![016a883cc216293c1132ea9f8067a0ac[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/OzPEwYk.jpg "016a883cc216293c1132ea9f8067a0ac[1].jpg")
I'm no fedora tipper by any means, but I have a serious question. I'm pretty much a christian - id say about 99% christian. Theres just one question that always gets me, one that I would have no answer for if an athiest were to ask me.
OK. I like the bible. I think theres a ton of positive messages in it. I also have a strong belief in god.
BUT HERE IS THE GOD DAMN KICKER:
How is Christianity the REAL religion when so many other religions have existed?
For instance, here is a list of all the religions ever known/recorded throughout human history
http://adherents.com/
^about 43,000 religions.
How is Christianity the "right" one?
I'm an aspiring Christian myself, but it's hard to claw out of the hole of nihlistic agnosticism.
When I ask Christians this, their answer usually consists of
>there are written accounts of jesus
>there are several different accounts of the miracles he performed from different people
>most successful nations were built on Christian values which shows God's will
Something along those lines. I wish I could believe but my brain won't let me.
>>78910088
I don't know but what I do know is that praying eases a lot of stress and helps you let go of pain.
I don't know if it's the same effect if you pray to other gods. there is no way to know, especially if your own cultural background stands in your way.
then personal belief plays a big role as well. praying to God seems perfectly normal compared to praying to Zeus or Satan or Vishnu or Buddha or Cthulhu or I don't know what. does God strike as more right and true than any of these fabricated phantoms? pretty sure, yes.
>>78910088
>How is Christianity the REAL religion when so many other religions have existed?
Christianity has fundamental differences to other religions. On each these differences Christianity is right so when you go through it all only catholic christianity remains.
>>78910088
And why would other religions be true? Gospel is the only true Word of God. It's basic message is "If you believe in my Son, my living Word, you get the gift of eternal life". And only a part of humanity is going to be saved. Christianity is present on every continent, in every country. It will reach every human being predestined for salvation. It's message would be too-fucking-obvious if it were the only existing religion, don't you think?
>>78910393
>Something along those lines. I wish I could believe but my brain won't let me.
Where seems to be the issue?
Do you acknowledge it scientifically possible that God exists?
>>78910935
but why did god allow all the other 40,000 religions to exists before it if it the only one true religion?
confusing for us humans eh?
>>78910793
Wouldn't you totally say the same about Zeus or Satan or whoever the fuck, if that's who your family and community worshipped?
Religion is a lot like language, if you start with a particular one, then that's the one that will always feel more natural.
I suppose to carry the metaphor, if you don't have one then you are dumb.
But yeah, religion is needless if you are able to find happiness from something else. It's all it really should be I reckon.
If all faiths were like that then there's be a few less snackbars blowing up airports etc.
>>78911063
Why not?
>>78910088
Christianity is the bastard child of Judaism and Paganism.
It's also pretty much a blood cult obsessed with the idea that a blood sacrifice was required to save us and please God. They are so obsessed with this blood sacrifice that they enact a ritual of symbolic cannibalism from the sacrifice every Sunday.
Christianity is also the only major religion that uses a symbol of torture and blood sacrifice as their main religious symbol.
>>78911063
Of course. Your life on this Earth is a test, it's full of adversities and trials, and through these trials it's supposed to make you more perfect. If someone can't make out the difference between true message from his creator and some false cults, he's not fit for Kingdom of God
>>78911098
>Wouldn't you totally say the same about Zeus or Satan or whoever the fuck, if that's who your family and community worshipped?
as I said, I don't know and probably can't know.
I think that if you're born christian, it will be a lot harder to establish a tie to any other religion.
some people have done that, sure. I just find it highly unlikely to happen in my case.
but the language comparison makes sense I guess. I just don't think that's all there is to it. we are talking about accepting a whole religion in its entire conclusion there.
>>78911319
Sup prot
>>78910935
>predestined for salvation
So those who aren't predestined are sent to hell for something they had no control over.
God sure is swell.
>>78911319
>tfw this sounds EXACTLY like Heavans Gate.
>>78911263
>the only major religion that uses a symbol of torture and blood sacrifice as their main religious symbol.
the cross has other definitions though. it symbolizes a mark where two different concepts are crossing each other or actually the silhouette of human being if we stretch out our arms.
They're all real religions, you just happen to like Jebus.
>>78911319
what about all of the human before 2000 years ago?
they had no true religion to follow, were they just fucked?
