hey steve:

i'm in a kind of debate with a non-believer and he gave these question from a link, i haven't watched it yet as it's 1hr 50mins but here's what he sent me. have you ever heard of these guys and can you help me with a response??
thanks
dave

If you do not want to watch the video riddle me this?

If Jesus was the son of God who where the 16-22 men who predate him?

Common themes troughout:

The Son of God
Born of a Virgin Marry
Was taken away so that the ruler of the Land could not kill him
Performed Miracles
Was the lamb of God who took away the sins of the world.
Walked on water, performed miracles.
Started their ministry at the age of 30
Died at 33
Crucified on the cross
And rose from the dead and ascended into heaven.

His predicessors:

Chrishna
Horus
Hindoo Sakia
Thammuz
Witoba
Iao
Hesus
Quexaicoto
Quirinus
Promethesus
Thulis
Indra
Alcestos
Atys
Crite
Bali
Mithra

I will be the first to admit some (such as Chrishna be crucified) are a bit of a strech but the similarities of all the stories and themes are overwhelming.
.

Dtr98,

I will let Steve answer your question more fully, though I would like to interject some thoughts. I am not familiar with all of these names, but I do know that Mithra was merely an imaginary deity. There were many false messiahs who performed miracles, but Jesus was a historical person who was the only one who has ever fulfilled every prophecy concerning the Messiah regarding His ancestry, His birth, His life and His death. Though others may have made that claim, only Jesus had His true identity in God and had the authority of God. What could be said about God was said about Jesus. He was both Creator and Savior. If one questions Jesus’ deity, they also deny the Father. It is a matter of faith, but the evidence God has provided for His existence is indisputable.

God has His own riddle found in Proverbs 30:4 --

"Who has ascended into heaven and descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has wrapped the waters in His garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name or His son’s name? Surely you know!"

Names were very important in Biblical times because they represented a person's character and purpose. It is quite easy to tie the name of Jesus (when you translate back to His original Hebrew name, Y'shua) to the Hebrew Scriptures. It is rich and full of meaning tying our salvation to Elohim (the all powerful God).

God bless you,

Chelki

thanks, i'll send that to him

here's an update from someone else who is helping me to reach this person:

The story of the comming of Christ was well known for centuries. Even in the Bible it makes mention of people who claimed to be the Christ. Just look at our culture today and those who make this claim. None of those men mentioned fulfilled all the prophicies but claimed one here or there. Only Jesus fullfilled every single one. dtr98's statement says it all. He never heard of any of those other men but everyone has heard of Jesus.
Did you know that if you fill the entire state of Texas with silver dollars 2 feet deep and marked one with an X then blindfolded a man and told him to find the right coin, He would have greater odds of finding that coin then any one man fullfilling all of the prophecies Jesus fullfilled. In fact the numerical odds are greater then the number of elements in the universe.

to my qustion, here's is his response:

Quote:
also, if you don't believe there is a God, why would mention Hinduism?? ( i asked him this )


I mentioned it becuase Chrishna is a part of hindusiam which predates Christianity and has similar themes. Born to a virgin mother ect.......
I believe all religions are myths/fables.

and my friend posted this:

The Big difference between Christianity and all other religions are 2 things.
First all religions are works based, meaning you need to do certain things (be good) all that stuff and hope you get in. Islam is the king of this. Where Christianity says nothing you do will get you saved, it's not good enough. However Jesus paid your debt in full by dying in your place and if you accept the free gift you are saved.

2nd Jesus is the only one who actually stated he was God. No one else made this claim. The others said they could point the way to get to God but none claimed to be God.
The others stated I can show you the way, they stated I can show you the truth and lead you to enlightnment.
But Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the father but by me.
And of course he backed it up by rising from the dead. All the others are still dead.
So either Jesus was a crazed luinitic or he is who he claimed to be. And that is the difference.

Dtr98,

Also, think of this – All other religions were started by one man, who saw a vision, had a revelation, etc. and then convinced others of its importance. Their followers then built a religion upon a man.

Our religion and our God are unique in that God came down from heaven to speak to a whole group of people known as the Israelites. God spoke, not just to one man, but a multitude. Once He had redeemed them from Egypt, then He gave them instructions of how to live. There had been no precedent for it, nor has any other religion had anything similar in experience. The giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai is paralleled by two events in the NT – the tongues of fire and the giving of the Holy Spirit on the festival of Shavuot in Jerusalem (or Pentecost) and by Y’shua’s sermon on the mount in the Galilee. Again, Y’shua was God come in the flesh to show men how to live and to redeem mankind. Our religion is unique in that our God truly is the Creator of all things and He personally intervenes in the lives of men and His creation.

God bless you in helping your friend,

Chelki