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I really enjoy the History Channel series known as Clash of the Gods. In the series myths are explored and evaluated and the historical underpinnings are examined. Although it's not explicitly stated the "clash" is between the mythological god who is the subject of episode versus Christianity I say this because each episode does seem to try to suggest that Christian doctrine and theology is based on pagan myths and legends. This no different of the Zeus episode. Although the parallel is stated, it's not discussed. Let us discuss it now.Zeus is said to have been born and his father tries to kill him. His father ate all his children because he was afraid that one of them would supplant him. His mother saved Zeus by tricking the father, Chronos, to eat a huge rock instead of the Baby. A full treatment is given in the following link: Jesus And Zeus May Not Be So Different After All - The Striking Parallels between the Christian Nativity Story and the Pagan Birth of Zeus
Where Christ was born in a manger in a cave, Zeus was also born in a cave. Where Christ was surrounded by animals that gave him warmth when he was born, Zeus was brought sustenance by the she-goat Amalthea. Where Christ was hidden from King Herod, Zeus was also hidden, this time from his father Cronus, who ate his other children whole.
Furthermore, Christians believe that Christ was crucified, died and was resurrected. The myths of Crete in Greece have it that the Cretan-born Zeus died in the autumn of each year and was reborn again in spring.
I find it shocking that Jesus' nativity would ever be compared to Zeus' birth. Baby Jesus being attended by animals is not even in the Bible. That idea was added later. Also to equate the flavor of the Zeus legend that has him dying and being reborn cyclically, sounds a lot more like Odin than the way Zeus was known all over Greece. It just doesn't hold up.
Let's compare Jesus and Zeus' character. Zeus was vengeful, womanizer and a serial rapist. In no way is Jesus anything like him. But a lot of men are like him. Zeus threw thunderbolts, but the Bible tells us Jesus controlled all of the power of a storm - not just Thunder and lighting. The interesting thing is from my research I have found that in the ancient world that only a god could control the weather. Jesus spoke and the weather obeyed. The Bible is clearly saying the Jesus can do things that Zeus was never said to do. In the myths, Zeus is said to dispense justice to men and the other Olympian gods. Jesus, as we see Him in the Bible, dispenses Justice and Mercy. Jesus also directly helps people - he heals the infirm, and he even raises the dead. Zeus never sacrifices himself for anything or anyone...he is selfish and self-centered. He is the complete opposite of Jesus. I see no way that if Jesus was made up that the archetype on which He is based is anything like Zeus. Jesus was a real person who actually lived and there is no such evidence for Zeus' existence.
I saw an internet question that caused a lot of insults against Jesus. The question asked who is more powerful: Jesus or Zeus? I was amazed at the answers people gave.They showed that they knew nothing of Jesus. One was that Zeus beat the tar out of monsters and the Titans, and then He asked what did Jesus ever do. I have an answer. Jesus beat death. Jesus conquered sin. Through Jesus we have victory over sin and reconciled back to God! That's more than anything Zeus has done. That is what Jesus did for me. A better question is what has Zeus done for you?
Simularities between the purpose of jesus christ and lucifer/satan.
ReplyDeletelet us suppose for argument's sake that everything that is said in the bible about god is absolutely undoubtedly true, ok?
The book of job is perfectly clear about satan/lucifer being one of the "sons of god",look it up if you want or dare i say, if you dare.
Lucifer
In classical mythology, the morning star (the planet Venus at dawn)
(venus being ascociated with love, not hate i might add), personified as a male figure. Lucifer (Latin: "Light-Bearer") carried a torch and served as herald of the dawn. In Christian times, Lucifer came to be regarded as the name of Satan before his fall (a herald of the dawn of man's awakening, "see, they havebecome like US knowing good from evil, (who did god refer to when he said "US"? the other angels? i have my doubts that they are who are refered to here)
(the "bearer of Light" sounds pretty plausible to me because he already bears that knowledge and the bible is clear in that respect that lucifer starts spreading that light at some point anyway)
"the bearer of light"
The planet Venus at dawn. In some Bible translations the name is used in Isaiah 14:12 "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!" originally meaning "the shining one" and referred to the king of Babylon. In the 3rd century A.D. the saying of Jesus: "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven" (Luke 10:18) was connected to Isaiah 14:12 and Lucifer was accepted as the name of Satan before his fall.
