The Holy Ghost

[Heimdall]

This and others that I will be posting are rather lengthy and, to some, boring. I wrote these and posted them on another website, where they have either bumfuzzled or enraged the Christ Cultists. I present them as more ammo to fight the evil cult with - Heimdall

 

It has been pointed out, in the past on this forum, how Christianity stole certain details from earlier religions and assigned them to their man-god (Virgin Birth, Slaughter of the Innocents, visits by Shepherds and Wise Men, Crucifixion, Resurrection among others). This isn’t all that the religion has taken from older religions, the first that I will address is the so-called Holy Ghost:

The Holy Ghost in the Christian Scripture is the agent of Christ's conception, because, as Matthew declares, he was conceived by the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost was also the regenerating agent at his baptism, although Luke, who relates it, does not say why the Holy Spirit in the form of a bird, alighted and sat upon his head. The reason is nevertheless fully disclosed in the older mythical religions. Christians claim baptism imparts a new spiritual life—they are born again. This new spirit appeared as a dove or a pigeon.

In Luke 3:22, the Holy Ghost descended as a dove and lit on Jesus’ head at his baptism. The appearance of the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove is a very ancient pagan tradition, a dove being the uniform emblem of the Holy Spirit/Ghost in India. It stood as the third member of the Trinity and was the regeneratory power. Under the Brahminical belief system, a person being baptized was said to be reborn or born into the spirit.

In several Eastern religions, the Holy Ghost was the third member of the Trinity. The notion of a third deity in the godhead was diffused among the nations of the world. Father, Son and Holy Ghost or Father, Word, and Holy Ghost (as seen in 1 John 5:7) express the divine triad in a great many of the ancient religions.

The third member of these ancient triads (including the Christian one) the Holy Ghost member is not of equal rank with the other two. In the Theban Trinity, Khonso was inferior to Arion and Mant and in the Hindu triad; Siva was subordinate to Brahma and Vishnu. The Holy Ghost concept embraced by Christianity seems to correspondence exactly with these older ideas. Always third in rank after the Father and Son, it is basically the “worker bee” doing all the work and getting very little worship for it. Today, Christians seldom address it in devotion, perhaps because it isn’t too diligent in it’s work, look at the mess it made with Biblical infallibility.

 

In Hindu traditions, the Holy Ghost is the Holy Breath that moved on the face of the waters at creation and imparted vitality/life to everything created. Psalms 33:6, much later, expressed a similar concept. The Brahminical conception of creation by the Divine Breath, the Holy Ghost, which was breathed into Adam to make him a living soul. The Prana or principle of life of the Hindus is the breath of life by which the Brahma, the Creator, animates the clay to make man a living soul. Holy Ghost, Holy Breath and Holy Wind were equivalent terms for the sigh from the mouth of the Supreme God, as laid down in pagan traditions. The Holy Wind is suggested by the mighty rushing wind from heaven which filled the house on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:2). The Holy Wind is an accepted term for the Holy Ghost in ancient religions. The doxology, reported by a missionary, in the religious service of the Syrian church runs thus:

Praise to the Holy Spiritual Wind, which is the Holy Ghost;

Praise to the three persons which are one true God.

 

The Hebrew Ruh Elohim, translated Spirit of God (Gen. 1:2) in our version, is literally, Wind of the Gods. The word Pneuma, of the Greek New Testament, is sometimes translated Ghost and sometimes Wind, as suited the fancy of the translators. In John 3:5 the word is Spirit, in verse eight both Wind and Spirit, and in Luke 1:35 the term is Holy Ghost—all translated from the same word. In the Greek Testament the word Pneuma is used for Spirit, Holy Ghost, breathe and Wind so that in the Christian Scriptures they are synonymous. An unwarranted license has been assumed by translators in rendering the same word different ways – M. Maghee, “Christian Myths”

In Acts 2:3, the Holy Ghost appears as a tongue of fire, which sat upon each of the apostles, over 1000 years prior, Buddha was often seen with a glory or tongue of fire upon his head. This visible form of the Holy Ghost was readily accepted by Buddhists, Persians, Druids, Etrurians and Chaldeans, long before the inception of Christianity (and in at least two cases prior to the birth of Judaism). Since the Holy Ghost was (when visible) in the form of fire or a dove and always accompanied by wisdom and power; the Hindus, Persians and Chaldeans made offerings to fire, one of the emblems of the Holy Ghost.

