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The Forum > General Discussion > The Origins & Peculiarities of Christianity.

The Origins & Peculiarities of Christianity.

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I think that "Islamic Riot" Topic had Morphed into a discussion on the peculiarities of Christianity & therefore I think if we wish to discuss the Origins of Christianity we should create another Thread such as this.

There are a myriad of Legends about Jesus Christ & the exact Origins of Christianity. Most of us were brought up as Christians & went to Some sort of Bible Class, Were read stories as children about Baby Jesus as disseminated by the Various Christian Churches. But, how much of it is actually true & what is fable.

There are other legends about the Life of Jesus that come from other countries. Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt, India/Pakistan, France & Britain. How much is true & how much is fable?

I am of the belief that there is a core of truth behind all Legends. The same Legend is passed down by word of mouth & we know that primitive people passed down their Tribal & Family Historys very accurately by word of mouth. One only has to look at the Aboriginal Stories. Some of these stories are cryptic. The meanings were only to be understood by an initiated few. The story was still valid & meaningful for the uninitiated. So it is with the Bible stories & Legends.
Posted by Jayb, Monday, 1 October 2012 10:43:30 AM
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Jayb as one of those snared in the thread you mention some facts need airing.
Christianity, I am no longer a believer, has evolved.
Its introduction in the other thread was as a blind,to try to blame past acts of Christians, not present ones of another faith.
I KNOW, we can dig dirt on both faiths endlessly, but in truth Christianity lives in todays world.
Even uncovering its own past, EG Catholic Church, in an effort to improve.
I do not back away, still think we would gain a great chance at one world, with no religion.
But Christianity is at its best because it is constantly changeing.
Because people want to crowd shoulder to shoulder in new Churchs like Lakeside.
If you fall it will indeed be a Christian who picks you up.
Not all, morning runner, but most.
Posted by Belly, Monday, 1 October 2012 12:17:03 PM
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Oh I agree Belly. I knew Christianities past was thrown in as a red herring that’s why I moved it away from the Islamic Riot thread. If they wish to discuss the Origins & Peculiarities of Christianity we/they can do it here.

Personally, I too, am an atheist, but being brought up as a good Catholic school boy & having an Irish Catholic Mother I have a good understanding of the workings of the Bible & the Epistles, Gospels & most of the mythology associated with Christianity. St. George & the Dragon, St Nickolas, etc.

I thought it would make a good subject on the Forum. There are a lot of Legends surfacing that were not around when I was a kid. People have travelled & brought these legends back. I think one of the first shocks Christianity got was when Alberque sailed into Goa & announced that he was there to convert the people to Christianity. They took him & showed him the Church of St. Thomas & introduced him to a large Christian Community that had been there since about 50 AD. It's still there & the original Alter is behind a large curtain. Oh & I think Ethiopia was the other shock with the discovery of the Coptic Christians by the Italians.

1400 years of Christianity uncorrupted by Paul, the Roman Empire & unchanged from it’s beginning.

This should be interesting debate to say the least.
Posted by Jayb, Monday, 1 October 2012 12:53:06 PM
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I too grew up in a strict Catholic family Jayb, but am now an atheist .
I had never really thought about the origins of Christianity before, as I had been brought up on the apparent 'truth' of a Bible I later found out was written by ancient men who thought they knew a God personally.

I looked it up on Wikipedia and was blown away by the massive numbers of religions and Gods of that time, and that Christianity was probably a spin-off of Judaism.

"Paula Fredriksen, in From Jesus to Christ, has suggested that Jesus' impact on his followers was so great that they could not accept the failure implicit in his death. According to the New Testament, some Christians reported that they encountered Jesus after his crucifixion; they argued that he had been resurrected (the belief in the resurrection of the dead in the messianic age was a core Pharisaic doctrine), and would soon return to usher in the Kingdom of God and fulfill the rest of Messianic prophecy such as the Resurrection of the dead and the Last Judgment."