>>78911263
You are confusing true (early) Christianity with Catholicism/Orthodoxy, heavily influenced by Mithraism, Greek/Roman philosophy and pagan interpretations of early doctrines. Christianity is not a cult of Christ's death, it's the cult of His ressurection and His teachings. His death from the hands of His own Choosen People was His greatest teaching to us, the ultimate teaching of forgiveness. It wasn't a blood sacrifice to evil Yahveh. This is a purposeful Jewish rabbinic corruption of the original message.
>>78911483
Ignore him predestination is protestant not catholic
>>78911764
Dude, I don't know God's intentions that good.
Possibly they were not yet spiritually ready for the message of Christ. Bronze-age morality (Old Testament morality) was already evolving at Christ's times and took a great turn after the spread of Christianity.
>>78911845
Praying to Mary of saints is an idolatric cult of human beings. Cease it, dude.
>>78911845
>predestination
Crap like that died out a LONG time ago.
>>78911385
Well I reckon your world view is given to you by your upbringing for the majority.
I, for example am an atheist, since both parents are and many of their friends are too.
But then unlike a lot of fedora tippers, I don't generally get riled up and want to hate on people for believing shit that makes them happy, provided they don't be a cunt about it.
That's probably cos I grew up in a fairly religious town and had a lot of Christian mates.
So yeah, I think religious beliefs come down to the context of your upbringing and very little else.
I doubt very much anyone has been never exposed to, for example Christianity or islam and spontaneously developed beliefs that match pretty much perfectly. Hence the beliefs they hold will be what they're exposed to, and if they do convert to something else they'll do it based on their existing cultural values. So in NZ there are a few born again Muslims, but none of them would want Sharia or any of the extreme stuff cos they'd 'cherrypick' for want of a better term, stuff from the religion that suited their existing kiwi values.
>>78910088
sounds like you should just become pantheist.
>>78912058
No u
>>78912114
What do you mean? I said it's not catholic
>>78910088
>athiest
I swear I fucking hate those tumblr cows with their triggering bullshit but this always gets me
>>78912114
How do you scientifically prove the existence of free will? It's a ridiculous idea from physic's point of view.
>>78912203
And it's no longer Protestant either. No one believes predestination anymore.
>>78911764
that just sounds like some bullshit man
see, this is where i begin to take issue.
They're all real. Even the ones that don't call themselves religions. Christianity is the "right" one because it's been demonstrably shown to be the one under which we best thrive as a species.
Yfw Shinto is the only viable opponent to the Abrahamic scourge.
>>78912265
Except polebro. And Lutherans. It's still in their creed. At least here in Germany
>>78912260
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroscience_of_free_will
>>78912265
Have you ever read the Book of Revelation? How do you explain the "book of judgements" that was written "before begininng of time"?
>>78910088
It's not. None of them are.
>>78912441
>"The field remains highly controversial. There is no consensus among researchers about the significance of findings, their meaning, or what conclusions may be drawn"
kek
Free will is an irrevelant comforting illusion.
>>78912460
>written "before begininng of time"
So say's the Book of Judgements. But does anyone have a citation on that?
>>78912572
Source?
>>78911687
The crucifix was a torture device, used in Ancient Rome and other societies purely for torture.
You can interpret it however you would like but you can't deny it's origin.
>>78912628
You're a faggot.
Now tell me, did Allah make me say that?
>>78912676
I was citing from memory, wait a moment before I find it.
Meanwhile read Ephesians 1:4
>>78912831
No, do you have a NON BIBLICAL citation for anything in theBook of Revelations?
>>78911776
>You are confusing true (early) Christianity with Catholicism/Orthodoxy, heavily influenced by Mithraism, Greek/Roman philosophy and pagan interpretations of early doctrines.
Is this not the predominant version of Christianity in the world today? I understand that early Christianity was radically different, what I am referring to is modern Christianity.
>Christianity is not a cult of Christ's death, it's the cult of His ressurection and His teachings. His death from the hands of His own Choosen People was His greatest teaching to us, the ultimate teaching of forgiveness.
What about blood atonement through sacrifice and the crucifixion? Aren't those essential to Christianity? Accepting that Christ made the ultimate sacrifice and "died for us" to "save us"?
>>78910088
At the foot of the mountain, Christianity could be the only right religion, but at the top of the mountain, there is no religion remaining. Only the one true esoteric truth aka salvation. That's not for everyone to comprehend, so religion remains a cultural and historic tradition, to instill morality to people, and to give people with faith a path to the top of the mountain, for the few that are ready for it.
