_the_truth.webs.com/Old Testament.html
Does anyone else have any thoughts on this? I've had an interest in this for a while and was looking for more information on it.

This kind of thing is called parallelism. However, every time I see someone who claims the bible lifted it's stories and events from other faiths or events go up against a scholar on the opposite side, the stories turn out to be vastly different. Since I can't guess which example of parallelism it is you are referring to I will await you to pick a few of the best examples you know of and I will respond. To save you some time I suggest you investigate the examples you provide very well before you post them because none of these types of claims I am aware of can survive even a little investigation. So good luck.

 

[Kelly of the Phoenix]

"“When you argue against Him you are arguing against the very power that makes you able to argue at all: it is like cutting off the branch you are sitting on.”
― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity"
This is what happens when you act as though a hack kid's author has gospel-level importance.

 

[Twilight Hue]

I agree. I don't see why taking things from pre-existing cultures is necessarily a bad thing.

It isn't unless exclusivity and orginality is claimed.