The End of Parallelomania

More PARALLELOMANIA: part 4

I continue about Parallelomania and this is really all....

Remember that Parallelomania is: The supposed links and parallels between Christianity and Pagan Links

“If Christianity was something we were making up, of course we could make it easier.  But it is not.  We cannot compete, in simplicity, with people who are inventing religions.  How could we?  We are dealing with fact.  Of course, anyone can be simple if he has no facts to bother about.” CS Lewis (Mere Christianity p. 165)

Charge: The December 25 Date Was Stolen

“The Bible says nothing about the specific date or time of Jesus’ birth. Most scholars think it was in the spring due to the description of the shepherds being in the fields with their sheep.”  Witherington

" that it was not until about 336 A.D. that the December 25 date became the official date to celebrate Jesus’ birth. The sheer absence of any date in the New Testament documents is sufficient enough to overturn Zeitgeist’s claim; Yamauchi’s word on the matter is another nail in the coffin.” Edwin Yamauchi

 “The Bible says nothing about the specific date or time of Jesus’ birth. Most scholars think it was in the spring due to the description of the shepherds being in the fields with their sheep.” Ben Witherington

Charge: The Time of Jesus' Birth Is Connected With The Astrological Cycle

 “Much is made by Mr. Joseph [producer of Zeitgeist] about how in 1 A.D. a new ‘age’ or astrological cycle begins, after the age of the Ram. Unfortunately for Mr. Joseph, Jesus was born somewhere between 2-6 B.C. He was not born in 1 A.D." Ben Witherington

ICHTHUS (fish in Greek, was used as an Acrostic in certain Christians circles)

Insous, Christos, Theos, Uios and Soter

Jesus Christ, God, Son, Savior

"Zeitgeist goes on to claim that “probably the most obvious of all the astrological symbolism around Jesus regards the 12 disciples,” which, the movie states, are “the 12 constellations of the Zodiac, which Jesus, being the Sun, travels about with.” Why anyone would consider this “the most obvious” of such evidence I don’t know—I’ve never heard it until now. Were it so obvious you would expect it to be widely claimed. Further, what makes it so “obvious”? The only similarity between the two is the number twelve, for which examples can be found anywhere. The most “obvious” of these, to any “real” researcher is the twelve tribes of Israel. Since Jesus was fulfilling the Old Covenant, and was instituting the New Covenant, He was choosing the “New” twelve tribes. Jesus himself said that the disciples would sit as judges over the twelve tribes (Matt. 19:28). This is a genuine historical parallel which is reinforced in the book of Revelation, when these two twelves are joined together in New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:12–14). Why stretch for such wild parallels in the stars when the Bible is self-consistent in its symbolism? Biblical theology needs no help from the astrologers that it despises anyway. The movie even notices that “the number 12 is replete throughout the bible,” but then misses the impact of that fact and concludes arbitrarily, “This text has more to do with astrology than anything else.” If the Bible contains the number twelve throughout, why go outside the Bible to interpret what significance “12 disciples” may have? To do so betrays a desire to impose a non-Biblical meaning onto the Biblical text." Joel McDurmon

, “What about the claim that the twelve disciples represent the 12 constellations of the Zodiac? Well once again, Mr. Joseph [the producer of Zeitgeist] has not bothered to do his homework. There was this little entity called the 12 tribes of Israel, going back to Jacob and his 12 sons. Those stories in Genesis are not astrological in character at all, but rather are explanations of a historical origins of a people. The 12 disciples are chosen by Jesus, not because he was a stargazer, but because he was attempting to reform, and indeed re-form Israel. The twelve disciples represent the 12 tribes of Israel, and you will remember that Jesus promised that at the eschaton [Jesus’ coming kingdom] they will be sitting on 12 thrones, judging those 12 tribes [see Matthew 19:28]. Once more, this is a sort of historical and eschatological thinking, not a sort of astrological thinking, and the claim that the Bible has more to do with astrology than anything else, can only be called a category mistake. Clearly, Mr. Joseph has done no work whatsoever in the study of the various genre of Biblical literature which he could have gotten from any standard introduction to the Bible, even those written by agnostics and skeptics.” Ben Witherington

Charge: Horus Was Born Of A Virgin On December 25th, Resurrected, ETC.

