Being born into JW's and now out of it, your videos continue to help me cope with my antagonizing guilt for wanting to be happy in "Satan's" world. Happiness shouldn't be coupled with guilt. If Satan truly exists, he exists in the crippling effects of The Organization. Thank you, Harrison, for saving my life ❤️
You deserve to be happy simply because you are a human being. I am a mindfulness and self-care educator. I invite you to check out information on and mindfulness practices to cultivate self-compassion. For example, the Lovingkindness meditation starts with one imagining oneself, and saying, "May I be happy. May I be well. May I be free from suffering. May I be at peace." Another practice like writing down two things that brought us joy each day before bed can help us to remember to cherish what makes life worth living and claim our happiness. Be well, friend.
@Miles Doyle no one is going to read your insane thesis, but if your god sends good people to hell simply because they couldn't believe with no evidence then your god is insane also.
@@k7450 Spoiler alert, the historians he mentioned don't talk about jesus but about christians and what they believed, so he is pretty wrong even at the beggining of the brick he made.
@Miles Doyle if you _ever_ expect _anyone_ to read that .... wall of words, you're gonna have to a) put in logical paragraph breaks, and b) edit it into something shorter. That's long enough to be a freaking short story, nearly a novella! It's way, way too long. If you can't make your ... point? ... in fewer words, then it's not a point worth making.
@Miles Doyle I dutifully struggled through your entire comment even though I was really exhausted after 2 minutes, disgusted by your toxic and hateful islamophobia and really worried by the time you started claiming that you habitually receive direct divine prophecies about what stories to write or what suit to wear, but if you are going to copy and paste this same litany of insanity over and over again as a reply to everyone here who agrees with this video and shares their disbelief in the bible, than you are not a person sharing their story but a religious fanatic who is disrespecting other opinions and harassing us with your endless spam, and I will report you as such. Once was more than enough. Please control your fanatical urges and leave.
According to the Bible Israel was defeated by the Babylonians because they were sinning and Yah·weh allowed it. Sounds like a story a defeated nation would produce.
@@Aristotle675 according to the Bible the Israelites were defeated because Yah·weh allowed it. Not because they were a weaker nation and not because Yah·weh was a weaker God.
This is fascinating. I will need to listen to this again as so much to take in. I totally respect the research you have put into this. Credit to you Harrison.
You should watch him but i strongly suggest you listen to actual biblical scholars first. A lot of what he is discovering..or claiming to..is settled in christian scholarship. Noteably none of them believe moses wrote what is attributed to him
@@cdreid9999 thats exactly what I was thinking. 2000+ years of history and this guy is going debunk it in one video. I mean the arrogance is astounding. And the worst part is his actually referencing the New world Translation😂 I can’t even take him serious. This guy should debate the guy from Inspiring Philosophy. This guy won’t do it though, his RUclips career on talking about someone that doesn’t exist would be in jeopardy.
@@user-qy5je7fr2cI've always thought if a god literally wrote the 10 commandments why not write it all. Write it all at the same time in every language and spread it everywhere? He could still play hide and seek so we have free will. That would get rid of all "other" religions. Wouldn't even be the denominations within the christian religion. What's wrong with my naive thinking? Ty
@@TheTruthHurts the bible, with all its apparent mistakes and contradictions, is the basis of all our sciences today. Just because you do not understand, does not invalidate the truth. you live and believe by many things you do not even understand, or comprehend...like consciousness, or the elemental nature of energy, and its original source. Ask any physicist worth their salt and they do not know...but the bible gives us plausible, scientific explanations. would love to share more, if/when you are interested.
@@akwasi1 Oh yes, like for example the plausible explanation of geocentrism? Which Galileo easily disproved by inventing a telescope, and was then cast away and told to never speak of the truth he discovered or else he would be killed by the church? Do you really think that the Bible is "the basis of all our sciences today", because it is very easy to learn how untrue that statement is.
What do you mean? "Killed it! AGAIN!" Is that the faith of new believers? Could it be that Harrison is justifing his fall from JW's? And is looking to destroy anyone's belief in the Bible. It is interesting to note, I've had dealings with Harrison in the past. He does not have the good manners to reply to posts made directly to him. Genuine, heart felt queries he dismisses willy nilly.
@@jeannie1592 the Bible is not a science based, that you cannot prove or disprove. Can I suggest you view Michael Heiser posts on this question of Genesis. Very interesting!
Let's not forget that they also took the global flood story from the Epic of Gilgamesh, or the prophecy of the "messiah" from the Persians, their religion being Zoroastrianism, a polytheistic religion.
Actually the idea that they " took the global flood story from the Epic of Gilgamesh" has fallen by the wayside. It's now recognized that the most probable relationship between the Noah account and the Utnapishtim story from Gilgamesn is that there was a common source: other ancient versions of the Flood story have been found that are also similar to these at the core yet different in details, indicating that there was a common story and each culture adapted it later on. Zoroastrianism is a strange one; while its cosmology can be interpreted as ether polytheistic or dualistic, its ontology is strictly monotheistic. In the centuries when polytheism seems to dominate, it was still monotheistic in ontology because it interpreted all the different gods as emanations from the natural world due to the spiritual influence of Ahura Mazda or the evil force and held that Ahura Mazda has no equal but is the source of all. As for the concept of the Messiah, that appeared in Judaism well before Zoroastrianism first appeared, so while its concept of Messiah may have influenced later Jewish ideas it wasn't the source. What Zoroastrianism really contributed to Christianity was a cosmology where God is still the unequaled Creator but God's people have an enemy (Satan), and that enemy has servants (demons), and the enemy's servants do battle against the servants of God, plus ideas about Hell and punishment -- things Judaism lacked but which in the first century or two A.D. were ideas found in versions of the traditional Mediterranean polytheism and so quite humanly got imported (though far moreso in the West under Rome; the East lacks the fascination with these that the Latin world acquired.
@@traildude7538 Well, this comment was 8 months ago. I have since changed my understanding in regards to threglobal flood. As for Zoroastrianism and its influences on the idea of a messiah born of a virgin, unless my college history professor got some things wrong (which is a possibility), I believe Judaism adopted that idea from the Zoroastrianism. Israel was, after, ruled by the Persian Empire for a time. Actually, Israel was ruled by a lot of Empires throughout history, and with this Empires and their own religions, came new influences and additions to Judaism beliefs. I believe tbe earliest Hebrew writings we have are also dated to the time of the Persian Empire. It's possible there are older ones that no longer exist (or that I don't know about), but from what I do know, they took a lot of inspiration from the Persian religion.
In reality, the Bible & faith in the " ONLY TRUE GOD & Jesus" (John 17:3) have so much practical, distinctive & authentic ORIGINALITY than alleged copying from pagan sources. These are still being witnessed & on going today.
@@counsellor3474 Literally false. However, while I am now certain that the Bible didn't just copy other stories, it is likely derived of the same inspiration as those other stories. But not divine inspiration, because that's a bunch of bullshit.
DarkMatter made an interesting point, there are all these people walking around thinking it's completely moral for you to be tortured forever because you don't believe their religion.
I didn't check the view count until half way through- HOW?? so underrated! this video was excellently made, I can tell lots of thought and research have gone into it :0 I especially love to learn about the history of the bible, I think its something that goes untalked about
Growing up in church I always felt like there just something kind of illogical about the whole entire charade. But I still find it so interesting and appreciate the real history behind it. Anyway I really enjoyed listening to the findings in your studies
Yes. I just had too many questions for my sister that she couldn't answer. She would actually agree with me everytime I brought up something that is contradictory in the Bible. She is no longer an active member of the JW's.
*The Enuma Elish would later be the inspiration for the Hebrew scribes who created the text now known as the biblical Book of Genesis.* Prior to the 19th century CE, the Bible was considered the oldest book in the world and its narratives were thought to be completely original. In the mid-19th century CE, however, European museums, as well as academic and religious institutions, sponsored excavations in Mesopotamia to find physical evidence for historical corroboration of the stories in the Bible. ***These excavations found quite the opposite, however, in that, once cuneiform was translated, it was understood that a number of biblical narratives were Mesopotamian in origin.*** *Famous stories such as the Fall of Man and the Great Flood were originally conceived and written down in Sumer,* translated and modified later in Babylon, and reworked by the Assyrians ***before they were used by the Hebrew scribes for the versions which appear in the Bible.*** Google *"Enuma Elish - The Babylonian Epic of Creation - Full Text - World History Encyclopedia"* ------------------------------------------------------------------ Google *"Debunking the Devil - Michael A. Sherlock (Author)"* Google *"**ExChristian.Net** - Articles: The Bible: Primitive Nonsense"* Google *"10 Ways The Bible Was Influenced By Other Religions - Listverse"* Google *"Top Ten Reasons Noah’s Flood is Mythology - The Sensuous Curmudgeon"* Google *"Reasons for disbelief: The top ten reasons I am an atheist - Real Bible Stories"* (Written by a former minister) Google *"Secular Societies Fare Better Than Religious Societies - Psychology Today"* Google *"**ExChristian.Net** - Articles: The Bible - Is it the Word of GOD?"* Google *"The Adam and Eve myth - News24"* Google *"Some Reasons Why Humanists Reject The Bible - American Humanist Association"* Google *"The origins of the Ten Commandments - Carpe Scriptura"* Google *"Does the Ipuwer Papyrus Refer to the Biblical Exodus Account? - Bishop's Encyclopedia of Religion, Society and Philosophy"* Google *"Before Adam and Eve - Psychology Today"* Google *"The Problem of the Bible: Inaccuracies, contradictions, fallacies, scientific issues and more. - News24"* Google *"Gilgamesh vs. Noah - Wordpress"* Google *"40 Problems with Christianity - Hemant Mehta - Friendly Atheist - Patheos"* Google *"The Problem With Faith: 11 Ways Religion Is Destroying Humanity"* Google *"Retired bishop explains the reason why the Church invented "Hell""* Google *"You Need To Consider The Possibility Your Religion Is Mythology"* Google *"No, Humans Are Probably Not All Descended From A Single Couple Who Lived 200,000 Years Ago"* Google *"Adam & Eve: Theologians Try to Reconcile Science and Fail - The New Republic"* Google *"Adam and Eve: the ultimate standoff between science and faith (and a contest!) - Why Evolution Is True"* Google *"Bogus accommodationism: The return of Adam and Eve as real people, as proposed by a wonky quasi-scientific theory - Why Evolution Is True"* Google *"The Shroud of Turin Is Definitely a Hoax - Tales of Times Forgotten"* Google *"Old Testament Tales Were Stolen From Other Cultures - Griffin"* Google *"Parallelism between “The Hymn to Aten” and Psalm 104 - Project Augustine"*
I love this lad. His insights and his externalized introspections are just almost perfect. If we could only have more people like him in my country, Guatemala. Greetings from an ex Jehovah's Witness here.
@@TheBlimpFruit Thanks for your concern. We all are shocked. All we know is that the Evangelical church was manipulating the recent law that just passed. It's a step backwards in our society with the double moral standard.
@John S. True, education is the key and a big portion of my people dwell in ignorance. Xela it's beautiful and I love the weather and that mix between the indigenous and European culture that you can palpate in some of its architecture. I'm from Guatemala city, by the way. Hey, Best regards!
Harrison your presentation of this information is so well done and logical. As a former JW who was always told to just accept, I find myself now fascinated with the origins and meaning of these scriptures that rule the lives of so many.
If the Bible is like an instruction manual to understand the world then how come it does not work? When I buy a flat pack bookcase from IKEA I want one set of clear instructions - not something that's "open to interpretation" because it has been translated from Chinese into Swedish by a Japanese translator with the original syntax of Yoda & actually has more than one version. If you would not put a bookcase together like that, why The World/ Universe?
Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth." Genesis 1:3 "God said 'Let there be light.' And there was light." Let the chronology of that sink in for a moment. God created the heaven and the earth... IN THE DARK!
It does work; I’ve followed the Bible since my lowest point. I went from sex obsessed teenager to a content family man with a newfound purpose. I’m sorry you didn’t have such success. Translations are for language barriers. Arguing against them is to deprive many countries of its contents. If you did that you’d start a war. Okay
Thank you Harrison for your videos. They not only educate me but bring me a sense of community in a time of existential loneliness. For the past year, I have been doubting Christianity and its claims. As you know, it is not easy. So truly, thank you.
RaeAnn Fleenor 1 Peter 1:22-25 22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: 23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. 24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: 25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
Unfortunately you'll find quite a few people who will state categorically that the Pentateuch was written solely by Moses, and tell you that you just don't understand the subject when you point out that Moses seemingly wrote of his own death and funeral. For all that the bible tells them not to, they seem to me to worship the book in preference to the god.
@@RichWoods23 the absurd part is you modern thinkers think you've uncovered something new or novel. Before the Bible was compiled all of this was already hashed out. Here's a lost of names that are smarter and more logical than any Jehovah's Witness scholar ever was; Philo of Alexandria. Irenaus of Smynra. Basil of Caesarea. Gregory Nazianzus. Maximos of Constantinople. The only problem with today is the limits of western empiricism.
@@RichWoods23 When I was in grad school we fairly often ran into a certain rabbi when our studies took us to the university rare book room. One of the guys one day said something about Deuteronomy being written by Moses, and there came laughter from the other side of the room. It was our friend the rabbi, and he said, "They're not the books of Moshe because Moshe wrote them, they're the books of Moshe because God gave the covenant through him." As an example he mentioned the collection called "A Thousand and One (Arabian) Nights", and asked if we thought that meant the stories were written by a time of day. The Jews have known since nearly forever that Moses wasn't the author of the Pentateuch (though they do enjoy a good argument over how much he might have written!); why Christians believe that is baffling.
I’m an “erring member” of the Church Of Christ religion, and I understand and feel your struggles. I missed a single Sunday worship service, and was unable to partake of the communion, so I was cast out of the church. I appreciate your hard work and research on biblical topics such as these. Thank you for your channel!!!
@EA All of them? Also you really are the sheep, the world governments want. They don’t want you thinking or being educated, they want to obsessed with the Quran and Bible and Torahs.
@@renny3816I’m extremely sick of people, who try to attack the Abrahamic faiths, not knowing where it comes from. And you’re right I am a sheep. I chose to be a sheep for the God of the Bible.
I once dated a woman that was a JW when I was a weak atheist. She invited me to her church and when I showed up she wasn't there. The moment I stepped in and sat down, three women surrounded me and handed me religious pamphlets. I thought that was weird. So I sat there and listened to their preacher and within the first several minutes he contradicted his words a few times. I got a shock in my mind that he was trying to insult my intelligence along with his parishioners. I got up and high tailed it out of there disgusted.
I admire people who either by themselves or by external stimuli, are able to see life-altering bad decisions in their lives and correct them in a way that their lives take a completely different direction. Also adds to the value that you also provide information/insight into this speciifc issue regarding religion having a negative effect on family relations and people relations. Thanks a lot for your videos! You definitely deserve a larger viewership!
As someone who has been through similar circumstances when I was younger, it’s been really interesting watching your journey. It’s really delightful to see someone who is obsessed with truth like I was, it’s like watching myself from ten years ago.
Wow that is exactly what I was thinking about on Genesis 1:1-thru chapter two and the two creation stories. I Always thought if Jehovah’s name is so important why doesn’t it come first in the Bible and not till chapter two.. Thanks Harrison this is truly food at the proper time!
How can we still in 2022 take the genesis of the Bible for a historical account? This archaic fable will delight all minds in love with irrationality and Heroic fantasy.
I sit back sometimes and just imagine early man discovering how to control fire, make weapons, and then teaching someone else how to use these new found skills to help the entire group. As these groups grew larger and time continues. I think about the ones that knew these skills and how the rest of the group viewed them. Did they view them in a manner that made the one who knew how to control fire look like a, what would we say? A magical person, perhaps? I can just imagine as this is a growing trend with generations after generations,and I can see these "magical" ones being looked at as men that should be feared, that should be respected, and they told you what to do. I can just imagine this becoming the normal and time continues on. The groups becomes tribes , and ach tribe has these individuals that have learned how to become a "magician ". You can see where I am going here. As these tribes grew, they become civilizations so on and so on. Then it comes to the fact these "Magical" leaders can no longer use that magical ability to exploit Because now others know that you can learn how to make fire and weapons. The fact that alot of human beings found out that just knowing how to make fire and weapons didn't mean anything. It turned into God's and deities. And they could see that they were using that as a way to manipulate people. I then see this continuing generation after generation and it built into groups that started finding ways to keep people from learning how to make fire, weapons. And then that wouldn't work anymore, they try something different as humans became more intelligent with each passing generation becoming tribes, civilizations, religions, different types of religions, till it got to the point that an all powerful being that created them, gave them the power to rule. As time continues on the world evolves, animals evolve, and humans evolve. Humans brain develop, ideas and philosophy changes, till we get to what we have today. Seems to me we have figured out god isn't real and we are realizing that the need for those beliefs are not working, and now we need to figure out the best way to ensure the we'll being of life without the idea that when we die there is an afterlife. Also the idea we need to think a certain way because someone else does. Generations and generations will pass we will continue to have questions, and different ways of surviving. Hopefully we will learn to preserve life, respect it, and figure out how to make sure everyone has the ability to be happy.