From the other side of the mountain, the path may look completely different, but at the top you will have the same view.
"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." - you can see how Jesus doesn't speak of himself, but about Principles that stand at the creation of the world.
"The two-fold definition of the religio perennis—discernment between the Real and the illusory and a unifying and permanent concentration on the Real—implies in addition the criteria of intrinsic orthodoxy for every religion and all spirituality; in order to be orthodox a religion must possess a mythological or doctrinal symbolism establishing the essential distinction in question, and it must provide a path that guarantees both the perfection of concentration and its continuity; in other words a religion is orthodox if it provides a sufficient, if not always exhaustive, idea of the absolute and the relative, and thus of their reciprocal relationships, and a spiritual activity that is contemplative in its nature and effectual with regard to our ultimate destiny. For it is notorious that heterodoxies always tend to adulterate either the idea of the divine Principle or the manner of our attachment to it; they offer a worldly, profane, or—if one prefers— “humanist” counterfeit of religion or else a mysticism containing nothing but the ego and its illusions." http://www.religioperennis.org/documents/Schuon/religioperennis.pdf
>TFW Baha'i faith
come to the true red pill religion anon.
>>78912725
And?
>>78912971
It's bizarre, a religion that uses a torture device and symbol of blood sacrifice as their main religious symbol.
There is no other major religion that uses a sacrificial altar or torture device as their symbol, it is unlike the other religions in this way.
>>78913132
>a religion that uses a torture device and symbol of blood sacrifice as their main religious symbol
It doesn't "use" it. The crucification and resurrection are the most important events in human history. Of course we remind people of it with symbolic. What's bizarre about it? Seems to me you jut heard an atheist mock that and parrot it now
>>78912692
The source is the holy books themselves. They contain no sources or evidence and can therefore be dismissed.
>>78912692
Religion is all based on illusion, everyone can get the same feeling no matter what religion they follow. Even macfags have religious experiences.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/gaming.gadgets/05/19/apple.religion/
Look at fasting, another tried and true way of getting closer to the gods, present in all religions including the big 3. Moses fasted, Jesus fasted, Muhammad fasted. It's now known that these are just hallucinations and not actual divine experiences.
http://hallucinations.enacademic.com/643/fasting-induced_hallucination
>>78911483
Calvinism is a shit denomination.
>>78913341
>They contain no sources or evidence
That's not true. So...
>>78912914
They might be essential to certain interpretations of the Gospel. Catholic/Orthodox/Protestant theologies are just some peoples' opinions on the Scripture. Their vision is not infallible just because it's dominant.
And yes, he died for us, but not to make some blood sacrifice, but to show us, that he could suffer that he could suffer being rejected by His people and be tortured and maimed, and still forgive us, thus setting an EXAMPLE for us. His death wasn't an sacrifice to appease God. He sacrificed Himself to make His greatest, most known and most understandable teaching.
stop looking at books for the truth about god. He is alive (i hope) in your heart. You know what is right and what is wrong.
Stop compromising yourself with greed, hate, jealousy, etc. And you will literally feel god's love.
I have given up alcohol, drugs, meat, and I'm working on the residual pain of past discretions.. All on the love of the true and just God, and I've never been happier. :)
Because christianity is the dominant religion in the world. It makes the majority. Without going into details, I'll just say this: if Islam or Judaism or Shintoism or whatever made the majority and became so widespread the same way Christianity did (emperor Constantine and whatnot), that religion would be called the "true religion". Other than the principles that various religions have, the only difference between religious influence in modern society that those religions have is how fiercely or agressively the leaders force it upon the commoners.
TLDR: every person's religion with which they grew up with is the "true" religion.
>>78913356
>Religion is all based on illusion
Source?
Fasting is about modesty (sorry don't know the word I'm looking for right now) not about experiencing God. You're fighting your own strawmen
>>78913560
>every person's religion with which they grew up with is the "true" religion
I wish redditors would stop it with this petty bs. There are differences in religion and you have to decide which is true in these cases. People change their religion all the time. Your just simplificating because you don't understand the concept
>>78913356
fasting is about self-discipline. And you can get closer to god through any form of self-discipline, no-fap included.
>>78913476
Source?
>>78913571
>Source?
It's right there.
>The neuroscientists ran a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test on an Apple fanatic and discovered that images of the technology company's gadgets lit up the same parts of the brain as images of a deity do for religious people, the report says.