“There was no such thing as the concept of bodily resurrection in Egyptian religion, and certainly not of a mythological deity, Horus, was not believed to have a human body. Sometimes commentators will use the term resurrection to speak loosely about an afterlife in another world, not a bodily return to this world.”  Ben Witherington

Charge: The Story Of Noah's Flood Is Plagiarized From Other Sources

"Zeitgeist tells us that the story of Noah’s Ark and the Flood is not unique: The concept of a Great Flood is ubiquitous throughout the ancient world, with over 200 different cited claims in different periods and times.” It is nice to see the Zeitgeist gang finally catching up to Christian scholars on an issue. We have been pointing out the world-wide phenomenon of flood stories for decades now, trying to make people realize that the flood actually happened! Now Zeitgeist comes along and tries to use this fact against us? These guys are so eager to find parallels that they haven’t stopped to think: sometimes parallels may actually work in support of the Bible, not against it. After all, if there really was a world-wide flood thousands of years ago, finding multiple traditions of the same story all over the world is exactly what we should expect. This is what we do find. Almost all these flood traditions record a universal flood in which only a tiny remnant of the population is saved. Some add the building of an ark and saving of the animals. Some recall the ark landing on a mountain; some the sending out of birds, etc. It only stands to reason that a few older legends, especially ones that remained geographically close to and close in language, might just have a similar tradition to that of the Bible. Joel McDurmon

 "it's the other way around with over a 100 Flood Stories, exactly what we should expect if there was a Universal Flood" -Tom Sigley

All of this reminds me of why someone , somewhere answered the questions why Fire Engines were Red

Why are Fire Engines are Red?
Fire Engines are re because

They have four wheels and eight men;
Four plus eight is twelve;
Twelve inches makes a ruler;
A ruler is Queen Elisabeth
Queen Elisabeth sails the seven seas;
The seven seas have fish;
The fish have fins;
The Finns hate the Russians;
Russians are red;
and Fire engines are always rushin’;

Therefore Fire Engines are Red! Q.E.D.

The apostle Peter wrote, "We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with Him on the sacred mountain" (2 Peter 1:16-18).

More Supposed Parallels

More PARALLELOMANIA: part 3

I continue about Parallelomania ....

Parallelomania: The supposed links and parallels between Christianity and Pagan Links

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.  1 John 1:1-3

Charge: The Account Of The Three Kings Was Stolen

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. Matthew 2:11

The Bible NEVER mentions how many kings/Magi came to the Christ child.

Joel McDurmon writes, "Zeitgeist informs us that the “three kings” are the three brightest stars in the constellation Orion’s belt, which align with Sirius (the Star in the East) to point to the place of the sunrise (Birth of the Sun). The movie assures us that, “These 3 bright stars are called today what they were called in ancient times: The Three Kings.” Same old problem, however: no sources except for their pet nineteenth-century authors; nothing before 1822."

Charge: Jesus Never Existed

there are 39 sources outside of the Bible, written within 150 years of Jesus life that mention Him. These sources include the Jewish Talmud, the Roman historian Tacitus, the Didache, Flavius Josephus, Pliny the Younger, Suetonius, the Gnostic gospels

Ben Witherington says, "Both Jewish historians like Josephus, and Roman ones like Tacitus and later Suetonius are perfectly clear Jesus actually existed, and Tacitus tells us he died on a cross, being executed under Pilate. Apparently, Mr. Joseph [producer of Zeitgeist] couldn't even give this one fact straight. There is more historical evidence for the existence of Jesus than there is for the historical existence of Julius Caesar for example....The only persons who doubt the existence of Jesus of Nazareth are those who either hate Christianity and so want it to disappear, or those who have not bothered to do the proper historical homework." ("The Zeitgeist of the 'Zeitgeist Movie'")

“If Christianity was something we were making up, of course we could make it easier.  But it is not.  We cannot compete, in simplicity, with people who are inventing religions.  How could we?  We are dealing with fact.  Of course, anyone can be simple if he has no facts to bother about.” CS Lewis

More PARALLELOMANIA: part 2

We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. 2 Peter 1:16-18

PARALLELOMANIA: The supposed links and parallels between Christianity and Pagan Links.

Some of the charges include:

That The Resurrection Account Was Stolen From Earlier Sources... Really?  Consider the following quotations:

"The myth contains no account of a resurrection; all that Cybele [the Great Mother goddess] is able to obtain is that the body of Attis should be preserved, that his hair should continue to grow, and that his little finger should move." Zeitgeist's claims that Attis was crucified and resurrected are not only inaccurate but very misleading. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. The alleged resurrection of Attis isn't even mentioned until after 150 A.D., long after the time of Jesus."  J. Gresham Machen

“The first real parallel of a dying and rising god does not appear until A.D. 150, more than a hundred years after the origin of Christianity. So if there was any influence of one on the other, it was the influence of the historical event of the New Testament [resurrection] on mythology, not the reverse. The only known account of a god surviving death that predates Christianity is the Egyptian cult god Osiris. In this myth, Osiris is cut into fourteen pieces, scattered around Egypt, then reassembled and brought back to life by the goddess Isis. However, Osiris does not actually come back to physical life but becomes a member of a shadowy underworld...This is far different than Jesus’ resurrection account where he was the gloriously risen Prince of life who was seen by others on earth before his ascension into heaven....even if there are myths about dying and rising gods prior to Christianity, that doesn't mean the New Testaments writers copied from them. The fictional TV show Star Trek preceded the U.S. Space Shuttle program, but that doesn’t mean that newspaper reports of space shuttle missions are influenced by Star Trek episodes!” (I Don't Have Enough Faith to be An Atheist, 2004, p. 312). Dr. Norman Geisler