Exactly. Despite masses still clinging to the naivety, we are growing up rapidly. Communication acceleration, along with the internet, is negating stagnant beliefs. Educating us faster than ever. We are evolving with our own help. It’s easy to forget that we are just monkeys in clothes, with a continually growing frontal cortex. Put all ancient teachings and historical records into an efficient AI computer, and it’ll take it minutes to crunch through, and come to the same conclusion you have. There’s hope for us yet to address our past and present mistakes, and make progressive changes for the better, unencumbered by the shackles of human puerility and destructive false, extinct beliefs.
I applaud and admire your honesty and earnestness Harrison. For background I have been an atheist for all my adult life, but once married to a JW. You seem to want to argue finer points of The Bible. I can well understand that The Bible is very ingrained into your psyche and upbringing. I humbly suggest you read the history of how The Bible came into being, including the events surrounding the Council of Nicea. It will probably become very clear to you that The Bible is largely a result of the politics of the 4th century Roman Empire. My humble suggestion is that you familiarise yourself with other scholars of early Bible history like Dr Bart Ehrman and Dr Richard Carrier. My best wishes young man. Please continue with your work, you are doing a fantastic job.
Sanhedrin 59a of the Talmud that modern R-bbis claim is equal to Gods word says non-j-ws who read the Bible DESERVE TO DIE. The truth hurts. No more j-w world order. I have to censor my speech in order to even leave this comment.
@Grant Martyn: the contents of the Bible were not set by "the politics of the 4th century Roman Empire", it was established by local churches telling others, "These are the writings we read in church", and swapping what they considered inspired. The process worked its way up the ladder, so to speak, starting locally and then regionally and higher, until in the fourth century the process finally reached the top. This is documented in records of the proceedings of early small get-togethers between churches that came to be called "councils". BTW, Ehrman is a sensationalist who exaggerates practically everything he touches. While his scholarly work in his own field is good, his popular books are meant to stir up arguments because arguments sell books.
What you all went through makes me appreciate my mom so much more for not forcing us into church, even though she was insane and destructive in other ways.
I wish I could get my PIMI kids to watch your channel!!! You are a master at explaining in a way that is interesting and easy to understand. Once again....great job.
Another super vid Harrison, you couldn't have presented it more clearly. I hope your efforts can slowly wake up some JW's from their indoctrination. Thank you
Thank you. I’ve watched or listened to numerous presentations comparing Genesis and Enuma Elis, but this was among the best and well worth listening to. Well done.
New subscriber here and ex jdub too. Just wanted to thank you for doing these videos and to encourage you to keep doing these. It is encouraging, informative and reassuring to see them and you deliver the information in a very natural way. I've enjoyed the ones I have watched so far and really appreciate the effort you are putting in. Many thanks, Chris.
I watch JW material and presentations on youtube to fall asleep to, it's is often more effective than white noise. I also come accross videos such as these and is heartwarming to know that many people have managed to break the chains and no longer live life as a religious hostage
This seems like a dangerous practice to me. I wouldn't listen to their crap no matter how drowsy it may be. That is a laborious task and simply a way to put yourself in a possibility to being brainwashed.
@@savagegecko4575 Absolutely no chance of that. They are actually really funny, especially the Stephen Let ones. You woukd have to have fallen into the trap a long time ago to actually take it seriously. I also watch police interrogations but sometimes there is unexpected shouting or noises lol
@@savagegecko4575 It's not unusual at all. If you ever clicked on a boring interrogation video you'll see dozens if not hundred of people will say it's quality sleep material lol. Some people can't relax in a completely silent room, or if there is just a clock ticking etc
Thanks Harrison, everything you covered in today's videos are backed up by the books I've read over the last year. The book "Who wrote the bible" by Richard Friedman was the 1st of many, and I've not even scratched the surface of how much of the Jewish Bible was borrowed from earlier cultures. Great job! Thank you
Some good articles. *The Enuma Elish would later be the inspiration for the Hebrew scribes who created the text now known as the biblical Book of Genesis.* Prior to the 19th century CE, the Bible was considered the oldest book in the world and its narratives were thought to be completely original. In the mid-19th century CE, however, European museums, as well as academic and religious institutions, sponsored excavations in Mesopotamia to find physical evidence for historical corroboration of the stories in the Bible. ***These excavations found quite the opposite, however, in that, once cuneiform was translated, it was understood that a number of biblical narratives were Mesopotamian in origin.*** *Famous stories such as the Fall of Man and the Great Flood were originally conceived and written down in Sumer,* translated and modified later in Babylon, and reworked by the Assyrians ***before they were used by the Hebrew scribes for the versions which appear in the Bible.*** Google *"Enuma Elish - The Babylonian Epic of Creation - Full Text - World History Encyclopedia"* ------------------------------------------------------------------ Google *"Debunking the Devil - Michael A. Sherlock (Author)"* Google *"**ExChristian.Net** - Articles: The Bible: Primitive Nonsense"* Google *"10 Ways The Bible Was Influenced By Other Religions - Listverse"* Google *"Top Ten Reasons Noah’s Flood is Mythology - The Sensuous Curmudgeon"* Google *"Reasons for disbelief: The top ten reasons I am an atheist - Real Bible Stories"* (Written by a former minister) Google *"Secular Societies Fare Better Than Religious Societies - Psychology Today"* Google *"**ExChristian.Net** - Articles: The Bible - Is it the Word of GOD?"* Google *"The Adam and Eve myth - News24"* Google *"Some Reasons Why Humanists Reject The Bible - American Humanist Association"* Google *"The origins of the Ten Commandments - Carpe Scriptura"* Google *"Does the Ipuwer Papyrus Refer to the Biblical Exodus Account? - Bishop's Encyclopedia of Religion, Society and Philosophy"* Google *"Before Adam and Eve - Psychology Today"* Google *"The Problem of the Bible: Inaccuracies, contradictions, fallacies, scientific issues and more. - News24"* Google *"Gilgamesh vs. Noah - Wordpress"* Google *"40 Problems with Christianity - Hemant Mehta - Friendly Atheist - Patheos"* Google *"The Problem With Faith: 11 Ways Religion Is Destroying Humanity"* Google *"Retired bishop explains the reason why the Church invented "Hell""* Google *"You Need To Consider The Possibility Your Religion Is Mythology"* Google *"No, Humans Are Probably Not All Descended From A Single Couple Who Lived 200,000 Years Ago"* Google *"Adam & Eve: Theologians Try to Reconcile Science and Fail - The New Republic"* Google *"Adam and Eve: the ultimate standoff between science and faith (and a contest!) - Why Evolution Is True"* Google *"Bogus accommodationism: The return of Adam and Eve as real people, as proposed by a wonky quasi-scientific theory - Why Evolution Is True"* Google *"The Shroud of Turin Is Definitely a Hoax - Tales of Times Forgotten"* Google *"Old Testament Tales Were Stolen From Other Cultures - Griffin"* Google *"Parallelism between “The Hymn to Aten” and Psalm 104 - Project Augustine"*
@@LM-jz9vh it says in the Bible that the first Hebrew was Abraham from Ur which was a major Babylonian city...he was 80 when he left so his whole life was being told those stories...its the same story...the 3 major religions of this day are Judaism Christianity and Islam which are all just continuations of Sumerian/Acadian/Babylonian....i look at it like the Hebrews preserved the religion ...different languages, translations, cultural prejudices and the passing of 8 thousand years would account for the small differences in the stories
"Yahweh" is a Canaanite god of warriors and blacksmithing, and is the patron of old Israel. Now, "he" is the only true god of a certain religion. However, the Canaanite pantheon (or any other polytheistic pantheon) predates Christianity by centuries. This isn't just plagiarism, it's plagiarism for the sake of propaganda. And Christianity has always been plagiarising other religions ever since.
I've been wondering about this for years and you just knocked out of the park with an explanation that is not only deeply researched but extremely uncomfortable for a believer. Great work man!
*The Enuma Elish would later be the inspiration for the Hebrew scribes who created the text now known as the biblical Book of Genesis.* Prior to the 19th century CE, the Bible was considered the oldest book in the world and its narratives were thought to be completely original. In the mid-19th century CE, however, European museums, as well as academic and religious institutions, sponsored excavations in Mesopotamia to find physical evidence for historical corroboration of the stories in the Bible. ***These excavations found quite the opposite, however, in that, once cuneiform was translated, it was understood that a number of biblical narratives were Mesopotamian in origin.*** *Famous stories such as the Fall of Man and the Great Flood were originally conceived and written down in Sumer,* translated and modified later in Babylon, and reworked by the Assyrians ***before they were used by the Hebrew scribes for the versions which appear in the Bible.*** Google *"Enuma Elish - The Babylonian Epic of Creation - Full Text - World History Encyclopedia"* ------------------------------------------------------------------ Google *"Debunking the Devil - Michael A. Sherlock (Author)"* Google *"**ExChristian.Net** - Articles: The Bible: Primitive Nonsense"* Google *"10 Ways The Bible Was Influenced By Other Religions - Listverse"* Google *"Top Ten Reasons Noah’s Flood is Mythology - The Sensuous Curmudgeon"* Google *"Reasons for disbelief: The top ten reasons I am an atheist - Real Bible Stories"* (Written by a former minister) Google *"Secular Societies Fare Better Than Religious Societies - Psychology Today"* Google *"**ExChristian.Net** - Articles: The Bible - Is it the Word of GOD?"* Google *"The Adam and Eve myth - News24"* Google *"Some Reasons Why Humanists Reject The Bible - American Humanist Association"* Google *"The origins of the Ten Commandments - Carpe Scriptura"* Google *"Does the Ipuwer Papyrus Refer to the Biblical Exodus Account? - Bishop's Encyclopedia of Religion, Society and Philosophy"* Google *"Before Adam and Eve - Psychology Today"* Google *"The Problem of the Bible: Inaccuracies, contradictions, fallacies, scientific issues and more. - News24"* Google *"Gilgamesh vs. Noah - Wordpress"* Google *"40 Problems with Christianity - Hemant Mehta - Friendly Atheist - Patheos"* Google *"The Problem With Faith: 11 Ways Religion Is Destroying Humanity"* Google *"Retired bishop explains the reason why the Church invented "Hell""* Google *"You Need To Consider The Possibility Your Religion Is Mythology"* Google *"No, Humans Are Probably Not All Descended From A Single Couple Who Lived 200,000 Years Ago"* Google *"Adam & Eve: Theologians Try to Reconcile Science and Fail - The New Republic"* Google *"Adam and Eve: the ultimate standoff between science and faith (and a contest!) - Why Evolution Is True"* Google *"Bogus accommodationism: The return of Adam and Eve as real people, as proposed by a wonky quasi-scientific theory - Why Evolution Is True"* Google *"The Shroud of Turin Is Definitely a Hoax - Tales of Times Forgotten"* Google *"Old Testament Tales Were Stolen From Other Cultures - Griffin"* Google *"Parallelism between “The Hymn to Aten” and Psalm 104 - Project Augustine"*
Caleb came across your channel a couple of days ago - loved it! Really nice taking their character and imagining him after woken up ☺️. Keep up your good work
Just like their images of god are all shaped by personal thoughts and experiences. That’s why they so often mistake their inner voice for the voice of god.
Maybe, but the true Christ is still talked about right there in the Good Book and He will save anyone who calls on Him for salvation from their sins and put their trust in Him as Lord and Saviour.
@@BeachsideHank I didn't. Jesus is the one who makes the call. Either you bend the knee to Him as Lord or you don't. Either way He's still Lord before whom we'll all stand on judgment day.
*The Enuma Elish would later be the inspiration for the Hebrew scribes who created the text now known as the biblical Book of Genesis.* Prior to the 19th century CE, the Bible was considered the oldest book in the world and its narratives were thought to be completely original. In the mid-19th century CE, however, European museums, as well as academic and religious institutions, sponsored excavations in Mesopotamia to find physical evidence for historical corroboration of the stories in the Bible. ***These excavations found quite the opposite, however, in that, once cuneiform was translated, it was understood that a number of biblical narratives were Mesopotamian in origin.*** *Famous stories such as the Fall of Man and the Great Flood were originally conceived and written down in Sumer,* translated and modified later in Babylon, and reworked by the Assyrians ***before they were used by the Hebrew scribes for the versions which appear in the Bible.*** Google *"Enuma Elish - The Babylonian Epic of Creation - Full Text - World History Encyclopedia"* ------------------------------------------------------------------ Google *"Debunking the Devil - Michael A. Sherlock (Author)"* Google *"**ExChristian.Net** - Articles: The Bible: Primitive Nonsense"* Google *"10 Ways The Bible Was Influenced By Other Religions - Listverse"* Google *"Top Ten Reasons Noah’s Flood is Mythology - The Sensuous Curmudgeon"* Google *"Reasons for disbelief: The top ten reasons I am an atheist - Real Bible Stories"* (Written by a former minister) Google *"Secular Societies Fare Better Than Religious Societies - Psychology Today"* Google *"**ExChristian.Net** - Articles: The Bible - Is it the Word of GOD?"* Google *"The Adam and Eve myth - News24"* Google *"Some Reasons Why Humanists Reject The Bible - American Humanist Association"* Google *"The origins of the Ten Commandments - Carpe Scriptura"* Google *"Does the Ipuwer Papyrus Refer to the Biblical Exodus Account? - Bishop's Encyclopedia of Religion, Society and Philosophy"* Google *"Before Adam and Eve - Psychology Today"* Google *"The Problem of the Bible: Inaccuracies, contradictions, fallacies, scientific issues and more. - News24"* Google *"Gilgamesh vs. Noah - Wordpress"* Google *"40 Problems with Christianity - Hemant Mehta - Friendly Atheist - Patheos"* Google *"The Problem With Faith: 11 Ways Religion Is Destroying Humanity"* Google *"Retired bishop explains the reason why the Church invented "Hell""* Google *"You Need To Consider The Possibility Your Religion Is Mythology"* Google *"No, Humans Are Probably Not All Descended From A Single Couple Who Lived 200,000 Years Ago"* Google *"Adam & Eve: Theologians Try to Reconcile Science and Fail - The New Republic"* Google *"Adam and Eve: the ultimate standoff between science and faith (and a contest!) - Why Evolution Is True"* Google *"Bogus accommodationism: The return of Adam and Eve as real people, as proposed by a wonky quasi-scientific theory - Why Evolution Is True"* Google *"The Shroud of Turin Is Definitely a Hoax - Tales of Times Forgotten"* Google *"Old Testament Tales Were Stolen From Other Cultures - Griffin"* Google *"Parallelism between “The Hymn to Aten” and Psalm 104 - Project Augustine"*
@L M unless you’re Jewish, you wouldn’t know that most Jews can tell you from which Tribe their lineage comes from. A lot of so called debunking is pure bunk. The Torah ( five Books of Moses ) even has dietary laws, which medical science is finally catching up to, and validating them. Microbes were also mentioned, along with a long list of things that other cultures knew nothing of. Hebrew scribes didn’t create anything, as it is forbidden.
@@thatguy3468 You may be surprised to learn that not all religious people keep to all the rules. Forbidding something is like asking someone to make it happen; they'll just be very convoluted with their self-justification. Think of how many Christians lie for Jesus, telling themselves that saving a soul is more important than telling the truth.
@John S. I should have said most Jews I know that are orthodox. Today, many Jews are secular, thus that information has been lost. 100 years ago, 99% of Jews were orthodox. Circumcision on the 8th day from birth. In 1957 scientist found that on the 8th day, a new born has the highest concentration of vitamin k in its blood stream. Vitamin k allows the blood to clot, and reduces the pain. More scientific validation.
@John S. thank you for the kind words. Let me start by saying that Jews don’t believe in an anti christ. That’s totally foreign to Judaism. I can spend hours on this subject, but prefer to share with you a video that does a pretty good job. The rabbi in the video is from Chabad. Video is long, but in my opinion very worth it. It will answer lots of questions with scientific proof. The video: ruclips.net/video/oTnduqzS3hY/видео.html
Hello Harrison, I'm a Muslim who has been struggling with my faith and so I started asking questions and looking for answers, the historical aspects of Islam and Christianity are very much alike, the stories they tell and their religious figures are almost exactly alike, so when I came about your noahs ark video a few weeks ago it really opened my eyes to alot of things and every now and then I always go back to that video and I've been seeking even more answers since then, I havent exactly left the religion yet as I am still just a teenager and my family is extremely religious, your research has really helped me on my journey and I hope you can continue making more of these insightful videos
When I believed in the Bible, I accepted the Watchtower's explanation that Genesis 1 was written from the point of view of the author. You know, the crap about the author not yet seeing the Sun and Moon although them being there.
That is the most illogical apologetic I have read. How could he not see the sun? G1 says the sun was created on day 4, so the author would be wrong, following the JW logic you described. If he was wrong about something so obvious as the existence of the sun, he couldn’t be wrong about anything… Not to mention that G1 says there was nobody on the land. Where was this author when this was happening 😂
@@scienceexplains302 - The explanation is that the sky was different back then. It was cloudy, for some reason I forget, which did not allow someone to clearly see the Sun, Moon, or Stars. There was light, but you couldn't see the source.
