I remember its been theorized (or proven) that the myth of Cyclops comes from a person finding a mammoth skull. So, probably informed lots of mythologies.
elephant skull!
Same shit nerd
Edit for a /s I’m just being silly
Pretty sure they used to think elephant skulls were cyclops’ skulls…
Dragons
Dragons, giants, monsters, that sort of thing. They weren’t entirely wrong.
I mean, other than breathing fire, the difference between a particularly large pterosaur and a dragon mostly down to the shape of the head.
Specific theologies believe dinosaur bones were planted in the earth by satan to affront God.
Never met anyone in the flesh who actually believed this
My dad did.
It was the most infuriating shit ever, even when I asked him why would God allow Satan to create something so perfect as to deceive billions of people with evidence baked into the deception that cannot be contravened by any method known to man, his response was it’s just to test your faith.
To which I countered, if God sent me to hell for believing that dinosaurs existed, then he’s not a good God. And to which my dad replied, that’s blasphemy.
And don’t get me wrong, I am a Christian. I believe in Jesus, I believe in God. I actually believe in all of the major religions, but I lean towards Christianity personally, but there has to be some rationality, some understanding that human beings can rely on because God gave us the brains to think rationally and to consider what’s directly in front of us for what it is.
If you have to willfully be stupid and believe lies in order to go to heaven, then why would God make smart people that want to see the truth?
Hence, the Elect. You don’t have to believe anything - if you’re the Elect, you’ll go to heaven. Everyone else gets eternal damnation.
I don’t think I believe in the elect the way I’ve seen it presented because too many people present the idea of the elect like no matter what they do, they could fire bomb orphans and they’re still going to heaven, they’re the elect.
There’s no way it works that way.
If you were one of the elect the only fire you would be bringing to an orphan is the fire of a home-cooked meal or a fireplace for Christmas or something because you have invited them into your home so that they won’t be an orphan anymore.
If there is an elect, they’re gonna be like Mr. Rogers, or at least approaching Mr. Rogers.
Joe Bob Dingus, the local alcoholic racist that goes to church four times a year, is not going to be the elect.
