Christian Mythology and Norse Mythology have some striking similarities. [I Love Myths and Legends From All Cultures]

For example:

• Both have an achievable afterlife. However Christianity got its concept of Hell from the Norse belief of Hel.

• Both Jesus and Balder (Norse god of all that is good) die and come back from the dead.

• While the Old Testament doesn’t support the idea of an after life, the Christian Church adopted the idea of Syncretism from the pagans because it was a common belief of the pagans it was trying to convert.

This page is a permanent link to the reply below and its nested replies. See all post replies »

Pfuzylogic · M

Brush up on your Holy Bible reading.
An afterlife is not an achievement. It is a gift by grace. You might know Norse mythology but that is the limit of your knowledge.

TakingBackMidgaard · 31-35, M

@Pfuzylogic I went to seminary school...

Pfuzylogic · M

@TakingBackMidgaard
That means you didn’t complete it.

TakingBackMidgaard · 31-35, M

@Pfuzylogic Very good, I went on into environmental science. Before that I was a youth minister.

Denominations like Pentecostalism is like you said you must accept the gift of heaven.

Lutheranism, pretty much anyone goes to heaven even without accepting the Christian god.

Orthodox or Eastern Orthodoxy you work your way to heaven.

In Catholicism if you commit mortal sin you can Re-Justify yourself righteously and earn your spot back to heaven.

Pfuzylogic · M

@TakingBackMidgaard
I grew up Lutheran and became confirmed.
What you stated was not accurate at any level.
We are saved by grace.
There was no Faith before Jesus.
He was promised to Adam and Eve in Genesis.
There is no pagan religion that predates Jesus.

TakingBackMidgaard · 31-35, M

@Pfuzylogic What Synod were you part of?

The church in its syncretism in its desire to convert as many people as possible to Christianity in order to increase its wealth and prestige absorbed many local beliefs. In so doing they became overwhelmed by the pagan religions they were trying to overcome. The Church would allow any pagan custom as long as these pagans would recognize the supremacy of Jesus Christ as the head god, with the Pope as his agent on earth.
An example of this syncretism: in Christianity, as well as Judaism and Islam, there is only one God. The angels were only heavenly manifestations, while the saints were just human intermediaries to the one true god. To accommodate the local religions based in polytheism, the pagan gods became Christian saints. The local population was allowed to worship them as intermediaries to the Trinity of Jesus, Jehovah God, and the Holy Ghost, the Three in One: three parts to the same god.

What’s the difference between polytheism paganism and monotheistic Christianity? Only words. All gods, or saints, or angels, are just manifestations of the one true god, who has at least three acknowledged forms, in Christianity, at least. As we shall see the syncretism of the Christian Catholic Church became a point of contention with Islam as well as Protestantism.
While it is easy for Biblical literalists, whether Jewish, Islam, or Protestant, to criticize the syncretism of Catholicism, it enabled Western European culture to survive and spread. A commonalty of beliefs constitutes a culture. This common belief system is much more important than are the sources of the beliefs. As we’ve seen Christianity has very little to do with the pacifism of Jesus and much more to do with creating a cultural identity. This differentiation creates the illusion of Us and Them that has proven to be so devastating for humankind.
It was politically pragmatic to abandon the pacifism of Jesus when cultural survival was at stake. Cultural survival became more important than beliefs. Thus the beliefs that furthered survival and growth came to the fore. Those beliefs that were true to the founder of the religion were quickly abandoned when they were perceived to be counter-productive to survival.

As we shall see the aggressive belief system of the invaders from the North was quickly overlaid on the indigenous belief system of the European Christians. This cultural syncretism, while untrue to the beliefs of Jesus, allowed the culture to thrive and survive, while, as we shall see, those that held onto the pacifism of Jesus perished.

Pfuzylogic · M

@TakingBackMidgaard
The saved appear as lambs that are helpless. That is why Jesus is the Shepherd.
That symbolism that came first from King David And shows how when you find Christians to be helpless pacifists that there is a person that saves us from our sin and enemies.
There is a lineage in the Holy Bible that paganism hasn’t been able to attack or replace. Matthew shows the line of Jesus to King David to Noah to Adam.
I believe in the truth of the Bible.
I was confirmed Missouri Synod but attended Wisconsin Synod in my teens and attended ELCA with my children.
You are on the outside looking in.
There is a gift God gives through salvation.
I am sorry you missed it.