[quote="Woeler"]Just a few questions: Who says the Judeo-Christian creation myth is superior to all the other creation myths, while all have scientific proof of 0. And as you say, the stories have been handed down generation after generation without being written down. Then how can these stories be in any sense true or even plausible?[/quote]
While there may be no historical proof of Adam and Eve's existence, the term, "Mitochondrial Eve", has thrown around in the study of human genetics that suggests that all living humans were descended from one specific matrilineal ancestor. Recently, back in August, there is a study done by Stanford University School of Medicine geneticists in which they reported the age of Mitochondrial Eve to be about 99,000 and 148,000 years, and the Y-chromosomal Adam to have lived between 120,000 and 156,000 years ago, based on genome sequencing of 69 people from 9 different populations. (
source)
[quote="Woeler"]Yes those events probably happened. You are absolutely right. And here's the point. We can assume that flood must have been caused by a God and that the passed on story is absolutely true, or that this was a completely deformed story of an earthquake that resulted in a tsunami. What is more likely? That the laws of nature have been suspended in favor of your story, or that this story has grown completely ridiculous over generations?
I see your point on polytheism, but why? Wasn't it pure chance? Pure randomness? And if it was, it is very unlikely to be reliable.[/quote]
Specifically on the Genesis stories, the laws of nature weren't necessarily suspended; it just rained for 40 days. In fact, according to this
chart per time period, the highest level of rainfall in modern history was in Cherrapunji, India for approximately a year from August 1860 to July 1861 with a record of 1,042.0 inches of rain.
As for near-death experience memories being chemical hallucinations, this website, near-death.com, published an
article some years ago stating that while the hallucination theory can explain a brain chemical basis, the theory cannot explain everything. Then, it goes on to list specific scientists who claim NDE memories are more logical than being a drug-fueled hallucination. One was by Psychologist John Gills:
[quote]"NDE accounts from varied times and cultures were found to be more orderly, logical, defined and predictable than comparable accounts from drug or illness-induced hallucination. Impressive data from Tart, Moody and Carl Becker also argue for the objective elements of a NDE, including returning with knowledge later verified and third-party observations of odd death-bed phenomena (such as luminosity or apparitions)."[/quote]
Another was by Neuropsychiatrist Peter Fenwick who stated the difference between NDE and hallucinations:
[quote]The difficulty with those theories is that when you create these wonderful states by taking drugs, you're conscious. In the NDE, you are unconscious. One of the things we know about brain function in unconsciousness, is that you cannot create images and if you do, you cannot remember them."[/quote]
[quote="Woeler"]Horus was:
Conceived by a virgin mother named Meri, and had a stepfather named Seb (Joseph)[/quote]
Okay, there are two problems with this. First, the Egyptian name, Meri, is not exactly a name, but an adjective. It means "beloved" so in the Egyptian stories, and Horus's mother was actually named Isis. To describe the goddess as beloved, you would say Meri-Isis. Second, there are at least six women named Mary in the New Testament so it is not exclusive to just the Virgin Mary.
The name, Seb, is an alternate spelling of the Egyptian God known as Geb who was the father of Isis therefore the grandfather of Horus. After Horus defeated Set, Geb supported Horus's right to rule following Osiris's death. Hardly anything of a stepfather figure because Isis was the protector of Horus from Set, his uncle. This is different from Joseph (a descendant of King David) who was not the father of the Virgin Mary, but simply chosen by God to raise his son so Mary wouldn't be stoned to death for pregnancy outside of marriage.
The only similarities from here were that the parent(s) of Horus and Jesus fled to escape from their child from being murdered by an evil king, Set or Herod the Great in the Biblical stories.
[quote="Woeler"]Was born in a cave, his birth announced by an angel, heralded by a star and attended by shepherds[/quote]
Horus was born when his mother, Isis, restored the body of her murdered husband Osiris, and used her powers to create a golden [censored] to create a son.
[quote="Woeler"]Attended a special rite of passage at the age of twelve and there is no data on the child
from the age of 12 to 30[/quote]
There is no record of this in the Egyptian stories.
[quote="Woeler"]Was baptized in a river at the age of 30, and his baptizer was later beheaded[/quote]
There wasn't any baptizer character in the Egyptian stories. Yes, Gerald Massey did write of an "Anup the Baptizer", but there is no such character in the Horus legend. The closest there is to that character is Anubis, but he's the god of the dead.
[quote="Woeler"]Had 12 disciples[/quote]
Like I said before, Horus did have followers, but the number just don't calculate to the number of twelve.
[quote="Woeler"]Performed miracles, exorcized demons, raised someone from the dead, walked on water[/quote]
The only miracle that was told in the Horus stories was done by Thoth, the god of medicine. When Horus battles Set for the throne, Seth stabs the left eye of his nephew. Horus's eye was replaced by Thoth who restores it out of moonlight, and creates the Eye of Horus. Horus did not raise anyone from the dead, not even his dead father, Osiris. His mother, Isis, briefly resurrected Osiris and used their powers to create Horus.
Horus is the zoomorph of a falcon, and can therefore fly over various bodies of water, not exactly walk on it. However, I don't recall the existence of demons in Egyptian mythology; all deities are either gods and goddesses.
[quote="Woeler"]Was called “Iusa”, the “ever-becoming son” and the “Holy Child”[/quote]
Meh, I'm not sure if those terms were used in recorded Egyptian texts. Terms used to described Horus were "lord of the sky" or "the distant one" referring to his falcon zoomorph according to this
website.
[quote="Woeler"]Delivered a “Sermon on the Mount”, and his followers recounted his sayings[/quote]
I looked and looked, but found no creditable source for this.
[quote="Woeler"]Was transfigured on the Mount[/quote]
Proof?
[quote="Woeler"]Was crucified between two thieves, buried for three days in a tomb, and was resurrected[/quote]
Horus was never crucified in the original story, though this is not without mentioning that Horus and Ra (the god of the sun) merged together so when the sun "dies" as in a sunset, it rises again in the morning. Plus, Horus is a god so he's supposed to be immortal.
[quote="Woeler"]Called “Way”, “the Truth the Light”, “Messiah”, “God’s Anointed Son”, “Son of Man”, “Good Shepherd”, “Lamb of God”, “Word made flesh”, “Word of Truth”, “the KRST” or “Anointed One”[/quote]
Those terms weren't used in Egyptian times. In fact, Messiah was originally a term used to describe Cyrus the Great.
[quote="Woeler"]Was “the Fisher” and was associated with the Fish, Lamb and Lion.[/quote]
The only animal Horus is associated with is the falcon.
[quote="Woeler"]Came to fulfill the Law, and was supposed to reign one thousand years[/quote]
There wasn't an Egyptian "law" for Horus to fulfill, and there was no mention of a millennial reign in Egyptian mythology.
[quote="Woeler"]No sources you say? One only needs to read the Egyptian equivalent of the Bible, The Book of the Dead or Papyrus of Ani. And I'm not saying that is a valid source, but then again, neither is the Bible.
And then again, who can prove that it is all true, that it is the way we must live? Who can? Show me a God and I will happily follow his rules.[/quote]
Just believe Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross for your sins and the sins of the world, and you will be saved, and he will show himself on your behalf not naturally, but spiritually. After all, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.