Holy men of God, like some of the prophets, are considered inspired by the Holy Ghost (2 Peter 1:21; Acts 28:25). The ancient Celts were moved by the Holy Ghost and also claimed that their Salic laws (seventy-two in number) were inspired by the Salo Ghost or Holy Ghost, known also as the Wisdom of the Spirit, or the Voice of the Spirit.

The Holy Ghost imparted by the laying on of hands is also an ancient custom. By the putting hands on the head of the candidate, the Celts conveyed the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit

 

In 2 Peter 1:21 and Acts 28:25, holy men of God are considered inspired by the Holy g Ghost. The ancient Celts were moved by the Holy Ghost and claimed their Salic laws (72 in number) were inspired by the Salo Ghost or Holy Ghost a.k.a. the Wisdom of the Spirit or the Voice of the Spirit. The Celts imparted the Holy Ghost to another by the laying on of hands, in the same manner as the Christians at a later time.

Baptism by or into the Holy Ghost is also traceable to a very ancient period. The Etrurians, baptized by fire, wind and water. Baptism to the Father was with fire, to the Son was with water and to the Holy Ghost was with breath; the candidate was taken before the priest, who named him before the sacred fire, he was sprinkled with holy water for the Son and then the priest blew his breath upon the candidate to transfer the Holy Ghost, thus baptizing by air (spiritus sanctus), a very common custom among the ancient religions.

As in Matthew 1:18, the Holy Ghost is seen by many more ancient religions as the agent of divine conception or the procreation of other Gods. An example in Hindu mythos, Sakya was conceived by the Holy Ghost Nara-am.

Many of the ancient scholars mention the concept of both the Holy Ghost and the Trinity (which I will comment on in another posting after I finish my research); Manetho tells us that Sesostris of Egypt asked the oracle: “Tell me, O thou strong in fire! who before me could subjugate all things, and who shall after me ?” the oracle answered him, “First God, then the Word, and with them the Spirit.” This was over 300 years prior to the birth of Jesus. Plutarch, in “Life of Numa” confirms that the incarnation of the Holy Spirit was known both to the ancient Romans and Egyptians. This doctrine was nearly universal.

We can easily trace the tradition of the Holy Ghost to the Brahminical trifold conception of God; the first being the Godhead or God of power Brahma or Brahm, as the Father, the second is the god of creation, the Word (answering to John 1:3 but centuries prior to John’s writings), and third the Holy Spirit or Ghost, the living, vital, life-giving agent.

The Holy Ghost in the Christian Scripture is the agent of Christ's conception, because, as Matthew declares, he was conceived by the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost was also the regenerating agent at his baptism, although Luke, who relates it, does not say why the Holy Spirit in the form of a bird, alighted and sat upon his head. The reason is nevertheless fully disclosed in the older mythical religions. Christians claim baptism imparts a new spiritual life—they are born again. This new spirit appeared as a dove or a pigeon.

As you can see, the concept of a Holy Ghost and a Trinity is not new to the ancients and the nascent Christianity in its scramble to achieve respectability “borrowed” this concept from much older and better established religions.

[Mythra]

I can't figure how anyone could be bored by these subjects. They immediately turn a christian from an attack dog into a sputtering, stuttering apologist trying to rationalize an answer.

 

"Pnuema". Air. As in pneumatic tires. Same word is translated into "breath", "wind", and "Holy Ghost"???? You gotta be shittin me.

 

And I used to gobble the bible like candy. DUMB SHIT DUMB SHIT DUMB SHIT

 

See ya later. I got a flat tire on my car and I gotta get it patched and holy spirit it up.

[Antlerman]

I remember being a sincere and hungry young Christian many years ago asking myself questions as I read the new testament, why so many of the things in the new testament seemed so foreign to the old testament. I trusted the more experienced Christians as they tried to explain how these are all prophesied of in the Old Testament, and they would show me versus, which even then seemed pretty obscure to me. However I trusted they knew something I didn't.

 

I really love these looks at history! It makes infinitely more sense then anything that came out of the Christian apologetic community. Thanks for the above.

[dulce]

I would love to print that out and give it to my soon to be ex. He is still caught up in pentecost. But I can already hear the response. The typical ignorant, "They think they know what they believe/believed, but they are/were deceived."

Sometimes I think it's just a losing battle.

[Clearview]

See ya later.  I got a flat tire on my car and I gotta get it patched and holy spirit it up.

 

That's a bummer. All of my tires are spirit-filled.

[DaveL]

Excellent post Heimdal,

 

It bugs me how Chrisitians claim the Holy Spirit is unique to their cause. Your post has confirmed my suspicions on this. Well done!

