... Christianity and how it come about. I want to know everything from where the ideas came from (ie ideas borrowed from other religions or gods such as Horus and mithra), to the historical accounts of Jesus, to how and when the bible was written down. I am an atheist seeking to become better educated so as to have intelligent discourse with others. Please don't try to convert me
Historically ACCURATE book or text book that describes the history of Christianity and?
- Posted:
- 3+ months ago by Proudathe...
- Topics:
- book, religion, history, god, text, christianity, idea, everything, books, gods
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Answers (6)
I hope you are prepared for a landslide of baloney. For starters, you can't understand something if you don't believe it. By definition it makes no sense. Next, you are mostly going to get tirades written by other non-believers, and they also make no sense. People who don't believe the scriptures somehow think they are qualified to interpret them in any fashion they choose. Third, there are armies, as in more than one army, trying every trick they can think of to convince you that the scriptures say things they don't say, and none of it agrees with reality. And since you don't agree with the scriptures either, you are helpless to judge any of this crap. So you are wasting your time. There is no such thing as a well educated atheist. By definition you are following your own made up ideas.
If you want to learn something about God, you must first believe that there is a God and that He rewards people who seek Him. God gave a book specifically to explain Himself to us, and no other god has done any such thing. So you study the bible to find what you want to know. It is not reliable to let people tell you what the bible says. Many people will make up stuff because they don't know what it says, and many will make up stuff because they wish it would not say what it says. You just have to read it for yourself. Read a chapter of Proverbs every day. Proverbs has 31 chapters so you can keep your place by just looking at a calendar. There is no religion or nothing in Proverbs and you don't have to believe anything. Just read to find wisdom. When you are comfortable with that, then read the bible from Romans to 2 Thessalonians over and over until you start to remember what it says. That is the part that applies to Christians. No modern denomination follows the bible, not even the ones that say they do.
For your further education, here is a book that analyzes ancient myths and legends, and religions built on them. It might interest you to know that there were eye witnesses to what we mistakenly call creation. They recorded their observations as best they could, carving some records into stones and passing verbal accounts from one generation to the next. It has taken a very long time to interpret these records because they don't describe anything we have seen. For example the legend of the dragon is carved into rocks all over the world, but it is only recently that anybody has noticed a natural effect that fits that description. This is a long book because it tries to cover everything completely.
saturniancosmology.org/
At Pentecost 33 C.E., holy spirit was poured out on 120 disciples of Jesus, and in many languages they began speaking about the magnificent things of God. This was the founding of the Christian congregation. About 3,000 new disciples were baptized on that day.—Acts, chapter 2
The early disciples were identified as Christians, being called such by divine providence.
For accurate information on this subject and others, please go to www.jw.org "Online Library." search box. Type in each subject to get the information. Also for free downloads, publications or read online.
I would love to have a discussion with you. My purpose is not to try to convert I assure you. But what I would like to do is show you what I found in my own research on the matter which is why I have drawn the conclusion as to what I personally believe. You have asked a few questions. I would like to discuss them one at a time so that the conversation is not all over the place. May I ask you have you always been an atheist?
Hello, thank you for responding. Can we discuss what parts of the bible you found contradictory? There has been times that I too have found some things that didn't make sense, but given some time and extensive research I have always been able to rectify my question.
Unfortunately, by asking for accurate information, you will receive a torrent of misinformation that will claim that there is no historical information about Christianity or its origins, and that you must simply accept the undoubted truth of the faith.
Actually, there are good books written by believers and atheists alike. Even Christian scholars can be honest about the origins of Christianity.
I suspect from the form of your question that you would like to go back to the origins of Judaism, from which Christianity evolved. A good start would be 'The Early History of God', by Mark S. Smith.
'Israel's Messiah' by Richard Hess and Daniel Carroll (both professors of Old Testament) covers the Messiah concept in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.
A good book for your purposes would be 'A World Full of Gods: the Strange Triumph of Christianity ', by Keith Hopkins, a Professor of Ancient History. This compares Christianity and paganism, describes the growth of Christianity and the presence of Gnostic Christianity. If you can only buy one book , then this is the one, but bear in mind that you have asked about an enormously broad topic that can not be covered in just one book.
It was long thought that the 'Acts of the Apostles' was a reliable history of the early Christian Church and that it was written at the time of the events portrayed, but critical scholars abandoned that idea decades ago. The Acts Seminar met from March 2000 to March 2010 to discuss and evaluate the book verse by verse. On behalf of the Seminar, Dennis E. Smith and Joseph B. Tyson wrote 'Acts and Christian Beginnings: The Acts Seminar Report'.
'From Apostles to Bishops', by Francis A. Sullivan, a Catholic priest, covers the development of the episcopacy in the early Church and challenges some beliefs about the history of the Church, but may be peripheral to your interests.
No doubt ideas were borrowed from other religions or gods such as Horus and Mithra, but at this stage that is speculative, and you have asked for historically accurate information.
Non-Biblical writings from the second century testify to the rapid expansion of the original form of Christianity. Roman historian Suetonius alludes to the Christians as having been established in Rome as early as the year 49 C.E. A letter written to Emperor Trajan about 112 C.E. by Pliny the Younger, governor of Bithynia (in modern-day Turkey), refers to Christianity as a “contagion” that had “spread not merely through the free towns, but into the villages and farms.” Reviewing the evidence, one historian concluded: “Within less than a hundred years after the apostolic age places of Christian worship were to be seen in the chief cities of the Empire.”
The Roman Emperor Constantine had a profound influence in world history. He was the first Roman emperor to profess Christianity. He embraced this previously persecuted religion and set it on a path that led to the formation of Christendom. Constantine protected Christianity, believing that the religion could unify his empire.
Although professing to be a Christian he still remained a pagan. practicing divination and astrology.
He did not get baptised until a few days before his death. It is believed that he held back in order to retain the political support of both Christian and pagan elements within the empire. There is no doubt his life record together with the delay in his baptism raise questions about the sincerity of his professed faith in Christ. However, one thing is certain: The church Constantine legitimized became a powerful political and religious entity, one that thus turned its back on Christ and embraced the world.
Thanks for being the first to (almost) answer my question. Of course you can ask, I appreciate all healthy, open-minded discussions. I was a Christian for a long time. I was sincere in my faith and shared it with everyone I met. I was sure of its truth.
Then I opened a book. Nothing stood up. The bible is a contradictory, scientifically inconsistent text. I would suggest to you the god delusion, and a few others if you've got time. What books have you read? What would you suggest I read next?