Swedish mathematician explains why he sees design in nature (and became a Christian)

@VM do you know what the primary sources are? Your description only slightly matches the wikipedia account. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isis#Mother_goddess That being said, the mythological parallels are secondary. The historical record is most important, did the events actually happen? From what I understand, the secular NT scholars are pretty unanimous that Jesus really existed and was crucified. Of course, they deny the resurrection and miracle parts, but otherwise seem to think the gospels are good historical records. If the gospels are historically accurate, and there are myths that describe very similar events, another possibility is the myths are prophecies of Jesus. A famous example of a supposed pagan prophecy is the Cumaean Sybil and Virgil's reference in the Aeneid. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumaean_Sibyl#Christianity EricMH

F/N: Diaspora Jews often communicated in koine gk, and the NT targetted Jewish and gentile audiences in a milieu where said common gk was the lingua franca. The most Gk ideas influenced NT text is at one and the same time the most militantly hebraic, Hebrews -- clearly written to demolish foundations of speculative thinking in the context of Alexandria which had a large Jewish quarter. On provenance of the gospels, simple comparison of naming patterns and observed graves shows Palestinian provenance decisively. Just a footnote. KF kairosfocus

Vmahuna: You must be a Darwinist because you're ready to believe anything that confirms your worldview. Here's a review of Freke and Gandy's book:

This is one of the worst books I have ever read. There is a legitimate wing of Gospel scholarship that looks at the Greco-Roman influence on Christianity, especially the Mystery Religions. What this book does is out and out deny the Jewish roots of Christianity and claim Jesus as a semi-mythical saviour hero in the same vain as Orpheus or Osiris. Despite the 90 pages of notes and the 7 page bibliography, this book is poorly thought out but I think the authors argue their twisted view well. They remind me of the deluded 18th and 19th century authors that tried to prove the pagan roots of Roman Catholicism. It relies on some superficial similarities between Christianity and Paganism. There are lots of things like pointing out this pagan philosopher worked miracles like raising the dead or calming winds (like Empedocles or Apollonius of Tyana) and so did Jesus. Gasp here! Of course, the general commonalities of Mediterranean culture might be an explanation but Freke and Gandy will have none of this. For them there is a direct connection. For me, according this logic Judaism and Greek paganism must be connected because the Jews had 12 tribes and the Greeks had 12 Olympian gods. Gasp here!! The authors obviously have an axe to grind. They are forever going on about those bad 'Literalist' Christians and how they surpressed the good, old mystery religion Christians.They conveniently gloss over the disagreements between Gnostic groups and some of the more weird (read here totally crazy) beliefs of these groups. The Nag Hammadi Library and other finds gives scholars an inside view of the Gnostics. One thing I haven't figured out is where these 'Literalist' Christians originated. Why were these people convinced of the truth of the Gospels? This book acknowledges the existence of these Literalist Christians from the earliest days like Justin, Irenaeus and Tertullian but doesn't explore its origin. This is ultimately a forgettable book. It dresses itself up as some explosive expose but it isn't.

As to the nonsense you subscribe to, look here. Keep your nonsense to yourself. PaV

Vmahuna repost (since we have had this discussion before),

VM: I’ve now read both a book on how all of Christianity was a MISUNDERSTANDING of The Mystery Religion (the Egyptian version names the Virgin “Isis”), https://uncommondesc.wpengine.com/intelligent-design/evangelicals-waving-goodbye-to-adam-and-eve/#comment-671213 BA77: And yet, “Professional scholars unanimously reject the claim that Jesus is a pagan copy.” https://uncommondesc.wpengine.com/intelligent-design/evangelicals-waving-goodbye-to-adam-and-eve/#comment-671216

might I also suggest that you need to read a little more deeply in apologetics than just the ‘tabloid’ books against Christianity that you seem to be prone to accepting as undeniably true?,,, Might I also suggest starting with Dr. Timothy McGrew?

Tim McGrew http://historicalapologetics.org/dr-timothy-mcgrew/ WELCOME TO THE LIBRARY OF HISTORICAL APOLOGETICS http://historicalapologetics.org/

bornagain77

Ya might wanna read "The Jesus Mysteries" by Freke & Gandy. There is a VERY old story of a woman who is impregnated by a god and gives birth in stable attended by shepherds, and yet remains a Virgin. When this story was told amongst the Egyptians, the name given to the Virgin was Isis and her divine son's name was Horus. But in each retelling of the Mystery (the important part is the Mystery, not the incidental names) the names of the Virgin and the Son were changed to match some local deities. Statues of The Virgin Mary so CLOSELY match statues of Isis that the conclusion of archeologists is that the guys hawking trinkets to pilgrims simply sold their left over Isis statues as "Mary" when the customer market changed. (MANY "pagan" shrines were taken over by Christians during the transition.) And of course ALL of the titles of Mary ("Queen of Heaven", etc.) were titles Isis held. As was the blue cloak, crown of stars, etc., etc. For the more erudite folks out there, you might wanna read "Christianity & Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries" by Ramsay MacMullen. The spread of Christianity was an economic/political struggle centered on Rome (and Constantinople). And of course all of the original "Jewish" texts were written in Greek. vmahuna