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):
3
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.
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/
Zeitgeist
"Zeitgeistau," "Zeitgeist-Horus-Jesus Connection, " You Tube, 2010-FEB-16, at: https://youtu.be/