Definitely be careful about information on parallels between Jesus and pagan religions. There's a lot of ill-researched crap out there and Christian apologists love to poison the well and say "See, see, the heathens are desperate to suppress the Truth that they go around telling lies about the Lord".
I feel the same way about 9/11 Truthers. There's a grain of truth in that the Bush administration was certainly willing to take full advantage of 9/11 to push their political agenda. However, running off into a crazy extreme as asserting that Bush wasn't just willing to take cynical advantage of the situation but actively caused it through a conspiracy only discredits criticism of the Bush administration.
Christianity was certainly a syncratic faith in its infancy and even remains so to this day. One can see the development in the Bible itself if you read the books in the order in which they were written. The ancient Jews, for example, had no concept of Hell or salvation. Neither did they have any need for an intercessor "Son of God", the very idea being blasphemous to the jealous and insecure Yahweh. Therefore, Christianity is not the fulfillment of Judaism. It can't be since it takes off in a completely new direction, even in ways blasphemous.
Looking for influences is one thing. Saying Christianity was a carbon copy of one earlier religion is another. There probably wasn't just one source anyway.
I feel the same way about 9/11 Truthers. There's a grain of truth in that the Bush administration was certainly willing to take full advantage of 9/11 to push their political agenda. However, running off into a crazy extreme as asserting that Bush wasn't just willing to take cynical advantage of the situation but actively caused it through a conspiracy only discredits criticism of the Bush administration.
Christianity was certainly a syncratic faith in its infancy and even remains so to this day. One can see the development in the Bible itself if you read the books in the order in which they were written. The ancient Jews, for example, had no concept of Hell or salvation. Neither did they have any need for an intercessor "Son of God", the very idea being blasphemous to the jealous and insecure Yahweh. Therefore, Christianity is not the fulfillment of Judaism. It can't be since it takes off in a completely new direction, even in ways blasphemous.
Looking for influences is one thing. Saying Christianity was a carbon copy of one earlier religion is another. There probably wasn't just one source anyway.
Atheist Forums Hall of Shame:
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
