Hacker News Reader

Comment by Geminidog | Hacker News Reader

The existence of anthropological precursors to Judaic religions is supporting evidence for the conclusion that all forms of Judaism are a phenomenon of human mythology and story telling rather than an actual explanation about the inner workings of the universe.

Curious as to how Christians rationalize around this. If you're christian how does the existence Zoroastrianism fit with your world view?

I am not interested in the validity of your justification and thus I won't debate it (that would be against the rules on HN). I am just interested in the justification itself.

View on HN

Many Christians I know are aware of and even study these myths and other religions, and there is evidence of early Christians doing so as well. In general, I understand their view on them is that God works through those myths and in some cases real events. In the case of Zoroastrianism, an ancient Christian hymn goes "For by Your birth those who adored stars were taught by a star to worship You, the Sun of Justice, and to know You, Orient from on High." So, this is an early example of Christians acknowledging other religious experiences, but still believing they point to a "true myth" about Jesus.

You may well disagree with their conclusions, but I wouldn't assume Christians haven't thought about these things.

As a Christian, we acknowledge and are happy that others have truth - we just claim to have the full truth.

The next question is "how do you know that your truth is better?" - usually that is best answered personally. Don't expect to be persuaded.

Thanks this is mainly the answer I'm looking for. Would you argue that the majority of Christians share your viewpoint?

Right, I get they acknowledge it, but my question is how does it all fit into a cohesive whole? I'm assuming that they assume one religion is true and the others aren't. Or am I wrong on this front? Do Christians believe that the truthiness of religions can be on a gradient? Is Zoroastrianism wrong and Christianity right or are they both right?

Obviously a variety of thought within "Christians", but I think the main view would be that Zoroastrianism has elements of truth (monotheism, dualism, for example), but not the "fullness of Truth". So, possibly one could consider that a gradient. May seem a little stubborn, but then again most people think their own worldview is best.

What I always found charming and cheeky is Islam's solution to this problem (if what my devout Muslim friend told me back in high school is true): something along the lines of all religious figures and movements are essentially failed/corrupted/lost/etc prophets and attempts at starting the true religion, until Mohamed came around and got it right with Islam. They also say everyone is born Muslim but is lost if they are not brought up in a Muslim family. An opt-out religion, essentially. Very neat and tidy ways to wave away things like Zoroastrianism that otherwise suggest these particular religions are just, as you said, mythology.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com