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.

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.

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.

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...,!

'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.

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.