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How much do you really know about the bible?

I don't post here much but I like to lurk from time to time. Today I noticed a topics dealing with religion/belief in god specifically. Not surprising as we approach Christmas.

Anyway, I am just curious how much literature besides the Bible the devout Judeo/Christian believers have read?

The reason I ask is that many believers seem to use quotes from the Bible to back up their belief system. Either that, or it all comes down to 'you just have to have faith'. This is foolish, and here is why.

The Bible is mostly plagiarized tales from earlier polytheistic religions. This isn't even up for debate, it is fact. Here are a couple of examples.

1. The creation myth is taken from the Enuma Elish, the Babylonian creation epic. Anyone want to guess how many tablets comprise the Elish? If you said 7, you are correct. Funny how that worked out isn't it.

2. The 'Lord's Prayer' is actually taken from a prayer written to honor one of the gods in the Summerian/Akkadian pantheon.

3. Funny how Jesus used two fish to feed thousands of people isn't it? Just the same way Alexander The Great did it 300 years earlier with grapes to feed his army.

And the myths go on and on. I haven't even scratched the surface. Hell, you can even find references to gods from other pantheons in the Bible. The last known that I can recall off the top of my head is a reference to Tamuzi, an Akkadian god, in the book of Acts. This was the last god that the Judeo/Christian god had to defeat to establish his supremacy over Earth.

Now, don't get me wrong, the Bible is a fascinating book. Historically, it has proven to be very accurate. But be careful how much faith you place in it as the writing of your 'god'.

On to Jesus...

Jesus was a great man. Notice I said man and not son of God. What many don't know is that Jesus was a STUDENT of world religion. It is widely accepted that when he disappears from the Bible at age 12, it was on a quest to travel the world. The Asian figure called Isla is widely accepted to be Jesus while he was on his quest. It is no surprise then that Christianity actually contains many facets from other religions.

1. The concept of the Trinity. Nothing new here, the Druids were preaching this 2000 years before Jesus came on the scene.

2. The concept of reincarnation. This was originally in the Bible but was taken out in 325 AD. It didn't conform to the beliefs of the church so it was removed. Kind of hard to control people when they know they get a second chance huh?

And the list goes on and on...

Anyway, the point of this post is not to rain on anyone's parade. If you find solace in religion and it helps you sleep at night, more power to you. Just be careful how far you take your belief system.