Oh, the silliness that comes from not first asking, "What kind of literature is this?" and instead arrogantly assuming that what it appears to be at first glance in English is what it is! I remember the shock of finding out that the first Creation account follows very closely the ancient Egyptian version of Creation: did that mean that the Egyptians mostly had it right?!? But then I compared the two and realized that the writer of the Genesis version systematically demoted every single Egyptian deity to the status of things made by YHWH-Elohim, including the ultimate insult to two of the greatest deities, the sun and moon: the Hebrew writer doesn't even NAME them, he just describes them as tools with a function. My summary of the meaning of that account in the context of its similarity to the Egyptian version is, "Hey, everyone -- all those Egyptian gods are belong to YHWH!"
This is like a master's thesis presentation. It's astounding how much you've said about 50-some lines of text. It's so frustrating that some people treat Genesis (and the rest of the bible) as truth and claim it has precedence over scientifically derived knowledge.
@@Marius011 They cowardly remove comments John 6:63 The words are Spirit and everlasting life, Hebrews 4:12: “The word of God is . . . sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart
@@Marius011 12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
@@Marius011 Oh my Girl or Boy your still in the DarkLearn and accept Jesus Christ 1John 2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son John 8:12 “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
So Moses was dead when he wrote the Pentateuch. That’s about as ludicrous as the Zombie apocalypse in the New Testament with zombie saints wandering the streets of Jerusalem. Thanks Harrison! I love your British accent! Ex-Evangelical Christian from United States here 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Always love to see a new video from Harrison. His intros are always so unique and they get me hooked. Love your shirt too man. But I always wondered about Genesis 1 and 2 for real though. They were both telling two completely different stories when I read them.
@Miles Doyle bro wrote a whole college essay. Here’s the thing. More Americans are starting to ditch religion. In my opinion at least, religion is no longer as relevant as it once might have been. As our understanding of the universe grows, the chances are high that science and religion will conflict. Knowledge and hypothesis against faith and belief. Religion was most likely created to explain things we didn’t yet understand. We have the answers that we’re once unobtainable. Religion might be becoming outdated.
@@phoenix0166 science and religion don’t conflict unless you conflate the two fields of study. Science observes the physical realm; philosophy - which theology is derived in - studies the realm of the non-physical. You can’t bottle up things like “emotions,” “logic,” or even “truth.” This means there are things that exist - and used by us - that are immaterial. This is where philosophy reigns - theology delves into the portion of the immaterial that is capable *of creating* the material.
I wondered about the idea that they were just different views of the same thing. Then I took ancient Hebrew and read them in the original, and it was like someone took two pictures that had been sitting next to each other and overlapping and stuck them in their own frames, and I looked at them thinking, "How did I ever think they were the same thing?" Which answered a puzzle that many people pretend isn't there: Where did Cain (and his siblings) find wives? Well, if these are two different stories, then we have generic humans created in the first account, and then a specific pair created "up close and personal" in the second account.
I laugh because I too noticed the two creation stories as well as a Former Christian when I did the same - decide to read the Bible straight from the beginning. It’s such a grieving error but it happens so early on that I decided to overlook it and continued my mission of reading beginning to end only to come across ridiculous things again and again !! I had so many criticisms.. that my mom decided to buy me a Christian evangelist’s verse by verse on the first five books of the Bible that (poorly) explained it all. I eventually got tired of all the mental gymnastics that I was forced to see that it’s all just a bunch of BS
I had a very similar experience. I had broken my back in a fall. During the down time I figured it was time to catch up on my reading. I chose the bible, torah and koran. (Koran is the most hateful of the three, but it was a tight race) Now, whenever somebody tells me I should read my bible I respond with "No, but you should! And no skipping over the stuff your pastor WON'T talk about either! By the end (I even read all the little "begats". VERY sloppy story telling!) I too came to the conclusion... it's all utter bullshit!
I simply can’t read Genesis without praying to Universal Child Protective Services and letting them know there is a Deity completely fvcking with his creation not too unlike a 6?year old boy frying ants with a magnifying glass and the sun in his back yard.
For a future video, please continue to connect the dots laid out here, to show how YHWH was just a local regional god in the Canaanite pantheon, until the Hebrews rewrote their scriptures to elevate YHWH, and to redefine El as being a general word for god, no longer the name of the greater god that YHWH and other gods were subservient to.
Well done Harrison. I feel your struggles. Imagine being this intelligent and with this much common sense and critical thinking-it must've been hard stuck in a cult (unless you're the leader,I guess it's fun then). They didn't excommunicate you, you excommunicated them.
Diamond Dylan Page 2 Corinthians 11:3-4 3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. 1 Corinthians 3:19 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
@@DianaCHewitt Thanks for the motivation Hebrews 4:1212 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart
I don't see any contradiction here.. How does being made from dust necessitate that we are not "in God's image"? I don't see how one author could not have written a summarized version and also a detailed version. Just because God does things one way and then another way, that doesn't mean that he CAN only do things in one way or another... Everything here can be easily explained, even if you don't believe, or like, that explanation.
Jehovah...It is widely used. It is considered by many to be hallowed, and it is also endeared by many a beautiful hymn, however, this name was never revealed by God. The name of “Jehovah” is a concoction of man. Therefore, it is a “mongrel,” a “hybrid;” and it is “fantastic” and “monstrous.” There is something very wrong with this euphonious name. The facts have only to be known to justify this verdict. What are the facts? Ever since the Babylonian invasion of Judea and the enforced diaspora of its people in 605 B.C., the Jews’ have a strong penchant for hiding the name of God from the Gentiles, and thus preventing the profaning of God’s revealed name. Later, the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages were known to raid Jewish synagogues, take the gold, and the Hebrew Scriptures [the Old Testament], and persecute Jews. The name and pronunciation of “Jehovah,” (and also the name Jesus) was unknown until 1520 A.D., when introduced and propagated by Peter Galatinus, Confessor to Pope Leo X, who noted in the stolen Hebrew Scriptures that there were Hebrew vowels placed onto the four consonants letters of God’s true name, YHWH [pronounced: Yod-Hey-Waw-Hey]. Peter Galatinus (1450-1540) did not know of the Jewish practice of placing vowels from another word, (accordingly one of the following words: Adonai {YaHoWaH}, Eloah {YeHoWaH}, Elohim {YeHoWiH}), and specifically Eloah, which created the name Jehovah. Jehovah is merely a combination of the Tetragrammaton (the four consonants: YHWH) and the vowels from another Hebrew word for God (namely: Eloah) arbitrarily placed onto the Tetragrammaton to remind the Jewish reader not to attempt to say the name of God, but to say, “Adonay,” instead. It should be noted that words in the Hebrew Scriptures contain consonants only, no vowels, so when the Jewish reader would come upon YHWH, God’s name, he would inadvertently attempt to pronounce the name. Therefore vowels were added to remind the reader to say, “Adonay” instead of “the name” (HaShem). Noted Bible scholar J. B. Rotherham, stated, “To give… YHWH (Latin: IHVH {Iehovah} later JHVH {Jehovah} due to the later addition of the letter J in the seventeenth century) the vowels of the word (Eloah) to remind the Jewish reader to say, “Adonay,” and later to pronounce it “Jehovah,’ is about as hybrid a combination as it would be to spell the name of Germany with the vowels of Portugal-viz., Gormuna” (the Emphasized Bible, J. B. Rotherham, 1994, Kregel Publication, Pp. 24-25). Jehovah in its present form has only existed since the seventeenth century. Fact: God’s essential name is YAH, and Bible scholars acknowledge YAHWEH (for YAH, see Strong’s #3050), as in “Praise YAH,” in Hebrew: “Halleluyah.” YAH is the name above every name (Philippians 2:9). YAH is from the root word of HAYAH (I AM). The Savior identified Himself as the I AM (John 8:58). Je-hovah, “hovah” in Hebrew means “RUIN and MISCHIEF,” and “Calamity” (see Strong’s Dictionary of Bible Words #1943). “Jehovah” is a monstrous name that means “Ruin and Mischief.” Besides the vowels of Eloah, the Jews also at times used the vowels of Elohim, producing the false name: “Yehovih” (see Strong’s Dictionary of Bible Words, #3069), which was done to remind the Jewish reader in the synagogues to say, “Adonay” instead of speaking the name of God. The Jewish Encyclopedia, states, “This name is commonly represented in modern translations by the form Jehovah, which, however, is a philological impossibility” (p. 160). The Jehovah’s Witnesses admittedly make a similar reference that the name Jehovah is inferior (in their Book: Let Your Name be Sanctified (p. 16). The name Jehovah is not the name of God! Consequently, the name Jesus is not Christ’s name either. The name of God is so important and lost, that the LORD must restore it. The LORD said, “For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, that they all may call on the name of the LORD” (Zephaniah 3:9). To those who reject the true revealed name of given to our Savior {YAHSHUA}, there is this warning: “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:16). To use a false name not revealed by God as God’s name is tantamount to idolatry. IN HIS TRUTH, Halleluyah, Praise YAH, Praise YAHSHUA!
Dude love to see the new videos from you! So excited! Thanks for the detail research videos, these videos are going to be very very helpful for most ex-JWs that are looking to question not just the JWs doctrine, but others. I did this, it is was what lead me to atheism. My reasoning was simple, "If JWs could be wrong, could anyone else be wrong?" and thus started my journey to where I am now. I think videos like these, especially how you're delivering the information because I think your videos will likely encourage ex-JWs to continue questions after leaving that belief system. Keep it up! Thank you for your hard work...
Jesus was a failed apocalyptic preacher. The general consensus of critical scholarship. The following quote from Stephen L. Harris, Professor Emeritus of Humanities and Religious Studies at California State University- Sacramento, completes this point with a devastating argument. *Jesus did not accomplish what Israel’s prophets said the Messiah was commissioned to do:* He did not deliver the covenant people from their Gentile enemies, reassemble those scattered in the Diaspora, restore the Davidic kingdom, or establish universal peace (cf.Isa. 9:6-7; 11:7-12:16, etc.). Instead of freeing Jews from oppressors and thereby fulfilling God’s ancient promises-for land, nationhood, kingship, and blessing- *Jesus died a “shameful” death, defeated by the very political powers the Messiah was prophesied to overcome.* Indeed, the Hebrew prophets did not foresee that Israel’s savior would be executed as a common criminal by Gentiles, *making Jesus’ crucifixion a “stumbling block” to scripturally literate Jews.* (1 Cor.1:23) ------------------------------------------------------------------ The end is near? *The Bible’s New Testament contains a drumbeat of promises that Jesus is ready to return any day now, implying that it will happen so soon that it would be wise to keep it in mind when making any kind of life decision. But it didn’t happen.* The following is a sample of verses professing this theme: Matt 10:23: [Jesus said to his disciples] *‘When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next;* ***for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel, before the Son of man comes’.*** (They fled through the towns but the Son of Man never came) Matt 16:28: [Jesus said to the disciples], *‘Truly, I say to you,* ***there are some standing here*** *who will not taste death* before they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom’. Mark 9:1: And he [Jesus] said to them [the disciples], *‘Truly, I say to you,* ***there are some standing here*** *who will not taste death* before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power’. Mark 13:30: *[After detailing events up to end of world, Jesus says]* ‘Truly, I say to you, ***this generation will not pass away*** *before all these things take place’.* Mark 14:62: And Jesus said ***[to the high priest - died 1st cent. AD]*** ‘You will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven’. (The high priest died and never saw the Son of Man) Rom 13:12: The day is *at hand.* 1 Cor 7:29: The appointed time has grown very short; from now on, *let those who have wives live as though they had none.* (Funny thing to say if you didn’t think the end was imminent) 1 Cor 7:31: For the form of this world is *passing away.* Phil 4:5: The Lord is *coming soon.* 1 Thess 4:15: *We who are alive, who are left* until the coming of the Lord. Hebrews 1:2: *In these last days* he has spoken to us by a Son. Hebrews 10:37: For yet a little while, and the coming one shall come and *shall not tarry.* James 5:8: The coming of the Lord is *at hand.* 1 Peter 1:20: He [Christ] was destined before the foundation of the world but was made manifest at the *end of the times.* 1 Peter 4:7: The end of all things is *at hand.* 1 John 2:18: *It is the last hour;* and as you have heard that antichrist is coming. Rev 1:1: The revelation of Jesus Christ (i.e., the end of the world)…to show to his servants what must *soon take place.* Rev 3:11: [Jesus said] ‘I am *coming soon’.* Rev 22:6: And the Lord…has sent his angel to show his servants what must *soon take place.* Rev 22:20: [Jesus said] ‘Surely I am *coming soon’.* *It is puzzling to understand why Christianity survived the failure of this prediction. It is not ambiguous.* This would be like a rich uncle who promises to give you $10,000 ‘very soon.’ Ten years pass and he still hasn’t given anything to you, but he still says he will do it very soon. Would you still believe that it will happen any day? No, you would realize that it is a false promise. *For some reason, Christians cannot comprehend that they have been scammed. Jesus is not coming back, not tomorrow, not next year, not ever. But they still think it will happen any day.* www.kyroot.com/ *Watch* Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet, Historical Lecture - Bart D. Ehrman on RUclips Google *"13x Jesus was wrong in the Bible - Life Lessons"* Google *"End Times - Evil Bible .com"* Google *"The End of All Things is At Hand - The Church Of Truth"* Google *"Resurrection - Fact or Myth - Omission Report"* Google *"What’s Missing from Codex Sinaiticus, the Oldest New Testament? - Biblical Archaeology Society"* Google *"The “Strange” Ending of the Gospel of Mark and Why It Makes All the Difference - Biblical Archaeology Society"* Google *"ex-apologist: On One of the Main Reasons Why I Think Christianity is False (Reposted)"* Google *"Why Jesus? Nontract (August 1999) - Freedom From Religion Foundation"* Google *"272: JESUS’S 5200 AUTHENTIC WORDS - zingcreed"* Google *"43: IS THE FOURTH GOSPEL FICTION? - zingcreed"* Google *"Jesus Predicted a First Century Return Which Did Not Occur - by Alex Beyman - Medium"* Google *"Jesus’ Failed Prophecy About His Return - Black Nonbelievers, Inc."*
Jesus was also following a common trope that preceded Christianity. "When we say…Jesus Christ…was produced without sexual union, and was crucified and died, and rose again, and ascended to heaven, ***we propound nothing new or different*** *from what you believe regarding those whom you call Sons of God. [In fact]…if anybody objects that [Jesus] was crucified, this is in* ***common*** *with the sons of Zeus (as you call them) who suffered, as previously listed [he listed Dionysus, Hercules, and Asclepius].* Since their fatal sufferings are all narrated as not similar but different, so his unique passion should not seem to be any worse." *Note how Justin (Martyr) is less of a fool than modern Christian apologists. He admits that differences don’t matter.* Since each and every one of the suffering and dying gods are slain by different means, one cannot argue the mytheme requires exactly the same means of death. “But Osiris can’t have inspired the Jesus myth because Osiris wasn’t nailed to a cross” is a stupid argument. The mytheme is simply death. Being killed. Suffering and dying. The exact mode of death can vary freely. It makes no difference to the existence and influence of the mytheme. It’s simply the particular instantiation of a generic abstraction. *And Justin’s argument (that Satan invented these fake religions to confuse people) entails Justin agreed the mytheme existed: indeed, it was demonically promulgated, multiple times. Intentionally.* *Likewise, Justin notices the mytheme is not virgin birth, but sexless conception. Of which many examples had already been popularized in pagan mythology (there just happens to also have been examples of actual virgin born gods as well). And by his argument (that the Devil was deliberately emulating the Jesus mytheme, in advance), Justin clearly accepted the same principle for “rising again” after death:* the particular exact metaphysics of the resurrection could, like the exact method of death or conception, vary freely. The mytheme consists solely of the abstraction: returning to life. Somehow. Some way. We will say bodily, at the very least. But what sort of body (the same one, a new one, a mortal one, an immortal one), didn’t matter. *If it had, Justin would have made the argument that “those gods” weren’t really resurrected. But that argument, never occurs to him. Nor did it to any other apologist of the first three centuries.* *Ancient Christians well knew there was nothing new about their dying-and-rising god. Not in respect to the mytheme.* Their claims were solely that his particular instantiation of it was better, and the only one that actually happened. *They didn’t make up the stupid modern arguments that dying-and-rising god myths didn’t exist or weren’t part of a common mytheme everyone knew about. For example, in the same century, Tertullian, in Prescription against Heretics 40, makes exactly the same argument as Justin. Funny that. They had better access to the evidence than we do. They knew what was really and widely the case. We should listen to them.* Google *"Dying-and-Rising Gods: It's Pagan, Guys. Get Over It. • Richard Carrier"* ------------------------------------------------------------------ Google *"Ehrman Errs: Yes, Bart, There Were Dying & Rising Gods - atheologica"* Watch *"Dying & Rising Gods: A Response to William Lane Craig"* by Derreck Bennett at Atheologica. Watch *"Asclepius: The Pre-Christian Healer & Savior"* by Derreck Bennett at Atheologica Google *"Virgin Birth: It's Pagan, Guys. Get Over It. • Richard Carrier"* Google *"5 Pagan Parallels to Jesus That Actually Aren’t Bullshit - Atheomedy"* Google *"Christian Apologetics: The Art of Deceit - Atheomedy"* Google *"Isaiah 53 & the Suffering Servant | atheologica"* Google *"Defending the Resurrection: It’s Easy if You Lie! - Atheomedy"* Google *"The Empty Tomb: A Rhetorical Dead End - atheologica"* Google *"Majority of Scholars agree: The Gospels were not written by Eyewitnesses - Escaping Christian Fundamentalism"* A good site written by an actual Biblical scholar. Google *"Contradictions in the Bible | Identified verse by verse and explained using the most up-to-date scholarly information about the Bible, its texts, and the men who wrote them -- by Dr. Steven DiMattei"* Google *"How do we know that the biblical writers were* ***not*** *writing history? -- by Dr Steven DiMattei"* Also: Google *"How Did The Gospel Writers Know? - The Doston Jones Blog"* Google *"Yes, the Four Gospels Were Originally Anonymous: Part 1 - The Doston Jones Blog"* Google *"Are Stories in the Bible Influenced by Popular Greco-Roman Literature? - The Doston Jones Blog"* Google *"Gospels Not Written By Matthew, Mark, Luke or John - The Church Of Truth"*
In almost every creation story of ancient empires, there's a myth/story of how a god took over the earlier pagan religions in which the Goddess was the primary figure of creation. She was either destroyed or was forcibly conscripted as the consort of the god of this newer patriarchal religion. (Hera/Zeus). The new god then takes away the power of creation from the goddess. These patriarchal gods were always jealous of the Mother Goddess' power (like Yahweh). Another interesting tidbit: Sophia, which was redefined as Wisdom in the Bible (Book of Solomon?), was the original consort Goddess of Yahweh.