So, from this suggestion, maybe some Christians back then decided to go with the resurrection story because they couldn't believe that their God on Earth - Jesus - could actually die, like the normal human he actually was.

It also seems that the Resurrection, and days of Last Judgement were notions imagined by ancient people's long before Jesus was supposed to have been born, and thus weren't Christian notions at all!

Fascinating...,!
Posted by Suseonline, Monday, 1 October 2012 6:36:52 PM
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'but being brought up as a good Catholic school boy & having an Irish Catholic Mother I have a good understanding of the workings of the Bible & the Epistles '

funny Jayb I had a good Catholic upbringing only to be denied the truth found in Scripture. You schooling was obviously very different from mine. The main religion in my Catholic upbringing was Rugby. If you were a good player you were absolved of most if not all sin. Very sad really. Had little to do with the Lord Jesus Christ spoken of in the Scriptures.
Posted by runner, Monday, 1 October 2012 9:10:57 PM
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runner: funny Jayb I had a good Catholic upbringing only to be denied the truth found in Scripture. You schooling was obviously very different from mine.

I guess you're now one of these New Wave Christian wave your armer types, JH or SDA. One of the strange ones anyway. I have no problem with that, except that they spend a lot of time running down the Catholics. Very Christian like that. Truth be known it all got to do with whose got the money & the power in society. I think if any one of those 3 got into power we'd have the same situation as having a Muslim Caliphate. There would be mass burnings at the stake in football stadiums everywhere.

No Rugby in my school mate. 1 hour of religion everyday, 5 days a week. In Sub-Junior & Junior some fairly in-depth stuff.(that's Grade 9 & 10, as far as I went.) I only passed Religion, English 2, Social Studies 1 &2, Chemistry & Physics, Wood work, Sheet metal & Tech Drawing. Failed Maths 1 & 2, Geometry, Book Keeping, English 1 & Latin. One Teacher teaching G9 & G10 to 35 kids. I failed Junior. Kids have got it so hard these days.
Posted by Jayb, Monday, 1 October 2012 9:52:07 PM
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There is a vast historical difference between the "warm-and-fuzzy Hollywood and Sunday School" version of the history of Christianity and the cold hard truth.

Those solemn and starry-eyed converts we see in those old movies don't correspond to the cruel and violent zealots that burned libraries and temples and slaughtered thousands of pagans in the first few centuries alone.

Even the evolution of the Bible and how it got progressively longer as the stories evolved is interesting too.

The only real difference between the three major monotheistic religions is more to do with marketing than from quoting selective examples of content and all share the same Egyptian origins.
Posted by rache, Tuesday, 2 October 2012 1:49:20 AM
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Jayb knowqing why you started the thread I agree it can be an interesting one.
But in isolation from its reason for becoming a thread, no longer truly related to its birth.
Suseonline, yes indeed, more should read about Christianity's birth.
It and the Islamic faith came after the Jewish faith, and from it.
But all three can be chased back to more ancient Gods.
No secretes there, just not used these days.
I think, Humanity needed .maybe still does a God.
And that it is a shame WE SPLIT ONE IN TO THREE faiths.
Not referring to the Christian Trinity, that too has its detractors.
But much of the racism is in fact not that, it is the difference in GODS that fuels separation.
Any one truly interested in jayb,s subject can learn much by open minded research.
Posted by Belly, Tuesday, 2 October 2012 6:00:21 AM
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I went to St Greg's...it was football....

Religions are called “faiths” because they cannot make things defy physics. They talk about things that defy physics, but their practitioners can't seem to demonstrate things that defy physics.

All religions at their base give a set of social directions for the community and rely on the human attributes of a “free will” and a “consciousness” to determine your worthiness for a life after life. They all define the free will that man has, and let us know that we choose our actions, and the wrong choices can bring anything from eternal pain to eternal void. An arbitrator we cannot deceive….pretty scary.

