
Specific life events shared by
Jesus and another
god-man
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Life events shared by Jesus and another god-man:
There are numerous god-men in the ancient Mediterranean area and Middle East.
There are many stories that appear both in Jesus'
biography and in the legends of another god-man:
-
Mother's pregnancy: It was a common belief among early
Christians that Mary was pregnant for only seven months. This legend
is preserved in the Gospel of the Hebrews. Although this
gospel was widely used by early Christians, it was never accepted into
the official canon. Semele, mother of Dionysus, was also believed to
have had a 7 month pregnancy.
-
Virgin birth: Author William Harwood has written that Jesus'
"equation in Greek eyes with the resurrected savior-god
Dionysos led an interpolator to insert a virgin-birth myth into the
gospel now known as Matthew." 1
-
Birth Witnesses:
-
The gospel of Matthew records that Jesus was visited by an
unknown number of wise
men, called Magi.
-
Authors Freke & Gandy identify them as followers of the god man Mithras
from Persia. 4
-
Most other sources believe that they were Zoroastrian
priests from Persia who were experts in astrology. There is a
Zoroastrian belief "that a son of Zoroaster will be
born many years after his death by a virgin...This son will
apparantly [sic] raise the dead and crush the forces of evil.
Later Christians got rather excited about this apparant [sic] pagan
prophecy of the coming of the Messiah..." 2
- The gospel of Luke records that Jesus was visited by three
shepherds. Mithra the god man from Persia was also visited shortly
after birth by three
shepherds.
-
The magi brought gold, frankincense and myrrh. A Pagan belief
from the 6th century BCE states
that these are the precise materials to use when worshiping God.
-
Healing: Jesus is recorded throughout the gospels as healing
the sick and restoring the dead to life. So was Asclepius, a Greek
god man. Pagans and early Christians debated who was the more effective
healer.
-
Ministry: Jesus appeared as a wandering holy man who is later
transfigured in the presence of some of his disciples. Dionysus was
portrayed in the same manner in Euripides' play The Bacchae, written
in 410 BCE.
-
Miracles:
- Both Jesus and Empedocles were recorded as teaching spiritual
truths, curing illness, foretelling the future, controlling the
wind and rain, and raising people from the dead.
-
Both Mithra and Jesus performed many healings of the sick and
mentally ill; both raised the dead. 3
- Mark, chapter 5 describes Jesus driving demons from a man into a herd of
about 2,000 pigs who rushed over a cliff and drowned. In Eleusis,
about 2,000 initiates would bathe in the sea. Each had a young pig
to which the believers' sins would be transferred. The pigs were
then chased over a chasm and killed.
-
Fishing: John 21:11 records that Jesus performed a miracle
which enabled Simon Peter to catch exactly 153 fish. The Pagan
Pythagoras considered 153 a sacred number. The ratio of 153 to 265 was
referred to by the Pagan Archimedes as "the measure of the
fish." That ratio is used to generate a fish-like shape using
two circles. The sign of the fish was used by the early Christians as
their main symbol.
-
Arrest:
- Both Dionysus and Jesus celebrated a Last Supper with his 12 disciples before his
death.
-
Dionysus is described in Euripides' play The
Bacchae as bringing a new religion to the people, being plotted
against by the leaders, being arrested and appearing before the
political ruler. Dionysus said to his captors "You know not
what you are doing..," almost replicating Jesus' words at the
cross. He was unjustly accused and executed. All of these themes are
seen in the Gospels.
-
Crucifixion & resurrection:
- Jesus' body was wrapped in linen and anointed with myrrh and
aloe. Osiris was also said to have been wrapped in linen and
anointed with myrrh.
Again, the god men myths had been circulating well before Jesus birth.
The Christians would have copied earlier Pagan material, not vice-versa. Author Kersey Graves wrote a book in 1875 titled "The World's Sixteen Crucified
Saviors." It lists 346 "striking
analogies between Christ and Chrishna." A selection of the
precise matches between Yeshua's and Krishna's life is listed
in a separate essay.
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The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above
essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
-
William Harwood, "Mythology's last gods: Yahweh and Jesus,"
Prometheus Books (1992), Page 257. Read
reviews or order this book safely from the Amazon.com online bookstore
-
Rev. Phil Greetham, "3: Where did our Magi come from?"
at: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/
-
"Mithra," Barbara G. Walker, "The Woman's
encyclopedia of myths and secrets," Harper & Row, (1996), Pages
663 to 665. Read
reviews or order this book
-
Timothy Freke & Peter Gandy, "The Jesus Mysteries: Was the 'Original
Jesus' a Pagan God?," Thorsons, (1999). Read
reviews or order this book
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Copyright © 1999 to 2008 by Ontario Consultants on
Religious Tolerance.
Originally written: 1999-NOV-14
Latest update: 2008-DEC-21
Author: B.A. Robinson

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