mythology behind christianity and islam?

Point. Then again, those ancient myths and whatnots they ripped off in turn did a whole lot of "elevating" from other stories - some cynic once observed that stories that haven't been told before in one form or another are few and far between. You know the old fairytale about that princess Whatshername, the shoe, nasty step-family and all that ? It's been moving from one end of Eurasia in one form or another for several millenia now; the earliest known incarnation being from ancient Egypt...

Go fig. Methinks calling names in the context is a wee bit silly.

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Originally Posted by Watchman

Appropriating the symbols and vestements of folks you just deposed is a fine and respected tradition, all the more so if the symbols or folks themselves are prestigious (and Byzantium certainly was, even in its twilight), so that'd certainly make sense.

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The Turks did change it a little. They rotated the whole deal 90 degrees to the right.

Maybe they didn't want to get sued for plagiarism ? ~:cool:

I wasn't saying that one should actually believe in HBHG, simply that it has a lot of proven facts about the symbolism of the church and where some symbols are derived from.

And it's full of more horse dung per square inch than a Parthian stable.

Well it's full of, now how should one put it?
Factual evidence based upon teniuos links with reality, thus if one were to visit looney world it would be the greatest work of non-fiction in the said world.

No the factual evidence is in fact BS. If you look at closely you'll see.

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Originally Posted by Watchman

Maybe they didn't want to get sued for plagiarism ? ~:cool:

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Yes there were intellectual property rights for the time and Turks needed to rotate it. ~;)

I really enjoyed Cosmos, Chaos, and the World to Come
by Norman Cohn.

It doesn't cover Islam, but Judaism and Christianity emerged from the same mythology/pantheon, with El, Baal etc. and different tribal/local deities.

You may know, I am a believer of Islam.

I am very interested with the ongoing discussion here. One of the really informative threads lately. Keep it up..:2thumbsup:

I am concerned how "faithful" it is to assign the Godsend religions with symbols and myths of the earlier past. Is it about realization of an abstract concept since human beings need to see something somehow, to stregthen the perception of the religion ? Or is it a form of decay ?

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Originally Posted by lars573

And it's full of more horse dung per square inch than a Parthian stable.

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Well, they didn't use too many stables, most were in pastures... ~;)

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Originally Posted by Steppe Merc

Well, they didn't use too many stables, most were in pastures... ~;)

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That doesn't detract from the statement..

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Originally Posted by LeftEyeNine

I am concerned how "faithful" it is to assign the Godsend religions with symbols and myths of the earlier past. Is it about realization of an abstract concept since human beings need to see something somehow, to stregthen the perception of the religion ? Or is it a form of decay ?

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I'm afraid it's not quite as simple as that. For most people, the introduction of a new religion wouldn't even have made sense (because of their "institutionalisation") without somehow breaking it down in terms of their old religion.

I know, I was being an ass. ~D

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Originally Posted by Steppe Merc

I know, I was being an ass. ~D

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Really? ~;p

Well, for starters as someone has already stated Christmas was placed during a Mithraic holiday (Dec. 25th). Rome effectively transposed the Christian holiday on top of the holiday of Saturnalia. The Romans took what they were already familiar with and adapted Christianity to it.

Our Christmas today also has some ingrained Celtic elements. The burning of the Yule log was an offering to the Mother Goddess. Mistletoe was considered a holy plant whose properties could bring enemies to a truce. It was often, as is still done today, hung above a doorway to grant peace to those who entered. Holly was also revered.

I have to go but I'll post more later. ~:)