The Claim: “Jesus was a mythical figure. The New Testament stole most of its stories from other ancient sources.”
"The Truth: These claims gained a lot of popularity thanks to the 2007 propaganda film “Zeitgeist” and its articulation of the Jesus myth hypothesis.WellSpentJourney is an interesting blog; give them some traffic if you're interested!
It turns out that the “facts” presented in the image above are almost entirely fabricated. I was able to refute most of them in about thirty minutes of searching on academic websites:
Horus
His mother (Isis) wasn’t a virgin. Isis married her brother (Osiris) and conceived Horus with him. There’s no historical reference to a “star in the east,” or to Horus “walking on water.” Those are simply made up. Horus was never crucified or resurrected. Actually, he never even died! The story is that he “merged” with the sun god, Ra.
Mithra
By most accounts, Mithra was born in either September or October. There’s no historical account of Mithra having twelve disciples. That part is also made up. Mithra wasn’t said to have been born of a virgin, but rather out of solid rock. There’s no known record of a resurrection (or even of him having died).
Krishna
Krishna was from the royal family Mathura, and was the 8th son of Devaki and her husband Vasudeva. There is no mention of a “star in the east” or a resurrection in the literature. There are some references to him performing miracles, but that’s about it…
Dionysus
He wasn’t born of a virgin. His mother was Semele (a mortal), and his father was Zeus. Dionysus died each winter and was resurrected in the spring. No mention of December 25. There are plenty of references to Dionysus turning water into wine…but he was, after all, the Greek god of wine.
(Note: if any of the above is incomplete or inaccurate, please let me know.)
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And wouldn't you know that Atheists would get their information from a movie.
3 comments:
Yeah, Bart Ehrman has a good book on this as well called "Did Jesus Exist?"
Perfect for us busy laymen. Not too long, not too academic, just right. I've read Richard Carrier's (a mythicist) response to Ehrman and all he could do was nitpick around the edges, like with typos and a few facts that were wrong but do not change anything essential when corrected.
And me with my book budget completely burnt up. I need a bail out.
(Link: http://www.equip.org/articles/was-the-new-testament-influenced-by-pagan-religions/)
Was The New Testament Influenced by Pagan Religions?
Ronald Nash
For a longer investigation:
Lee Strobel is a former atheist and hard-bitten investigative reporter.
The Case for the Real Jesus
© 2007 Lee Strobel
ISBN 978-0-310-29201-2 (softcover)
pp. 157-187
Challenge #4
"CHRISTIANITY'S BELIEFS ABOUT JESUS WERE COPIED FROM PAGAN RELIGIONS"
References for further investigation:
Komoszewski, J. Ed, M. James Sawyer, and Daniel B. Wallace. Reinventing Jesus. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel, 2006
Machen, J. Gresham. The Virgin Birth of Christ. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 1965, reprint of Harper & Row edition, 1930.
Mettinger, Tryggve N. D. The Riddle of Resurrection. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 2001.
Metzger, Bruce. Historical and Literary Studies: Pagan, Jewish and Christian. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1968.
Nash, Ronald H. The Gospel and the Greeks. Phillipsburg, N.J.: second edition, 2003.
Wagner, Günter. Pauline Baptism and the Pagan Mysteries. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1967.
Yamauchi, Edwin M. Persia and the Bible. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 1996.
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