I often wonder how many people after leaving WT become Atheist. I know after researching all the falsehoods inside the org I applied the same intensive study to Orthodox belief. The history of Christianity is shocking, especially how it changed so much since Jesus simple sayings, like his words were not complete. I remain agnostic today, can't be Atheist as that would imply I know it all. Not being part of any religious belief I have found a new appreciation for people in all walks in life. Peace be with you all.
I'd say a good many atheist are "agnostic atheist". But that's just a definition. The idea that there is a (personal) God involved with humanity is the interesting question. And I think most atheist would agree, that they've chosen reason over faith based idea, but are willing to change their minds with supporting evidence. The bigger the claim, the more solid the evidence should be, right?
I grew up in the cult but never became a jw. I disassociated. Three members of my family are disfellowshipped, two are permanently brainwashed. It sucks that my nephew is being brainwashed and I can't have a relationship with him. There was sexual abuse going on around me. That includes elders.l
The main problem being that he is still trapped in the false view of the Bible that the Jehovah's Witnesses engrained in him, that it has to be scientifically and historically correct in order to be true. That's not an idea that comes from the Bible, it comes from human philosophy -- and it's an idea that pretty much none of the inspired writers would recognize, the New Testament being the exception since the culture was shifting in a modern direction.
@@traildude7538 I was brought up in a conservative baptist church, where we were taught that the Holy Bible is the "inerrant word of God." "God put in the bible was God wanted in the bible, the way God wanted it to say." If I questioned anything, I was told that "we can't know everything and once we get to heaven God will give us the knowledge that we're missing." Are you saying that you have a different understanding of the bible, that it isn't, in fact, the inerrant word of god?
@@jim.h As the word "inerrant" is used today in evangelical circles it is not a biblical teaching -- in fact what it is, is the application of scientific materialism to the scriptures, because that is where the notion that in order to be true something has to be 100% scientifically and historically accurate; the idea has no source in the Bible. The early church called the scriptures "inerrant" (at least that's the English translation; I don't recall the Greek word), but they meant something completely different: When you watch an archery match and see a contestant whose arrows always hit the bullseye, you say that his shooting is inerrant -- that his arrows always hit where he aims them. That's how the early church viewed the scriptures, as the active Word of God that strikes where He sends it, and in that sense it is a very biblical teaching. Each portion of the scriptures is whatever the kind of literature it was written as means to communicate, and there isn't any portion of the scriptures that claims to even care about scientific knowledge, let alone about getting it right! And much of the scriptures that to us appear to be something like a friend's great-grandfather's diary of events in his life, assuming that they can be read that way is the quickest route to error a Christian can make (the second easiest is to apply personal beliefs and force the scriptures to support them). Ancient literature has to be understood as ancient literature, which means asking what the original writer meant and what his original audience understood -- only then can you get a clue what the meaning is. Another word the church has traditionally used but that has not changed in meaning is "infallible", which means that in what the scriptures intend to convey they don't fail. As with Paul's writings, some sections are difficult, but they teach what God wanted taught. That is also biblical as it is just saying that the Word tells us what God wanted us to know. And none of what God wanted us to know has anything to do with science, it always has to do with our relationship to Him. So no, the Bible "isn't, in fact, the inerrant word of god" because it doesn't make that claim for itself, which means that for us to make that claim is likely to land us in false or useless teaching and, as Augustine of Hippo (African city back then) pointed out, making claims about the Bible that it doesn't make of itself can make us look foolish in the eyes of the world, and not foolish because of the Gospel. As it pertains to this video, he's being led astray by the "inerrant" concept in its modern meaning, along with being wrong that the Creation stories were plagiarized -- I've read them in the originals and the differences are just too stark for them to be derivative, but the similarities are enough that they certainly came from a common source (someone down in the comments here posted a link to an excellent explanation of the actual situation; I should have bookmarked the talk but didn't -- I'm pretty sure it was on "Digital Hammurabi" on youtube [My Swiss stubborn streak took over; I found the video: ruclips.net/video/pU_CGxQlW6o/видео.html]). His failure comes from having NOT broken free of Jehovah's Witness teaching because he is still using their flawed view of the Bible as being "inerrant".
You are one of the best speakers I have heard. Such a passionate, captivating and thought provoking video. This views like a professional documentary series. I’ve subscribed. Thank you.
Excellent Harrison. When at University when younger I did similar research and what an eye- opener it provided. It was thrilling to hear my own research brought back to light on the site. Surprising, what some ' deep digging' can do. Superb. Thank you.
I find this channel fascinating. I follow a lot of ex-religion content, but rarely do I hear such a scholarly analysis of the Bible and creation myths. Thanks for the intelligent take. Btw, your voice is pleasant and even and your diction is excellent. Ever think of doing voiceover work?
You clearly gave a lot of talks growing up, even after leaving the organization you carry the unmistakable speaking a style of a witness with you. It feels like I'm listening to talks from the platform again, just at the congregation for apostates this time. It's a strangely comforting feeling :)
I took a class called “Old Testament” at the conservative Christian college that I attended. We were taught the Documentary Hypothesis. We were taught that there were two creation stories in the Bible. We were also taught that ancient Mesopotamian myth had influenced the Biblical writers. Of course, this was not a Jehovah’s Witness college.
You should also look into the Egyptian creation stories. They have the creator using the "word" or speech to create everything and humanity being made in the creator's image.
I'm not someone from JW but I have also read the bible... I can say that, if Moses have written the first five books in the bible, Why did he refer to himself in a third person POV?
Cause the Bible is God’s word, not Moses’. Referring to himself in third person solidified that fact. He’s a character in God’s world too. That’s assuming it was actually written by Moses :)
@@Grandmaster_Dragonborn And one god constantly referring to himself in plural, conversing with his alter egos and even mentioning a council of gods, of whom he is the supreme one? That is 2+2 being forced to equal -17. Mental acrobatics to gaslight everyone out of the obvious and into the land of irrational religious fantasies.
Continue your preaching of true knowledge. But the Truth is the the majority of people will rather take a spoon feed simple minded version because true critical thinking takes time and energy 🙏 Thank u
I've been curious about the different creation accounts ever since reading "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn back in high school. Your ability to make this level of scholarship accessible to lay people reveals your deep understanding of these topics. I am completely in awe.
Christians still believe that Columbus discovered America, despite irrefutable evidence that the Vikings beat them by hundreds of years and actually landed on the continent, not some Caribbean island. Because Pride and Tradition are more important than truth and fact.
When I was in college, I took a required class on the Bible (it was a Christian college). I remember asking about the two creation stories. My answer was that "When you have a doctoral degree in theology, then you can question the Bible." I never got around to asking about why this class was teaching Genesis while the Biology department was teaching evolution: it would have gone worse, I'm sure. And back then, I was still a believer and legitimately trying to understand what I believed was the word of God.
Translation: Don't question the bible unless you are already at maximum indoctrination levels and will swallow whatever bilge you get fed. That's what I get from that kind of response to such a simple question.
Lol, I hate "religious schools", they should be banned. They employed a credentials fallacy as opposed to employing credible and proficient teachers..it disgusts me how they responded to you.
@@FactStorm I remember the school I went to, particularly in the early years, we would march around in our classes chanting "Jesus loves me, this I know. For the Bible tells me so." Looking back, a question I would like to ask is where does it say that? Apart from John 3:16.
@@reubenmanzo2054 A cult of sacrifice and narcissism. Tortured on a cross, and being instilled that this figure was a man-god who loves you eternally - because you are sooo special lol. Your prayers are answered, but not the ones of Ukrainian or Yemeni children. The hilarity behind religion..it just never ends.
Thank you for your channel. I am impressed by your scholarship. Interestingly, being raised Roman Catholic, there is much you discuss that I can relate to. Particularly the ploys used to maintain Power over the members of the cult. In Catholicism, control of the "forgiveness of sins" is the big gun, that had controlled Kings as well as peasants. Should the church really believe that it can forgive the pedophile priests in the name of Christ? Keep up the good work and I will continue to follow. Thanks
Yeah, the 30s war (among others) was fought because a handful of scholars realized that the Church literally has no power over forgiveness of sins. I’m a proud Protestant. (I’ve heard all the arguments in this video thoroughly refuted before if you wanna know why I stick to it)
I miss the previous intro - “Harrison C is no longer one of Jehovah’s Witnesses” - so powerful and emotionally evocative!!! Almost brought me to tears every time. I was instantly transported back to my JW mindset and reminded of all we feel and all we lose when we wake up. Please, PLEASE BRING THE OLD INTRO BACK!!!! 🙏🏼
Very nice presentation and research! You touched on something I recently noticed - you mention the tree (singular) in the garden of eden. What's your take on there being 2 distinct trees? The 1st tree is the tree of Knowledge. But Adam and Eve are kicked out before they have a chance to eat from the tree of Life. As a JW, I never knew there were 2 trees.
@Its Me Definitely, and the point of the 2 trees, and the "reasons" given in Genesis about why the snake slithers and why women are under the man validate to me that the Bible is just a book of fairytales. Just made up stories. But I don't like shooting down the fairytales to good people that believe in it.
Yes, I was always very unclear about this as a JW - vaguely aware of it - yet choosing to burrow it away in the back of my brain in a file marked "Don't go there!" 😜
Adam and Eve were only told not to eat of the one tree in the middle of the garden. It follows that they could eat from the tree of life. When they were expelled from the garden presumably they lost access to it. Who knows...just a story anyway...but of course the details matter a great deal to our jw friends.
My guess it that the Adam and Eve story was a smear campaign against eating mushrooms 🍄. It most likely wasn't a red apple, but the red cap mushroom that when ingested gives you god like enlightenment and an insight beyond what we see in daily life. 😉
![OsamaSon - ik what you did last summer [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4DIQDnu3mr4/mqdefault.jpg)
Being born into JW's and now out of it, your videos continue to help me cope with my antagonizing guilt for wanting to be happy in "Satan's" world. Happiness shouldn't be coupled with guilt. If Satan truly exists, he exists in the crippling effects of The Organization. Thank you, Harrison, for saving my life ❤️
You deserve to be happy simply because you are a human being.
I am a mindfulness and self-care educator. I invite you to check out information on and mindfulness practices to cultivate self-compassion. For example, the Lovingkindness meditation starts with one imagining oneself, and saying, "May I be happy. May I be well. May I be free from suffering. May I be at peace."
Another practice like writing down two things that brought us joy each day before bed can help us to remember to cherish what makes life worth living and claim our happiness.
Be well, friend.
@Miles Doyle no one is going to read your insane thesis, but if your god sends good people to hell simply because they couldn't believe with no evidence then your god is insane also.
@@k7450 Spoiler alert, the historians he mentioned don't talk about jesus but about christians and what they believed, so he is pretty wrong even at the beggining of the brick he made.
@Miles Doyle if you _ever_ expect _anyone_ to read that .... wall of words, you're gonna have to a) put in logical paragraph breaks, and b) edit it into something shorter. That's long enough to be a freaking short story, nearly a novella! It's way, way too long. If you can't make your ... point? ... in fewer words, then it's not a point worth making.
@Miles Doyle I dutifully struggled through your entire comment even though I was really exhausted after 2 minutes, disgusted by your toxic and hateful islamophobia and really worried by the time you started claiming that you habitually receive direct divine prophecies about what stories to write or what suit to wear, but if you are going to copy and paste this same litany of insanity over and over again as a reply to everyone here who agrees with this video and shares their disbelief in the bible, than you are not a person sharing their story but a religious fanatic who is disrespecting other opinions and harassing us with your endless spam, and I will report you as such. Once was more than enough. Please control your fanatical urges and leave.
According to the Bible Israel was defeated by the Babylonians because they were sinning and Yah·weh allowed it. Sounds like a story a defeated nation would produce.
Nietzsche's slave morality
"According to the Israelites, the Israelites were defeated"
"Sounds like a story that the defeated Israelites would produce"
What?
@@Aristotle675 according to the Bible the Israelites were defeated because Yah·weh allowed it. Not because they were a weaker nation and not because Yah·weh was a weaker God.
@@marciomaia4020 Yes, and?
@@Aristotle675 use your brain. You'll get there. 😆 🤣 😂
This is fascinating. I will need to listen to this again as so much to take in. I totally respect the research you have put into this. Credit to you Harrison.
I appreciate that, thank you Kaz
@@TheTruthHurts Let me enlighten you, "the dragon wrote everything"!!!!!
THERE IS INDEED A LOT HERE, BUT I GENUINELY WISH THERE WERE SOME RESEARCH PRESENT. RATHER THAN JUST A FEW, LONG DEBUNKED RUMORS...
You should watch him but i strongly suggest you listen to actual biblical scholars first. A lot of what he is discovering..or claiming to..is settled in christian scholarship. Noteably none of them believe moses wrote what is attributed to him
@@cdreid9999 thats exactly what I was thinking. 2000+ years of history and this guy is going debunk it in one video. I mean the arrogance is astounding. And the worst part is his actually referencing the New world Translation😂 I can’t even take him serious.
This guy should debate the guy from Inspiring Philosophy.
This guy won’t do it though, his RUclips career on talking about someone that doesn’t exist would be in jeopardy.
The JW's lost a valuable asset with you. You do an amazing job presenting information!
He no doubt preached the naive theology he now rejects with the same fanatical insistence.
A child can see the absurdity in the Bible, just a little Common Sense should do the trick.
@@user-qy5je7fr2cI've always thought if a god literally wrote the 10 commandments why not write it all. Write it all at the same time in every language and spread it everywhere? He could still play hide and seek so we have free will. That would get rid of all "other" religions. Wouldn't even be the denominations within the christian religion. What's wrong with my naive thinking? Ty
Absolutely fantastic. This confirms everything I've researched on this. Spot on.
HARRISON! You killed it! AGAIN! 🙌 I can't even believe how much thought, research & preparation must have gone into this.
A lot!!😂 But I hope it was worth it. Thank you Kesse!
@@TheTruthHurts the bible, with all its apparent mistakes and contradictions, is the basis of all our sciences today. Just because you do not understand, does not invalidate the truth. you live and believe by many things you do not even understand, or comprehend...like consciousness, or the elemental nature of energy, and its original source. Ask any physicist worth their salt and they do not know...but the bible gives us plausible, scientific explanations. would love to share more, if/when you are interested.
@@akwasi1 Oh yes, like for example the plausible explanation of geocentrism? Which Galileo easily disproved by inventing a telescope, and was then cast away and told to never speak of the truth he discovered or else he would be killed by the church? Do you really think that the Bible is "the basis of all our sciences today", because it is very easy to learn how untrue that statement is.
What do you mean? "Killed it! AGAIN!" Is that the faith of new believers? Could it be that Harrison is justifing his fall from JW's? And is looking to destroy anyone's belief in the Bible. It is interesting to note, I've had dealings with Harrison in the past. He does not have the good manners to reply to posts made directly to him. Genuine, heart felt queries he dismisses willy nilly.
@@jeannie1592 the Bible is not a science based, that you cannot prove or disprove.
Can I suggest you view Michael Heiser posts on this question of Genesis. Very interesting!