>Fasting is about modesty
I'm sure it was just a coincidence that Moses spoke to God while fasting, and Jesus encountered the devil while fasting.
>>78910088
>which of these 43000 tools of control is right for me
>>78913322
no it seems like you are being a difficult faggot.
he was merely making the observation that people wear necklaces with little torture device emblems on it - and thats strange.
i really dislike you.
>>78913832
The bible you dingus. Can you not follow an argument 2 posts back?
>>78913931
>The neuroscientists ran a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test on an Apple fanatic and discovered that images of the technology company's gadgets lit up the same parts of the brain as images of a deity do for religious people, the report says.
So? What does that say about religion?
>>78913931
>I'm sure it was just a coincidence that Moses spoke to God while fasting, and Jesus encountered the devil while fasting.
No.
>>78913967
>reddit space
>>78913702
how can anyone trust a man opinion who doesnt know there difference between "your" and "you're"
>>78914111
What does the bible source? What evidence does it contain?
![hqdefault[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/BfBlucQ.jpg "hqdefault[1].jpg")
>>78913934
here ya go bro, was saving this for you.
>>78914174
you done yet faggot?
>>78914303
>What does the bible source? What evidence does it contain?
Well the stories which you want to determine are true or not..
>read bible
>read about crucification
>checks out
>Evidence
etc.
>>78913491
>Their vision is not infallible just because it's dominant.
You need to understand that I do not believe any religion to be true. To me, it doesn't matter what is or is not infallible because they all are. So when I refer to "Christianity" it should be clear that I am referring to the predominant version that most Christians believe to be true.
>And yes, he died for us
So, he sacrificed his body.
>but not to make some blood sacrifice
Oh, but that is exactly what it was. Then why not just skip the bloody sacrifice?
Was it not necessary that he suffer and die?
>but to show us, that he could suffer being rejected by His people and be tortured and maimed
So, the suffering was necessary.
>and still forgive us
Sacrifice for forgiveness, it's a common theme in sacrificial rituals.
Sacrifice for forgiveness.
>His death wasn't an sacrifice to appease God
Then why was the suffering and sacrifice necessary?
You said yourself that he "died for us". God needed the blood sacrifice to occur in order to forgive us.
>He sacrificed Himself
Yes, it was a sacrifice of blood.
>to make His greatest, most known and most understandable teaching.
The teaching of forgiveness, right?
The entire premise is a blood sacrifice, for forgiveness.
>>78914608
Where is the independent verification of the crucification? How does one particular instance of crucification prove that God is real?
>>78910088
The restablishment of isreal as a nation
>>78910088
Hindu here. Doesn't mind Christianity. Believes Islam is cancer and muslims should be destroyed.
>>78914846
>How does one particular instance of crucification prove that God is real?
That's why I added the etc. If the stories in there are true it's evidence (not proof) that it's claims about God are also true
>>78914846
>Where is the independent verification of the crucification?
Talmud. Tacitus. And a bunch of others
>>78915004
thats nice, but youre pretty much missing the entire point of the thread and making 100% off topic statements
good to see ya here tho buddy :) stick around
>>78914736
That's exactly what I said. And what exactly is wrong with sacrifice that brings forgiveness?
>>78910088
>How is Christianity the REAL religion when so many other religions have existed?
Because its the only one consistent with reason
>>78915259
>>78914736
>God needed the blood sacrifice to occur in order to forgive us.
No. We needed the sacrifice to learn how to forgive. God doesn't need any sacrifices.
>>78915096
Your evidence is irrelevant. I use Harry Potter as evidence that "the" is spelled with a T, but that mean wizards and magic are real. Likewise, none of the holy books evidence of God or the origin of the universe.
>>78915296
you dont think every other person throughout history wouldnt make that exact same statement about their religion of choice ?
>>78910888
Catholic baka.
Calvinism is the only correct view.
The universe is run by a completely sovereign God who gives a saving faith in Christ to those he has chosen from before time.
>>78915138
Well coming to point, I personally never found Christianity the right religion, some concepts are just bizarre but I admire how they changed all the fucked up things in Bible according to changing times.
>>78915465
>you dont think every other person throughout history wouldnt make that exact same statement about their religion of choice ?
They have certainly tried, however none have come close to the success of Christianity and tend to heavily favour some form of fideism
>>78914111
>So? What does that say about religion?
