Harry Potter and God

[Geoff Bannister]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Nightbreed" <md at ...> wrote:

Geoff:
> Christian faith is not part of any other belief; it is complete in 
> itself. 

md
> Really, because many of the stories in the Bible where told for thousands of
> years before they happened in the bible, like the Virgin Mother, The Flood,
> etc and many Christian holidays are actually on Pagan holidays with
> Christian stories added on top, as well, the story of Mohammad and Jesus
> have many similarities. 

Geoff:
I think that you forget that many of the earliest sections of the Old 
Testament covering God's creation of the world and the emergence 
of human society are also thousands of years old and are thus 
contemporaneous with the parallel writings which you cite.

In the early church, the festivals and holidays took place at the same 
time as other celebrations because many believers were slaves or in 
occupations where they could not take time off and therefore - certainly 
in Roman times- these holy days coincided with major public holidays.

md
> I'm not jumping on the Christian religion, or trying to debunk faith, I'm
> just saying there's no way Christianity is a unique, self-contained thing,
> even Christians share many different beliefs. 

Geoff:
Of course it is. In the same way that Islam or Hinduism or Buddhism are 
unique, self-contained things. I disagree strongly with a contributor who 
suggested that Christian belief is part of alchemy. I wonder what the 
reaction would be if you suggested, for example, that Islam was part of 
Christianity of Hinduism was part of Buddhism? I think that, in some of 
those cases, you would be heading for the hills for your own safety 
because of the ire you would arouse.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "Christians share many different beliefs". 
I interpret this as referring to different practices followed by different 
denominations. This gives me the impression that you are not a Christian 
nor sympathetic towards believers because our faith is founded on a 
number of statements made by Christ. Any other additional rites or 
practices are peripheral to our basic belief that salvation comes from 
accepting Christ into our hearts and lives. Hence, any linking of Christian 
faith to alchemical teaching sends out all the wrong messages.