The Vegan Marxist

Comrade, I have to ask... If you're an anarchist, why is your profile picture advocating freedom for Chairman Gonzalo? I'm kind of a Maoist and I'm not even a fan (though I'd like to see him free, obviously)!

good posts :d

PS Would be interested in the document you mention.

Well, I'd really, really recommend you look at the book I advised too. I think you'd find it very stimulating on the subject. Interesting that the prophets railed against the "falsifications" of the scribes and that Mordechai is probably Marduk transposed into an Israelite/Judaean setting. Ever read the Kebra Negast?

Well we'll have to agree to differ then. I respect your beliefs. I would be interested to know if you have any stuff on the Essene Calendar which was solar and not lunar. I was wondering if there were any parallels with the Egyptian solar calendar...

Well, I believe a Jesus existed, if you see what I mean, There is also a theological reason for this. Why would a section of Judaism break away from Judaism like I did on the basis of someone who never existed? The Jews are people of strong tradition and history, it would take a lot for that to happen in 1st century Judaea.
PS A curious note you may want to make. The Yehudim of the Bible were not necessarily the Israelites in general, the Yehudim were the priests of the tribe of Judah and that is worth considering to in all the early polemics. After the destruction of the Temple by the Romans, the people who preserved the law and maintained Judaism as such were the Yehudim--- the Jews. Modern Rabbinical Judaism in all its severity was probably only reflective of the priestly cast in ancient Judaea- not necessarily the religion of your average Israelite/Judaean.

PS- It's all a bit like "The Life of Brian" at times....

The very fact that the Gnostic gospels were surpressed is telling, I have also read my way through the Dead Sea Scrolls. Interestingly, mainstream Judaism and Christianity are both "uncomfortable" with a lot of the suppressed stuff. The Jewish scriptures are not all they seem either, whole books left out, scribal differences and the like, the Samaritans also have their own version of things. Too much cut and paste i.m.o.
Did your read the full Gnostic gospels? I really recommend you read that book "The Secret of the Exodus", I think you would find it very interesting albeit you have to plough through a bit of Hebrew and Aramaic...

(continued)
I would be cautious about saying Christian doctrines... what do you mean? The Trinity for example was not widely held by early Christians and has been attributed to Celtic influence. But to put it briefly... yes, there were influences but I would be careful about saying derivations as such. Have you read the Gnostic gospels?

Believer is a big word. I think we have issues with our source material, that is the problem. There was also the Hellenistic influence on Judaism pre-Jesus too, and of course the flow of Mediterranean and Levantine peoples and their interraction. We could also perhaps talk about archetypes that are to be found in all religions, mystery religions and revealed systems of spirituality. My own hunch is that monotheism may have originated in Persia if we give Zoroaster the earlier reckoning and not the later, then we pass to Akhenaten and the 18th dynasty, then into Judaism or rather the religion of the Israelites and then with various admixtures during the Babylonian and Persian era arrive the Hellenising influences of Alexander's conquests, the Maccabean revolt against that and then we end up with the Herodian period and Jesus.