Religions probably began as a means to placate something that negatively affected us but later it was conceived as a social restraint tool. Religion immediately lifted the social stature of those who organized and ran the ceremonies and it gave the plebs more to fear than flesh and blood. This practical form of social organization probably morphed from the awe that humanity had for natural phenomenon, terra and astrological. We chose a deity or deities that controlled one thing or all things and we built a credo and a social structure around it.
TBC
Posted by sonofgloin, Tuesday, 2 October 2012 10:43:33 PM
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Most religions inherited bits and pieces from demised cultures and their religions. There is a congruency that runs through all the major religions, Asian and Eastern, as if someone sat down and laid out a set of guidelines. The Ten Commandments are echoed in all the major faiths, possibly because they are principles towards successful social cohabitation.

Religions have always been used by power factions to control and motivate their plebs. Jesus said “the meek shall inherit the earth” and this teaching of being compliant and subservient has aided those who have physically controlled us over the millennia, put up with it now, because your gift is coming after you die….not bad eh, particularly if those same powerbrokers control the church. Joseph Stalin shipped all the Russian Orthodox priests off to Siberia by the early 1930’s. He shipped back what was left of them in 1941 to buoy the plebs in their struggle against Germany. Religions have always been manipulated by the people who have power and wealth.

When you discuss the roots of Christianity or any other religion that has spanned civilization you are looking at a meld. Many Christian holy days have an equivalent in the old Babylonian religion including Xmas and Easter. The Jews adopted a load from the Canaanite’s.

There is no “qualifying” of the roots of any religion to a singularity, none of the majors started from scratch, they are patchworks of the same theme from civilization to civilization, generation to generation, interpretation after interpretation
Posted by sonofgloin, Tuesday, 2 October 2012 10:43:41 PM
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Humanity’s attempts to understand Nature (only relatively recently called science) have also been “patchworks of the same theme from civilization to civilization, generation to generation, interpretation after interpretation”, one of the very recent attempts being the various interpretations of the seemingly self-contradictory findings of quantum physics.
Posted by George, Wednesday, 3 October 2012 1:45:57 AM
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SOG mate of mine came here from Scotland as a kid, very young;.
For some reason his whole family did not.
He middle aged took his wife to have a look.
Came home disgusted, he, like me, never knew the Scots hate each other.
Catholic vs COE, my mob.
Now last night,I watched becoming human.
History of us.
Few would not know it is truth.
But we hate based on a fairy tale?
We are indeed a weird mob, not just Aussie but all of us.
Posted by Belly, Wednesday, 3 October 2012 6:01:36 AM
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Belly>> But we hate based on a fairy tale?
We are indeed a weird mob, not just Aussie but all of us<<

Belly china, I despair at the divisions we choose to separate us, have done since I was first aware that society had divisions. Have a peek at Bertrand Russells “Why I am not a Christian” that I linked….I read sheit loads of his stuff in my teens.

http://www.users.drew.edu/~jlenz/whynot.html
Posted by sonofgloin, Friday, 5 October 2012 6:08:23 PM
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It was prophesied in ancient times that the line of King David would eventually produce a new Messiah. The line eventually came down to Abraham who already had one son but unfortunately couldn’t keep it in his trousers and had it off with the Arab serving girl.

Thus which son was the prophesied Messiah became a confused issue that has resulted in the never ending warfare between the Muslim religion and the Christian religion.

Maybe if they had, had the pill back then we would be free of all this madness, but I doubt it.
Posted by CHERFUL, Friday, 5 October 2012 7:46:57 PM
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The Abrahamic religions (sc. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) have been the primary source of planet-wide evil since their inception, and remain so today. Read "The Messianic Legacy" if you're not afraid of challenging the status quo.
Posted by Smythe, Sunday, 7 October 2012 12:08:21 PM
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Interesting how I'm agreeing with some posters here who I often do not agree with!

