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From Religion to Mythology?

scottmh59

Registered User
This post is in NO means trying to take a poke at religion or your faith.

All civilizations of the world have invented their own religion and god.This was done to control man and to explain the unknown. Ancient western man looked to the top of Mount Olympus for rule and understanding.As time continued, the jewish religion of having one God worked its way into westeren thought for some. With the fall of the Rome christianity moved to the front of western religion.

Istated that religion was invented by man.This is because all western religious ideas appear to be from man looking toward God,not God looking toward man. The greek and Roman Gods became mythology because they couldno longer compete as a religion with a much more educated group of people. With two thousand years of advancement,is christianity becoming more of mythology? This is a question not a prediction or a statement.

In the future will the bible be read as nothing more than a book of fictional people,and stories like that of homers Illiad? Will our churches become nothing more than ruins that future man assumes were built to worship some sort of god,much like the ruins of ancient Greece built to worship Zeus?

[video=youtube;zRiQ6Ksw7xo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRiQ6Ksw7xo&feature=related[/video]

""this clip has some foul language""
 

JTM

"Just in case"
Premium Member
are these your honest feelings/opinions/facts regarding religion?

how would this effect have on your belief in a supreme deity?

This was done to control man and to explain the unknown.

this statement follows a well accepted fact... insinuating that it is a continuation of that fact (or a naturally occurring realization). i'm not a huge fan of that, and i'm not really sure that's the reason it was done. perhaps it has been perverted to be a control device, and i can accept that, but religion itself i don't believe originated as a control mechanism.

and perhaps it will be considered fiction, but it is by no means fiction to me.
 

scottmh59

Registered User
i have my faith in god and no statement by any one could altar that. my dad has many degrees in various types of history and we talk alot about all types of it,religion being one.and as much as i know that what i believe is true,i still think that there are some holes in religion as it has progressed in time. and i think about what will happen to religion "as we know it" in the future.
 

JTM

"Just in case"
Premium Member
sure, i believe there is a huge influence of man on religion (especially on books - who translated them to english... god?)
 

rhitland

Founding Member
Premium Member
In order for the Bible and the teaching of Jesus to become "mytholgy" someone will have to come to the table with more than Jesus. I guess maybe resurect in 1 or 2 days instead of taking so long with 3 days! :)
 

scottmh59

Registered User
the tale of zeus and the other gods of mt.olympus was a strong religion for a long time,but vanished quickly when christianity was introduced. and christianity as been so strong that it as lasted all the way from a rather primative man to us now,which shows its staying power. but i wonder that as we get farther into the future and more advanced,will man be looking for something more? and how long from now will that take?
 

owls84

Moderator
Premium Member
I can honestly say I have not put much thought into this.... good discussion though. I am going to have to think about this one.
 

Sirius

Registered User
Realistically, I don't see the sustainability of Christianity in it's current form. By that I mean that it is going to have to go back to being an individual experience, not something you buy from Benny Hinn on TBN. More and more people are having a very hard time adopting the theology of original sin and the renewal through Christs blood. Christianity needs to find a way more like the Jews who have developed into a well thought out faith that involves all aspects of life. Obviously Jesus taught on many things, but all we ever hear about is the importance of 'the blood'. If your faith is only about getting to 'heaven', what good is it?

It seems to me that many of the bible allegories have been misconstrued as fact , misinterpreted, or interpreted to fit a certain belief. I so often hear it said, 'the Bible says so'. But it doesn't. And highly selective interpretation is the name of the game. People like things to make a little more sense.

Christianity has had a good run. Lasting almost 2000 years it one of the worlds longest running. But I don't see it as being the major religion it is in another 2000 years. But then I think the world will make it through 2012 and all of the other end of world predictions.
 

rhitland

Founding Member
Premium Member
W
And yes, I'm not a fan of Islam. Just because I have to respect a Brother decision to BE one, doesn't mean I have to root for the opposite team.

I love the way you put things Brother Blake if only all of us could be that strong in our faith and yet stay open minded.
 

LRG

Premium Member
Christian faith will be around for the longrun. At least until the antichrist.
I think/hope even at that point that all christians will stand guard and fight to the end. As a Knight Templar, we as an order will for sure defend the faith.
 

Overworked724

Registered User
Comment from a petitioner, not yet a Freemason:

All. I don’t often/ever chime in since my journey has not yet begun...also I enjoy reading honest and open discourse on thoughtful opinions. But I would like to add my own humble thought as an observer of this forum.

Religion, and the various aspects of the deity(s) revered in various belief systems...has been an excuse more often than not for backward thinking than forward...leading often to war and violence. Mostly, I think this type of regressive and contentious behavior is rooted in a rather visceral “Us vs Them” defense mechanism often expressed by individuals who doubt their own faith, or prefer the exclusivity of knowing they follow the one ‘true’ path. That’s unfortunate, as it makes their world very small.

Granted, the world might be a different place if everyone followed a Christian philosophy/dogma. But that does not offer any form of exemption from the schisms which would still inevitably occur...often led by those who offer different perspectives on the same idea. (Martin Luther is one good example ). The same would prevail if the entire world was Muslim. One needs only read a daily newspaper on Middle East conflicts.

