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 | "The devil, whose business is to pervert the truth, mimics the exact circumstances of the Divine Sacraments...Thus he celebrates the oblation of bread, and brings in the symbol of the resurrection. Let us therefore acknowledge the craftiness of the devil, who copies certain things of those that be Divine." Tertullian, late 2nd century CE, commenting on the many similarities between Mithraism and Christianity. |
| "...are our..[beliefs] to be accounted myths and theirs [the Christians'] believed? What reasons do the Christians give for the distinctiveness of their beliefs? In truth, there is nothing at all unusual about what the Christians believe..." Celsus, late 2nd century CE, commenting on the similarities between the beliefs of Christians and followers of other religions. |
| "He who will not eat of my body and drink of my blood, so that he will be made one with me and I with him, the same shall not know salvation." An inscription to Mithras which parallels John 6:53-54. |
| "What profit has not that fable of Christ brought us!" A quote attributed to, but apparently not made by, Pope Leo X |
| "Jesus is a mythical figure in the tradition of pagan mythology and almost nothing in all of ancient literature would lead one to believe otherwise. Anyone wanting to believe Jesus lived and walked as a real live human being must do so despite the evidence, not because of it." C. Dennis McKinsey |
| "There is not a conception associated with Christ that is not common to some or all of the Savior cults of antiquity." J.M. Robertson |
Overview:
There are not many religious topics that are more controversial than that covered in this section.
| To many conservative Christians, the question is ridiculous;
it is not even worth investigating. Even this essay's title would
probably be considered to be blasphemy. They view the gospels, and the
rest of the Bible, as very different from ordinary books. They believe
that the gospels are the inerrant,
inspired
Word of God. Thus, nothing in the gospels could have originated in
myths from Pagan and other religions. The gospels describe Jesus' life, from his conception to ascension
to Heaven,
precisely as it unfolded circa 5 BCE to circa 30 CE. There
certainly were beliefs about Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and
other Pagan heroes, saviors and god-men circulating in 1st century
CE Palestine.
However, material in the gospels could not have come from those
sources. God inspired Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
in their writing, preventing them from making any errors.
The incorporation of legends from Pagan and other religions would not have
been possible. |
| To many very liberal Christians and post-Christians, the question is
definitely worth studying. Many non-Christian religions -- Pagan and
others -- permeated the Mediterranean region during the 1st
century CE. There were numerous male heroes, saviors and
god-men within Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Hindu, and other pantheons
of Gods whose lives had many points of similarities to Jesus. Of these,
the Egyptian God Horus probably had life
events attributed to him which were closest match to those of Jesus.
Yet, Horus was worshipped in Egypt thousands of years before the first
century CE when Jesus is believed to have been
ministering in Palestine. In order to compete with those religions, Christianity would have had to describe Jesus in terms that matched or surpassed the local myths, stories and legends. The authors of the gospels may well have picked up themes from other sources and added them to their writings in order to make Christianity more credible to a largely Greek/Pagan world. By peeling away such foreign material, they might be able to get a clearer picture of what Jesus taught and how he lived. By stripping away these accretions that have become attached to the life, story and teachings of Jesus, they might get closer to the historical Jesus.They can better understand his mission, and learn from his teachings. |
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Topics covered in this section:
| Introduction: were events in Jesus' life copied
from
others? |
| Similarities between Christianity and
Paganism; reasons; implications |
| Links between Jesus and
Semitic or Indo-European heroes |
| Links between Jesus and other god-men & saviors: |
Related menu in this web site:
| Search for the historical Jesus -- WWJL (What Was Jesus Like?) |
|
Home page > Christianity > Christian personalities > Jesus > here |
|
or Home page > Religious information > God > Jesus > here |
|
or Home page > Spirituality > God > Jesus > here
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