DrZoidberg
Contributor
Where did the Christian idea of a soul and it's eternal life in Heaven come from?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heaven_in_Christianity
It's not from Judaism. Since the soul goes to an end point and stays there is not a Hindu/Eastern idea.
So what do you guys think?
Could it be from Egyptian religion? I know that in Old Kingdom only the Pharao could enter into the realm of the gods. Over time this was democratized so that nobles could make it (Middle Kingdom) and then everybody (New Kingdom). Around the time of Jesus the ancient Egyptian idea of the afterlife sounds suspiciously similar to what became Christianity. Is that the source? I know that
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_conception_of_the_soul
I know that the cult of Isis was huge in the Roman empire, peaking a bit before Jesus came around. The cult of Isis is pretty much identical to Christianity, except that it was exclusive and not open to any convert. But otherwise exactly the same. But in spite of it's name, the cult of Isis has more in common with Greek religion than Egyptian. And Greeks did not believe in an afterlife like heaven, nor the soul.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mysteries_of_Isis
But it is interesting that early Christianity's conception of the afterlife is that your physical body will be resurected and will walk the Earth again. That too sounds quite Egyptian. It's not a neat fit though?
But then again, it could also have been from Zoroastrianism. Where angels and Satan came from. So we know there was a heavy influence of Zoroastrianism on Christianity.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroastrianism
What do you guys think? Am I completely off here? Do we know where it came from, and it was somewhere completely different?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heaven_in_Christianity
It's not from Judaism. Since the soul goes to an end point and stays there is not a Hindu/Eastern idea.
So what do you guys think?
Could it be from Egyptian religion? I know that in Old Kingdom only the Pharao could enter into the realm of the gods. Over time this was democratized so that nobles could make it (Middle Kingdom) and then everybody (New Kingdom). Around the time of Jesus the ancient Egyptian idea of the afterlife sounds suspiciously similar to what became Christianity. Is that the source? I know that
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_conception_of_the_soul
I know that the cult of Isis was huge in the Roman empire, peaking a bit before Jesus came around. The cult of Isis is pretty much identical to Christianity, except that it was exclusive and not open to any convert. But otherwise exactly the same. But in spite of it's name, the cult of Isis has more in common with Greek religion than Egyptian. And Greeks did not believe in an afterlife like heaven, nor the soul.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mysteries_of_Isis
But it is interesting that early Christianity's conception of the afterlife is that your physical body will be resurected and will walk the Earth again. That too sounds quite Egyptian. It's not a neat fit though?
But then again, it could also have been from Zoroastrianism. Where angels and Satan came from. So we know there was a heavy influence of Zoroastrianism on Christianity.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroastrianism
What do you guys think? Am I completely off here? Do we know where it came from, and it was somewhere completely different?