(April 2, 2021 at 9:52 am)The Grand Nudger Wrote: The supernatural elements are motifs, Brian, not the geography. Both new and old magic book are stories that offer a supernatural explanation for worldly failure and tragedy. God was angry at the isrealites and the judahites - that's why they got rolled from every side. Jesus didn't really fail to establish the promised davidic kingdom...he conquered death and became a god.
Yes, the super natural are motifs, we accept that now, or at least the sane do. But back then, most people bought that as real reality.
The idea of the "afterlife" is the idea that death is not forever, and you move on to a new life after you die, so in that context Christianity is not the first religion, or the only religion that buys the idea of surviving death. The only thing the Jesus story adds to surviving death, is being above mere mortals and having super natural powers.
And I wasn't claming the supernatural was the geography. I was saying back then, the writers of holy writings peppered real places and real people into the writings to lend the false apperance of credibility.
This is the case with all of antquity. You can find legends and myths all over the world, that convey gods/s and kings, and ruling families combined with the mythology of the super natural peppered with real people and real places.
China, Japan, Rome, Greece, Myans, Egyptians all of them have their concepts of afterlife in ancient mythology.
Jesus is simply another mythology in human history trying to convey the desire for our species to continue on after death.
Hindus and Buddhists too, have the concept of reincarnation, which is also an attempt by humans to claim there is life after death.