Religion is indeed the one thing that divides peoples against each other. It is therefore rather evil in my view.

On the line of David producing the Messiah. If Jesus is the son of God, how can he be from the line of David? The Christians are adamant on the virgin birth thing. Joseph isn't his daddy according to them.
The virgin birth by the way was not an original concept even within the early Roman church. Neither was the actual physical rising from the death of Jesus.

Even when young I could not grasp the reason to add absurdities like the above to give meaning and relevance to the supposed message of Jesus. That's one thing Islam does not do. Embellish Mary with virginity and Jesus with arising from the dead.
Posted by yvonne, Sunday, 7 October 2012 1:29:55 PM
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Yvonne, Religion is a scam that some people fail to see. What about the bloke that lived in a whale, it defies logic.
Posted by 579, Sunday, 7 October 2012 3:27:40 PM
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567: What about the bloke that lived in a whale, it defies logic.

It was a submarine. Bedo, bedooo.

I've just upgraded my computer & getting everything back to normal is yuck.

A good book to read is, "Joshua, the man they called Jesus"

There is a theory that Mary was betrothed to one of Herods sons. The one that ruled in Alexandria, Egypt. He was good friend of Augustus, who later became Emperor. Augustus had a bad habit of raping his friend’s wives or betrothed. Hence Mary's pregnancy. Herod’s son then rejected her & she was married off to one of the temple priests. Joseph, who was an older man with a number of sons. When Herod was killing the newborn males they fled into Egypt where they had friends. Thus when Pontius Pilate asked Jesus who his father was, Jesus whispered in his ear, and then Pilate washed his hands.
Posted by Jayb, Sunday, 7 October 2012 7:16:11 PM
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>>There is a theory that Mary was betrothed to one of Herods sons. The one that ruled in Alexandria, Egypt. He was good friend of Augustus, who later became Emperor. Augustus had a bad habit of raping his friend’s wives or betrothed. Hence Mary's pregnancy. Herod’s son then rejected her & she was married off to one of the temple priests. Joseph, who was an older man with a number of sons. When Herod was killing the newborn males they fled into Egypt where they had friends. Thus when Pontius Pilate asked Jesus who his father was, Jesus whispered in his ear, and then Pilate washed his hands.<<

One thing that Muslims could (and should) learn from Christians is that you can safely write things like this - even make a provocative movie of it if you like - and no Christian will pay much attention to your provocation, not to mention initiating riots. Because it conveys information only about the conveyer not the subject matter.
Posted by George, Sunday, 7 October 2012 10:21:07 PM
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George: Because it conveys information only about the conveyer not the subject matter.

I didn't say I believed it George. I said it was a theory. One of many that I would like to discuss. Such as, Jesus is buried in Northern India

You are right on the Islamic front though. I would have had a fatwa issued against me & my head lopped off by now if I had said any of the like about Muhammad.
Posted by Jayb, Monday, 8 October 2012 9:00:41 AM
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Jayb,
It is irrelevant whether or not you believe the facts stated in the (offensive to Christians) story. (I do not think the author of the movie “Innocence of Muslims” believed the story he wrote to provoke with.) If your post was not intended to only reveal you own attitude towards Christianity (whatever personal experience was behind it) but its aim was to present an alternative “theory” based on facts, you should have provided some information about respectable specialists (historians and exegetes in this case) who support it. There is no point trying to broaden ones own perspective on these things (whether Christian, atheist or what) through an ad hoc invented silly story.

There are indeed “a myriad of legends about Jesus” that are not in agreement with the official narrative based on the New Testament. However, if you want to discuss them here (as skeptical as I am about this) you should provide the names of specialists or links that support these alternative “theories”, since I do not think there are many exegetes and historians specializing in these matters on this OLO.