Let's not forget that they also took the global flood story from the Epic of Gilgamesh, or the prophecy of the "messiah" from the Persians, their religion being Zoroastrianism, a polytheistic religion.
Actually the idea that they " took the global flood story from the Epic of Gilgamesh" has fallen by the wayside. It's now recognized that the most probable relationship between the Noah account and the Utnapishtim story from Gilgamesn is that there was a common source: other ancient versions of the Flood story have been found that are also similar to these at the core yet different in details, indicating that there was a common story and each culture adapted it later on.
Zoroastrianism is a strange one; while its cosmology can be interpreted as ether polytheistic or dualistic, its ontology is strictly monotheistic. In the centuries when polytheism seems to dominate, it was still monotheistic in ontology because it interpreted all the different gods as emanations from the natural world due to the spiritual influence of Ahura Mazda or the evil force and held that Ahura Mazda has no equal but is the source of all. As for the concept of the Messiah, that appeared in Judaism well before Zoroastrianism first appeared, so while its concept of Messiah may have influenced later Jewish ideas it wasn't the source.
What Zoroastrianism really contributed to Christianity was a cosmology where God is still the unequaled Creator but God's people have an enemy (Satan), and that enemy has servants (demons), and the enemy's servants do battle against the servants of God, plus ideas about Hell and punishment -- things Judaism lacked but which in the first century or two A.D. were ideas found in versions of the traditional Mediterranean polytheism and so quite humanly got imported (though far moreso in the West under Rome; the East lacks the fascination with these that the Latin world acquired.
@@traildude7538 Well, this comment was 8 months ago. I have since changed my understanding in regards to threglobal flood.
As for Zoroastrianism and its influences on the idea of a messiah born of a virgin, unless my college history professor got some things wrong (which is a possibility), I believe Judaism adopted that idea from the Zoroastrianism. Israel was, after, ruled by the Persian Empire for a time. Actually, Israel was ruled by a lot of Empires throughout history, and with this Empires and their own religions, came new influences and additions to Judaism beliefs. I believe tbe earliest Hebrew writings we have are also dated to the time of the Persian Empire. It's possible there are older ones that no longer exist (or that I don't know about), but from what I do know, they took a lot of inspiration from the Persian religion.
In reality, the Bible & faith in the " ONLY TRUE GOD & Jesus" (John 17:3) have so much practical, distinctive & authentic ORIGINALITY than alleged copying from pagan sources. These are still being witnessed & on going today.
Thanks please for liking etc.
@@counsellor3474 Literally false. However, while I am now certain that the Bible didn't just copy other stories, it is likely derived of the same inspiration as those other stories. But not divine inspiration, because that's a bunch of bullshit.
Simply masterful! As an experienced researcher and student in this area myself you are a gifted teacher student and presenter
DarkMatter made an interesting point, there are all these people walking around thinking it's completely moral for you to be tortured forever because you don't believe their religion.
"It stands out more than a worldly person at a kingdom hall "
😆🤣😂
Harrison, I appreciate all the work and research you put in on your videos. Thank you.
Thank for all the hard work that must have gone into producing the excellent, informative video. I learned so much!
I didn't check the view count until half way through- HOW?? so underrated!
this video was excellently made, I can tell lots of thought and research have gone into it :0 I especially love to learn about the history of the bible, I think its something that goes untalked about
This is the very best interpretation of Genesis,one step ahead of Eherman,Bravo.
Prof.Dr Nasir Fazal Cambridge USA 🇺🇸
Growing up in church I always felt like there just something kind of illogical about the whole entire charade. But I still find it so interesting and appreciate the real history behind it. Anyway I really enjoyed listening to the findings in your studies
Yes. I just had too many questions for my sister that she couldn't answer. She would actually agree with me everytime I brought up something that is contradictory in the Bible. She is no longer an active member of the JW's.
What do you mean? How is a talking snake in a magical garden NOT logical?!
Wow the parallels with this Enuma Elis are fascinating. I hadn't heard of this (of course). Presented in a great way, thanks! 🤯
*The Enuma Elish would later be the inspiration for the Hebrew scribes who created the text now known as the biblical Book of Genesis.* Prior to the 19th century CE, the Bible was considered the oldest book in the world and its narratives were thought to be completely original. In the mid-19th century CE, however, European museums, as well as academic and religious institutions, sponsored excavations in Mesopotamia to find physical evidence for historical corroboration of the stories in the Bible. ***These excavations found quite the opposite, however, in that, once cuneiform was translated, it was understood that a number of biblical narratives were Mesopotamian in origin.***
*Famous stories such as the Fall of Man and the Great Flood were originally conceived and written down in Sumer,* translated and modified later in Babylon, and reworked by the Assyrians ***before they were used by the Hebrew scribes for the versions which appear in the Bible.***
Google *"Enuma Elish - The Babylonian Epic of Creation - Full Text - World History Encyclopedia"*
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Google *"Debunking the Devil - Michael A. Sherlock (Author)"*
Google *"**ExChristian.Net** - Articles: The Bible: Primitive Nonsense"*
Google *"10 Ways The Bible Was Influenced By Other Religions - Listverse"*
Google *"Top Ten Reasons Noah’s Flood is Mythology - The Sensuous Curmudgeon"*
Google *"Reasons for disbelief: The top ten reasons I am an atheist - Real Bible Stories"*
(Written by a former minister)
Google *"Secular Societies Fare Better Than Religious Societies - Psychology Today"*
Google *"**ExChristian.Net** - Articles: The Bible - Is it the Word of GOD?"*
Google *"The Adam and Eve myth - News24"*
Google *"Some Reasons Why Humanists Reject The Bible - American Humanist Association"*
Google *"The origins of the Ten Commandments - Carpe Scriptura"*
Google *"Does the Ipuwer Papyrus Refer to the Biblical Exodus Account? - Bishop's Encyclopedia of Religion, Society and Philosophy"*
Google *"Before Adam and Eve - Psychology Today"*
Google *"The Problem of the Bible: Inaccuracies, contradictions, fallacies, scientific issues and more. - News24"*
Google *"Gilgamesh vs. Noah - Wordpress"*
Google *"40 Problems with Christianity - Hemant Mehta - Friendly Atheist - Patheos"*
Google *"The Problem With Faith: 11 Ways Religion Is Destroying Humanity"*
Google *"Retired bishop explains the reason why the Church invented "Hell""*
Google *"You Need To Consider The Possibility Your Religion Is Mythology"*
Google *"No, Humans Are Probably Not All Descended From A Single Couple Who Lived 200,000 Years Ago"*
Google *"Adam & Eve: Theologians Try to Reconcile Science and Fail - The New Republic"*
Google *"Adam and Eve: the ultimate standoff between science and faith (and a contest!) - Why Evolution Is True"*
Google *"Bogus accommodationism: The return of Adam and Eve as real people, as proposed by a wonky quasi-scientific theory - Why Evolution Is True"*
Google *"The Shroud of Turin Is Definitely a Hoax - Tales of Times Forgotten"*
Google *"Old Testament Tales Were Stolen From Other Cultures - Griffin"*
Google *"Parallelism between “The Hymn to Aten” and Psalm 104 - Project Augustine"*
Another great job Harrison. Accessible and clear without any sense of talking down to people. Keep it up.
I really appreciate that, thank you
@@TheTruthHurts Mr. Harrison, I request you to search this titled "Apostle Paul is a liar, here why" by The Inquisitor on RUclips.
@@TheTruthHurts You should also watch "The Inquisitor" other videos.
I love this lad. His insights and his externalized introspections are just almost perfect. If we could only have more people like him in my country, Guatemala. Greetings from an ex Jehovah's Witness here.
Thank you for the kind words Joel, really appreciate it :)
Sorry to hear about the anti human rights laws that are being passed right now in your country
@@TheBlimpFruit Thanks for your concern. We all are shocked. All we know is that the Evangelical church was manipulating the recent law that just passed. It's a step backwards in our society with the double moral standard.
@John S. True, education is the key and a big portion of my people dwell in ignorance. Xela it's beautiful and I love the weather and that mix between the indigenous and European culture that you can palpate in some of its architecture.
I'm from Guatemala city, by the way. Hey, Best regards!
Harrison your presentation of this information is so well done and logical. As a former JW who was always told to just accept, I find myself now fascinated with the origins and meaning of these scriptures that rule the lives of so many.
If the Bible is like an instruction manual to understand the world then how come it does not work? When I buy a flat pack bookcase from IKEA I want one set of clear instructions - not something that's "open to interpretation" because it has been translated from Chinese into Swedish by a Japanese translator with the original syntax of Yoda & actually has more than one version. If you would not put a bookcase together like that, why The World/ Universe?
Ha! This comment MUST be read out loud. And I mean LOUD!!!
Thank you for the shiggles. 😄
Haha!! Love this comment!
Exactly
Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth."
Genesis 1:3 "God said 'Let there be light.' And there was light."
Let the chronology of that sink in for a moment. God created the heaven and the earth... IN THE DARK!
It does work; I’ve followed the Bible since my lowest point.
I went from sex obsessed teenager to a content family man with a newfound purpose.
I’m sorry you didn’t have such success.
Translations are for language barriers. Arguing against them is to deprive many countries of its contents. If you did that you’d start a war. Okay
Thank you Harrison for your videos. They not only educate me but bring me a sense of community in a time of existential loneliness. For the past year, I have been doubting Christianity and its claims. As you know, it is not easy. So truly, thank you.
I feel your comment. The empty void you don’t want to walk in, but you know you eventually will. But keep looking for truth. You are not alone! 💜🤍
@@bobbiefritz2525 Thank you.
RaeAnn Fleenor 1 Peter 1:22-25
22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
Whats the biggest trouble you’ve had with the claims, and is there anything you’re still holding onto?
What questions are you having that's making you struggle with Christianity?
Excellent review of Genesis Chapters 1 and 2. No one can deny that they were written by 2 different authors.
Unfortunately you'll find quite a few people who will state categorically that the Pentateuch was written solely by Moses, and tell you that you just don't understand the subject when you point out that Moses seemingly wrote of his own death and funeral. For all that the bible tells them not to, they seem to me to worship the book in preference to the god.
@@RichWoods23 the absurd part is you modern thinkers think you've uncovered something new or novel.
Before the Bible was compiled all of this was already hashed out. Here's a lost of names that are smarter and more logical than any Jehovah's Witness scholar ever was; Philo of Alexandria. Irenaus of Smynra. Basil of Caesarea. Gregory Nazianzus. Maximos of Constantinople.
The only problem with today is the limits of western empiricism.
Lots wrote it The apostle John wrote the last book .
@@RichWoods23 When I was in grad school we fairly often ran into a certain rabbi when our studies took us to the university rare book room. One of the guys one day said something about Deuteronomy being written by Moses, and there came laughter from the other side of the room. It was our friend the rabbi, and he said, "They're not the books of Moshe because Moshe wrote them, they're the books of Moshe because God gave the covenant through him." As an example he mentioned the collection called "A Thousand and One (Arabian) Nights", and asked if we thought that meant the stories were written by a time of day.
The Jews have known since nearly forever that Moses wasn't the author of the Pentateuch (though they do enjoy a good argument over how much he might have written!); why Christians believe that is baffling.
@@BarbaPamino Ah, the sublime Cappadocians! No one should be allowed to teach or preach in a church without having at least read "The Theologian".
I’m an “erring member” of the Church Of Christ religion, and I understand and feel your struggles. I missed a single Sunday worship service, and was unable to partake of the communion, so I was cast out of the church. I appreciate your hard work and research on biblical topics such as these. Thank you for your channel!!!
They did you a favor! Now you are free to worship as you like.
@Ronald Moises Jr. it was a one cup CoC in Texas
@@Peekaboo-Kitty Or not at all.
Wow that's crazy!!! I'm ex fundamental Christian, now atheist.. So glad to be out of it 💃🥳✨
He works really hard on this. All this research you really have to love your subject
Absolutely incredible comparison of the two accounts. You’ve taught me something today. Well done, Harrison!
I’m extremely sick of people, who try to defend the Abrahamic faiths, not knowing where it comes from.
It comes from God
@EA
All of them? Also you really are the sheep, the world governments want. They don’t want you thinking or being educated, they want to obsessed with the Quran and Bible and Torahs.
@@renny3816I’m extremely sick of people, who try to attack the Abrahamic faiths, not knowing where it comes from. And you’re right I am a sheep. I chose to be a sheep for the God of the Bible.
Your presentation style is captivating.
I mean, he was giving talks on stage
no doubt!
He still sounds like a JW.
@@karlhinze But he’s using his skill for a good cause now.
@@kellydalstok8900 I agree. I like his content.
I once dated a woman that was a JW when I was a weak atheist.
She invited me to her church and when I showed up she wasn't there.
The moment I stepped in and sat down, three women surrounded me and handed me religious pamphlets.
I thought that was weird.
So I sat there and listened to their preacher and within the first several minutes he contradicted his words a few times.
I got a shock in my mind that he was trying to insult my intelligence along with his parishioners. I got up and high tailed it out of there disgusted.
you nailed it, religion is an insult to intelligence and wisdom.
yeah, because JWs believe in the wrong things
I admire people who either by themselves or by external stimuli, are able to see life-altering bad decisions in their lives and correct them in a way that their lives take a completely different direction. Also adds to the value that you also provide information/insight into this speciifc issue regarding religion having a negative effect on family relations and people relations. Thanks a lot for your videos! You definitely deserve a larger viewership!
As someone who has been through similar circumstances when I was younger, it’s been really interesting watching your journey. It’s really delightful to see someone who is obsessed with truth like I was, it’s like watching myself from ten years ago.
Surprising' but delightful is an insult to the meaning of the word. just saying when the shite comes.
Wow that is exactly what I was thinking about on Genesis 1:1-thru chapter two and the two creation stories. I Always thought if Jehovah’s name is so important why doesn’t it come first in the Bible and not till chapter two.. Thanks Harrison this is truly food at the proper time!
How can we still in 2022 take the genesis of the Bible for a historical account? This archaic fable will delight all minds in love with irrationality and Heroic fantasy.
@august opus A little humor in the face of a rigid cult will never hurt.
I sit back sometimes and just imagine early man discovering how to control fire, make weapons, and then teaching someone else how to use these new found skills to help the entire group. As these groups grew larger and time continues. I think about the ones that knew these skills and how the rest of the group viewed them. Did they view them in a manner that made the one who knew how to control fire look like a, what would we say? A magical person, perhaps? I can just imagine as this is a growing trend with generations after generations,and I can see these "magical" ones being looked at as men that should be feared, that should be respected, and they told you what to do. I can just imagine this becoming the normal and time continues on. The groups becomes tribes , and ach tribe has these individuals that have learned how to become a "magician ". You can see where I am going here. As these tribes grew, they become civilizations so on and so on. Then it comes to the fact these "Magical" leaders can no longer use that magical ability to exploit Because now others know that you can learn how to make fire and weapons. The fact that alot of human beings found out that just knowing how to make fire and weapons didn't mean anything. It turned into God's and deities. And they could see that they were using that as a way to manipulate people. I then see this continuing generation after generation and it built into groups that started finding ways to keep people from learning how to make fire, weapons. And then that wouldn't work anymore, they try something different as humans became more intelligent with each passing generation becoming tribes, civilizations, religions, different types of religions, till it got to the point that an all powerful being that created them, gave them the power to rule. As time continues on the world evolves, animals evolve, and humans evolve. Humans brain develop, ideas and philosophy changes, till we get to what we have today. Seems to me we have figured out god isn't real and we are realizing that the need for those beliefs are not working, and now we need to figure out the best way to ensure the we'll being of life without the idea that when we die there is an afterlife. Also the idea we need to think a certain way because someone else does. Generations and generations will pass we will continue to have questions, and different ways of surviving. Hopefully we will learn to preserve life, respect it, and figure out how to make sure everyone has the ability to be happy.
Exactly.
Despite masses still clinging to the naivety, we are growing up rapidly. Communication acceleration, along with the internet, is negating stagnant beliefs. Educating us faster than ever. We are evolving with our own help.
It’s easy to forget that we are just monkeys in clothes, with a continually growing frontal cortex.
Put all ancient teachings and historical records into an efficient AI computer, and it’ll take it minutes to crunch through, and come to the same conclusion you have. There’s hope for us yet to address our past and present mistakes, and make progressive changes for the better, unencumbered by the shackles of human puerility and destructive false, extinct beliefs.
Reminds me of the Arthur C Clarke quote "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"
@@cygnustsp Unfortunately there are still people who prefer to believe in magic instead of reality.
You suspect the universe somehow magically created itself from nothing ?
I applaud and admire your honesty and earnestness Harrison. For background I have been an atheist for all my adult life, but once married to a JW. You seem to want to argue finer points of The Bible. I can well understand that The Bible is very ingrained into your psyche and upbringing. I humbly suggest you read the history of how The Bible came into being, including the events surrounding the Council of Nicea. It will probably become very clear to you that The Bible is largely a result of the politics of the 4th century Roman Empire. My humble suggestion is that you familiarise yourself with other scholars of early Bible history like Dr Bart Ehrman and Dr Richard Carrier. My best wishes young man. Please continue with your work, you are doing a fantastic job.
