What are the Characteristics of a NT Christian?

[RoadRunner79]

bold mine

I thought most of it was (NT and OT). Is the OT original fantasy and the NT borrowed fantasy?

Much of the OT was borrowed and embellished from Sumerian/Babylonian mythology.   Most of the NT was rehashed OT bullshit.  But other scholars have traced some to Homer or other Greco-Roman writers.

http://lacrossetribune.com/news/opinion/...963f4.html

Finally, since before Christian times, the death and resurrection of Romulus was celebrated in an annual public ceremony in Rome. According to legend, Romulus and Remus were the sons of the god Mars, and the Vestal Virgin Rhea Silvia. Rome’s king and namesake, Romulus, was killed by the first Roman senate. His corpse vanished from the tomb, and he subsequently appeared to his loyal follower Proculus (Latin for “to proclaim”) on the road from Alba Longa to Rome. The demigod orders him to announce a message to his fellow Romans — if they are virtuous, they will conquer the world.

Likewise in Luke, after Jesus is killed and his corpse vanishes, he appears to Cleopas (Greek for “to tell all”) on the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Jesus, too, orders his follower to proclaim his words.

Let’s look at the parallels: Both Romulus and Jesus are born of virgins and are hailed as “God,” “Son of God” and “King.” Both incarnated to establish kingdoms and are killed by a conspiracy of ruling powers. Both of their deaths were accompanied by a supernatural darkness, and both corpses later vanish. Both appear around the break of dawn to close followers whose names literally mean “to proclaim,” traveling from east to west on roads of roughly equal length. Romulus’ ethereal body gleams, befitting his glorious message of empire. Jesus materializes in humble disguise, befitting his message of humility — that the virtuous will join the spiritual kingdom.

The similarities here are too numerous to be accidental. The scenes appear to be parallel myths, the latter intentionally lifted from the former.

These were only a few examples of many that clearly demonstrate Mark and others drew from earlier source material for their versions of the Gospel tale. Though such imitation was not an uncommon practice in ancient story writing, it casts doubt on the assertion that the New Testament narratives are “gospel truth.”

I have learned to look for citations in such comparisons.  Often for the ones I have searched for, the similarities are stretched, to make them look more similar than they are.  Also some are only found after Jesus or after the prophesies found in the Old Testament (where applicable).

It also doesn't follow, that just because there are similarities that one is copied or derived from the other.  You need to show a connection or give reason, why you think that is the case.   At times, it seems like similarities are cherry picked from a number of sources (spanning time and geography) while dissimilarities are ignored.  Given this strategy, I think this strategy, could be widely abused, and I'm skeptical.

It also largely ignores the source.  That Christianities foundation is in Judaism, and they have a long tradition against the adoption of and mingling with pagan religions.   While this doesn't absolutely preclude any claims of borrowing, the culture that predominately founded Christianity does make it more unlikely that this would sway them.

This argument also doesn't effect the evidence found both early, and near to the source, which generally lessens the likely hood of legend.