That feeling of awe at the divine you get when you read your favorite scripture or look at your favorite icon is essentically the same feeling a macfag gets when he opens his new iPad. Furthermore there's nothing special or divine about Christianity as people can get the exact same experience from other religions or things that don't have anything to do with religion at all.
>No.
K.
>>78914393
same meme every thread for 5 years
And still not an argument
>>78915428
>We needed the sacrifice to learn how to forgive.
Why not just forgive? Why is the blood sacrifice necessary?
>God doesn't need any sacrifices.
Oh, but he did that one time.
>>78910088
Read Genesis 11, it should explain most of what you need to know about the different religions. Also research some about Babylon and Nimrod.
Christianity is right because it is the only religion to not conflict with real science.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsbj7EN1Uzs
>>78915296
>You are imperfect, in your imperfection you offend God
>Your offences demand punishment
>God is just; He must punish
>God loves you; He wants to be merciful
>Enter Scapegoat (Protip: It's God)
>Scapegoat is perfect; doesn't deserve punishment
>God mercilessly punishes what did not deserve punishment
>Punishment done; Justice and Mercy served
>To enjoy absolution from imperfection you need to understand and accept the scapegoats sacrifice
>Prophet
>>78916246
>God is not real because my moral values are different!
>>78916024
What do you mean by "Why not just forgive"?
What do you understand by "just" here? Should He just "tell us" to forgive? He did "say" it, i.e. "send a message", "convey an information" by allowing to be tortured by humans and then forgiving it. His crucifixion was a teaching. A lesson.
This is my last reply to you.
>>78916483
Blood sacrifice of the innocent for forgiveness is not one of my moral values, correct.
>>78917272
It's literal fucking mental gymnastics if you question these people, expect fedora memes and deus vault
>>78917272
And this is why fellows like Aquinas and the like attract such scorn. Its because they demonstrate that you dont have merely a different view but an objectively false and wrong one.
>>78916666
>His crucifixion was a teaching. A lesson.
That I am forgiven for my sins if I just accept the blood sacrifice of the innocent and pure?
It's so absurd.
>>78917385
>Aquinas
Dude witches lmao
>>78910088
The correct answer is mormon.
Also you are correct. With arguing on Pascal's Wager, you then have to consider you are trying to guess the right door in a montey hall problem with thousands of doors.
I'll tell you my case, since pretty much everybody here is involved.
>See evidence of God
>People keep acting as if they were demons of Satan seeking my soul
>Start believing
>Worse off everyday
>Literally police would come to my house and lock me up without an actual valid reason and no judge would listen
>Give jeebus the finger
>Accept Satan
>The result?
>N-no, y-your s-soul is s-still o-ours
>W-we are m-merely pretending
And no matter how much I am an open asshole and do shit I know would get their attention, they stay put like little bitiches but still wanna pretend they have a claim on my soul.
Satan is the name of God.
>>78917600
actually read those sections hes talking about people possessed by daemons
>>78917385
Appeal to authority... logical fallacy.
Absolutism... logical fallacy.
>>78914393
This is why there will never be any real discussion in any of these threads.
>>78915296
Aquinas's five ways could be applied to any religion, or just deism. It doesn't answer the question of why there are so many religions and if Christianity is right.
>>78917594
If you forgive your fellow humans, just like Jesus did.
>>78918089
>Appeal to authority... logical fallacy.
Not an appeal to authority, all I did there was state one of the reasons Aquinas's philosophy is so confronting to people.
>Absolutism... logical fallacy.
Not a formal or informal fallacy
Heres one for you though fallacy falacy
>Aquinas's five ways could be applied to any religion, or just deism. It doesn't answer the question of why there are so many religions and if Christianity is right.
Firstly no it doesn't, it effectively rules out Hinduism, Buddhism,Taoism, All European Pagan faiths and the bulk of other pagan faiths worldwide. It effectivley knocks the vast majority of faiths and sects.
>It doesn't answer the question of why there are so many religions and if Christianity is right.
The Summa Theologica and the Suma Con Gentiles comprise of multiple volumes (10+) and the 5 ways are only about 5 pages of them. The rest of his works are devoted to demonstrating the truth and correctness of it.
The 5 ways were only a starting point.
>>78919835
>Firstly no it doesn't, it effectively rules out Hinduism, Buddhism,Taoism, All European Pagan faiths and the bulk of other pagan faiths worldwide. It effectivley knocks the vast majority of faiths and sects.
How so?