Sanhedrin 59a of the Talmud that modern R-bbis claim is equal to Gods word says non-j-ws who read the Bible DESERVE TO DIE. The truth hurts. No more j-w world order. I have to censor my speech in order to even leave this comment.
@Grant Martyn: the contents of the Bible were not set by "the politics of the 4th century Roman Empire", it was established by local churches telling others, "These are the writings we read in church", and swapping what they considered inspired. The process worked its way up the ladder, so to speak, starting locally and then regionally and higher, until in the fourth century the process finally reached the top. This is documented in records of the proceedings of early small get-togethers between churches that came to be called "councils".
BTW, Ehrman is a sensationalist who exaggerates practically everything he touches. While his scholarly work in his own field is good, his popular books are meant to stir up arguments because arguments sell books.
I wonder how much can a person lie in a single sentance you cite richard carrier on the bible well sir i cite david irving on world war 2
@@eeroraute281 Laughable
United States here 🇱🇷🇱🇷🇱🇷🇱🇷EXCELLENT information and GREAT insight.
What you all went through makes me appreciate my mom so much more for not forcing us into church, even though she was insane and destructive in other ways.
I wish I could get my PIMI kids to watch your channel!!! You are a master at explaining in a way that is interesting and easy to understand. Once again....great job.
Another super vid Harrison, you couldn't have presented it more clearly. I hope your efforts can slowly wake up some JW's from their indoctrination. Thank you
ALL religions are indoctrination 🤡
@@HistoryandReviews I think eastern religions like Buddhism and Taoism aren't indoctrination machines. More of a personal journey to oneness.
Presentation is clear, indeed, but why the derogatory "plagiarism" smear?
Listening to this is eyeopening, and I think this pulls us in the right direction towards the truth.
Thank you. I’ve watched or listened to numerous presentations comparing Genesis and Enuma Elis, but this was among the best and well worth listening to. Well done.
New subscriber here and ex jdub too. Just wanted to thank you for doing these videos and to encourage you to keep doing these. It is encouraging, informative and reassuring to see them and you deliver the information in a very natural way. I've enjoyed the ones I have watched so far and really appreciate the effort you are putting in. Many thanks, Chris.
I believe that each video you produce is better than the last! What a great presentation! Thank you!
That's very kind of you to say, thank you Mark :)
It's this search for the Truth that DOESN'T hurt.
This is absolute GOLD!! Thanks so much for all your efforts in exposing these truths in such great detail! Your videos are always awesome!!
I really appreciate that. Glad you enjoy them!
I watch JW material and presentations on youtube to fall asleep to, it's is often more effective than white noise. I also come accross videos such as these and is heartwarming to know that many people have managed to break the chains and no longer live life as a religious hostage
This seems like a dangerous practice to me. I wouldn't listen to their crap no matter how drowsy it may be. That is a laborious task and simply a way to put yourself in a possibility to being brainwashed.
@@savagegecko4575 Absolutely no chance of that. They are actually really funny, especially the Stephen Let ones. You woukd have to have fallen into the trap a long time ago to actually take it seriously. I also watch police interrogations but sometimes there is unexpected shouting or noises lol
@@laurenk6741 this is unusual to say the least, but it is what it is. You're going to wake up one day reciting off-beat Bible verses.
@@savagegecko4575 It's not unusual at all. If you ever clicked on a boring interrogation video you'll see dozens if not hundred of people will say it's quality sleep material lol. Some people can't relax in a completely silent room, or if there is just a clock ticking etc
I listen to the dramas and I fall asleep
Thanks Harrison, everything you covered in today's videos are backed up by the books I've read over the last year. The book "Who wrote the bible" by Richard Friedman was the 1st of many, and I've not even scratched the surface of how much of the Jewish Bible was borrowed from earlier cultures.
Great job! Thank you
Some good articles.
*The Enuma Elish would later be the inspiration for the Hebrew scribes who created the text now known as the biblical Book of Genesis.* Prior to the 19th century CE, the Bible was considered the oldest book in the world and its narratives were thought to be completely original. In the mid-19th century CE, however, European museums, as well as academic and religious institutions, sponsored excavations in Mesopotamia to find physical evidence for historical corroboration of the stories in the Bible. ***These excavations found quite the opposite, however, in that, once cuneiform was translated, it was understood that a number of biblical narratives were Mesopotamian in origin.***
*Famous stories such as the Fall of Man and the Great Flood were originally conceived and written down in Sumer,* translated and modified later in Babylon, and reworked by the Assyrians ***before they were used by the Hebrew scribes for the versions which appear in the Bible.***
Google *"Enuma Elish - The Babylonian Epic of Creation - Full Text - World History Encyclopedia"*
------------------------------------------------------------------
Google *"Debunking the Devil - Michael A. Sherlock (Author)"*
Google *"**ExChristian.Net** - Articles: The Bible: Primitive Nonsense"*
Google *"10 Ways The Bible Was Influenced By Other Religions - Listverse"*
Google *"Top Ten Reasons Noah’s Flood is Mythology - The Sensuous Curmudgeon"*
Google *"Reasons for disbelief: The top ten reasons I am an atheist - Real Bible Stories"*
(Written by a former minister)
Google *"Secular Societies Fare Better Than Religious Societies - Psychology Today"*
Google *"**ExChristian.Net** - Articles: The Bible - Is it the Word of GOD?"*
Google *"The Adam and Eve myth - News24"*
Google *"Some Reasons Why Humanists Reject The Bible - American Humanist Association"*
Google *"The origins of the Ten Commandments - Carpe Scriptura"*
Google *"Does the Ipuwer Papyrus Refer to the Biblical Exodus Account? - Bishop's Encyclopedia of Religion, Society and Philosophy"*
Google *"Before Adam and Eve - Psychology Today"*
Google *"The Problem of the Bible: Inaccuracies, contradictions, fallacies, scientific issues and more. - News24"*
Google *"Gilgamesh vs. Noah - Wordpress"*
Google *"40 Problems with Christianity - Hemant Mehta - Friendly Atheist - Patheos"*
Google *"The Problem With Faith: 11 Ways Religion Is Destroying Humanity"*
Google *"Retired bishop explains the reason why the Church invented "Hell""*
Google *"You Need To Consider The Possibility Your Religion Is Mythology"*
Google *"No, Humans Are Probably Not All Descended From A Single Couple Who Lived 200,000 Years Ago"*
Google *"Adam & Eve: Theologians Try to Reconcile Science and Fail - The New Republic"*
Google *"Adam and Eve: the ultimate standoff between science and faith (and a contest!) - Why Evolution Is True"*
Google *"Bogus accommodationism: The return of Adam and Eve as real people, as proposed by a wonky quasi-scientific theory - Why Evolution Is True"*
Google *"The Shroud of Turin Is Definitely a Hoax - Tales of Times Forgotten"*
Google *"Old Testament Tales Were Stolen From Other Cultures - Griffin"*
Google *"Parallelism between “The Hymn to Aten” and Psalm 104 - Project Augustine"*
@@LM-jz9vh thanks for the resource
@@LM-jz9vh it says in the Bible that the first Hebrew was Abraham from Ur which was a major Babylonian city...he was 80 when he left so his whole life was being told those stories...its the same story...the 3 major religions of this day are Judaism Christianity and Islam which are all just continuations of Sumerian/Acadian/Babylonian....i look at it like the Hebrews preserved the religion ...different languages, translations, cultural prejudices and the passing of 8 thousand years would account for the small differences in the stories
"Yahweh" is a Canaanite god of warriors and blacksmithing, and is the patron of old Israel.
Now, "he" is the only true god of a certain religion. However, the Canaanite pantheon (or any other polytheistic pantheon) predates Christianity by centuries.
This isn't just plagiarism, it's plagiarism for the sake of propaganda. And Christianity has always been plagiarising other religions ever since.
I've been wondering about this for years and you just knocked out of the park with an explanation that is not only deeply researched but extremely uncomfortable for a believer.
Great work man!
*The Enuma Elish would later be the inspiration for the Hebrew scribes who created the text now known as the biblical Book of Genesis.* Prior to the 19th century CE, the Bible was considered the oldest book in the world and its narratives were thought to be completely original. In the mid-19th century CE, however, European museums, as well as academic and religious institutions, sponsored excavations in Mesopotamia to find physical evidence for historical corroboration of the stories in the Bible. ***These excavations found quite the opposite, however, in that, once cuneiform was translated, it was understood that a number of biblical narratives were Mesopotamian in origin.***
*Famous stories such as the Fall of Man and the Great Flood were originally conceived and written down in Sumer,* translated and modified later in Babylon, and reworked by the Assyrians ***before they were used by the Hebrew scribes for the versions which appear in the Bible.***
Google *"Enuma Elish - The Babylonian Epic of Creation - Full Text - World History Encyclopedia"*
------------------------------------------------------------------
Google *"Debunking the Devil - Michael A. Sherlock (Author)"*
Google *"**ExChristian.Net** - Articles: The Bible: Primitive Nonsense"*
Google *"10 Ways The Bible Was Influenced By Other Religions - Listverse"*
Google *"Top Ten Reasons Noah’s Flood is Mythology - The Sensuous Curmudgeon"*
Google *"Reasons for disbelief: The top ten reasons I am an atheist - Real Bible Stories"*
(Written by a former minister)
Google *"Secular Societies Fare Better Than Religious Societies - Psychology Today"*
Google *"**ExChristian.Net** - Articles: The Bible - Is it the Word of GOD?"*
Google *"The Adam and Eve myth - News24"*
Google *"Some Reasons Why Humanists Reject The Bible - American Humanist Association"*
Google *"The origins of the Ten Commandments - Carpe Scriptura"*
Google *"Does the Ipuwer Papyrus Refer to the Biblical Exodus Account? - Bishop's Encyclopedia of Religion, Society and Philosophy"*
Google *"Before Adam and Eve - Psychology Today"*
Google *"The Problem of the Bible: Inaccuracies, contradictions, fallacies, scientific issues and more. - News24"*
Google *"Gilgamesh vs. Noah - Wordpress"*
Google *"40 Problems with Christianity - Hemant Mehta - Friendly Atheist - Patheos"*
Google *"The Problem With Faith: 11 Ways Religion Is Destroying Humanity"*
Google *"Retired bishop explains the reason why the Church invented "Hell""*
Google *"You Need To Consider The Possibility Your Religion Is Mythology"*
Google *"No, Humans Are Probably Not All Descended From A Single Couple Who Lived 200,000 Years Ago"*
Google *"Adam & Eve: Theologians Try to Reconcile Science and Fail - The New Republic"*
Google *"Adam and Eve: the ultimate standoff between science and faith (and a contest!) - Why Evolution Is True"*
Google *"Bogus accommodationism: The return of Adam and Eve as real people, as proposed by a wonky quasi-scientific theory - Why Evolution Is True"*
Google *"The Shroud of Turin Is Definitely a Hoax - Tales of Times Forgotten"*
Google *"Old Testament Tales Were Stolen From Other Cultures - Griffin"*
Google *"Parallelism between “The Hymn to Aten” and Psalm 104 - Project Augustine"*
Caleb came across your channel a couple of days ago - loved it! Really nice taking their character and imagining him after woken up ☺️. Keep up your good work
Or maybe Satan went back in time to inspire false beliefs in pagans to set a trap for skeptics! And you fell for it!
@@uncleanunicorn4571 just like he made fake dinosaur fossils! How were we so foolish! 😂
@John S. I know right! Finally someone gets it!
If you are waiting for someone to bring Christ to you, it will only be THEIR Christ.
Just like their images of god are all shaped by personal thoughts and experiences. That’s why they so often mistake their inner voice for the voice of god.
Maybe, but the true Christ is still talked about right there in the Good Book and He will save anyone who calls on Him for salvation from their sins and put their trust in Him as Lord and Saviour.
@@kellydalstok8900 I've met people who have gone off the deep end into mental illness and are just like that. It's true.
@@signposts6189 A relationship with Jesus: you don’t get to make that call, only He does and not all are saved.
@@BeachsideHank I didn't. Jesus is the one who makes the call. Either you bend the knee to Him as Lord or you don't. Either way He's still Lord before whom we'll all stand on judgment day.
Man, I love you. We need soooo many more people like you. Please keep up the good work..
*The Enuma Elish would later be the inspiration for the Hebrew scribes who created the text now known as the biblical Book of Genesis.* Prior to the 19th century CE, the Bible was considered the oldest book in the world and its narratives were thought to be completely original. In the mid-19th century CE, however, European museums, as well as academic and religious institutions, sponsored excavations in Mesopotamia to find physical evidence for historical corroboration of the stories in the Bible. ***These excavations found quite the opposite, however, in that, once cuneiform was translated, it was understood that a number of biblical narratives were Mesopotamian in origin.***
*Famous stories such as the Fall of Man and the Great Flood were originally conceived and written down in Sumer,* translated and modified later in Babylon, and reworked by the Assyrians ***before they were used by the Hebrew scribes for the versions which appear in the Bible.***
Google *"Enuma Elish - The Babylonian Epic of Creation - Full Text - World History Encyclopedia"*
------------------------------------------------------------------
Google *"Debunking the Devil - Michael A. Sherlock (Author)"*
Google *"**ExChristian.Net** - Articles: The Bible: Primitive Nonsense"*
Google *"10 Ways The Bible Was Influenced By Other Religions - Listverse"*
Google *"Top Ten Reasons Noah’s Flood is Mythology - The Sensuous Curmudgeon"*
Google *"Reasons for disbelief: The top ten reasons I am an atheist - Real Bible Stories"*
(Written by a former minister)
Google *"Secular Societies Fare Better Than Religious Societies - Psychology Today"*
Google *"**ExChristian.Net** - Articles: The Bible - Is it the Word of GOD?"*
Google *"The Adam and Eve myth - News24"*
Google *"Some Reasons Why Humanists Reject The Bible - American Humanist Association"*
Google *"The origins of the Ten Commandments - Carpe Scriptura"*
Google *"Does the Ipuwer Papyrus Refer to the Biblical Exodus Account? - Bishop's Encyclopedia of Religion, Society and Philosophy"*
Google *"Before Adam and Eve - Psychology Today"*
Google *"The Problem of the Bible: Inaccuracies, contradictions, fallacies, scientific issues and more. - News24"*
Google *"Gilgamesh vs. Noah - Wordpress"*
Google *"40 Problems with Christianity - Hemant Mehta - Friendly Atheist - Patheos"*
Google *"The Problem With Faith: 11 Ways Religion Is Destroying Humanity"*
Google *"Retired bishop explains the reason why the Church invented "Hell""*
Google *"You Need To Consider The Possibility Your Religion Is Mythology"*
Google *"No, Humans Are Probably Not All Descended From A Single Couple Who Lived 200,000 Years Ago"*
Google *"Adam & Eve: Theologians Try to Reconcile Science and Fail - The New Republic"*
Google *"Adam and Eve: the ultimate standoff between science and faith (and a contest!) - Why Evolution Is True"*
Google *"Bogus accommodationism: The return of Adam and Eve as real people, as proposed by a wonky quasi-scientific theory - Why Evolution Is True"*
Google *"The Shroud of Turin Is Definitely a Hoax - Tales of Times Forgotten"*
Google *"Old Testament Tales Were Stolen From Other Cultures - Griffin"*
Google *"Parallelism between “The Hymn to Aten” and Psalm 104 - Project Augustine"*
@L M unless you’re Jewish, you wouldn’t know that most Jews can tell you from which Tribe their lineage comes from. A lot of so called debunking is pure bunk.
The Torah ( five Books of Moses ) even has dietary laws, which medical science is finally catching up to, and validating them. Microbes were also mentioned, along with a long list of things that other cultures knew nothing of. Hebrew scribes didn’t create anything, as it is forbidden.
@@thatguy3468 You may be surprised to learn that not all religious people keep to all the rules. Forbidding something is like asking someone to make it happen; they'll just be very convoluted with their self-justification. Think of how many Christians lie for Jesus, telling themselves that saving a soul is more important than telling the truth.
@@RichWoods23 that’s why I included science backing up the information. If they were just making things up, that wouldn’t be possible.
@John S. I should have said most Jews I know that are orthodox. Today, many Jews are secular, thus that information has been lost. 100 years ago, 99% of Jews were orthodox.
Circumcision on the 8th day from birth. In 1957 scientist found that on the 8th day, a new born has the highest concentration of vitamin k in its blood stream. Vitamin k allows the blood to clot, and reduces the pain. More scientific validation.
@John S. thank you for the kind words.
Let me start by saying that Jews don’t believe in an anti christ. That’s totally foreign to Judaism. I can spend hours on this subject, but prefer to share with you a video that does a pretty good job. The rabbi in the video is from Chabad. Video is long, but in my opinion very worth it. It will answer lots of questions with scientific proof.
