"Is Christianity Plagurized from Older Religions?" ~Debra

"hi, i've been discussing God's existance on a board with many atheists...one of them brought up the Hindu religion and Krishna as having been around before Jesus but claiming a bunch of similarities with Him, suggesting that the story of Christ was plaigurized later. i and another christian have been trying to refute this but as yet, have not been able to convince her.. i hoped you might have some information that may help. thanks and God bless you." ~Debra

"First of all, I respect your bold efforts to engage atheists for the sake of Christ's love! This is not an easy thing to do, and one thing you'll realize is that they are at varying "spiritual temperatures". In other words, some of them are genuinely curious and have just a few barriers to belief that you can help dispell. Others, however, are entrenched and embittered. Though God can change any heart, you may feel like you're banging your head against a wall when trying to debate with them. Certainly, facts are not what change them most often, but the experience of lovingkindness that surpasses our human nature. I actually just took a class on recognizing where people are at in the scale of receptiveness to hostility toward the gospel and how to engage them where they are at to encourage them in the right direction. I can tell you more about that if you're curious.

I believe the Hindu religion is older than Christianity (though I'm not sure about Judaism), and Krishna does have a self-sacrificial story to it. There are sacrifice myths in many ancient religions (like Greek and Egyptian mythology). However, the motivation behind the sacrifice and the need for it were much different than that of Christ. Also, there is an abundance of historical evidence for Jesus' life, teachings, death and resurrection. The same cannot be said for any other religion. For more on that, I suggest The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel or More than a Carpenter. The point is that history can't plagurize. The idea of self-sacrifice and even of defeating death is as inherent in humanity as the fear of death itself. These would creep into stories since the dawn of civilization because they are universal emotions. Carl Jung would call them "archetypes", memories or emotions that all humans have in common. The idea of God is also common to all men, as Jung would call it the "archetypal mother". The Christian take on that is that God wrote certain things on our hearts (Romans 1:20). Sin and forgiveness, grace and mercy are completely different. Though we all have a sense of morality and a knowledge that we fail to hold up to that standard, it is the Bible that explains why that is. That Jesus lived, died, and that his body disappeared are corroborated with secular historical documents. Why He died and returned is completely different than Hinduism (a religion which cannot agree with itself even on whether one, many or any gods exist at all).

I hope this helps. Carry on with the good fight, but realize also that logic is not usually what atheists are looking for from us. What really tends to open people's hearts to the gospel is a live filled with acts of love that defy human nature." ~Jeff