I believe most people miss the point...which is that the search for truth, specifically divine truth, never ends. ALL religions suffer the weakness of a human being’s simple limitation on a need to categorize everything in existence.

Religion is, in essence, the formalized expression of one’s faith. It is, by definition, man-made. Faith, however, is an intangible, immeasurable, and most often, unshakable, cornerstone of one individual’s very existence.

Faith, in my humble opinion, cannot be debated, defined, or denied. Faith has no direction...it simply emanates from within. Like the love of a parent to a child. You cannot see it, but no one would deny that it exists and is more powerful than the foundation of the earth - at least from a parent’s perspective.

Humans will always try to define God as we will always try to find answers to the unknown...religions are often born that way... throughout the ages, deity’s/pantheons have come and gone. Perhaps Christianity will wither as well. But that DOES NOT mean that the faith expressed is false. Conversely, it does not mean that another person’s faith/religion is false. I am a Christian. But I cannot, and will not, pass judgement on other religions...

The statement above: “...western religious ideas appear to be man looking toward God, not God looking toward man” should be reconsidered in a different light.

All men of faith (there are some who choose to deny any form of divinity in the universe) have a visceral and undeniable tether to an unknown truth which they cannot deny. That search for truth and the passion for establishing a connection with our creator is always a good a noble thing.

Cherish this search in others.

That is one of mutually respectful aspects of freemasonry which I appreciate and has drawn me to try to become a mason.

Differences...openly accepted. Brothers nonetheless.

If only all of mankind could adopt such a good and simple mindset.

Best
Julian







Sent from my iPhone using My Freemasonry
 
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pointwithinacircle2

Rapscallion
Premium Member
Ok, you have proposed a theory. I will propose a different theory. All human beings live on the same planet and are governed by the same physical laws, and we all have human bodies, human thoughts and human feelings. Because all human beings have a lot in common with each other it is possible to seek and find truths that apply to everyone. Contemplating what it means to be human, understanding the nature of reality, and discovering the truths common to all people takes a lot of work. In today's world we call the people who do this work scientists, and we give the sciences names like physics, psychology, sociology, and of course the mother of all sciences, philosophy.

Now not everyone wants to do the hard work of learning these sciences. Most people would rather have someone else do the work and just tell them the answer. The problem is that people who have the answer, but who haven't done the hard work of learning why the answer is true, are susceptible to magical thinking. This means you can give them ANY reason why the truth is true and they will be unable to know if you are correct or you are just making it up.
 

Ripcord22A

Site Benefactor
Ok, you have proposed a theory. I will propose a different theory. All human beings live on the same planet and are governed by the same physical laws, and we all have human bodies, human thoughts and human feelings. Because all human beings have a lot in common with each other it is possible to seek and find truths that apply to everyone. Contemplating what it means to be human, understanding the nature of reality, and discovering the truths common to all people takes a lot of work. In today's world we call the people who do this work scientists, and we give the sciences names like physics, psychology, sociology, and of course the mother of all sciences, philosophy.

Now not everyone wants to do the hard work of learning these sciences. Most people would rather have someone else do the work and just tell them the answer. The problem is that people who have the answer, but who haven't done the hard work of learning why the answer is true, are susceptible to magical thinking. This means you can give them ANY reason why the truth is true and they will be unable to know if you are correct or you are just making it up.
I like where you are going with this thought...however, if you ttold me the moon orbits the earth because of a big ass rope that holds it in place, even though I haven't done the science to "KNOW" you are full of it, instill wouldn't believe you cause it doesn't pass the sniff test

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coachn

Coach John S. Nagy
Premium Member
I like where you are going with this thought...however, if you ttold me the moon orbits the earth because of a big ass rope that holds it in place, even though I haven't done the science to "KNOW" you are full of it, instill wouldn't believe you cause it doesn't pass the sniff test

Sent from my SM-G386T using My Freemasonry mobile app
The "rope" is gravity and when you don't understand gravity, you're going to deny what is obvious to those who do and appear foolish to them. Sniff tests are highly biased toward what you do know and what you don't know.
 

Ripcord22A

Site Benefactor
The "rope" is gravity and when you don't understand gravity, you're going to deny what is obvious to those who do and appear foolish to them. Sniff tests are highly biased toward what you do know and what you don't know.
My point was that while some people do indeed buy into every thing they are told..ie Alex jones' fans, most dont

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Pointwithinacircle3

Registered User
If I were to re-write my earlier post today I believe that I would alter the last sentence to read: "The problem with magical thinking is that it leaves a person susceptible to the three destroyers of rational thought; ignorance, superstition, and fear.
 

jvarnell

Premium Member
"Religion to Mythology" the problem with a lot that has been said here on this subject is that all masons must beleive in some sort of GAOTU. That may or may not be apart of a formal religion. A religion is formality of a belief. the problem is the word "Mythology" which means you don't respect my belief so you say it is fake. I have a theory that all that use the the word "Mythology" have no belief in anything.
 
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