The video:
ruclips.net/video/oTnduqzS3hY/видео.html
Hello Harrison, I'm a Muslim who has been struggling with my faith and so I started asking questions and looking for answers, the historical aspects of Islam and Christianity are very much alike, the stories they tell and their religious figures are almost exactly alike, so when I came about your noahs ark video a few weeks ago it really opened my eyes to alot of things and every now and then I always go back to that video and I've been seeking even more answers since then, I havent exactly left the religion yet as I am still just a teenager and my family is extremely religious, your research has really helped me on my journey and I hope you can continue making more of these insightful videos
DCCI and Christian Prince are a good source.
Brother, I recommend you watch Omar Baloch, and sImran Hosein
Keep searching for the truth, brother.
Good job! I'm glad you are questioning your faith. More important than religion is truth. I hope you find what you are looking for.
Don't forget the 10 commandments and the Mosaic Law sound similar to the Code of Hammurabi
When I believed in the Bible, I accepted the Watchtower's explanation that Genesis 1 was written from the point of view of the author. You know, the crap about the author not yet seeing the Sun and Moon although them being there.
That is the most illogical apologetic I have read. How could he not see the sun? G1 says the sun was created on day 4, so the author would be wrong, following the JW logic you described. If he was wrong about something so obvious as the existence of the sun, he couldn’t be wrong about anything…
Not to mention that G1 says there was nobody on the land. Where was this author when this was happening 😂
@@scienceexplains302 - The explanation is that the sky was different back then. It was cloudy, for some reason I forget, which did not allow someone to clearly see the Sun, Moon, or Stars. There was light, but you couldn't see the source.
@@EfrainRiveraJunior Firmament needed some angels to pick up their squeegees and clean it up I guess
@@EfrainRiveraJunior yeah, the water canopy, which is where the flood waters came from, I had forgotten all about that teaching lol
Oh, the silliness that comes from not first asking, "What kind of literature is this?" and instead arrogantly assuming that what it appears to be at first glance in English is what it is!
I remember the shock of finding out that the first Creation account follows very closely the ancient Egyptian version of Creation: did that mean that the Egyptians mostly had it right?!? But then I compared the two and realized that the writer of the Genesis version systematically demoted every single Egyptian deity to the status of things made by YHWH-Elohim, including the ultimate insult to two of the greatest deities, the sun and moon: the Hebrew writer doesn't even NAME them, he just describes them as tools with a function. My summary of the meaning of that account in the context of its similarity to the Egyptian version is, "Hey, everyone -- all those Egyptian gods are belong to YHWH!"
This is like a master's thesis presentation. It's astounding how much you've said about 50-some lines of text.
It's so frustrating that some people treat Genesis (and the rest of the bible) as truth and claim it has precedence over scientifically derived knowledge.
Ephesians 4:20-23 The truth is in Jesus Christ Colossians 2:3 In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge
@@godvsevolutionmythgodvsevo1038 Oh boy, using the Bible to prove the Bible is true. VERY convincing.
@@Marius011 They cowardly remove comments John 6:63 The words are Spirit and everlasting life, Hebrews 4:12: “The word of God is . . . sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart
@@Marius011 12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
@@Marius011 Oh my Girl or Boy your still in the DarkLearn and accept Jesus Christ 1John 2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son
John 8:12
“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
You always impress me bro! I love these videos, please keep going.
So Moses was dead when he wrote the Pentateuch. That’s about as ludicrous as the Zombie apocalypse in the New Testament with zombie saints wandering the streets of Jerusalem. Thanks Harrison! I love your British accent! Ex-Evangelical Christian from United States here 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Always love to see a new video from Harrison. His intros are always so unique and they get me hooked. Love your shirt too man. But I always wondered about Genesis 1 and 2 for real though. They were both telling two completely different stories when I read them.
@Miles Doyle bro wrote a whole college essay. Here’s the thing. More Americans are starting to ditch religion. In my opinion at least, religion is no longer as relevant as it once might have been. As our understanding of the universe grows, the chances are high that science and religion will conflict. Knowledge and hypothesis against faith and belief. Religion was most likely created to explain things we didn’t yet understand. We have the answers that we’re once unobtainable. Religion might be becoming outdated.
@Miles Doyle nigga nobody is reading that bullshit, long as hell 💀
@@phoenix0166 science and religion don’t conflict unless you conflate the two fields of study. Science observes the physical realm; philosophy - which theology is derived in - studies the realm of the non-physical.
You can’t bottle up things like “emotions,” “logic,” or even “truth.” This means there are things that exist - and used by us - that are immaterial. This is where philosophy reigns - theology delves into the portion of the immaterial that is capable *of creating* the material.
@@andriod090 whatever the case may be, the earth is NOT 6000 years old. Lead literally disproves the 6000 year old earth theory.
I wondered about the idea that they were just different views of the same thing. Then I took ancient Hebrew and read them in the original, and it was like someone took two pictures that had been sitting next to each other and overlapping and stuck them in their own frames, and I looked at them thinking, "How did I ever think they were the same thing?"
Which answered a puzzle that many people pretend isn't there: Where did Cain (and his siblings) find wives? Well, if these are two different stories, then we have generic humans created in the first account, and then a specific pair created "up close and personal" in the second account.
I laugh because I too noticed the two creation stories as well as a Former Christian when I did the same - decide to read the Bible straight from the beginning. It’s such a grieving error but it happens so early on that I decided to overlook it and continued my mission of reading beginning to end only to come across ridiculous things again and again !!
I had so many criticisms..
that my mom decided to buy me a Christian evangelist’s verse by verse on the first five books of the Bible that (poorly) explained it all.
I eventually got tired of all the mental gymnastics that I was forced to see that it’s all just a bunch of BS
I had a very similar experience. I had broken my back in a fall. During the down time I figured it was time to catch up on my reading. I chose the bible, torah and koran. (Koran is the most hateful of the three, but it was a tight race) Now, whenever somebody tells me I should read my bible I respond with "No, but you should! And no skipping over the stuff your pastor WON'T talk about either! By the end (I even read all the little "begats". VERY sloppy story telling!) I too came to the conclusion... it's all utter bullshit!
I simply can’t read Genesis without praying to Universal Child Protective Services and letting them know there is a Deity completely fvcking with his creation not too unlike a 6?year old boy frying ants with a magnifying glass and the sun in his back yard.
Ex-Christian RUclipsr here. Nice work bro! Just found your channel and I can't wait to dig through more of your content!
You are a jem for our community! Your work is extravagant! Thank you for your effort!
That's incredibly kind, thank you. I'm so glad that you enjoy my work 😊
Thank you, Harrison, for validating my take on the Genesis account with ur thorough research!!!!!!! Thank you very , very much 😊 🙏🏾
Your videos are like a sermon, but much more insightful
I would say sermons are like a Truth Hurts video, minus the truth
For a future video, please continue to connect the dots laid out here, to show how YHWH was just a local regional god in the Canaanite pantheon, until the Hebrews rewrote their scriptures to elevate YHWH, and to redefine El as being a general word for god, no longer the name of the greater god that YHWH and other gods were subservient to.
This should be taught in schools. If people actually knew the origin story of Yahweh, perhaps far fewer people would be following the Abrahamic god.
A new video by one of the best ex JW.
Well done Harrison. I feel your struggles. Imagine being this intelligent and with this much common sense and critical thinking-it must've been hard stuck in a cult (unless you're the leader,I guess it's fun then). They didn't excommunicate you, you excommunicated them.
Diamond Dylan Page 2 Corinthians 11:3-4 3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.
1 Corinthians 3:19 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
@@godvsevolutionmythgodvsevo1038 Quoting biblical passages is only useful when talking amongst believers. With non believers it has no power.
@@DianaCHewitt with believers it still has no actual power. it's like believing in aliens.
@@DianaCHewittI've your lThanks for the motivation John 11:19 JESUS XHEIST said you have no power
@@DianaCHewitt Thanks for the motivation Hebrews 4:1212 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart
I don't see any contradiction here.. How does being made from dust necessitate that we are not "in God's image"?
I don't see how one author could not have written a summarized version and also a detailed version. Just because God does things one way and then another way, that doesn't mean that he CAN only do things in one way or another... Everything here can be easily explained, even if you don't believe, or like, that explanation.
Jehovah...It is widely used. It is considered by many to be hallowed, and it is also endeared by many a beautiful hymn, however, this name was never revealed by God. The name of “Jehovah” is a concoction of man. Therefore, it is a “mongrel,” a “hybrid;” and it is “fantastic” and “monstrous.” There is something very wrong with this euphonious name. The facts have only to be known to justify this verdict.
What are the facts?
Ever since the Babylonian invasion of Judea and the enforced diaspora of its people in 605 B.C., the Jews’ have a strong penchant for hiding the name of God from the Gentiles, and thus preventing the profaning of God’s revealed name. Later, the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages were known to raid Jewish synagogues, take the gold, and the Hebrew Scriptures [the Old Testament], and persecute Jews. The name and pronunciation of “Jehovah,” (and also the name Jesus) was unknown until 1520 A.D., when introduced and propagated by Peter Galatinus, Confessor to Pope Leo X, who noted in the stolen Hebrew Scriptures that there were Hebrew vowels placed onto the four consonants letters of God’s true name, YHWH [pronounced: Yod-Hey-Waw-Hey]. Peter Galatinus (1450-1540) did not know of the Jewish practice of placing vowels from another word, (accordingly one of the following words: Adonai {YaHoWaH}, Eloah {YeHoWaH}, Elohim {YeHoWiH}), and specifically Eloah, which created the name Jehovah. Jehovah is merely a combination of the Tetragrammaton (the four consonants: YHWH) and the vowels from another Hebrew word for God (namely: Eloah) arbitrarily placed onto the Tetragrammaton to remind the Jewish reader not to attempt to say the name of God, but to say, “Adonay,” instead.
It should be noted that words in the Hebrew Scriptures contain consonants only, no vowels, so when the Jewish reader would come upon YHWH, God’s name, he would inadvertently attempt to pronounce the name. Therefore vowels were added to remind the reader to say, “Adonay” instead of “the name” (HaShem). Noted Bible scholar J. B. Rotherham, stated, “To give… YHWH (Latin: IHVH {Iehovah} later JHVH {Jehovah} due to the later addition of the letter J in the seventeenth century) the vowels of the word (Eloah) to remind the Jewish reader to say, “Adonay,” and later to pronounce it “Jehovah,’ is about as hybrid a combination as it would be to spell the name of Germany with the vowels of Portugal-viz., Gormuna” (the Emphasized Bible, J. B. Rotherham, 1994, Kregel Publication, Pp. 24-25). Jehovah in its present form has only existed since the seventeenth century. Fact: God’s essential name is YAH, and Bible scholars acknowledge YAHWEH (for YAH, see Strong’s #3050), as in “Praise YAH,” in Hebrew: “Halleluyah.” YAH is the name above every name (Philippians 2:9). YAH is from the root word of HAYAH (I AM). The Savior identified Himself as the I AM (John 8:58). Je-hovah, “hovah” in Hebrew means “RUIN and MISCHIEF,” and “Calamity” (see Strong’s Dictionary of Bible Words #1943). “Jehovah” is a monstrous name that means “Ruin and Mischief.” Besides the vowels of Eloah, the Jews also at times used the vowels of Elohim, producing the false name: “Yehovih” (see Strong’s Dictionary of Bible Words, #3069), which was done to remind the Jewish reader in the synagogues to say, “Adonay” instead of speaking the name of God.
The Jewish Encyclopedia, states, “This name is commonly represented in modern translations by the form Jehovah, which, however, is a philological impossibility” (p. 160). The Jehovah’s Witnesses admittedly make a similar reference that the name Jehovah is inferior (in their Book: Let Your Name be Sanctified (p. 16). The name Jehovah is not the name of God! Consequently, the name Jesus is not Christ’s name either. The name of God is so important and lost, that the LORD must restore it. The LORD said, “For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, that they all may call on the name of the LORD” (Zephaniah 3:9). To those who reject the true revealed name of given to our Savior {YAHSHUA}, there is this warning: “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:16). To use a false name not revealed by God as God’s name is tantamount to idolatry.
IN HIS TRUTH,
Halleluyah, Praise YAH,
Praise YAHSHUA!
Dude love to see the new videos from you! So excited! Thanks for the detail research videos, these videos are going to be very very helpful for most ex-JWs that are looking to question not just the JWs doctrine, but others. I did this, it is was what lead me to atheism. My reasoning was simple, "If JWs could be wrong, could anyone else be wrong?" and thus started my journey to where I am now. I think videos like these, especially how you're delivering the information because I think your videos will likely encourage ex-JWs to continue questions after leaving that belief system. Keep it up! Thank you for your hard work...
Another deeply researched and informative video. Nice job Harrison
@Miles Doyle god bless….
Jesus was a failed apocalyptic preacher. The general consensus of critical scholarship.
The following quote from Stephen L. Harris, Professor Emeritus of Humanities and Religious Studies at California State University- Sacramento, completes this point with a devastating argument.
*Jesus did not accomplish what Israel’s prophets said the Messiah was commissioned to do:* He did not deliver the covenant people from their Gentile enemies, reassemble those scattered in the Diaspora, restore the Davidic kingdom, or establish universal peace (cf.Isa. 9:6-7; 11:7-12:16, etc.). Instead of freeing Jews from oppressors and thereby fulfilling God’s ancient promises-for land, nationhood, kingship, and blessing- *Jesus died a “shameful” death, defeated by the very political powers the Messiah was prophesied to overcome.* Indeed, the Hebrew prophets did not foresee that Israel’s savior would be executed as a common criminal by Gentiles, *making Jesus’ crucifixion a “stumbling block” to scripturally literate Jews.* (1 Cor.1:23)
------------------------------------------------------------------
The end is near?
*The Bible’s New Testament contains a drumbeat of promises that Jesus is ready to return any day now, implying that it will happen so soon that it would be wise to keep it in mind when making any kind of life decision. But it didn’t happen.* The following is a sample of verses professing this theme:
Matt 10:23: [Jesus said to his disciples] *‘When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next;* ***for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel, before the Son of man comes’.*** (They fled through the towns but the Son of Man never came)
Matt 16:28: [Jesus said to the disciples], *‘Truly, I say to you,* ***there are some standing here*** *who will not taste death* before they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom’.
Mark 9:1: And he [Jesus] said to them [the disciples], *‘Truly, I say to you,* ***there are some standing here*** *who will not taste death* before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power’.
Mark 13:30: *[After detailing events up to end of world, Jesus says]* ‘Truly, I say to you, ***this generation will not pass away*** *before all these things take place’.*
Mark 14:62: And Jesus said ***[to the high priest - died 1st cent. AD]*** ‘You will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven’. (The high priest died and never saw the Son of Man)
Rom 13:12: The day is *at hand.*
1 Cor 7:29: The appointed time has grown very short; from now on, *let those who have wives live as though they had none.* (Funny thing to say if you didn’t think the end was imminent)
1 Cor 7:31: For the form of this world is *passing away.*
Phil 4:5: The Lord is *coming soon.*
1 Thess 4:15: *We who are alive, who are left* until the coming of the Lord.
Hebrews 1:2: *In these last days* he has spoken to us by a Son.
Hebrews 10:37: For yet a little while, and the coming one shall come and *shall not tarry.*
James 5:8: The coming of the Lord is *at hand.*
1 Peter 1:20: He [Christ] was destined before the foundation of the world but was made manifest at the *end of the times.*
1 Peter 4:7: The end of all things is *at hand.*
1 John 2:18: *It is the last hour;* and as you have heard that antichrist is coming.
Rev 1:1: The revelation of Jesus Christ (i.e., the end of the world)…to show to his servants what must *soon take place.*
Rev 3:11: [Jesus said] ‘I am *coming soon’.*
Rev 22:6: And the Lord…has sent his angel to show his servants what must *soon take place.*
Rev 22:20: [Jesus said] ‘Surely I am *coming soon’.*
*It is puzzling to understand why Christianity survived the failure of this prediction. It is not ambiguous.* This would be like a rich uncle who promises to give you $10,000 ‘very soon.’ Ten years pass and he still hasn’t given anything to you, but he still says he will do it very soon. Would you still believe that it will happen any day? No, you would realize that it is a false promise. *For some reason, Christians cannot comprehend that they have been scammed. Jesus is not coming back, not tomorrow, not next year, not ever. But they still think it will happen any day.*
www.kyroot.com/
*Watch* Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet, Historical Lecture - Bart D. Ehrman on RUclips
Google *"13x Jesus was wrong in the Bible - Life Lessons"*
Google *"End Times - Evil Bible .com"*
Google *"The End of All Things is At Hand - The Church Of Truth"*
Google *"Resurrection - Fact or Myth - Omission Report"*
Google *"What’s Missing from Codex Sinaiticus, the Oldest New Testament? - Biblical Archaeology Society"*
Google *"The “Strange” Ending of the Gospel of Mark and Why It Makes All the Difference - Biblical Archaeology Society"*
Google *"ex-apologist: On One of the Main Reasons Why I Think Christianity is False (Reposted)"*
Google *"Why Jesus? Nontract (August 1999) - Freedom From Religion Foundation"*
Google *"272: JESUS’S 5200 AUTHENTIC WORDS - zingcreed"*
Google *"43: IS THE FOURTH GOSPEL FICTION? - zingcreed"*
Google *"Jesus Predicted a First Century Return Which Did Not Occur - by Alex Beyman - Medium"*
Google *"Jesus’ Failed Prophecy About His Return - Black Nonbelievers, Inc."*
Jesus was also following a common trope that preceded Christianity.
