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Did the bible get influenced by Greek afterlife beliefs?

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Frank Goad

Well-Known Member
Did the bible get influenced by Greek afterlife beliefs?:confused:My friend said it did.:confused:Can anybody on here tell me what my friend is talking about?
 
Viker

Viker

Häxan
It uses reference to Hades. And Revelations looks like it is drawing from Greek lore, as it was written in old Greece. But it sticks with the Hebrew concepts mostly.
 
Kooky

Kooky

Freedom from Sanity
Yea, if we're talking Old Testament, then the source is likely to be ancient Judaism, which did have an underworld, Sheol, that isn't too far off from similar concepts in Greek mythology.

Fun fact: The term for the shades living in Sheol, the rephaim, is also used in other areas of Palestinian mythology to refer to people of giant stature (though it's probably more likely to derive from a more ancient term for ancestors).
 
Neuropteron

Neuropteron

Active Member
Frank Goad said:
Did the bible get influenced by Greek afterlife beliefs?:confused:My friend said it did.:confused:Can anybody on here tell me what my friend is talking about?
Click to expand...

Hi,
Since the Bible teaches the opposite of Greek philosopy regarding afterlife this can hardly be the case.

for example:
Ecc 9:5 " ...the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing at all..."
 
Suave

Suave

Simulated character
Frank Goad said:
Did the bible get influenced by Greek afterlife beliefs?:confused:My friend said it did.:confused:Can anybody on here tell me what my friend is talking about?
Click to expand...

Neanderthals may have conducted burials and possessed symbolic thought before any other species had these capacities.

Neanderthals buried in the Shanidar Cave of present day Kurdistan indicate the surviving family of these Neanderthals buried their dead and often marked their graves with offerings like flowers or the possessions of the deceased for use in an afterlife.

20120523100016picresized_1337631732_5170508404_b35e204e51_z.jpg
 
Kenny

Kenny

Face to face with my Father
Premium Member
Frank Goad said:
Did the bible get influenced by Greek afterlife beliefs?:confused:My friend said it did.:confused:Can anybody on here tell me what my friend is talking about?
Click to expand...
No... the Greeks came after many of the books of the Bible.

It is common for the anti-Bible people to use this overused statement. There were some Hellenized (Greek influenced) Jews but it has nothing to do with what was written.
 
Brickjectivity

Brickjectivity

wind and rain touch not this brain
Staff member
Premium Member
Frank Goad said:
Did the bible get influenced by Greek afterlife beliefs?:confused:My friend said it did.:confused:Can anybody on here tell me what my friend is talking about?
Click to expand...
Judaism is not Egyptian. The Egyptians believe that there is chaos and destruction after death unless you have favor from their gods. By submitting to their gods and giving lots of offerings, you can earn a place in the afterlife. But the Egyptian slave who escapes and wishes to become Jewish must repudiate this completely, choosing the knowledge of good and evil over life.

Adam and Eve don't choose an afterlife but knowledge instead, and sheol is not an Egyptian place where Egyptians go to live forever with their gods. Going to live forever with the gods like ignorant children is repugnant, not good and repudiated. For choosing knowledge you will be sentenced to death by the gods, but would you rather be ignorant and never know good from evil? It is better to partake of the divine during your short life than to live forever as an automaton. Any amount of real life is better than false life forever.

So when you see the term 'Sheol' and imagine it to be some afterlife where you skip around picking flowers, you are like an Israelite choosing to turn back to Egypt to be a slave again. You are complaining with the complaining Israelites in the desert when you do so.


*****

But what about Christianity? That is another discussion, and it is more complicated. Many Christians believe in a resurrection, however many believe said resurrection is not individual. I don't know if many Christians today think this way; but I think that it is the most consistent understanding. Jesus is quoted to talk about repentance as being equal to resurrection. Many people do not like this and see it as a figure of speech. I don't think that was the case from the beginning. You will have to make up your own mind.
 
74x12

74x12

Well-Known Member
Frank Goad said:
Did the bible get influenced by Greek afterlife beliefs?:confused:My friend said it did.:confused:Can anybody on here tell me what my friend is talking about?
Click to expand...
To answer your question; no, the new Testament does use Greek words like Hades and Tartaros but it uses them to stand in for pre-existing Hebrew concepts. Hades is used for sheol in Hebrew which is the place of the dead in the Hebrew writings. And Tartaros (In Greek mythology the prison for gods) in Biblical terms was used to represent the bottomless pit the place that God imprisons fallen angels in; likely one with Abaddon.
 
Neuropteron

Neuropteron

Active Member
lukethethird said:
The Bible is a canon of many books so expect to find many different points of view.
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Hi,
Do you think the Bible has other points of view on the doctrine of what happens after death or can you give me an example where it supports Greek mythology on afterlife ?
 
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