“Parallels between the pagan myths of dying and rising gods and the New Testament accounts of the resurrection of Jesus are now regarded as remote, to say the least...If anyone borrowed any ideas from anyone, it seems it was the gnostics who took up Christian ideas." Dr. Alister McGrath, Professor of Historical Theology at Oxford University, (Intellectuals Don't Need God and Other Modern Myths)

"We don’t know anything about the death of Mithras" Edwin Yamauchi

"Not one clear case of any alleged resurrection teaching appears in any pagan text before the late second century A.D., almost one hundred years after the New Testament was written." Dr. Gary Habermas and Dr. J.P. Moreland

"(W)e find almost no trace of cults of dying and rising gods in first century Palestine. Moreover, as Hans Grass observes, it would be "unthinkable" in any case that the original disciples would come sincerely to believe that God had raised Jesus from the dead just because they had heard myths about Osiris!" Dr. William Lane Craig

"Which mystery gods actually experienced a resurrection from the dead? Certainly no early texts refer to any resurrection of Attis. Attempts to link the worship of Adonis to a resurrection are equally weak. Nor is the case for a resurrection of Osiris any stronger. After Isis grathered together the pieces of Osiris's dismembered body, he became "Lord of the Underworld."....And of course no claim can be made that Mithras was a dying and rising god. French scholar Andre Boulanger concludes: "The conception that the god dies and is resurrected in order to lead his faithful to eternal life is represented in no Hellenistic mystery religion." Dr. Ronald Nash

“Here’s the big point: Joseph [the producer of Zeitgeist] reads the story of Jesus back into these other mythological stories, and then claims–shazam–the story of Jesus comes from these other stories, which he has anachronistically read in light of the Jesus story. This is both bad history and bad religious analysis. To my knowledge there is no story that dates from before the time of Jesus that has most of the specific elements listed in the film as distinguishing the Jesus story. For example the story of a virginal conception, crucifixion, or bodily resurrection of a divine son of God.” Dr. Ben Witherington

PARALLELOMANIA: What that Again? part 1

PARALLELOMANIA: What that Again? part 1
The attacks against Christianity and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ are nothing new (Celsus attacked in the 2nd century).  The church has always had Apologists (those who defend the truth against those outside the church who attack).  But today there is an anger often presented by the New Atheists, who ironically say nothing new in their well selling books.  Many wonder if their anger isn't a self- defense mechanism, thinking that if they're just louder or more profane, then their arguments will be better received. 
There is also much Mis-Information in an age of quick info on the web, and a lacking of simply asking... Yes, but is that True?  Theologian RC Sproul writes:

"We live in what may be the most anti-intellectual period in the history of Western civilization… We must have passion– indeed hearts on fire for the things of God.  But that passion must resist with intensity the anti-intellectual spirit of the world."

This has been greatly demonstrated through the idea of "Parallelomania."  What that again? "Parallelomania." 

PARALLELOMANIA: The supposed links and parallels between Christianity and Pagan Links.

This is nothing new, consider the following:

The Christian religion is a parody on the worship of the Sun, in which they put a man whom they call Christ, in the place of the Sun, and pay him the same adoration which was originally paid to the Sun –T. Paine

“Jesus was a pagan god… and Christianity was a heretical product of Paganism” -Timothy Freke

“Nothing in Christianity is original” – Dan Brown

“The reality is, Jesus was the Solar Deity of the Gnostic Christian sect, and like all other Pagan gods, he was a mythical figure... Christianity, along with all other theistic belief systems, is the fraud of the age.” -Zeitgeist: The Movie

Over the next couple of blogs I'll be addressing this, but let me finish with a CS Lewis quote and quote from the Apostle Peter.

“If Christianity was something we were making up, of course we could make it easier.  But it is not.  We cannot compete, in simplicity, with people who are inventing religions.  How could we?  We are dealing with fact.  Of course, anyone can be simple if he has no facts to bother about.” CS Lewis (Mere Christianity p. 165)

We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. 2 Peter 1:16-18

It's Really More than Football

What has been said about Thanksgiving:

On November 29, 1623, three years after their arrival, and two years after the first Thanksgiving, Governor William Bradford made an official proclamation of a day of Thanksgiving:

To all ye Pilgrims:

In as much as the great Father has given us this year and abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, peas, beans, squashes, and garden vegetable, and has made the forest to abound with game and the sea with fish and clams, and inasmuch as he has protected us from the ravages of the savages, has spared us from pestilence and disease, has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience;  now I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all ye Pilgrims, with your wives and ye little ones, do gather at ye meeting house, on ye hill, between the hours of 9 and 12 in the day time, on Thursday, November ye 29th, of the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and twentythree, and the third since ye Pilgrims landed on Pilgrim Rock, there to listen to ye pastor and render thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all His blessings.  William Bradford, Ye Governor of Ye Colony.

