[Nittany Dodgers]

I overlooked this post somehow.

Originally Posted by randilover

I don’t know how many of them are true. But C.S. Lewis had a great write up on this. The basic idea is just because ideas are similar, it does not mean that the preceding point was the original, or ideal. Just because Christianity has themes that have been in other religions, does not discount the truth to Christianity being the fulfillment of them. [snip]
Does that makes sense?

No, maybe I'll have to read that book. While it is true that similarities between Christianity and other religions does not prove Christianity to be a rip off of other religions, the fact that so many similarities exist provoke questions of the historical accuracy of supposed Christian history.

Originally Posted by randilover

You kind of get a modern example with cubism in Europe in the last century. Both Picasso and Braque both developed it, but neither ever had any contact with the other. It was due to the direction that art was taking that those schools of thought reached the same conclusion. Make sense?

Unless I am misunderstanding you, that seems to be an argument in my favor. Morals and religious belief went through a metamorphosis over time. Belief was wandering down a path that culminated in what became Christian belief. That means it is a human invention (as is cubism), not a divine product.

Originally Posted by randilover

Not to mention, Christianity has its roots in history, not in myth like many other religions do. Ingersoll seems to neglect that point.

Many religions (Islam for example) are rooted in history as well. Islam is rooted in the very same history. The problem is that history is questionable.

Originally Posted by randilover

As for the cross, the Roman invented the cross and it is truly the most agonizing form of punishment probably ever invented. It in no way what so ever took on a note of peace or life or immortality for Christ or anyone of his contemporaries. It wasn’t until after the generation of those who last saw a crucifiction that you see it take on the romantic feel of some kind of icon. When Christ said, "Take up your cross and follow me," he was not being vague. Those who heard him knew he calling them to something hard, dying to self. It’d be like you lifting up the electric chair as a call to peace. Ingersoll seems to have lost that point through his lens of the 19^th century.

The Romans did not invent the cross, though they may have invented crusifiction. The fact that previous religions used the cross as a symbol gives Christianity a convenient method to weave the cross into their own beliefs.