joelr
Well-Known Member
I'm in agreement with most of your post - The wedding of Canaan comes to mind where Jusus provided the wine - Canaanites? Baal? Lots has been written about Baal, but wasn't Baal said to be an enemy to the Abrahamic God? Christianity also seems to be an opposition to the Abrahamic God or religion. Sacrifice - apparently was the issue between the Canaanites and Israel. Was it just happenstance that Jesus played the role of a human sacrifice?
Baal protects the king - This seems to be a common thought, but if Baal was the God of the Canaanites and the Canaanites were accused of human sacrificial practices, then did Baal truly protect the King - I'm seeing Moses and Jesus relevant - Sent away to avoid their sacrifice as sons. What of the woman - Melchizedek - A high priest - A woman or a man? Was it only male sacrifice or woman sacrifice also?
Chess
Stand by your counter-part -
The furnace - the stubble burned as waste to bring out the greater qualities of being - purification - to be complete and whole and acceptable. The coming age -
Only know this about Baal and the Hebrews
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Narrative in the Hebrew Bible tells a similar story. For example, in 1 Kings 16:33, King Ahab makes a shrine for Asherah. 2 Kings 17:16 even references people who worship Asherah and Baal. Likewise, Baal worship occurs consistently throughout the narrative, suggesting that he "played a large part in the belief of the Israelite population" during the Iron Age (DDD 1999, 137)."
Ashera was an early consort of Yahweh
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An inscription from another archaeological site (Khirbet el-Qom, 8th century BCE) says the following: "Blessed is Uriahu by YHWH for through Asherata He saved him from his enemy." Here, we see strong evidence that Asherata, a deity, represented a person named Uriahu before Yahweh. In Ugaritic literature, we see a similar understanding of the deities. The Ugaritic goddess Athirat was a mediator for El, the chief god of the Ugaritic pantheon. The parallel in how people understood deities (Yahweh is to Asherata as El is to Athirat) demonstrates how ancient Israel and Judah shared a cultural and religious framework with the broader West Semitic culture; yet, they were also unique in the sense that they worshiped a particular deity who uniquely represented their tribal system(s). "
Dying/rising saviors were more from the Greek Hellenistic era which the NT has many many other connections to, baptism, eucharist, the logos, written in Greek, souls that through redemption and salvation can go to heaven, all absent in Judaism but popular before Christianity. The Hellenistic Greeks occupied Israel for the final century before 1 CE:
"Within the confines of what was then the Roman Empire, long before and during the dawn of Christianity, there were many dying-and-rising gods. And yes, they were gods—some even half-god, half-human, being of divine or magical parentage, just like Jesus (John 1:1-18; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-35; Philippians 2:6-8 & Romans 8:3). And yes, they died. And were dead. And yes, they were then raised back to life; and lived on, even more powerful than before. Some returned in the same body they died in; some lived their second life in even more powerful and magical bodies than they died in, like Jesus did (1 Corinthians 15:35-50 & 2 Corinthians 5:1-10). Some left empty tombs or gravesites; or had corpses that were lost or vanished. Just like Jesus. Some returned to life on “the third day” after dying. Just like Jesus. All went on to live and reign in heaven (not on earth). Just like Jesus. Some even visited earth after being raised, to deliver a message to disciples or followers, before ascending into the heavens. Just like Jesus."
Dying-and-Rising Gods: It's Pagan, Guys. Get Over It. • Richard Carrier