Synopsis: 25 reasons Why I Am No Longer a Christian

While most conservative Christians may adhere to the notion of the legitimacy and credibility of the Bible or go so far as to proclaim it inerrant (without error), infallible, and inspired by God what they probably haven't been taught is the extent it has 'borrowed' and assimilated myths that pre-date the development of Hebrew doctrine and the writing of the Old Testament itself. For example, nowhere is this seen more clearly than in the use of the Babylonian "Epic of Gilgamesh" in the construction of the Hebrew story of Noah's Flood which share about 20 major points in common. In both cases:

The Genesis story describes how mankind had become obnoxious to God; they were hopelessly sinful and wicked. In the Babylonian story, they were too numerous and noisy.
The Gods (or God) decided to send a worldwide flood. This would drown men, women, children, babies and infants, as well as eliminate all of the land animals and birds.
The Gods (or God) knew of one righteous man, Ut-Napishtim or Noah.
The Gods (or God) ordered the hero to build a multi-story wooden ark (called a chest or box in the original Hebrew).
The hero initially complained about the assignment to build the boat
The ark would be sealed with pitch.
The ark would have with many internal compartments
It would have a single door
It would have at least one window.
The ark was built and loaded with the hero, a few other humans, and samples from all species of other land animals.
A great rain covered the land with water.
The mountains were initially covered with water.
The ark landed on a mountain in the Middle East.
The hero sent out birds at regular intervals to find if any dry land was in the vicinity.
The first two birds returned to the ark. The third bird apparently found dry land because it did not return.
The hero and his family left the ark, ritually killed an animal, offered it as a sacrifice.
God (or the Gods in the Epic of Gilgamesh) smelled the roasted meat of the sacrifice.
The hero was blessed.
The Babylonian gods seemed genuinely sorry for the genocide that they had created. The God of Noah appears to have regretted his actions as well, because he promised never to do it again.

For Pre-Dating Flood Myths see: Ziusudra - Atrahasis - Utnapishtim - Deucalion

Christian apologists, when confronted with this evidence, immediately go into 'spin mode' and either (1) attempt to explain it away with rationalizations and arguments that one would expect any educated person to see through, or (2) simply state there is no direct correlation between the accounts as if flat denial is all one needs do to convince the ever-faithful. The apologists will argue that (a) although the Epic of Gilgamesh was indeed written before the Old Testament, the Sumerians/Babylonians probably stole the story from the Hebrews' "oral" account; in other words, the Hebrews "said" it first but the Sumerians "wrote" it first; (b) there can't be a correlation because of the differences between the two stories, for example in Genesis a raven and doves were sent out, but in Gilgamesh a dove, a swallow, and a raven were sent out; (3) the Book of Genesis is a 'real historical' account, but the Epic of Gilgamesh is "only a myth" (so insulated have the apologists become in their own 'spin' they are completely unaware how preposterous this last argument really is and are under the impression it is quite reasonable. I imagine it is this same insulation from logic that allows them to interpret as 'Difficulties' what are obvious biblical Contradictions, Inconsistencies, Fatal Flaws, Absurdities, Questionable Guidelines, Immoral Behavior, Atrocities, and outright Errors).

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Most Christians are never taught the extent by which Judeo-Christian doctrine was influenced by Persian Zoroastrianism during the Jewish 'exile'or Babylonian Captivity. In other words, the Jews went into Babylon believing one thing and came out of Babylon believing something else entirely. What happened? Babylonian myths and doctrines were absorbed and assimilated during the Jews' captivity and reworked into local doctrine upon their return home.

Any college student who has studied Ancient Near East history is well aware of this Zoroastrian influence as a matter of course, but churches are not filled with college graduates with Ancient Near East pedigrees. It's easy to believe one thing if you've never learned (or never made the effort to learn) otherwise.

So what types of things did the Jews pick-up during their Babylonian captivity? The pre-exilic Jews did not believe in life after death where there would be a judgment of the soul (i.e., reward of heaven or retribution of hell), the Messiah (in the pre-exilic period, 'messiah' was a only a title granted to important people regarded as close to god), an eternal Kingdom of God, Resurrection of the Body, Angels or Demons, or the ongoing battle between Good or Evil that would be fought until the End of the World (eschatology). Post-exilic Jews came away from captivity with all these ideas that were eventually worked and reworked into the Hebrew bible to ultimately influence the ideas inherent in Christian doctrine.

