(September 11, 2017 at 10:22 pm)SteveII Wrote: Setting aside the OT for a minute (because it is really not useful in any initial evaluation of the gospel message), you have to at least admit that the "story" is unlike any ever told. It is a story of an offer of redemption. Have you read say John and Romans with and open mind--trying to forget the biases created by atheist skepticism, misbehaving Christians, and preconceived notions of what the NT is?
It's just a story, Steve, and it's not as original as all that. In the Hindu mythos, Shiva drinks a river of poison to save all humanity -- not just believers. Bodhisattvas in Mahayana Buddhism turn their backs on Nirvana and stay in the cycle of birth, death and reincarnation so as to save as many people as possible. Dead-and-rising gods are a dime a dozen, especially in the springtime when the world comes back to life.
I've read John. Bunch of mystical wittering, one unsupported assertion after another. I find 3:16 utterly repulsive, and 3:18 even more so. Never liked any of the epistles; Paul of Tarsus comes across as a creepy, negative, misogynistic and self-loathing control freak. There's simply nothing in Christianity that I want, and the few teachings I view as positive are not unique to Christianity.
I also think it's rather amusing that you asked if I put aside the very useful tool of skepticism when assessing those books. If the Bible can't stand up to skepticism then it has failed.