 

I've been pondering this stuff alot lately. There's one thing that still puzzles me though. Is being possessed by the Holy Spirit just a psychological state or type of hypnosis caused by human conditioning? I'm off to do a bit of reading on the psychological aspects.

 

Cheers,

 

Dave

[Christopher Carrion]

Absolutely superb post, and the phenomena of external mythological/religious "influence" upon the inimical stories of the bible goes further than even this. The earliest book of the bible, "Genesis" is essentially a forcible reinterpretation of various Ancient Mesopotomian and Sumerian cultural fables, ranging from the notion of the Garden of Eden, to Adam and Eve (both of which are names derived from the Ancient Mesopotamian creation myth), to the Noahic flood and the deswtruction of Soddom and Gomorragh. Probably most damning of all are the origins of the biblical notion of "God" itself, which is essentially a hap-hazard mish mash of various Ancient Mesopotamian deities, most significant of which is El, who was the lord and father of the Ancient Mesopotamian pantheon, and Yahweh who was an angry and vengeful warrior-god who eventually broke away from the traditional pantheon to foster a highly intolerant and insular monotheistic cult of his own. You see where this is leading? Historically speaking, biblical and religion and all of its descendents are little more than products of a Yahweh cult, a God who himself derives from a mythology Christians would deride as "pagan" (polytheistic) and therefore "evil".

 

Hell is also a concept of highly dubious origin. Several pre-existing mythologies seem to have contributed here, including (once again) the Ancient Mesopotamians, who had a very definite idea of a morally polarised "after life", Ancient Nordic mythology (from which the very word "Hell" is derived: "Hel" was a female Goddess in Nordic mythology who presided over the world of the dead), Ancient Greek mythology (Tartarus more or less IS the Christian Hell), and even Ancient Sumerian folk lore from which the basic notion of "Satan" is derived ("Shaitan" is an ancient Sumerian God, whose name quite literally means "the thinker" or "the rebel", both of which concepts were inherently linked in Shaitan's original culture).

 

Furthermore, it seems that many of those preconceptions inherent to Christian faith in its modern incarnation were transformed, adapted and even incorporated into the original faith long after its inception as its adherents spread across the world, conquering new lands and incorporating aspects of their indigenous cultures into itself. Did you know, for example, that the modern image of "the devil" as a sub-human, horned and goat-legged man-beast is a product of Christian invaders forcibly interpreting aspects of my ancestral Celtic mythology to coincide with their own beliefs? When Christians first arrived on these shores, they worshipped many "heathen " (literally, "people of the heath") ceremonies and rituals dedicated to the old Celtic Gods. One of these Gods was Carnun; the horned god who presided over beasts, death and decay. He was not a negative God; in point of fact he was often portrayed as extremely jovial, and his ceremonies often involved lots of feasting, music and naked dancing. Furthermore, the adherents of his cult were traditionally women. Of course, the Christians just saw a bunch of witches worshipping the devil and engaging in debased and "carnal" (see where that comes from?) acts. It is from here that Christians derived the notion of the witches "Sabbat", the goat-iconography so commonly associated with bad ol' poppa Satan, and more than likely the very notion of "Witches" as we understand the concept in the modern West.

 

History is fun.

[Mike D]

But I can already hear the response.  The typical ignorant, "They think they know what they believe/believed, but they are/were deceived."

Sometimes I think it's just a losing battle.

Every time I have tried to show a Christian how Christianity evolved from other ancient religions, they usually respond claiming that it was the other way around, those other religions borrowed and/or copied from Christianity. How do you argue with that?

 

BTW, great post hemidall.

[shakinshoog]

great post

[Antlerman]

I would love to print that out and give it to my soon to be ex.  He is still caught up in pentecost.  But I can already hear the response.  The typical ignorant, "They think they know what they believe/believed, but they are/were deceived."

Sometimes I think it's just a losing battle.

I would suggest giving him a book on logic and highlight the section about circular reasoning. If he is in the least bit sincere, he'd learn more about his faith in one read, than a whole year of his oneness teachings. Tell him an ex-upc'er said that.

 

BTW, when I was studying that crap I felt justified questioning their teachings because if it was of God, it would stand up to examination. It did not.

[-Demona-]

Heimdall, simply fantastic, as always. I love your writings. Do you have them all archived on a webpage?

[Heimdall]

Do you have them all archived on a webpage?

Unfortunately not, that is one reason that I am posting them here. This gives all of you the ammuntion against the "Evil Empire" that I call the Christ Cult - Heimdall