Concordance
Is 14:12
all of this suggests that he was supposed to bring us the "light of consciousness" not falling from heaven into hell but onto earth, which is given him as his "domain" (see job again, it won't be hard to find it's refered to in the first few verses.
Consciousness is subjective experience or awareness or wakefulness or the executive control system of the mind
ReplyDeletethe eating of the fruit of knowledge of good and evil sounds like an awakening "experience or awareness or wakefulness" to me.
(god and satan not having any trouble betting over a human being as a test subject don't strike me as two "arch ennemies", and upon that, how can god even consider betting about anything since he is the "alpha and omega" knowing the outcome beforehand makes it all into a very sick and senseless act of sadism sibce the only purpose seems to be proving satan wrong and god right, you got to have some serious ego issues to do something as cruel as what god allows satan to do just to prove a point, and it gets worse, at a second meeting satan doesnt mention job first, god brings him up, again, knowing full well what satan will say, how does he know? because, well, he is god. the rest of the story should be known to you, if it is not you can look it up, because it doesn't end here either, at some point later in the story god pays job a visit to humilliate him for not being as mighty as himself god allmighty.
or, now im'm on a rant any way, killing all first born egyptian men just to teach a very stuborn pharao a lesson,
don't forget that god knew what pharao would do even before pharao was born.
Maybe god had put upon satan the same burdon as on jesus namely the one to be "sacrificed as a sort of diversion to cover up or turn attention away from all gods own "questionable actions" to begin with creating such a powerfull angel who can mess up gods creation while god is infallible.
Maybe there is no greater sacrifice and act of loyalty than to be innocent and take all the blame for all evils that MEN do as a consequence of their free will, men having received this free will by intervention of gods most bright and promising angel, namely lucifer
By doing all of this god succesfully diverted attention away from himself as the one who created this "mess" in the first place
this is where satan comes in to serve his purpose, freeing god from the consequences of his own actions, the only one NOT knowing good from evil seems god himself here.
since god created satan he must have had a purpose for him namely a "bringer of light", so he was created for the sole purpose to "awaken" man so he might be more than just another animal. literary matter reflecting on its own nature.
my oppinion?
neither god nor satan exist the "invention" religion has always been and will always be a way to make sure people behave in a certain way or else "god will judge you after you die" or "you will not get eternal life" something that gets pretty boring after 100^100^100 creations spent praising god.
Hmmm maybe that is why satan rebeled, lol
to me god just sounds a little bit too human after all, and why not?
ReplyDeleteWe are after all built in his image, and clearly very much so when it comes to senseless acts of random violence and cruelty
Gzus, I apologize for not replying to your comments earlier. Did God point Satan at Job like a gun and pull the trigger? Yup. So What? Lucifer's role before his fall was to bear the light to shine. How did he do that? He covered the throne of God with praise and worship - he directed the angelic choir. You seem to try to say that Adam and Eve were awakened when they disobeyed God and ate the fruit of the tree they were not told to eat. But this wrong. They died. They became less that what they were intended to be. Lucifer was not the light of consciousness. You can't have it both ways. Either God is omniscient and he knew what Job and Satan were going to do and say or he was betting that hoping he was right about Job not turning his back on God. The Bible is clear. God knew and Satan was betting that God was wrong. You have a very distorted videw of Job. The story shows that horrible things can happen to good people through no fault of their own. And that we have no right to question or hold God accountable for what He decides to do because what He does or allows is always right.There is no failure in God. It wasn't humiliation at the end of the Job - it was God explaining who he is and what we are. People don't like this answer for why Job suffered what he did or why we suffer but it is the answer.
ReplyDeleteAs for the first-born dying in Egypt, it wasn't just God teaching the stubborn Pharaoh a lesson. He didn't live long after that,remember The lesson was for us and all who heard. The Egyptians deserved it. Remember, they killed all the male babies when Moses was a baby in an attempt to klll the Hebrew deliverer? No? Look it up. It was punishment.
God is God.God does not have to justify anything He does or doesn't do to us. This also sets him totally apart from Zeus because Zeus was still subservient to Fate. God is not. Jesus is not.
If you think praising God would get boring than you have no idea who God is. Every time a new thought comes it will bring with it something else to praise Him for. Satan rebelled because he is an idiot. Don't be like Him. You have made no case that God is anything like us or Zeus - senseless acts of random violence and cruelty. Just because you don't know why you are suffering does not mean God does not have good reason for it. God is not capricious.