God Is Imaginary - Proof 3

== 'Proof' #3 - Look at all historical gods ==
~~~~The belief in "god" seems to be ubiquitous through the ages.~~~~
At the very outset of this proof, MB begins with a misdirection. His attempt below will be to lump all gods together into not just the same category, but into the same concept. This is nothing more than another straw argument that misrepresents the opposing view and then attacks the misrepresentation. It's dishonest and certainly not a logical proof that the God of the Bible does not exist.
~~~~We know, for example, that the ancient Egyptians believed in their gods so fervently that they built massive structures like the Great Pyramid -- still today one of the largest and most enduring human constructions ever created. Despite that fervor, however, we as a society have decided with complete certainty today that the Egyptian gods were imaginary. Thus we do not build pyramids anymore and we do not mummify our leaders. We reject all of the rituals and ceremonies of the Egyptian religion because there is no evidence of their gods' existence.
More recently we know that tens of millions of Romans worshiped Jupiter and his friends, and to them they built magnificent temples. The ruins of these temples are popular tourist attractions even today. Yet society have decided with complete certainty that these gods were imaginary. Mainline society is no longer building temples to these gods or worshiping them because there is no evidence for their existence.
Much more recently, we know that the Aztec civilization believed in their gods so intensely that they constructed huge temples and pyramids. In addition, Aztecs were so zealous that they were acrificing hundreds of human beings to their gods as recently as the 16th century. Despite the intensity, however, we know today that these gods were imaginary. The Aztecs were insane to be murdering people for their gods. Killing a person has no effect on rainfall or anything else. We all know that. And there is no evidence whatsoever demonstrating that the Aztec gods exist. If the Aztec gods were real, we would still be offering sacrifices to them and these sacrifices would be effective.~~~~
It is agreed that all these various pagan gods have been proved not to exist and logically rejected by the world.
~~~~Thus we come to understand that he fact that millions of people worship a god is meaningless.~~~~
This is a non-sequitur. Just because a bunch of other concepts under the same type are proved false, doesn't demand the conclusion "therefore all of that type are false". It is akin to saying we have disproved a number of origin hypotheses of the universe, therefore we should automatically reject ALL hypotheses about the origin of the universe out of hand. It's nonsensical to do so.
Additionally, the argument here is based on the perception of those doing the worshiping, not the religion itself. We cannot present as evidence a democratic style proof, the idea that millions of people did something wrong, therefore any other millions of people that appear to be doing something similar must be wrong. A belief must be judged on its own merits independent of observers for it to be objectively rejected. Besides, if we are to follow some of the reasoning of this set of paragraphs, then millions of people rejecting the ancient Egyptian gods, and millions of people rejecting the ancient Roman gods, and millions of people rejecting the ancient Mayan gods so that none are left on the Earth today who still worship these ancient gods does not compare to the millions of people who still believe in and worship Jehovah God. The analogy fails under its own weight.
Furthermore, MB is woefully inadequate in defining terms. I'm predicting we see this throughout the rest of the 50 'proofs'.
Jehovah God, the God of the Bible, has different properties than the pagan gods of any particular religion. He must be analyzed and judged independently from them, just as they must be judged independently of each other. There is simply no basis to mass dismiss all deities other than personal desire, which is subjective.
~~~~The "God" and the "Jesus" that Christians worship today are actually amalgams formed out of ancient pagan gods. The idea of a "virgin birth", "burial in a rock tomb", "resurrection after 3 days" and "eating of body and drinking of blood" had nothing to do with Jesus. All of the rituals in Christianity are completely man-made. Christianity is a snow ball that rolled over a dozen pagan religions. As the snowball grew, it freely attached pagan rituals and beliefs in order to be more palatable to converts. You can find accounts like these in popular literature:
"The vestiges of pagan religion in Christian symbology are undeniable. Egyptian sun disks became the halos of Catholic saints. Pictograms of Isis nursing her miraculously conceived son Horus became the blueprint for our modern images of the Virgin Mary nursing Baby Jesus. And virtually all the elements of the Catholic ritual - the miter, the altar, the doxology, and communion, the act of "God-eating" - were taken directly from earlier pagan mystery religions."
