RE: Jesus
April 19, 2013 at 8:51 pm
(This post was last modified: April 19, 2013 at 8:58 pm by A_Nony_Mouse.)
(April 19, 2013 at 8:26 pm)Minimalist Wrote:Quote:There was nothing to teach or learn or believe beyond what the priests could do to you if you violated their hundreds of Torah laws which made everyone guilty of something.
Consistent with other ancient religious practices, though. The point was to propitiate the gods so they would intercede on your behalf. The Romans practically had a matrix for it. X
X god was pissed off about Y therefore Z(#) of sacrificial victims had to be offered. Kind of like catholicism now which makes sense in a way. "You got a blow job? Five hail marys....unless you are a priest. Then you get a gold star."
Excuse me good sir but I know of no other religion which did anything comparable. All through the Greek and Roman and Egyptian empires there were essentially only two mandatory rules.
1)Do not blaspheme any god.
2)In time of need everyone in the city offers at least some incense.
What people did privately was of no interest to the gods or more correctly the priests of the gods. The gods did not at any time in any way dictate or prohibit (ritual or taboo) any human behavior. They only got pissed at blasphemy, disrespect, just like kings and parents did.
National laws were so completely divorced from religion that 2) was never mentioned. Beyond that they were all more or less like the laws we have today. The Code of Hammurabi is like modern laws. The Torah is batshit and at least 1400 years younger by any reckoning so there is no excuse.
I have noted Rome had a freedom of religion we in the US have yet to achieve.