"When we say…Jesus Christ…was produced without sexual union, and was crucified and died, and rose again, and ascended to heaven, ***we propound nothing new or different*** *from what you believe regarding those whom you call Sons of God. [In fact]…if anybody objects that [Jesus] was crucified, this is in* ***common*** *with the sons of Zeus (as you call them) who suffered, as previously listed [he listed Dionysus, Hercules, and Asclepius].* Since their fatal sufferings are all narrated as not similar but different, so his unique passion should not seem to be any worse."
*Note how Justin (Martyr) is less of a fool than modern Christian apologists. He admits that differences don’t matter.* Since each and every one of the suffering and dying gods are slain by different means, one cannot argue the mytheme requires exactly the same means of death. “But Osiris can’t have inspired the Jesus myth because Osiris wasn’t nailed to a cross” is a stupid argument. The mytheme is simply death. Being killed. Suffering and dying. The exact mode of death can vary freely. It makes no difference to the existence and influence of the mytheme. It’s simply the particular instantiation of a generic abstraction. *And Justin’s argument (that Satan invented these fake religions to confuse people) entails Justin agreed the mytheme existed: indeed, it was demonically promulgated, multiple times. Intentionally.*
*Likewise, Justin notices the mytheme is not virgin birth, but sexless conception. Of which many examples had already been popularized in pagan mythology (there just happens to also have been examples of actual virgin born gods as well). And by his argument (that the Devil was deliberately emulating the Jesus mytheme, in advance), Justin clearly accepted the same principle for “rising again” after death:* the particular exact metaphysics of the resurrection could, like the exact method of death or conception, vary freely. The mytheme consists solely of the abstraction: returning to life. Somehow. Some way. We will say bodily, at the very least. But what sort of body (the same one, a new one, a mortal one, an immortal one), didn’t matter. *If it had, Justin would have made the argument that “those gods” weren’t really resurrected. But that argument, never occurs to him. Nor did it to any other apologist of the first three centuries.*
*Ancient Christians well knew there was nothing new about their dying-and-rising god. Not in respect to the mytheme.* Their claims were solely that his particular instantiation of it was better, and the only one that actually happened. *They didn’t make up the stupid modern arguments that dying-and-rising god myths didn’t exist or weren’t part of a common mytheme everyone knew about. For example, in the same century, Tertullian, in Prescription against Heretics 40, makes exactly the same argument as Justin. Funny that. They had better access to the evidence than we do. They knew what was really and widely the case. We should listen to them.*
Google *"Dying-and-Rising Gods: It's Pagan, Guys. Get Over It. • Richard Carrier"*
------------------------------------------------------------------
Google *"Ehrman Errs: Yes, Bart, There Were Dying & Rising Gods - atheologica"*
Watch *"Dying & Rising Gods: A Response to William Lane Craig"* by Derreck Bennett at Atheologica.
Watch *"Asclepius: The Pre-Christian Healer & Savior"* by Derreck Bennett at Atheologica
Google *"Virgin Birth: It's Pagan, Guys. Get Over It. • Richard Carrier"*
Google *"5 Pagan Parallels to Jesus That Actually Aren’t Bullshit - Atheomedy"*
Google *"Christian Apologetics: The Art of Deceit - Atheomedy"*
Google *"Isaiah 53 & the Suffering Servant | atheologica"*
Google *"Defending the Resurrection: It’s Easy if You Lie! - Atheomedy"*
Google *"The Empty Tomb: A Rhetorical Dead End - atheologica"*
Google *"Majority of Scholars agree: The Gospels were not written by Eyewitnesses - Escaping Christian Fundamentalism"*
A good site written by an actual Biblical scholar.
Google *"Contradictions in the Bible | Identified verse by verse and explained using the most up-to-date scholarly information about the Bible, its texts, and the men who wrote them -- by Dr. Steven DiMattei"*
Google *"How do we know that the biblical writers were* ***not*** *writing history? -- by Dr Steven DiMattei"*
Also:
Google *"How Did The Gospel Writers Know? - The Doston Jones Blog"*
Google *"Yes, the Four Gospels Were Originally Anonymous: Part 1 - The Doston Jones Blog"*
Google *"Are Stories in the Bible Influenced by Popular Greco-Roman Literature? - The Doston Jones Blog"*
Google *"Gospels Not Written By Matthew, Mark, Luke or John - The Church Of Truth"*
Thank you for all that you do, you're very calm and collective when you go into logic and reasoning
I’ve seen a few of your videos before but this one really jumped out with a combination of research and direct quotes and good presentation
In almost every creation story of ancient empires, there's a myth/story of how a god took over the earlier pagan religions in which the Goddess was the primary figure of creation. She was either destroyed or was forcibly conscripted as the consort of the god of this newer patriarchal religion. (Hera/Zeus). The new god then takes away the power of creation from the goddess. These patriarchal gods were always jealous of the Mother Goddess' power (like Yahweh). Another interesting tidbit: Sophia, which was redefined as Wisdom in the Bible (Book of Solomon?), was the original consort Goddess of Yahweh.
Yes but she is in the bible in Proverbs.
I often wonder how many people after leaving WT become Atheist. I know after researching all the falsehoods inside the org I applied the same intensive study to Orthodox belief. The history of Christianity is shocking, especially how it changed so much since Jesus simple sayings, like his words were not complete. I remain agnostic today, can't be Atheist as that would imply I know it all. Not being part of any religious belief I have found a new appreciation for people in all walks in life. Peace be with you all.
I'd say a good many atheist are "agnostic atheist". But that's just a definition. The idea that there is a (personal) God involved with humanity is the interesting question. And I think most atheist would agree, that they've chosen reason over faith based idea, but are willing to change their minds with supporting evidence. The bigger the claim, the more solid the evidence should be, right?
I think you should try to take a look at other religions. I don’t think it would hurt 😊
This video is amazing! Extremely thorough, insightful, and thought-provoking! Thank you so much
At the age of 8, I was sent to the hallway, for asking "Did Adam and Eve have belly buttons?"
The pagan original is by far the more entertaining
I was raised a Seven Day Adventist and see so many similarities in your video! Thank you for sharing...
I grew up in the cult but never became a jw. I disassociated. Three members of my family are disfellowshipped, two are permanently brainwashed. It sucks that my nephew is being brainwashed and I can't have a relationship with him. There was sexual abuse going on around me. That includes elders.l
Great job Harrison. Keep up the good work. You're not only helping JWs out of their "religion", but others out of their "religions" as well!!
The main problem being that he is still trapped in the false view of the Bible that the Jehovah's Witnesses engrained in him, that it has to be scientifically and historically correct in order to be true. That's not an idea that comes from the Bible, it comes from human philosophy -- and it's an idea that pretty much none of the inspired writers would recognize, the New Testament being the exception since the culture was shifting in a modern direction.
@@traildude7538 I was brought up in a conservative baptist church, where we were taught that the Holy Bible is the "inerrant word of God." "God put in the bible was God wanted in the bible, the way God wanted it to say." If I questioned anything, I was told that "we can't know everything and once we get to heaven God will give us the knowledge that we're missing."
Are you saying that you have a different understanding of the bible, that it isn't, in fact, the inerrant word of god?
@@jim.h As the word "inerrant" is used today in evangelical circles it is not a biblical teaching -- in fact what it is, is the application of scientific materialism to the scriptures, because that is where the notion that in order to be true something has to be 100% scientifically and historically accurate; the idea has no source in the Bible.
The early church called the scriptures "inerrant" (at least that's the English translation; I don't recall the Greek word), but they meant something completely different: When you watch an archery match and see a contestant whose arrows always hit the bullseye, you say that his shooting is inerrant -- that his arrows always hit where he aims them. That's how the early church viewed the scriptures, as the active Word of God that strikes where He sends it, and in that sense it is a very biblical teaching.
Each portion of the scriptures is whatever the kind of literature it was written as means to communicate, and there isn't any portion of the scriptures that claims to even care about scientific knowledge, let alone about getting it right! And much of the scriptures that to us appear to be something like a friend's great-grandfather's diary of events in his life, assuming that they can be read that way is the quickest route to error a Christian can make (the second easiest is to apply personal beliefs and force the scriptures to support them). Ancient literature has to be understood as ancient literature, which means asking what the original writer meant and what his original audience understood -- only then can you get a clue what the meaning is.
Another word the church has traditionally used but that has not changed in meaning is "infallible", which means that in what the scriptures intend to convey they don't fail. As with Paul's writings, some sections are difficult, but they teach what God wanted taught. That is also biblical as it is just saying that the Word tells us what God wanted us to know.
And none of what God wanted us to know has anything to do with science, it always has to do with our relationship to Him.
So no, the Bible "isn't, in fact, the inerrant word of god" because it doesn't make that claim for itself, which means that for us to make that claim is likely to land us in false or useless teaching and, as Augustine of Hippo (African city back then) pointed out, making claims about the Bible that it doesn't make of itself can make us look foolish in the eyes of the world, and not foolish because of the Gospel.
As it pertains to this video, he's being led astray by the "inerrant" concept in its modern meaning, along with being wrong that the Creation stories were plagiarized -- I've read them in the originals and the differences are just too stark for them to be derivative, but the similarities are enough that they certainly came from a common source (someone down in the comments here posted a link to an excellent explanation of the actual situation; I should have bookmarked the talk but didn't -- I'm pretty sure it was on "Digital Hammurabi" on youtube [My Swiss stubborn streak took over; I found the video: ruclips.net/video/pU_CGxQlW6o/видео.html]). His failure comes from having NOT broken free of Jehovah's Witness teaching because he is still using their flawed view of the Bible as being "inerrant".
You are one of the best speakers I have heard. Such a passionate, captivating and thought provoking video. This views like a professional documentary series. I’ve subscribed. Thank you.
Thank you 😊
Excellent Harrison. When at University when younger I did similar research and what an eye- opener it provided. It was thrilling to hear my own research brought back to light on the site. Surprising, what some ' deep digging' can do. Superb. Thank you.
I find this channel fascinating. I follow a lot of ex-religion content, but rarely do I hear such a scholarly analysis of the Bible and creation myths. Thanks for the intelligent take. Btw, your voice is pleasant and even and your diction is excellent. Ever think of doing voiceover work?
Do you know the channel Dragons in Genesis? Worth checking out if you enjoy this channel.
1.ruclips.net/video/7d16CpWp-ok/видео.html
Lol "Humble".
Moses: Why I'm so Great!
A true life saver this is,👍
You clearly gave a lot of talks growing up, even after leaving the organization you carry the unmistakable speaking a style of a witness with you. It feels like I'm listening to talks from the platform again, just at the congregation for apostates this time. It's a strangely comforting feeling :)
Totally agree with this! Almost a nostalgic feeling listening to Harrison - except these talks I don't get fidgety and fall asleep to 🤣
It’s true, I wasn’t ever a JW but grew up in mainstream Christianity and he talks like a preacher!!
I took a class called “Old Testament” at the conservative Christian college that I attended. We were taught the Documentary Hypothesis. We were taught that there were two creation stories in the Bible. We were also taught that ancient Mesopotamian myth had influenced the Biblical writers. Of course, this was not a Jehovah’s Witness college.
I wish I could give a new thumbs up every time I rewatch this.🌙
Me too😆
You should also look into the Egyptian creation stories. They have the creator using the "word" or speech to create everything and humanity being made in the creator's image.
I'm not someone from JW but I have also read the bible... I can say that, if Moses have written the first five books in the bible, Why did he refer to himself in a third person POV?
Cause the Bible is God’s word, not Moses’. Referring to himself in third person solidified that fact. He’s a character in God’s world too.
That’s assuming it was actually written by Moses :)
@@Grandmaster_Dragonborn And one god constantly referring to himself in plural, conversing with his alter egos and even mentioning a council of gods, of whom he is the supreme one?
That is 2+2 being forced to equal -17.
Mental acrobatics to gaslight everyone out of the obvious and into the land of irrational religious fantasies.
Of course, the heavy irony in all this, is that the JWs abhor anything that they think is pagan inspired. What a conundrum.
Wow, Harrison. Great video. I learned so much about the 2 creation accounts within the context of history. Love that! Thanks so much!
Continue your preaching of true knowledge.
But the Truth is the the majority of people will rather take a spoon feed simple minded version because true critical thinking takes time and energy
🙏 Thank u
I think it takes more mental gymnastics to rationalize religion than it does to understand why it's just myth.
I've been curious about the different creation accounts ever since reading "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn back in high school. Your ability to make this level of scholarship accessible to lay people reveals your deep understanding of these topics. I am completely in awe.
I really appreciate that feedback, thank you Lisa :)
This was a great comparison of the creation myths. Thank you for your work.
4 months later and I'm still waiting for a new video. Please come back Harrison!!!
Wow...Your thoughts go so deep and your knowledge is incredible. I am completely transfixed
"Michael Jackson pre-dated The Vikings". I just cracked up. Awesome job man. Your research and presentations are astounding.
I appreciate that, thank you :)
Christians still believe that Columbus discovered America, despite irrefutable evidence that the Vikings beat them by hundreds of years and actually landed on the continent, not some Caribbean island. Because Pride and Tradition are more important than truth and fact.
When I was in college, I took a required class on the Bible (it was a Christian college). I remember asking about the two creation stories. My answer was that "When you have a doctoral degree in theology, then you can question the Bible." I never got around to asking about why this class was teaching Genesis while the Biology department was teaching evolution: it would have gone worse, I'm sure.
And back then, I was still a believer and legitimately trying to understand what I believed was the word of God.
Translation: Don't question the bible unless you are already at maximum indoctrination levels and will swallow whatever bilge you get fed.
That's what I get from that kind of response to such a simple question.
@@mwperk02 Deep down they must realize there are serious problems with the content of the bible.
Lol, I hate "religious schools", they should be banned. They employed a credentials fallacy as opposed to employing credible and proficient teachers..it disgusts me how they responded to you.
@@FactStorm I remember the school I went to, particularly in the early years, we would march around in our classes chanting "Jesus loves me, this I know. For the Bible tells me so." Looking back, a question I would like to ask is where does it say that? Apart from John 3:16.
@@reubenmanzo2054 A cult of sacrifice and narcissism. Tortured on a cross, and being instilled that this figure was a man-god who loves you eternally - because you are sooo special lol. Your prayers are answered, but not the ones of Ukrainian or Yemeni children. The hilarity behind religion..it just never ends.
Thank you for your channel. I am impressed by your scholarship. Interestingly, being raised Roman Catholic, there is much you discuss that I can relate to. Particularly the ploys used to maintain Power over the members of the cult. In Catholicism, control of the "forgiveness of sins" is the big gun, that had controlled Kings as well as peasants. Should the church really believe that it can forgive the pedophile priests in the name of Christ? Keep up the good work and I will continue to follow. Thanks
Yeah, the 30s war (among others) was fought because a handful of scholars realized that the Church literally has no power over forgiveness of sins. I’m a proud Protestant. (I’ve heard all the arguments in this video thoroughly refuted before if you wanna know why I stick to it)
@withlessAsbestos yup , the Catholic church has throughly refuted these claims as well as protestant false doctrine in its 2,000 yr history
This was articulated incredibly well. Thank you very much for the enlightenment!
I miss the previous intro - “Harrison C is no longer one of Jehovah’s Witnesses” - so powerful and emotionally evocative!!! Almost brought me to tears every time. I was instantly transported back to my JW mindset and reminded of all we feel and all we lose when we wake up. Please, PLEASE BRING THE OLD INTRO BACK!!!! 🙏🏼
I'm glad you like the other intro. My other intro will be used for topics pertaining exclusively to JW content 👍🏻
Very nice presentation and research! You touched on something I recently noticed - you mention the tree (singular) in the garden of eden. What's your take on there being 2 distinct trees? The 1st tree is the tree of Knowledge. But Adam and Eve are kicked out before they have a chance to eat from the tree of Life. As a JW, I never knew there were 2 trees.
@Its Me Definitely, and the point of the 2 trees, and the "reasons" given in Genesis about why the snake slithers and why women are under the man validate to me that the Bible is just a book of fairytales. Just made up stories. But I don't like shooting down the fairytales to good people that believe in it.
Yes, I was always very unclear about this as a JW - vaguely aware of it - yet choosing to burrow it away in the back of my brain in a file marked "Don't go there!" 😜
Adam and Eve were only told not to eat of the one tree in the middle of the garden. It follows that they could eat from the tree of life. When they were expelled from the garden presumably they lost access to it. Who knows...just a story anyway...but of course the details matter a great deal to our jw friends.
@@Rupunzelsawake Yes, that's not what I mentioned tho. Thanks!
My guess it that the Adam and Eve story was a smear campaign against eating mushrooms 🍄. It most likely wasn't a red apple, but the red cap mushroom that when ingested gives you god like enlightenment and an insight beyond what we see in daily life. 😉