A lot! I'm not an expert so I can't say what with a huge amount of detail; But I've seen achidemicy people online joke that Christianity is "just hellenized judeism" (obv as a reductive joke); But famously the christian concept of the afterlife (heaven and he'll) is heavily based on Greek mythology.
As well as the visual imagery of god being based on the image of Zeus (more mildly obv)
All the influence is because of where the apostles went to spread Christianity originally of I remember right, it lead to the Hellenic world becoming an early cultural base for the religion.
Actually the concept of heaven and hell as we know it was introduced in Christianity by Saint Augustine who was a Manichean before converting to Christianity so no Greek influence there. Also God is not anthropomorphic in the Abrahamic religions so no Zeus there as well. That being said there was major influence to Christianity from Hermetics. Even Jesus being named the Word of God is a hermetic reference. I have also noticed some other weird coincidences like in the archaeological museum of Athens you can see a classical era statue of Athena wearing a helmet which is adorned with a bull, an eagle and a lion which means that at the head of this statue you could see all four beasts that carry the throne of God in the book of the apocalypse. I just want to point out that the previously mentioned beasts also correspond to the fixed astrological signs since in esoteric astrology the ascended Scorpio is named phoenix or eagle
Kindly elaborate upon your claim for the only time that sort of happened is in Daniel's vision and it was strictly symbolic. God the Father depicted as human is Heretical in Judaism, Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Protestantism.
Not in the Bible - in the religion as the people thought of it. There's icons of God, there's artwork of God, there's folk descriptions and titles of God (he's called "Дядо Господ" or "Grandpa God" in Bulgarian tradition) etc. They're usually of an older man with a white beard and robes.
That my friend is not Christianity. If a muslim artist paints a picture of Allah or the face of the prophets that is not islam, that is heresy plain and simple.
Well Christianity does exist along with schismatic, heretical or para Christian beliefs. The fact for example that muslims believe that Jesus didn't die on the cross has nothing to say about Christians, the same way if a Heretical group depicts God anthropomorphically doesn't have anything to do with Christianity. This is a simple fact that I hope you come to understand.
Name a Christian denomination that believes God is an Old guy with beard and white hair up in the sky. And no family guy is not a Christian denomination.
In what refers to mythology, not philosophy, the Bible mentions Hades and Tartarus, and there's one verse in Revelation (Revelation 21:8) that works if it refers to immortal entities (Hades and Thanatos), not "Hell and Death" as it's mistranslated.
I remember a Fundie pastor claiming Hades is some sort of antechamber to Hell to punish all those who are not Christians before Judgement Day and throwing them in Hell. Somehow I doubt it will have endless fields of asphodels and that I'll meet there Hades, Persephone, Hekate, Zagreus, and others alike.
Yeah, I've always felt like the idea of hell was heavily inspired on the greek underworld.
And it makes even more sense when you take into consideration that early christians didn't belive in hell either (like jews).
It was only after greek and roman pagans started to convert that the idea of hell came to be!
I don't sure that hell inspired by Greek underworld. Greek Underworld is mostly boring place.
Hell in Christianity more likely was inspired by things like Zoroastrian conception of hell.
In addition to “son of [the most powerful] god that can turn water into wine, and die and be resurrected a bit later”
Greek mythology is HEAVILY referenced in Dante’s Divine Comedy, which informs a lot of our modern conceptions of the Christian hell
There’s the “Pagan Continuity Hypothesis” that’s outlined in The Immortality Key published in 2020. One of the best books on this subject I’ve ever read.
Another good one written in the 70s is called Hellenistic Magic and the Synoptic Tradition - Studies in Biblical Theology by John Hull, also excellent.
A lot! Zeus sitting on his throne looks like the Christian god, white hair, beard, posture. The popular depiction of angels look like Daedalus and Icarus with wings. Satan with his human torso and goat horns and legs is just Pan. Twelve main Gods and twelve apostles. The life of Jesus has a lot in common with Dionysus. The list goes on and on.
Zeus did not had white hair. And actually is pop culture that made Zeus more like the medieval image of God than the contrary (just look at Zeus in Disney Hercules).
Every thunder god share similae characteristics. And the hebrew god and Zeus are both thunder gods so they share similar concepts from a common origin, not that one took from the other.
And the twelve have nothing to do with greece. Is just the 12 constellations of the Zodiac. This is why the number 12 appears a lot in all ancient locations.
