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Is Christianity unique or not?
#51
RE: Is Christianity unique or not?
I shan't quibble.

Big Grin

Let's see Chad's head explode.  This is what Richard Carrier has to say on the subject.


Quote:To say Christianity was a mystery religion is not to say that Christianity
is exactly like any other mystery religion, any more than any mystery
religion was 'exactly like' any other. Often when scholars deny that
Christianity was a mystery religion, they real1y mean it wasn't just one of
the already-existing mystery religions superficially overhauled with Jewish
concepts. Christianity wasn't 'Osiris Cult 2.0'. Which is certainly true. But
that's all that anyone's evidence can prove. If instead we define a mystery
religion as any Hellenistic cult in which individual salvation was procured
by a ritual initiation into a set of 'mysteries', the knowledge of which and
participation in which were key to ensuring a blessed eternal life, then
Christianity was demonstrably a mystery religion beyond any doubt.
I f we then expand that definition to include a set of specific feat ures
held in common by all other mystery religions of the early Roman era, then
Christianity becomes even more demonstrably a mystery religion, so much so,
in fact, that it's impossible to deny it was deliberately constructed as
such. Even the earliest discernible form of Christianity emulates numerous
cultic features and concepts that were so unique to the Hellenistic mystery
cults that it is statistically beyond any reasonable possibility that they
all found their way into Christianity by mere coincidence. They formed a
coherent, logical and repeatedly replicated system of ideas in every other
mystery cult. It would be irrational to conclude the same wasn't so of Christianity.
Christianity cannot be understood apart from this fact. And any
theory of historicity that fails to account for it cannot be credible.72
That Christianity taught eternal salvation for the individual cannot be
denied. That it taught that this salvation was procured by initiation rituals
(such as undergoing baptism and partaking of the Eucharist) cannot be
denied. And that these rituals involved an induction into a set of'mysteries',
the knowledge of which and participation in which were key to ensuring
a blessed eternal life, is explicitly stated throughout the authentic epistles
of Paul-and nearly everywhere else in the NT. In Paul's letters essential
Christian doctrines are routinely called mysteries. 73 The NT evinces other
common vocabulary of mystery cult, used with the same peculiar connotations,
not just mysterion (divine secret), but teleios (mature [as higher
ranking initiates]), nepios (immature [as lower ranking initiates]), skene
(body [as discardable and unneeded for salvation]), epopt􀈩s (witness [to the
mysteries]), etc.74

Pg 96-97 of "On the Historicity of Jesus."  

Bold added to help out the dummies who will refuse to see it!
Reply



Messages In This Thread
Is Christianity unique or not? - by Graufreud - July 25, 2018 at 5:23 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by robvalue - July 25, 2018 at 6:02 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Fake Messiah - July 25, 2018 at 6:13 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by chimp3 - July 25, 2018 at 6:21 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Fake Messiah - July 25, 2018 at 6:31 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by robvalue - July 25, 2018 at 6:38 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by SteveII - July 25, 2018 at 7:29 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by I_am_not_mafia - July 25, 2018 at 7:56 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Neo-Scholastic - July 25, 2018 at 10:56 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Succubus - July 25, 2018 at 9:21 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by SteveII - July 25, 2018 at 10:25 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Fake Messiah - July 26, 2018 at 4:46 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Succubus - July 25, 2018 at 9:10 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by brewer - July 25, 2018 at 9:17 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by robvalue - July 25, 2018 at 10:20 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Mister Agenda - July 25, 2018 at 10:15 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Succubus - July 25, 2018 at 10:53 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by SteveII - July 25, 2018 at 11:02 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by I_am_not_mafia - July 25, 2018 at 11:13 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Crossless2.0 - July 25, 2018 at 11:17 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by I_am_not_mafia - July 25, 2018 at 11:26 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Neo-Scholastic - July 25, 2018 at 11:45 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Whateverist - July 25, 2018 at 11:27 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by I_am_not_mafia - July 25, 2018 at 11:46 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Amarok - July 25, 2018 at 11:48 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Angrboda - July 25, 2018 at 12:18 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Minimalist - July 25, 2018 at 12:32 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Neo-Scholastic - July 25, 2018 at 12:45 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Minimalist - July 25, 2018 at 2:52 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Amarok - July 25, 2018 at 3:37 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by robvalue - July 25, 2018 at 2:58 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Minimalist - July 25, 2018 at 3:39 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by I_am_not_mafia - July 26, 2018 at 6:30 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Graufreud - July 26, 2018 at 8:00 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by I_am_not_mafia - July 26, 2018 at 8:13 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Amarok - July 26, 2018 at 8:24 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Graufreud - July 26, 2018 at 9:00 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Amarok - July 27, 2018 at 6:03 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Angrboda - July 27, 2018 at 6:05 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Amarok - July 27, 2018 at 6:12 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Mister Agenda - July 26, 2018 at 10:27 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Graufreud - July 26, 2018 at 11:40 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Neo-Scholastic - July 26, 2018 at 3:26 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by brewer - July 26, 2018 at 12:00 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Angrboda - July 26, 2018 at 12:02 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Minimalist - July 26, 2018 at 12:47 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by I_am_not_mafia - July 26, 2018 at 1:01 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Minimalist - July 26, 2018 at 1:19 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Amarok - July 26, 2018 at 3:45 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Neo-Scholastic - July 26, 2018 at 3:53 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Angrboda - July 26, 2018 at 3:59 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Amarok - July 26, 2018 at 4:05 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Minimalist - July 26, 2018 at 4:19 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Amarok - July 26, 2018 at 4:25 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Mister Agenda - July 27, 2018 at 9:19 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Minimalist - July 26, 2018 at 4:35 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by JairCrawford - July 26, 2018 at 6:57 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Minimalist - July 26, 2018 at 7:13 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by JairCrawford - July 27, 2018 at 6:21 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Angrboda - July 27, 2018 at 6:34 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by JairCrawford - July 27, 2018 at 6:53 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Silver - July 26, 2018 at 7:00 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by JairCrawford - July 26, 2018 at 7:10 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by JairCrawford - July 26, 2018 at 7:22 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by JairCrawford - July 26, 2018 at 7:32 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Angrboda - July 26, 2018 at 7:30 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Fake Messiah - July 26, 2018 at 7:33 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by JairCrawford - July 26, 2018 at 8:08 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Minimalist - July 26, 2018 at 8:35 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Graufreud - July 27, 2018 at 7:03 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Whateverist - July 27, 2018 at 7:25 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Fake Messiah - July 27, 2018 at 8:29 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by I_am_not_mafia - July 27, 2018 at 8:53 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Minimalist - July 27, 2018 at 11:21 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by JairCrawford - July 27, 2018 at 12:38 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Neo-Scholastic - July 27, 2018 at 11:27 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Minimalist - July 27, 2018 at 12:12 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Angrboda - July 27, 2018 at 11:29 am
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by LastPoet - July 27, 2018 at 4:09 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Amarok - July 27, 2018 at 1:01 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Minimalist - July 27, 2018 at 6:54 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by JairCrawford - July 27, 2018 at 7:02 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Minimalist - July 27, 2018 at 7:41 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by JairCrawford - July 27, 2018 at 10:37 pm
RE: Is Christianity unique or not? - by Minimalist - July 28, 2018 at 1:10 am

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