Husky,
I don't think we can say that european is heroic versus a decadent, sinful Semitic; Semitic is not that different in type from european, only that there was reversal in the contact zone of Semitic and euro (Extreme Northwest Semitic- judah). Both are notable in that they lack the yogic Tapasya element seen to the East of Baluchistan, as pointed out by Kazanas.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->http://www.bibleorigins.net/ChristOriginsM...msAllegory.html
......Jewish scholars who have studied the origins of Christianity have noted that it was NOT born of the Old Testament, it was born of Hellenized Judaism. Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire ca. 333 BCE; over a period of some 300 to 400 years, Greek metaphysical thought about God, and man's relationship with him, came to influence certain individuals, quarters and sects of Judaism. Christianity, then, arose from Hellenized Judaism, a form of Judaism which had come to accept certain Greek metaphysical views about God and man. Some sects of Judaism were less "Hellenized" than others.
An important NEW concept was introduced to Hellenized Judaism via the Greeks, the employment of "Greek Allegory" to derive NEWÂ MEANINGS FROM ANCIENT TEXTS. The Christians, however were not the first to employ Greek allegory, they were preceeded by earlier Hellenized Jewish efforts. In Alexandria, Egypt, a Hellenized Jew, called Philo, attempted to reconcile Jewish scriptures with current Greek metaphysical thought. He did this via the employment of Greek allegory. His work, which survives, quotes various verses from the Old Testament, and then re-interprets these verses as reflecting Greek metaphysical concepts.
So, the Christians did NOT "invent" allegory as a methodology by which to derive new meanings of ancient texts (the Old Testament), they merely "utilized allegory," which by thier time, was regarded by certain sects of Hellenized Judaism as a "legitimate device or procedure" to derive a different interpretation of God's intent for his people, and mankind.
...
Conclusions:
<b>Christianity arose from Hellenized Judaism. It's re-interpretations of the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament, employed "Allegory," </b>which allowed a different reading of the ancient texts, a reading that opposed earlier readings by main-stream Judaism as understood and defended by the Rabbis of the first and second centuries A.D.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Asherah poles in Biblical archaeology
Some Biblical archaeologists have suggested that until the 6th century BC the Jewish people had household shrines, or at least figurines, of Asherah, which are strikingly common in the archaeological remains; many of these seem to make clear that Asherah was seen as Yahweh's (i.e. God's) wife [3]. .....link<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->In studying the i<b>nscriptions from Kuntillet Ajrud, Ze'ev Meshel </b>and others have held that in the blessings <b>"by YHWH of Samaria/Teman and His/its asherah,"</b> the term asherah refers to the cultic object of that name and not to the goddess Asherah.<1> The plausibility of this interpretation, I believe, is enhanced by a practice of late Second Temple times in which YHWH and a personified cult object are addressed in the same breath. link<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I don't think we can say that european is heroic versus a decadent, sinful Semitic; Semitic is not that different in type from european, only that there was reversal in the contact zone of Semitic and euro (Extreme Northwest Semitic- judah). Both are notable in that they lack the yogic Tapasya element seen to the East of Baluchistan, as pointed out by Kazanas.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->http://www.bibleorigins.net/ChristOriginsM...msAllegory.html
......Jewish scholars who have studied the origins of Christianity have noted that it was NOT born of the Old Testament, it was born of Hellenized Judaism. Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire ca. 333 BCE; over a period of some 300 to 400 years, Greek metaphysical thought about God, and man's relationship with him, came to influence certain individuals, quarters and sects of Judaism. Christianity, then, arose from Hellenized Judaism, a form of Judaism which had come to accept certain Greek metaphysical views about God and man. Some sects of Judaism were less "Hellenized" than others.
An important NEW concept was introduced to Hellenized Judaism via the Greeks, the employment of "Greek Allegory" to derive NEWÂ MEANINGS FROM ANCIENT TEXTS. The Christians, however were not the first to employ Greek allegory, they were preceeded by earlier Hellenized Jewish efforts. In Alexandria, Egypt, a Hellenized Jew, called Philo, attempted to reconcile Jewish scriptures with current Greek metaphysical thought. He did this via the employment of Greek allegory. His work, which survives, quotes various verses from the Old Testament, and then re-interprets these verses as reflecting Greek metaphysical concepts.
So, the Christians did NOT "invent" allegory as a methodology by which to derive new meanings of ancient texts (the Old Testament), they merely "utilized allegory," which by thier time, was regarded by certain sects of Hellenized Judaism as a "legitimate device or procedure" to derive a different interpretation of God's intent for his people, and mankind.
...
Conclusions:
<b>Christianity arose from Hellenized Judaism. It's re-interpretations of the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament, employed "Allegory," </b>which allowed a different reading of the ancient texts, a reading that opposed earlier readings by main-stream Judaism as understood and defended by the Rabbis of the first and second centuries A.D.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Asherah poles in Biblical archaeology
Some Biblical archaeologists have suggested that until the 6th century BC the Jewish people had household shrines, or at least figurines, of Asherah, which are strikingly common in the archaeological remains; many of these seem to make clear that Asherah was seen as Yahweh's (i.e. God's) wife [3]. .....link<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->In studying the i<b>nscriptions from Kuntillet Ajrud, Ze'ev Meshel </b>and others have held that in the blessings <b>"by YHWH of Samaria/Teman and His/its asherah,"</b> the term asherah refers to the cultic object of that name and not to the goddess Asherah.<1> The plausibility of this interpretation, I believe, is enhanced by a practice of late Second Temple times in which YHWH and a personified cult object are addressed in the same breath. link<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->