Like you could provide alternative e.g. theories about physical reality (string theories, loop quantum gravity, etc) and discuss them. However, since most of us do not have the necessary mathematical and physical qualifications, the discussion could be merely non-critical, relying on “authorized” popularizations. And in case of seemingly weird theories you should provide the names of established experts (physicists) who can explain and defend them.
Posted by George, Monday, 8 October 2012 10:11:14 AM
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The Bible story I particularly enjoy is the one about the 'Three Little Pigs' Many theologians like myself believe this story relates directly, or indirectly, depending on the time of day, to the holy trinity, that's why there are 3 little pigs not 2 or 4 little pigs, although in some other faiths it has become necessary to replace little pigs with other little critters, due to the unpopularity of the porkers. Obviously the big bad wolf is, you know, none other than the devil himself. The brick house must be a direct reference to heaven, what else could it be?
Posted by Paul1405, Monday, 8 October 2012 10:17:45 AM
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Paul1405: It's an analogy I've not heard before but you are right. Some fairy stories & nursery rhymes were written to enhance Religious beliefs. Some were very sexual. (Sleeping beauty) Some to impart moral behaviour, Aesop’s Fables, Uncle Remus (Brer Rabbit & Brer Bear), Canterbury tales & the story of King Arthur (which is a story within a story within a story of Christianity in the Dark Ages.) (Not the children’s version.)
Posted by Jayb, Monday, 8 October 2012 11:00:02 AM
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Or indeed, it could be entirely the other way around, Paul1405

>>Many theologians like myself believe this story relates directly, or indirectly, depending on the time of day, to the holy trinity, that's why there are 3 little pigs not 2 or 4 little pigs<<

Three is a recurring number in mythology and storytelling, so it is hardly surprising that the christian church (or one branch of it) selected that number for its headline act.

Pythagoras probably started it with his theory that three was the "perfect" number. 500 years before Christ was born - and even longer from the adoption of the theory by christians - Pythagoras mused that it could represent "beginning, middle and end", as well as such concepts as the trinity of gods at that time - Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto. There were of course the three Greek Fates, Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos. Three Roman Fates, Nona, Decima and Morte. The Norns of Norse mythology, Urđr, Verđandi and Skuld.

As Wikipedia points out, this illustrates the "Rule of Three" in literature.

"The rule of three is a writing principle that suggests that things that come in threes are inherently funnier, more satisfying, or more effective than other numbers of things. The reader or audience of this form of text is also more likely to consume information if it is written in groups of threes. From slogans ("Go, fight, win!") to films, many things are structured in threes. Examples include The Three Stooges, Three Little Pigs, Three Billy Goats Gruff, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and Three Blind Mice. A series of three often creates a progression in which the tension is created, built up, and finally released. Similarly, adjectives are often grouped in threes to emphasize an idea."

It would appear that your religion followed a well-established pattern when it created the story of the "trinity".
Posted by Pericles, Monday, 8 October 2012 12:34:40 PM
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Golly fellas, my 3 little pigs story was a gee up by this irreverent atheist. Oh god! what do you make of Goldilocks and the 3 Bears. Next thing you know I'll be praying at the alter of Humpty Dumpty.
Posted by Paul1405, Monday, 8 October 2012 7:48:12 PM
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The biggest peculiarity of Christianity is it's deity belief.

This deity belief originated in ignorant, uneducated and brutal ancient times when science provided no alternative to the ancient superstitions regarding our origins.

Science is STILL in it's infancy, but at least we know a lot more now than we did then. The more educated and free a society becomes, the less influence Christian "belief" has ... that's why ancient Christian law doesn't directly rule modern first world countries. Many Muslim regions are still quite uneducated and not free, due to their cultures ... thus ancient religious law has a big influence. It's all about EDUCATION and FREEDOM, and NOT the specific religion. Both ancient Christian law, and ancient Muslim law, are brutal, inhumane and based on control and ignorant superstition.

