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Were the stories of Jesus' life copied
from the Egyptian God Horus' life?

The Eye of Horus

Quotations:

	"The Christian myths were first related of Horus or Osiris, who was the embodiment of divine goodness, wisdom, truth and purity...This was the greatest hero that ever lived in the mind of man -- not in the flesh -- the only hero to whom the miracles were natural because he was not human." Gerald Massey (1828-1907), poet, amateur Egyptologist, and author of "The Natural Genesis," 1
	"None of the attempts made by sceptics [sic] to demonstrate that Christianity is false because it contains alleged pagan elements is credible or convincing." Unidentified historian. 2
	A biblical qotation: Hosea 13:4: King James Version. "...I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me."   Young's Literal Translation: "And I [am] Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt, And a God besides Me thou dost not know, And a Saviour -- there is none save Me." Some interpret this passage as implying that Yahweh was originally an Egyptian pagan deity who the ancient Hebrews renamed and started worshiping while they were in Egypt. However, the usual interpretation of this passage is that the ancient Hebrews learned about Yahweh independently of the Egyptian polytheistic religion, when they were in exile in Egypt. They adopted him as their sole deity to be worshipped ever since.

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Overview:

Some skeptics have suggested that there was, in ancient times, a shared supply of religious myths circulating throughout much of the Mediterranean area, the Middle East and beyond. They suggest that ancient and modern religions have adopted material from these stories about heroes, saviors, and god-men.

Although their claims have been largely discredited, the Zeitgeist Movie resurrected them. In the following YouTube video, some of the alleged correspondences are listed, involving: Horus (Egyptian), Attis (Greek & Phrygia), Krishna (India), Dionysus (Greece), Mithra (Persia):

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One of the more controversial theories -- sometimes called the "copycat thesis" -- suggests  that many of the miracles, other life events, and beliefs about Horus -- an ancient Egyptian God -- were recycled and incorporated into stories about Jesus as recorded in Gospels and other books in the Christian Scriptures (New Testament).

The copycat thesis is strongly rejected by the vast majority of Christians but is accepted by many skeptics.

	Most conservative Christians look upon the Bible as a "top-down" document: one revealed by God to humans. Since fraud, deceit, and lying are not attributes normally associated with God, they believe that the Bible -- as God's Word -- is truthful, accurate, and without error.
	Many skeptics, secularists, religious liberals, etc. view the Bible as a "bottom-up" document: one written by human authors to promote their religious and spiritual beliefs. The believe that authors frequently adopted religious concepts of other cultures and incorporate them into their literary works.

A stalemate exists. Skeptical commentators claim that there are many parallels between the lives of Horus and Jesus; Christian commentators tend to deny the existence of most or all of them, looking upon them as coincidences or -- more likely -- as simple fabrications about the life of Horus.

Some skeptics may lose objectivity because they are motivated by a desire to weaken the claims of Christianity; Christians may lose objectivity because they don't want to admit that there such parallels could exist, because they would throw doubt on the accuracy of the Bible and the uniqueness of Yeshua of Nazareth (Jesus Christ) as God.

Topics covered in this section:

	Background material about Yeshua of Nazareth (Jesus Christ) and Horus, an Egyptian god
	Alleged comparisons between their two lives
	A point-by-point list of similar life events
	More life events, characteristics and teachings
	Debates about the validity of the "copycat thesis"

References used:

The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.

1. Gerald Massey, "The Natural Genesis," Black Classic Press, (Reissued 1998). Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store.
2. Anon, "Some notes on alleged parallels between Christianity and pagan religions, and a proof that Winstin [sic] Churchill did not exist!," Tektonics Apologetics Ministries, at: http://www.tektonics.org/
3. Zeitgeist
4. "Zeitgeistau," "Zeitgeist-Horus-Jesus Connection, " You Tube, 2010-FEB-16, at: https://youtu.be/

Copyright © 2004 to 2017 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance.
Originally written: 2004-APR-25
Latest update: 2017-FEB-28
Author: B.A. Robinson

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