How much of Christianity is based on Paganism?

Hippie love involved penetration and"if it feels good, do it", whereas the Buddha was thinking more about what later Chritianity stole and made up the concept of AGAPE

Those verses are saying how we are suppose to be.
Today it seems to be mostly for profit.

And maybe they did not pick up the idea from Babylon. For one thing, the Babylonians were apparently not much in the habit of forgiving their political enemies: the Jews and other submitted tribes remained in exile there for decades, until Babylon was finally toppled by the Persians and the Jews and others were finally allowed to move back to whence they came from.

There's no way to tell. The only things we can be reasonably certain of is that Jesus was a Jew, learnt stuff that other Jewish boys learnt at the time, and that this idea to love one's enemy did not seem to form part of the curriculum. Which is my reasoning for saying it is original.

As for the Romans, their mercy towards the vanquished was about smart politics. That's how they won so much influence: by co-opting their former enemies. That's a conqueror's mercy, only available to the vanquished. Not a moral premise but a Machiavellian precept. (If only Bush could have done the same with Saddam' army in Iraq instead of disbanding it, post-invasion Iraq would have been more manageable.)

Another aspect which I find rather original in Christianity is the importance (originally) given to women, and more generally the downtrodden and the outcast. Again, it's not like nobody had ever mixed religion and females before, but it was the first time in the Jewish tradition that one placed such a strong emphasis on half of the world, and on the poor. This original feminism went down the chute quite quickly. The idea that the poor will inherit the earth - the beatitudes - remained.

Some of the spirit of the beatitudes was already in Hillel (He who exalts himself shall be abused, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted), which is why I believe he was a likely influence of Jesus.

You seem to agree with the Ecclesiastes: "nothing new under the sun". I think that's a bit too facile. There ARE new ideas that crop up, once in a long while, and to me it is important to pay credit where it is due.

Lets not blame this on your mates now Mick.

Correct me if I'm wrong, and I'm sure you will, but after reading these comments the main gist is that Christianity DID take ideas and practices from other religions and belief systems. The Christians then twisted and manipulated these ideas to suit their own needs making in effect a new religion. Because this new religion then became unrecognisable from it's roots the origins are now irrelevant.

The topic heading is 'how much of Christianity is based on paganism?' So I think you are missing the point of the discussion. Answer the question. Don't try to cover up the origins of your religion by saying how irrelevant it is because it is not the same as the religions and beliefs it took it's ideas from anymore. Is it based on paganism or isn't it?

Your lips to God's ears . . . How do you suppose that might work out?

     FM, you are talking just to avoid getting asleep. Where in the Christianity have you seen human, dogs' and cats' sacrifices? In the same way I may start claiming that the Big Bang is taking human sacrifices ... by trying to brainwash the people's minds to infinity, converting them into infinite density or s.th.

It's based 100% of various amounts of stupidity, gullibility and cowardice.

Christianity main base is the religion of the Hebrews.

After centuries following this Hebrew's religion, the leaders of Christianity decided to separate themselves from Judaism.

In order to do so, the Christianity movement opted to accept in different ways the pagan customs of the peoples in order to acquire more followers.

This was practically "predicted" by Yeshu (Jesus) in one of his parables, where he compared the "Church" as a woman who added leaven -false doctrines, paganism- to the flour -Torah, The Prophets, and The Writings- until the whole mass was leavened.

And this paganism has reached even the most Orthodox Synagogue, where the followers "touch with one hand the Torah and with that same hand they touch their lips". This is a pagan ritual acquired by the belief that the Torah existed before the creation of the universe (???!). They interpret it as touching the word of God and put it on their lips, the same as well Christians interpret the kissing of the cross as loving the sacrifice of the Messiah for humanity.

At the end, their own interpretation of their paganism makes them blind to see what are they doing and justify their idolatry.

I think It's important to look at God from a fresh perspective, not bathed in human tradition.

Actually it's not. What's really important is to recognize when you are making irrational assumptions.

Like what?

As humans, we have never succeeded in that. So tell us. What sort of divine revelation are you offering?

It's based on Judaism, which is based on Paganism. So yes.

Throughout the centuries, whenever God has set his people on the right path, they have wasted little time in deviating from it. So historical judaism and nominal christianity are completely permeated with pagan doctrine.

God created paganism too, didn't He?

Spell god with lower case 'g' and you will be correct.
Two competing forces are identified in Genesis, ch 3.

Genesis is series of pagan texts. El is the father of Yahweh, these sorts of things.

You will have to show me where it says that.

In the Canaanite pantheon, El (one of the Hebrew words used for God meaning "Might Strength and Power", and was often used to depict a sovereign) was the father of Yam, also known as Yaw, and not Yahweh. Etymologically, the two names have completely different roots but I understand it to be a common mistake.