It will probably be many thousands of years till science can conclusively answer all questions regarding all existence. Until then, deity belief will continue ... until we become advanced enough and educated enough to prove that all existence does NOT come from any mythical deity or superstition.

ALL deities have been an invention of mankind, always in mankind's image. Mankind is still at a very primitive stage of it's intellectual biology. What we know now, will be miniscule and of scant importance compared to what we'll know in a thousand years time (provided we continue to advance .... and that is NOT guaranteed, because of our animalistic and destructive intellectual biology).
Posted by DiamondPete, Tuesday, 9 October 2012 2:24:20 PM
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Is that right, Paul1405.

>>Golly fellas, my 3 little pigs story was a gee up by this irreverent atheist<<

Clearly, sarcasm is not your strong point.
Posted by Pericles, Tuesday, 9 October 2012 5:14:59 PM
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My take on the origin on the Trinity.

The Indo-European peoples occupied the area between the Northern Black Sea, From about 9000BC, spreading West to Europe & East across the Caspian Sea & Aral Sea towards the Mountain barrier with China to about 2500 BC.

The Aryan/Iranian Cultures then moved south into the Indus Valley & the Euphrates Valley bringing with them an early form of Trinity.

In India it developed into the Hindu Religion with their Trinity Brahma, the Creator, Shivs, the Protector, & Vishnu, the Destroyer. (Beginning, Middle, & End.)

In the Euphrates Valley, The Sumerian had a Trinity of Nammu, Enki & Enlil. Babylonian Culture, Marduk, the Creator, The Sky (no name) & below the Earth. (no name) The rest is a Creation story similar to the Bible with different names.

So I would say the Trinity originated with the Indo-European Cultures & evolved as it took different paths around the Caucus mountains into the Euphrates Valley.

Interestingly is the timing of the move away from the Black Sea is about the same time as the land bridge between Asia & Europe failed & flooded the Black Sea. About 9000 BC. Also about the same time as the failing of the land bridge between Europe & Britain, about 8500 BC. So the story of the Flood evolved as these Indo-European Peoples moved in different directions & developed different Religions & Cultures.
Posted by Jayb, Tuesday, 9 October 2012 7:15:20 PM
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The origins and peculiarities are natural given the age of the 'story'. History is often rewritten and edited to the point where the end product many not resemble the original in large part.

Much of the religious story is cherry-picked and that is partly why there are so many different sects, the same is true of most religions because human beings are different and add cultural differences it is understandable anomalies or inconsistencies will be present. It is also historically, about power and control over people if you look at the actions of the Roman Empire at it's most powerful.

It may be that Jesus did exist as a man who tried to do good works and then the supernatural element or myth was born from there.

The biggest problem from my own POV is that too many religious people, not only Christians, limit their idea of faith to the worshipping of a deity rather than the practice of ethics unless it relates to their 'own kind'. As if the worship itself is enough on it's own.

Religion is certainly an interesting study not only of history but of psychology, sociology and culture. It is also a study in identity and the way people perceive themselves or the way they wish to be perceived. The problem of protecting paedophiles in the Catholic Church is a good example of where any mention of this issue will induce the labels of anti-Catholic no matter how awful the facts. The same goes for criticisms of he Islamic or Jewish faiths or criticism of Israel or Middle East will induce a similar response. Truth is thrown out the window in defence of faith sometimes and that is a travesty. Meaningful dialogue cannot come from a place of hostility or knee-jerk defence responses.