>The Summa Theologica and the Suma Con Gentiles comprise of multiple volumes (10+) and the 5 ways are only about 5 pages of them. The rest of his works are devoted to demonstrating the truth and correctness of it.
Yet the Quinque viae is the only part of his work that is still widely recognized as having philosophical value and still widely discussed today
>>78910088
Religions are humans attempting to get to the Divine Source. Get past the names, prophets, etc and you get a very similar message.
Christianity is generally different though. God came and died on our behalf. That's a big thing.
>>78911764
>>78912334
Of course not. Christ spoke of Abraham, Elijah and Moses as well as others.
Matthew 8:11
I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
>>78910088
Hope you find the answers you are looking for.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5qJPZySo7A
>>78921329
>How so?
Its demonstration of the logical necessity of monotheism.
>Yet the Quinque viae is the only part of his work that is still widely recognized as having philosophical value and still widely discussed today
There is good argument for that being tied up with politics -as often is the case in philosophy. Wide recognition is hardly a good measure of value or truth and ignores the other thinkers who worked on Aristotelian metaphysics and principles.
Likewise the 5 ways is probably one of the most misrepresented arguments in current pop philosophy out of all the great athiest authors only 2 of them take any crack at trying to refute instead of straw manning it.
>>78910088
It's not necessarily, if you look at the ancient jewish texts they talk of other "gods" such as Ba'al, Yahweh is one of them. Some of the other religions are just made up, but some of them are based around the worship of these "other gods." The idea of Christianity though is to acknowledge that Yahweh is more powerful and more just than the others, and therefore is the only "true" god. Basically there's a bunch of deities, but Christianity just says that Yahweh is the best one.
>>78910088
Easy, the others are false. Amongst Christian denominations, only one is true on the basis of the scriptures, that is the Jehovah's Witnesses
>>78910088
As Jesus said, 'by their fruits shall ye know them'
All faiths which do not imitate Christ in 'spirit and truth', lack a living reality in the lives of their adherents. Some religions promote violence. Others promote spiritism (they are literally inviting demons into your life). Others claim to follow Christ but their lives manifest no genuine Christlike fruitage in their lives. Most professed Christians are sincere, but the churches share in much bloodguilt in various wars and some denominations have actively colluded in the protection of abusers.
>>78918429
>>78915947
*tips fedora*
Agnostic here, God does exist but it's sort of like aliens. Both exist but we haven't met either of them yet, or anything related to them. Everything at this point was man made, invented.
>>78910088
Because it is, God himself didn't come for any other religion.
Ah.
![cat[1].png](https://i.imgur.com/ZdTDlWQ.png "cat[1].png")
>>78923883
that kind of explanation is magical wand tier... dont make me have to tip my own g*d damned fedora your huehue zika face
>>78910088
I am also a Christian.
That being said, i think every religion is an effort by humans to understand the work of God. All of them have some value, but it's just that our has some better recorded history following it and is more coherent philosophically.
One of my fav. parts from http://www.sacred-texts.com/eso/sta/sta17.htm
>Long before the introduction of idolatry into religion, the early priests caused the statue of a man to be placed in the sanctuary of the temple. This human figure symbolized the Divine Power in all its intricate manifestations. Thus the priests of antiquity accepted man as their textbook, and through the study of him learned to understand the greater and more abstruse mysteries of the celestial scheme of which they were a part. It is not improbable that this mysterious figure standing over the primitive altars was made in the nature of a manikin and, like certain emblematic hands in the Mystery schools, was covered with either carved or painted hieroglyphs. The statue may have opened, thus showing the relative positions of the organs, bones, muscles, nerves, and other parts. After ages of research, the manikin became a mass of intricate hieroglyphs and symbolic figures. Every part had its secret meaning. The measurements formed a basic standard by means of which it was possible to measure all parts of cosmos. It was a glorious composite emblem of all the knowledge possessed by the sages and hierophants.
Then came the age of idolatry. The Mysteries decayed from within. The secrets were lost and none knew the identity of the mysterious man who stood over the altar. It was remembered only that the figure was a sacred and glorious symbol of the Universal Power, and it: finally came to be looked upon as a god--the One in whose image man was made. Having lost the knowledge of the purpose for which the manikin was originally constructed, the priests worshiped this effigy until at last their lack of spiritual understanding brought the temple down in ruins about their heads and the statue crumbled with the civilization that had forgotten its meaning.
Complete book at http://www.sacred-texts.com/eso/sta/
