Harry Potter is a Jesus Figure.

Honestly, it's been a while since I read any of the books. Page 1 book 1 was amazing, page 2 was going down hill fast, and the trend continued from there.

Anyway, that said I get ticked off at most vampire fiction for being blasphemous to the vampire mythology as well. So I might be tougher on this than most people would expect.

It is ignorant to compare the Bible to fiction.
I am not defending it as a wholy accurate work.
But as historical record, it has been proven factual a significant number of times. It is simply an ignorant comparison no mater how you cut it.

If you want to understand Harry Potter and Jesus I suggest you start by reading this:

One need not look far to find quotes like the following:

Prominent archaeologists and Egyptologists dispute the existence of Moses as well as the veracity of the Exodus story, citing logical inconsistencies, new archaeological evidence, historical evidence, and related origin myths in Canaanite culture.[3][4][5]

PBS recently did an excellent program on why Moses was probably a fictional character made up during the Jews' time in Babylon. He was created to give hope to a conquered people. You can probably find the program on-line at PBS.org. There is nothing in Egyptian history about Jews as pyramid building slaves or their escape with Moses, and the Egyptians kept very good records of their victories as well as their defeats.

Precisely.

I suspect that 300o years from now scholars will question whether or not the mythical figure of Barack Obama actually existed.

I have no faith in the Bible as the inerrant word of God and prefer that we understand history as accurately as we can, but why do I find the usual suspects so seemingly gleeful over the prospect that the Bible is wrong and Moses didn't exist?

Whatever value the Bible has and whatever value the story of Moses and the Israelites exodus from Egypt has, it is not in terms of historical accuracy.

The notion that the Bible is the actual word of God is untenable. Are we to believe that not only did God inspire the original authors, but all the subsequent translators as well? And what of contradictions in the text?

What I find quite unappealing is the intense desire of self-professed rationalists to undermine the obviously irrational beliefs of others.

First of all, they are not going to believe neither you, nor PBS nor all of these so-called scholars who deny Moses existed.

Secondly, what harm is caused by their believing Moses existed and the Bible is the Word of God?

Did y'all tell your kids when they were two years old that there was no Santa Claus or Easter Bunny?

Please don't give me the argument that numerous crimes over the ages have been committed by people who profess to be Christian and who believe the Bible is the Word of God.

That argument implies that you believe your neighbor down the street who believes Moses existed and that the Bible is the Word of God needs to be disabused of his or her irrational beliefs before they can commit a heinous act based upon them.

No matter what you personally believe relative to religion, no argument can be made that religion has not been a beneficial influence on society. You can, of course, argue that religion has had a malevolent influence as well, but then do any of you believe that anything (other than religion and war) is all good or all bad?

Isn't this the essence of your rationalism, that we should not view the world in absolute terms?

The concept of tolerance, which you seem to worship, is not limited to sexual practices and political notions.

Presumably you don't need to find members of your sex to be attractive to tolerate homosexuality. Somehow, it seems, you can't find tolerance for religious (i.e. Judeo/Christian) beliefs which you don't share.

Tolerance implies that the source is in some way upsetting or off kilter. No one tolerates a belief which they share.

Examine your own intolerance.

BTW - Harry Potter is certainly not a "Jesus Figure;" nor is he a "Christ Figure."

You're kidding, right?

There's also nothing in the Bible about Jews building a pyramid.
Many of pyramids predate Abraham claimed father of the Jews.

Also a good reason to create a story doesn't make it a fact. That would mean everyone who has motive is a murderer. Doesn't quite follow.

Honestly, I haven't looked into the Egyptian history all the well, but I suspect if the story of Moses is true the most likely time this could have occurred would have been during the Assyrian occupation, simply because there is a lack of Egyptian records of the Jews and this time of change might have cause some loss of the records.

I still strongly suspect no mater whether or not Moses existed: the Jews did not build the pyramids. I see no Biblical or archeological evidence to make such an assumption.

Very much not kidding.
I'm not saying I believe it all.
But it is ignorant to make it out to be a fiction.
Aside from all the documentable Jewish history it contains such as the Babylonian captivity, Roman occupation, etc... The Bible has spawned three major religions whether or not any or all of these religions are accurate you have to explain why you don't see religions popping up around other fictional works.

*Note: Star Wars has actually caused the rise of an actual religion of the Jedi, not hugely popular. But interestingly enough Star Wars is itself largely based on the Gospel of Thomas and some other eastern religions, but the Gospel of Thomas is one of the books cut from the Bible, so it almost gains a forth religion right there.

You are one of the most delusional individuals i've seen around here in a long time, and that's saying a great deal.

So are you going to answer my question or just huff about it?
Here they are again for you.
[quote]Is that because there are major differences between turning a man into a toad, spinning wheat into gold and changing water into wine?
What would those be?
If someone walked on water but someone else flew overhead on a broom, which one wasn't using magic?

The only difference between buying a Bible and buying a Harry Potter is that we are honestly told we are buying fiction when we buy one of them. [/quote]

Please explain either the physical properties that are engaged in changing water into wine and a man into a toad or the magical ones. Is it done by manipulating the chromosomal order, for example, or is there a mystical infusion of grapeness forced into the H2O?

Is the man's spirit animal replaced or is there a use of reactivated DNA segments employed to cause the bumpy skin and bulging eyes to appear?

Joe(Did the talking snake speak with a lisp?)Nation

Some persons think nothing at all of trashing a person's posts simply because they are liberals. Never mind that the liberal is sincere in their belief. But the same persons take umbrage at someone who disputes religious beliefs, because it is not nice to tell the religious that you disagree with them. (p-tooey). If a person puts up a notion for public discussion, one should not assume they want to be humored. Who would that help?

Some persons do find the Liberal mindset to be generally synonymous with sanctimonious conceit, but they respond to posts they identify as being more the latter than the former.

Some persons may genuinely be interested in the historical accuracy of the Bible for nothing more than intellectual curiosity, and anyone who is, they need not protest too much.

Some persons undeniably contend that the motivation behind other person's contention that Moses didn't actually exist is far more ideological than academic.

Those persons who consider themselves academics rather than ideologues should either directly defend themselves, or take a chill pill.

Those that post twaddle ought to take a time out.

"Some people... some people like cupcakes exclusively, while myself, I say There is naught nor ought there be nothing so exalted on the face of gods grey Earth as that prince of foods... the muffin! "

Frank Zappa - "Muffin Man"

Who's harry Potter?