Questions for consideration: If the Jews had never been deported to Babylonia in 597 BCE would they ever have invented the notion of Messiah? Angels? Devils? Heaven? Hell?

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One can only imagine how different Christianity would be and how better off the world itself would be had there never been the Book of Enoch. Scholars date its composition to the 2^nd century BCE. This pseudepigraphal book (not part of the Old Testament canon either Protestant, Hebrew, or Catholic, although now part of the Ethiopian canon) about fallen angels and the cosmic battle between good and evil had a major influence on post-exilic Jewish and early Christian doctrine, as well as apocalyptic literature.

Although it did not garner enough 'votes' to be included in the New Testament, portions of the Book of Enoch are interestingly enough referenced there (see here and here). I repeat: while the Book of Enoch is called pseudepigraphical, it was considered otherwise to early Christian writers as the quote from 1 Enoch 1:9 in the New Testament book of Jude 14 clearly indicates:

In the seventh (generation) from Adam, Enoch also prophesied these things, saying: 'Behold, the Lord came with his holy myriads, to execute judgment on all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners spoke against him'.

Thought lost for millennia after being destroyed by early dogmatic Christian authorities, it was rediscovered in 1773 in Ethiopia. The Book of Enoch remains one of the oldest extant mystical documents and is referred to in the Hebrew Zohar, the Epistle of Jude, and is considered a critical influence on the New Testament. It also includes the lost "Book of Noah," early references to a messiah as "Christ" and "Son of Man," and an accounting of the angels and subsequent creation of demons, as well as discussion of Heaven, Hell, Eternal Life, and Divine Judgment, all ideas appropriated from the Babylonian Exile.

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Most Christians have never heard of Philo of Alexandria (Philo Judaeus) nor are aware of his influence on Christian doctrine. He was an an Alexandrian Jewish philosopher born in Alexandria, Egypt in 20 BCE (died 40 CE). The few biographical details concerning him are found in his own works (especially in "Legatio ad Caium") and in works by Josephus.

When Hebrew mythical thought met Greek philosophical thought in the first century BCE it was only natural that someone would try to develop speculative and philosophical justification for Judaism in terms of Greek philosophy. It was Philo who produced a Hellenistic interpretation of messianic Hebrew thought, later appropriated by Clement of Alexandria, Christian Apologists like Athenagoras, Theophilus, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, and Origen. He likely influenced Paul, his contemporary, and the authors of the Gospel of John and the Epistle to the Hebrews. In the process, he laid the foundations for the development of Christianity in the West and in the East, as we know it today. Philo's primary importance is in the development of the philosophical and theological foundations of Christianity, particularly the platonic idea of the Messiah and the Logos.

The doctrine of the Logos, or Word, as an emanation or essence of divine wisdom is very old. It is found in the ancient religions of Egypt and India. It was recognized in Zoroastrian theology, and was appropriated and incorporated into the Jewish theology by the Babylonian exiles. It constitutes an important element in the Platonic philosophy. The presentation of Jesus as an incarnation of the Logos belongs to the second century and is prominent in the Fourth Gospel. The ideas are chiefly those of Plato and Philo of Alexandria. Plato's trinity was Thought, Word and Deed. The Word occupies the second place in the Platonic trinity as it does in the Christian trinity. That the author of the Gospel of John, written several decades after the time of Philo, borrowed largely from that philosopher, is shown by the following parallels drawn from their writings:

Philo: "The Logos is the Son of God" (De Profugis)
John: "This [the Word] is the Son of God" (John 1:34)

Philo: "The Logos is considered the same as God" (De Somniis)
John: "The Word {Logos] was God" (John 1:1)

Philo: "He [the Logos] was before all things" (De Allegoriis Legum)
John: "The same [the Word] was in the beginning with God" (John 1:2)

Philo: "The Logos is the agent by whom the world was made" (De Allegoriis Legum)
John: "All things were made by him [the Word]" (John 1:3)

Philo: "The Logos is the true light of the world" (De Somniis)
John: "The Word [Logos] was the true light" (John 1:9)

Philo: "The Logos only can see God" (De Confusione Linguarum)
John: "No man hath seen God.... He [the Word] hath declared him" (John 1:18)

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