(April 3, 2021 at 5:52 am)The Grand Nudger Wrote: The ot prophets werent starting a cult. They didn't need to borrow any credibility. They were speaking to people who already believed about events that were happening.
The only difference between a religion and a cult is popularity and political power.
Ultimately all religions that rise, are mixtures of of competing with prior and surrounding religions, full of motifs borrowed or stolen from surrounding or prior religions. It is like that old game where you sit in a circle, tell a story, and by the time it gets back to you it is deluded with the imput of those it was passed to.
Buddhism is a spin off of Hinduism. Islam is a spin off of the Abrahamic traditions, and Christianity is a spin off of Jewish and Jewish are a spin off of Canaanite polythiesm. Even the Rasta Religion is a spin off of African Christian/Jewish traditions.
And there is no such thing as a "Prophet". "Prophet" is simply a superstitous word like Oracle or Soothsayer or Seer.
All religions that have arrisin in human history are not started by humans with magic super powers to predict the future. They are started by mere humans who either fool themselves or deliberately con others into convincing them that they have some divine power.
