*Why Did the Christian Myth Have Such an Impact?*

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Christianity has slightly more emphasis on the monotheism part and lesser polytheism. That makes it a bit more attractive. Plus they have all these swanky Gospel bands playing in Church. Plus you can be forgiven for all your sins by a priest. These are some of the pros from a non-Christian perspective.

That is interesting. Why would the relative emphasis make a difference to its appeal?

Is there some ratio which is more tasty/appealing, ( and to particular groups/cultures aswell ), like the correct proportion of ingredients in bread, so that it is just the right amount crunchy-chewy?

No, seriously. I find that fascinating, the idea that certain ratios of mono vs poly theism would make a religion more or less attractive. I wonder what the golden mean would be?


Is that unique to Christianity? What do the other major polytheisms do about sins? No escape? Right, I can see how that would make a difference. But isn't Christianity much tougher on "mental sins" though, which kind of transgression it practically invented ( or am I once again hopelessly misinformed? ) ?

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Let's put it this way, here in India, the first two idols are more attractive than the third:




This is one reason for many converts over here.



Well, as far as I know, yes. As far as I know, Christianity is the only religion which has this forgiveness property, which was very common in pagan Europe. It was and still is one of the ways priests are assured a job and a high standard of living. Forgiveness is too easy in Christianity, and as long as a priest forgives you, you'll go to heaven regardless of what sin you've committed.

Last edited by Khan_Sama on 06 Oct 2008, 11:48 am, edited 2 times in total.

Christianity is also very profitable, and more people are motivated by greed than be altruism, it seems.

Perhaps, I imagine that it depends on one's cultural conditioning. The conversions towards Christianity which you refer to in that context , ( of attractiveness of their idols), might be a sign of cultural colonialism/homogenisation of the East by the West, an alteration in ideas of what is beautiful/moving/impressive/worshipful as a result.

But even if one were to agree that the first two images were more attractive than the third, this has nothing to do with one religion being more monotheistic than the other. Does it?

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True, I guess you're right. There are other attractive benefits the church has to offer Indians - free education.

I consider Christianity as soft-polytheistic as well, but a tad bit more monotheistic. Christian trinitarian doctrine is that three persons exist as one God. Hindu doctrine is that 330 million superhuman men and women visited Earth as incarnations of God, and there are Demons and such with equal powers which they fought, not to mention many Evil Gods. Zoroastrian doctrine is that there's one God, and one Devil, who equally as powerful as God, and each has an equal number of subordinates (who again have their own subordinates) who have their own special God-like powers. Chinese traditional religion doctrine is similar to that of the European Pagans - A King God (Zeus, Saturn, The Yellow Emperor) and lesser Gods.

Of course, I forgot to mention that the old testament says that God came down to Earth, fought Israel (Jacob) in a wrestling match, and lost. This also happens to give God in Judaism human properties as pagan faiths do.

hinduism, budism each have a billion followers, why them?

Pagan Origins of the Christ Myth is one excellent website about how early Christianism slowly emerged out of the cultural climate of its era.

If you think about it, when you become a Christian you give up a certain amount of personal responsibility and therefor lend yourself more to brainwashing. So, given a tool like the Bible, all one needs to truly manipulate the masses is a smooth tongue to create "faith." So as people give themselves up to the religion, the religious hierarchy prospers. Doesn't take too long for a sting of greedy bastards to realize they've got a hell of a way to control the poplulation through manipulation. Give control back to the individuals, allow an individual to feel empowered and even godly, and you give up the power of "Jesus." But, that's my mere opinion of course.

With thanks to Khan Sama's posts; I am inclined to think that a crucial part of christianity's enduring impact, ( apart from the totalitarian Roman Catholic Church's empire-building activities) may be a direct result of the particular proportions of monotheism and polytheism present in it. Something about the proportions is "pleasing"/appealing, to many.

The numbers of sub-gods present in most other soft-polytheisms is offputting/confusing/overwhelming to me, but on the other hand an absolute one-god without polytheistic elements seems/quickly feels oppressive.

How much are such reactions/preferences/religious "tastes" the product of social/cultural conditioning, and how much of genetically determined, or chemically/environmentally determined, neurological programming? Do certain proportions of polytheism vs monotheism favour certain neurological types?

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The appeal of the Christian god dates back to the appeal of the Jewish god: the unusual combination of "my god rules the whole universe" + "my god cares especially about me." Polytheistic gods aren't wholly omnipotent, and manage their own agendas having nothing to do with what believers do, but a god who works solo tends to be viewed as more approachable and caring. It's about having a direct communication with the man behind the curtain who moves all the buttons.

The Christian Myth isnt nearly as unique as christians claim it to be. There is the ancient egyptian myth of Wasir(Osiris) which predated Jesus by more than 2000 years. There is also the ancient Hindue legend of Krishna, and there was even a messianic cult among the Telengit people of the Altai Mountains:the White Burkhan(a mongol messiah)

Well, I don't feel oppressed. Islam is just a healthy way of life - our prayer is a basic form of yoga, fasting is good for health, charity is good for the poor, abstaining from alcohol is good for you, washing yourself five times a day keeps you clean, cutting you nails, shaving unwanted hair where harmful bacteria can thrive, circumcision prevents cancer in that area, etc.

My best friend is a Hindu. She finds it hard to believe that we don't worship any animal, that we don't have holy ash in our religion, that we don't have holy days during which we abstain from eating meat, etc. These rites make up a religion in the polytheistic sense, which many are rampant in Christianity. Some people find these rites very interesting. So many Westerners do I see travelling to India, converting to Hinduism, and chanting "Hare Ram, Hare Krishna", with a hillarious accent. Of course, the priests who convert them first discourage them, and later probably don't reveal that their status is that of the lowest of the lowest in the faith, lower than the "untouchables". Greediness for money. Priests don't do anything if there's no money involved.

Other people, who are aghast at all these useless rituals, search for an answer in other faiths. Most of them end up converting to Islam, for it is a scientific religion, a healthy way of life. Point out to me one religion which explains the formation of the universe, that the world is round, about rotation and revolution of stars and planets, the force of gravity and orbital movements, the process of photosynthesis, etc. These are just a few examples of a long list of scientific miracles. http://www.miraclesofthequran.com/scientific_index.html

Islam is not an oppressive faith. That's just a western opinion which has been implanted into everyone's brains due to the media.

It's hard to argue with demolished WTC buildings ...

... and little girls being executed by their fathers on suspicion of having been raped...

Get over it people! This is not a thread about Islam, its about the Christian Myth.