Curly Raphino's Blog

Novel by Curly Raphino

Fire in the Ocean: A New Testament is the first installment of a three part series that accounts for God's true intentions for creating mankind (well, at least my interpretation). The story pairs Greek Mythology and prominent figures of Christianity to breathe a new life into the tale of creation. At the same time it explains the coming-of-age of the legendary King Triton of the sea. It's fantasy meets reality. Everything you thought you knew about Greek Mythology or...

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I don't want to be perceived as a "Bible basher" but there are tons of unclear discrepancies throughout the Holy Bible; from the inconceivable concept that we all originate from Adam and Eve to the immaculate conception of a living saint. Why have people so willingly accept these stories and never question them? This is partially the catalyst that led to my writing FIRE IN THE OCEAN: a New Testament. I was on a hunt for answers, and then it dawned on me to take a real close look at other...

Right click on the grid below and select "View Image" to view the actual chart.

* Notice the position of Hinduism and Judaism on the timeline.

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Christianity originated with Jesus of Nazareth, a Jewish prophet and teacher who was acknowledged to be the Son of God and certainly was regarded as such by his 12 disciples. Jesus is said to have been born sometime around 4 BC and died 30 AD. He preached in Israel during the time of Augustus, urging a purification of the Jewish religion that would free Israel and establish the kingdom of God on earth. He urged a moral code based on love, charity, and humility and he asked the faithful to...

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Judaism is perhaps the oldest religion on the earth tracing its beginnings back to Abram, whose name was later changed to Abraham. The roots of Judaism dates back to around 1800 B.C., when Abraham refused to worship the idols which were common during that period. He is considered by most Jews to be the first to believe and worship one God (monotheism). From him the Jews draw a line of descent that begins with his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel. Israel had...

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Hinduism has been categorized simply as the eternal religion (having no beginning and no end). According to historians, it origins back to 5,000 or more years (that is over 3,000 years before Jesus roamed the earth), making it the world's oldest extant religion. The word "Hindu" is derived from the name of the River Indus, which flows through northern India. In ancient times the river was called the Sindhu, but the Persians who migrated to India called the river Hindu, the land Hindustan and...

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The name Islam, is derived from the Arabic word "salam," which is often interpreted as meaning "peace" or "submission." The religion claimed to be the revelation of God (Allah) through the angel Jibril a.k.a. Gabriel to a man named Muhammad (pbuh). Muhammad was born in approximately 570-571 AD. He was born to the powerful tribe of the Quraish in Mekkah (Mecca), what we now call Saudi Arabia. His father's name was Abdullah. His mother's name was Aminah.

Abdullah was a merchant who made caravan...

[image error]The title Buddha means "Enlightened One" or "Awakened One."

Buddha was born Siddhattha Gautama around 565 B.C. in Lumbini (a town situated in modern Nepal, near the Indian border). His name means descendant of Gotama whose aims are achieved/who is efficacious in achieving aims. He later became the Buddha (Enlightened One or Awakened One). He is also commonly known as 'Shakyamuni' or 'Sakyamuni' (The sage of the Shakya clan) and as the Tathagata (thus come or thus gone).

Few of the details of...

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Buddhism was introduced from India into China in 6th Century AD. One of the Hen Emperors sent a mission to the west of China and brought back the scriptures, Indian monks and the images of Buddha. Since then Chinese translation was made available and the further exchange of scholars among China, India and other Asian countries brought about the rapid development of Buddhism in China. Buddhist monasteries and temples were built to promote the Buddhism and some of the Emperors were also the...

The scary fact about these god-men is that they all preceded Jesus Christ and Christianity on the world religion timeline; so they are not copycats. I'm only highlighting three on here, but there seems to be a long list of others influencing different cultures and faiths. So what do we really know?

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Zoroaster/Zarathustra of Persia

–Zoroaster was born of a virgin and "immaculate conception by a ray of divine reason."
–He was baptized in a river.
–In his youth he astounded wise men with his...