"Nothing in Christianity is original. The pre-Christian God Mithras - called the Son of God and the Light of the World - was born on December 25, died, was buried in a rock tomb, and then resurrected in three days. By the way, December 25 is also the birthday or Osiris, Adonis, and Dionysus. The newborn Krishna was presented with gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Even Christianity's weekly holy day was stolen from the pagans."
This article points out that, "It has been noted since antiquity, and in modern scholarship since the 19th century, that Jesus Christ has striking parallels to other deities worshiped in Hellenistic religion, specifically to the cult of Dionysus in the Greek mystery religions and with the Buddha." The article goes on to demonstrate striking similarities between Christianity and the religions that came before it.
It is extremely hard for a Christian believer to process this data, but nonetheless it is true. All of the "sacred rituals" of Christianity, and all of Christianity's core beliefs (virgin birth, resurrection, etc.) come straight from other religions that were popular around the time of Jesus. Articles like this and this can help you learn more. Once you understand the fundamental truth of Christianity's origins, the silliness of the whole thing becomes apparent.
Obviously the pagan believers, from whom Christianity derived its myths, worshiped gods that were imaginary - If gods such as Horus, Ra, Mithras, etc. were real, we would have proof of their existence and everyone would be following those gods. Our "God" and "Jesus" today are simply extensions of these imaginary forerunners. Therefore God is imaginary.~~~~
This is just assertion about other assertions. There isn't actually any evidence that the Bible has its foundation in paganism. IF God spoke to the Patriarchs and the virgin birth, just as one example, was an idea presented from the beginning of time (Gen. 3:15), then it isn't the case that Judaism and Christianity got their ideas from paganism, but that paganism got their ideas from a warped version of God's revealed truth to man.
However, I DO grant that there is a lot of paganism found in Catholicism and that was both purposeful on the part of the Catholic leadership and historically documented. Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and many other "holy days" are based in paganism, but they are not found in scripture. Catholicism has done much damage to the name 'Christian' through the ages, and they have much to answer for. However, I am not here to argue against Catholicism. I am here to defend Biblical Christianity. Therefore, the majority of this argument, which is primarily against Catholicism specifically, has no bearing on the reality of God.
As to the argument that nothing in the Christian religion and symbology is new, I actually agree with this. It's all based on the truths taught in the Old Testament as revealed to Moses and other OT prophets. (Romans 15:4) Which is why understanding the Old Testament is so very important before a person can critically examine the New Testament and Christianity. Attempting to do so without understanding the Old Testament is an excercise in ignorance and futility.
~~~~Understanding the Rationalizations
A Christian will often rationalize this situation by saying, "Yes, the Egyptians and the Romans worshipped false Gods, but Christianity is real. Just look at the billions of people who believe in Jesus Christ." This strength-in-numbers rationalization may feel comforting, but it is meaningless. The fact that millions of people worship a god is meaningless.
It was once the case that most people believed the world to be flat. Widespread belief did not change the fact that the world is a sphere. The scientific and observational evidence that we have available today is undeniable -- the world is a sphere.~~~~
Agreed. This is argument from democracy and truth is not truth because a lot of people believe it. A belief/hypothesis should be examined on its own merit, else we all vote to believe the Earth to be the center of the solar system and that we all came from ape-like creatures.
~~~~All scientific evidence shows that God is imaginary. So does all historical evidence. This leads any rational person to conclude that Christian beliefs are pure mythology. Christianity is just like every other mythology that mankind has dreamed up through the ages. ~~~~
This is simply a bold faced assertion that doesn't have any veracity to it. As we study the universe more and more, the scientific evidence for God accumulates more and more. We see every year atheistic scientists talking about the design of the universe and saying that they can't come to any naturalistic conclusions about the universe. I won't provide a list here because I'm sure it will come up in future 'proofs', but the point is, he just makes an assertion about 'scientific evidence' with nothing to back it up. That's not a reasoned argument, that's subjective desire. Thus, his conclusion, which lumps Christianity in with all the world's mythologies is invalid and rejected.
In Truth and Love.