Solar reverence is the key point of Zoroastrianism, the monotheistic religion practiced in ancient Persia and points east.The Crow wrote:Necessity is the mother of invention. With or without any real "christ figure" to base their beliefs on they naturally turned to the one thing they observed daily, the sky. In my opinion and mine only the "Sun" played a central role.
Zoroastrianism greatly influenced Judaism, during the Babylonian exile, therefore, some influence on subsequent thinkers, coming from that background, should be expected. So, I agree with your assessment about a central role for celestial observations influencing theological discussions, in ancient times.
David Hindley's rejoinder, clarifying the Greek, a few pages back, is excellent, and should be a sticky! The daimon business is critical, in my opinion, and many thanks for clarifying the correct interpretation--not an evil spirit.
MaryHelena's arguments are not only valid, but interesting, and just as worthy of discussion, as Stephan's beloved theories about "Secret Mark". Be not put off, MH, by SH's attempted belittling.
I agree, (for once) with Peter Kirby's suggestion on the need to reduce the insulting, and focus more on the issues.
Carrier's legend about the utility of employing the race horse method to study of early history is simply false, in my opinion. Flashing numbers around may impress those unfamiliar with mathematics. Using numbers to assure validity of false input, is completely meaningless, in the context of fraud and fabrication of ancient documents. Analogy: would the race horse specialist have developed a meaningful equation, had he been given results that were deliberately erroneous? Tacitus' forgery suffices as illustration.
Thanks Robert Tulip for patience in the face of so many naysayers. Well done. I agree with almost every word MrMacSon writes. Thank you Thor for the link to Tertullian.
Just a terrific thread, with so many first class submissions. Really a joy to encounter. Thanks to all.