It is about identity and protecting that identity over all other values and that sometimes leads to bad outcomes.
Posted by pelican, Wednesday, 10 October 2012 8:32:10 AM
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"The problem of protecting paedophiles in the Catholic Church is a good example of where any mention of this issue will induce the labels of anti-Catholic no matter how awful the facts."
Pelican, I think the protecting of pedophiles by the hierarchy of the Catholic Church has more to do with their mistaken belief that it is more important to protect 'the good name of the church' than it is to prosecute a 'few' wrong doers within the organization, along with limiting any financial liability the business may incur. The natural reaction is to attack the accuser as being anti church. This is followed by firstly trying to minimise the crime ( it was not that bad) and then some justification for the perpetrator (was ill) then setting a false premise about the victim (after money)
No matter who we are we all seem to need to rationalise these kinds of things in our own minds and justify oneself as doing the right thing. This does not make it right, but human nature being what it is, seems to make it often our natural reaction. What do you think?
Posted by Paul1405, Wednesday, 10 October 2012 9:47:15 AM
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Paul & Pelican: "The problem of protecting paedophiles in the Catholic Church is a good example of where any mention of this issue will induce the labels of anti-Catholic no matter how awful the facts."
Pelican, I think the protecting of pedophiles by the hierarchy of the Catholic Church has more to do with their mistaken belief that it is more important to protect 'the good name of the church' than it is to prosecute a 'few' wrong doers within the organization, along with limiting any financial liability the business may incur.

I think that that is an entirely different subject.
Posted by Jayb, Wednesday, 10 October 2012 10:17:51 AM
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Jayb,
>>There are a myriad of Legends about Jesus Christ & the exact Origins of Christianity. … But, how much of it is actually true & what is fable.<<

As I wrote before, I am rather skeptical about finding out “how much is actually true” on this OLO. However, it occurred to me that if you are genuinely interested you might find some answers in Rodney Stark’s “The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement Became the World's Largest Religion” (HarperOne, 2011).
Posted by George, Thursday, 11 October 2012 9:21:13 AM
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Paul and Jayb
It is about protecting the good name of the Church but like politicians, government and bureaucrats surely the lessons have been learned that deception does more damage long term than when dealing with issues immediately and without prevarication in the short term
Posted by pelican, Thursday, 11 October 2012 4:09:20 PM
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Jayb, you're wrong. There's more than a mere "few" pedophile priests, preachers and pastors.

Thousands of prosecutions have been launched the world over. And they are just the miniscule percentage that actually ever get to court.

Not just the Churches, but Christians themselves need to take responsibility for the entrenched culture of pedophilia within much of the clergy over the past several hundreds of years. It's one of the evils within Christianity, and they've only been acting to prevent it since Christianity was finally outed publicly over the issue. If it was still possible for them to keep it hidden, guess what? They'd STILL be trying to hide it, and STILL overtly protecting these Christian criminal child abusers.
Posted by DiamondPete, Thursday, 11 October 2012 4:48:05 PM
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Pelican,Diamond Pete & Paul, if you want to discuss Paedophilia within the various religious bodies I'd be happy to do so. Not in this Forum. Get your own.

This Forum is "The Origins & Peculiarities of the Christian Religion." That means the History & Development of the Common Monotheistic Religions that eventuated in Christianity.

OK
Posted by Jayb, Thursday, 11 October 2012 7:10:47 PM
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ABC News yesterday
"The Catholic Church has rejected Victoria Police allegations that it protected suspected pedophile priests by moving them to different parishes."

Pelican said "that deception does more damage long term than when dealing with issues immediately and without prevarication in the short term"
I totally agree with what you said, but like the criminal they are the Catholic Church will, despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, act in denial to the bitter end. All in the vain hope of "limiting the damage."
Posted by Paul1405, Friday, 12 October 2012 10:48:56 AM
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Fair enough Jayb
Thought it may be relevant in encompassing the 'peculiarities' of the story and variation from intent to 'do good'.

More on topic: It would be interesting, but probably impossible, to compare the stories passed down via families and tribes from origin to present day and account for any major variations. And the why eg. cultural changes (maybe even environmental or conflict such as floods, natural disasters and wars which may impact on splitting various groups (and mass movements of people) into separate and distinct tribes where the stories may evolve to reflect those changes.
Posted by pelican, Friday, 12 October 2012 4:23:48 PM
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