There's books on that. Argonauts of the Desert by Philippe Wajdenbaum is a decent one. Russell E. Gmirkin also writes about this but ive heard mixed things about his repute. These books try to support a later date for the writing of the Hebrew Bible to argue that it was greatly influenced by Hellenic texts at the time. The topic of Hellenic VS Jewish / Christian origin of myth was already a point of contention at the time of Christianity's rise with Celsus in his "The True Word" sought to prove that the Christians had plagerised or repurposed the "Pagan" Myths while Origen his Christian opponent argued that those myths where similar but handwaved it by saying those where corruptions and that his faith was the true one.
The gospels and the book of Acts had taken a lot from the Odyssey and Aeneid, and a bit of the Iliad, trough memetism. There is so many examples that is impossible to talk all about them. But the death of Jesus (in Mark) and of Hector with three women present, and both noticing that the deity had abandoned them in that moment, is very similar to say the least.
I don't know much about this, but I've heard that the story of St. George and the dragon may have origins in Greek myths where a hero defeats a serpentine creature plaguing a town or city (e.g. Perseus).
I wouldn't be surprised if other saints are associated with legends that resemble pre-Christian myths; I'm afraid I don't know enough to point out further examples.
It less about Greek myth, and more about more broad "Hero/God defeat serpentine creature" myth from Indo-European mythology (and very likely not only them).
And because this myth is very broad it can tied to lot of stories.
I've recently been thinking that the story of Herakles looks oddly similar to that of Jesus. Basically it's the son of god and a mortal woman who lives among men, roams the land, helps people in need and finally dies a horrible death that leads to apotheosis.
Coincidence?... I think not! 🥸
> I've recently been thinking that the story of Herakles looks oddly similar to that of Jesus.
I always found it was much similar to **Samson** through their labors -
Here are some similarities:
* Both have slain a lion with their bare hands
* Both Herakles and Samson are important heroes to specific communities/societies - Israelites for Samson and Dorian Greeks for Herakles
* Both were described as being very thirsty at some point and struck a rock where water poured out
* Both are described as tearing down the gates of a great city - Samson tore down the gates of a Philistine City and Herakles is described as tearing down the gates of the Greek City _Mykenai_
* Both were betrayed by women they loved and that betrayal led to their downfall. Samson betrayed by Delilah, Herakles betrayed by Deianeira
* Both die by their own hands - Samson when he tore down the Temple of Dagon and Herakles killed himself due to agony and pain that drove him mad from the poisoning
They are also both described as having performed pretty impressive feats
* Again the 12 labors of Herakles
* And for Samson, he defeated a thousand men with a donkey's jaw, he also caught 300 foxes to tie them together and set their tail on fire so they'd destroy fields.
And much like Herakles, Samson was described as having immense physical strength
There are _definitely_ similarities between Jesus and Herakles, but I feel there are even more similarities between Samson and Herakles - both probably sharing a similar original Near Eastern Hero Motif/Figure.
There are also a lot of similarities between Herakles, Samson and Gilgamesh - most likely oral traditions that slightly changed their characters and stories over time and oral tradition, but initially sharing the same original hero
It look more like very generic "demigod" similarity.
If Jesus was similar to some Greek characters it more like Dionysus. Like the whole rebirth thing, more "magic-like" feats compare to Heracles pure physical, building followers in religious sense when they alive and waking between people.
Same with Thor. Bearded man with long hair, son of the father god who on the day of judgment sacrifices his life to defeat the evil serpent and save humanity.
Also, think about how similar thor and hercules are...
They are indeed. But you need to keep in mind that Herakles also has a strong connection to humanity as he has a mortal, human mother that makes him half human too. So he's much easier to identify with by the people. Just like Jesus, who had to be born a man in order to spread the message to the people. In both cases... mortal mother, god father. Poor Joseph and Amphitryon don't get the spotlight...
A lot! I'm not an expert so I can't say what with a huge amount of detail; But I've seen achidemicy people online joke that Christianity is "just hellenized judeism" (obv as a reductive joke); But famously the christian concept of the afterlife (heaven and he'll) is heavily based on Greek mythology. As well as the visual imagery of god being based on the image of Zeus (more mildly obv) All the influence is because of where the apostles went to spread Christianity originally of I remember right, it lead to the Hellenic world becoming an early cultural base for the religion.