Continental Congress October 18, 1780, issued a Proclamation for a Day of Public Thanksgiving and Prayer, after the revealing and subsequent deliverance from Benedict Arnold's plot to betray General George Washington and his troops to the British:

Whereas it hath pleased Almighty God, the Father of all mercies, amidst the vicissitudes and calamities of war, to bestow blessings on the people of these states, which call for their devout and thankful acknowledgements, more especially in the late remarkable interposition of his watchful providence, in the rescuing the person of our Commander-in Chief and the army from imminent dangers, at the moment when treason was ripened for execution....
It is therefore recommended to the several states...a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, that all the people may assemble on that day to celebrate the praises of our Divine Benefactor; to confess our unworthiness of the least of his favors, and to offer our fervent supplications to the God of all grace...to cause the knowledge of Christianity to spread over all the earth.
"Coupled with our grateful acknowledgment of the blessings it has been our high privilege to enjoy, we have a deepening sense of solemn responsibility to assure for our selves and our descendents a future more abundant in faith and security.

On October 3, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued a formal proclamation, passed by an Act of Congress, initiating the first annual National Day of Thanksgiving:

No human counsel hath devised, not hath any mortal hand worked out these great things.  They are gracious gifts of the most high God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy...
I do, therefore, invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens....[it is] announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven bay all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord....It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and voice, by the whole American people.

Psalms 92:1 It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:

Squanto and Thanksgiving

Squanto: A Picture Of Forgiveness

In 1605, Squanto, a Native American from the village of Patuxet and a member of the Pokanokit Wampanoag nation traveled to England with an explorer named John Weymouth. He experienced high adventure and learned some English.

But on his return to America--the tide began to turn against Squanto. He was captured from Massachusetts and taken, along with other Indians, by an English ship captain and sold into slavery in Málaga, Spain.

There, Squanto was bought by a Spanish monk, who treated him well, freed him from slavery, and taught him the Christian faith. Squanto eventually made his way to England -- where he improved his English --and worked in the stables of a man named John Slaney. Slaney sympathized with Squanto’s desire to return home, and he promised to put the Indian on the first vessel bound for America.

It wasn’t until 1618 -- ten years after Squanto was first kidnapped --that he was on a ship returning to America as a free man

There he learned of the second blow delivered by the English. His tribe had died from an epidemic, probably of smallpox brought by the earlier colonists. He and another Indian, Samoset, went to live with the neighboring tribe of the Wampanoag near present-day Plymouth, MA. There he was introduced to the new Pilgrim settlers.

And there, Squanto became a picture of forgiveness. Eventhough he had been captured by the English, and deprived of family and friends because of their disease, he still chose to help the 47 of 102 Pilgrims who had barely survived their first, harsh winter. He helped them build warm houses, he taught them when to plant their corn crop and how it should be planted. Without his help, there would not have been 20 acres of corn produced that year. Squanto also advised the Pilgrims in their relations with the Indians. He helped them make friends, acted as interpreter, guided them on trading expeditions, and gave advice on bargaining with the natives.
The Pilgrims wouldn't have made it through the year without the wisdom and guidance of Squanto.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Romans 8:28-29

The Heavens Declare... No they SHOUT!!!

Anthropic Constants: The Heavens Declare the Glory of God part 4

a continuation from my last blog:

Psalms 19:1-2
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.

Anthropic Constant 11: The Earth’s Crust.
If the thickness of the earth’s crust were greater, too much oxygen would be transferred to the crust to support life. If it were thinner, volcanic and tectonic activity would make life impossible.

Anthropic Constant 12: The Earth’s Rotation.
If the rotation of the earth took longer than 24 hours, temperature differences would be too great between night and day. If the rotation period were shorter, atmospheric wind velocities would be to great.

Anthropic Constant 13: Axis Tilt.
The 23-degree axis tilt of the earth is just right. If the tilt were altered slightly, surface temperatures would be too extreme on earth.

Anthropic Constant 14: Atmospheric Discharge.
If the atmospheric discharge (lightning) rate were greater, there would be too much fire destruction; if it were less there would be little nitrogen fixings in the soil.

Anthropic Constant 15: Seismic Activity.
If there were more seismic activity, much more life would be lost; if there were less, nutrients on the ocean floors and in river runoff would not be cycled back to the continents through tectonic uplift. (yes, even earthquakes are necessary to sustain life as we know it).

There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, Psalms 19:3-4