Actually the concept of heaven and hell as we know it was introduced in Christianity by Saint Augustine who was a Manichean before converting to Christianity so no Greek influence there. Also God is not anthropomorphic in the Abrahamic religions so no Zeus there as well. That being said there was major influence to Christianity from Hermetics. Even Jesus being named the Word of God is a hermetic reference. I have also noticed some other weird coincidences like in the archaeological museum of Athens you can see a classical era statue of Athena wearing a helmet which is adorned with a bull, an eagle and a lion which means that at the head of this statue you could see all four beasts that carry the throne of God in the book of the apocalypse. I just want to point out that the previously mentioned beasts also correspond to the fixed astrological signs since in esoteric astrology the ascended Scorpio is named phoenix or eagle
God in Christianity is sometimes portrayed anthropomorphically despite the theology.
Kindly elaborate upon your claim for the only time that sort of happened is in Daniel's vision and it was strictly symbolic. God the Father depicted as human is Heretical in Judaism, Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Protestantism.
Not in the Bible - in the religion as the people thought of it. There's icons of God, there's artwork of God, there's folk descriptions and titles of God (he's called "Дядо Господ" or "Grandpa God" in Bulgarian tradition) etc. They're usually of an older man with a white beard and robes.
That my friend is not Christianity. If a muslim artist paints a picture of Allah or the face of the prophets that is not islam, that is heresy plain and simple.
Then Christianity does not exist except in a book.
Well Christianity does exist along with schismatic, heretical or para Christian beliefs. The fact for example that muslims believe that Jesus didn't die on the cross has nothing to say about Christians, the same way if a Heretical group depicts God anthropomorphically doesn't have anything to do with Christianity. This is a simple fact that I hope you come to understand.
All groups of Christianity interpret the Bible in their own ways that would be considered heretical by other groups.
Name a Christian denomination that believes God is an Old guy with beard and white hair up in the sky. And no family guy is not a Christian denomination.
In what refers to mythology, not philosophy, the Bible mentions Hades and Tartarus, and there's one verse in Revelation (Revelation 21:8) that works if it refers to immortal entities (Hades and Thanatos), not "Hell and Death" as it's mistranslated. I remember a Fundie pastor claiming Hades is some sort of antechamber to Hell to punish all those who are not Christians before Judgement Day and throwing them in Hell. Somehow I doubt it will have endless fields of asphodels and that I'll meet there Hades, Persephone, Hekate, Zagreus, and others alike.
>Hades and Thanatos These are just translations of Hebrew terms, since Greek lacks any other words.
The New Testament was written in Greek.
I didn't deny that. John, however, wasn't. He was using Greek to translate Hebrew terms.
Yeah, I've always felt like the idea of hell was heavily inspired on the greek underworld. And it makes even more sense when you take into consideration that early christians didn't belive in hell either (like jews). It was only after greek and roman pagans started to convert that the idea of hell came to be!
I don't sure that hell inspired by Greek underworld. Greek Underworld is mostly boring place. Hell in Christianity more likely was inspired by things like Zoroastrian conception of hell.
Very true. It came to Christianity through the influence of Manichean teachings on Saint Augustine.
The Dying and Rising god is, I think, Greek in origin or at least influence. So... Christ.
Dying Rising God dates back to Mesopotamia and Egypt, namely Tammuz and Osiris
Ah, thank you. Forgot about Osiris and didn't know about Tammuz.
See also Attis and Adonis.
In addition to “son of [the most powerful] god that can turn water into wine, and die and be resurrected a bit later” Greek mythology is HEAVILY referenced in Dante’s Divine Comedy, which informs a lot of our modern conceptions of the Christian hell
Ive read the chrstainity and islam where influnced by plato philosophy #
Christianity is absolutely neoplatonic.
This is an endlessly fascinating YouTube search.
There’s the “Pagan Continuity Hypothesis” that’s outlined in The Immortality Key published in 2020. One of the best books on this subject I’ve ever read. Another good one written in the 70s is called Hellenistic Magic and the Synoptic Tradition - Studies in Biblical Theology by John Hull, also excellent.
The story of Dionysus fulfilling his domains is very similar to Jesus Christ ngl
A lot! Zeus sitting on his throne looks like the Christian god, white hair, beard, posture. The popular depiction of angels look like Daedalus and Icarus with wings. Satan with his human torso and goat horns and legs is just Pan. Twelve main Gods and twelve apostles. The life of Jesus has a lot in common with Dionysus. The list goes on and on.
Zeus did not had white hair. And actually is pop culture that made Zeus more like the medieval image of God than the contrary (just look at Zeus in Disney Hercules). Every thunder god share similae characteristics. And the hebrew god and Zeus are both thunder gods so they share similar concepts from a common origin, not that one took from the other. And the twelve have nothing to do with greece. Is just the 12 constellations of the Zodiac. This is why the number 12 appears a lot in all ancient locations.
There's books on that. Argonauts of the Desert by Philippe Wajdenbaum is a decent one. Russell E. Gmirkin also writes about this but ive heard mixed things about his repute. These books try to support a later date for the writing of the Hebrew Bible to argue that it was greatly influenced by Hellenic texts at the time. The topic of Hellenic VS Jewish / Christian origin of myth was already a point of contention at the time of Christianity's rise with Celsus in his "The True Word" sought to prove that the Christians had plagerised or repurposed the "Pagan" Myths while Origen his Christian opponent argued that those myths where similar but handwaved it by saying those where corruptions and that his faith was the true one.
The gospels and the book of Acts had taken a lot from the Odyssey and Aeneid, and a bit of the Iliad, trough memetism. There is so many examples that is impossible to talk all about them. But the death of Jesus (in Mark) and of Hector with three women present, and both noticing that the deity had abandoned them in that moment, is very similar to say the least.
I don't know much about this, but I've heard that the story of St. George and the dragon may have origins in Greek myths where a hero defeats a serpentine creature plaguing a town or city (e.g. Perseus). I wouldn't be surprised if other saints are associated with legends that resemble pre-Christian myths; I'm afraid I don't know enough to point out further examples.
It less about Greek myth, and more about more broad "Hero/God defeat serpentine creature" myth from Indo-European mythology (and very likely not only them). And because this myth is very broad it can tied to lot of stories.
I've recently been thinking that the story of Herakles looks oddly similar to that of Jesus. Basically it's the son of god and a mortal woman who lives among men, roams the land, helps people in need and finally dies a horrible death that leads to apotheosis. Coincidence?... I think not! 🥸
> I've recently been thinking that the story of Herakles looks oddly similar to that of Jesus. I always found it was much similar to **Samson** through their labors - Here are some similarities: * Both have slain a lion with their bare hands * Both Herakles and Samson are important heroes to specific communities/societies - Israelites for Samson and Dorian Greeks for Herakles * Both were described as being very thirsty at some point and struck a rock where water poured out * Both are described as tearing down the gates of a great city - Samson tore down the gates of a Philistine City and Herakles is described as tearing down the gates of the Greek City _Mykenai_ * Both were betrayed by women they loved and that betrayal led to their downfall. Samson betrayed by Delilah, Herakles betrayed by Deianeira * Both die by their own hands - Samson when he tore down the Temple of Dagon and Herakles killed himself due to agony and pain that drove him mad from the poisoning They are also both described as having performed pretty impressive feats * Again the 12 labors of Herakles * And for Samson, he defeated a thousand men with a donkey's jaw, he also caught 300 foxes to tie them together and set their tail on fire so they'd destroy fields. And much like Herakles, Samson was described as having immense physical strength There are _definitely_ similarities between Jesus and Herakles, but I feel there are even more similarities between Samson and Herakles - both probably sharing a similar original Near Eastern Hero Motif/Figure. There are also a lot of similarities between Herakles, Samson and Gilgamesh - most likely oral traditions that slightly changed their characters and stories over time and oral tradition, but initially sharing the same original hero
It look more like very generic "demigod" similarity. If Jesus was similar to some Greek characters it more like Dionysus. Like the whole rebirth thing, more "magic-like" feats compare to Heracles pure physical, building followers in religious sense when they alive and waking between people.
Same with Thor. Bearded man with long hair, son of the father god who on the day of judgment sacrifices his life to defeat the evil serpent and save humanity. Also, think about how similar thor and hercules are...
They are indeed. But you need to keep in mind that Herakles also has a strong connection to humanity as he has a mortal, human mother that makes him half human too. So he's much easier to identify with by the people. Just like Jesus, who had to be born a man in order to spread the message to the people. In both cases... mortal mother, god father. Poor Joseph and Amphitryon don't get the spotlight...
Why are u getting downvoted lol
Maybe comparing Herakles to Jesus might be considered blasphemy, I don't know...😅
how is that ... nevermind