Question from Malachy:
What is your theory to how Christianity started? Was it a lie? was is a legend? Was it a Historical novel? and why. the more details the better.
Answer by Andrea:
Hi Malachy,
Before I did my research, I heard that Christianity started because the times were hard for the people and at the time all kinds of soothsayers and leaders arose to “save the people” (according to my World History prof). I figured Jesus was one of those guys though exceptionally charismatic — probably telling good jokes and was a ladies’ man as much as he was a man’s man.
However, as a result of some research I did two years ago, I accidentally stumbled upon the story of the Rosetta Stone, which was found in the Nile by Napoleon’s troops, and was a sort of ancient Egyptian dictionary that unlocked the mystery of why the temples in Egypt told the story of a man who was born of a Virgin, whose birth was announced by a star in the East, who had a halo and was followed about by 12 disciples, only to be later crucified, among other things. This story seemed so much like the story of Jesus – only it was documented in stone thousands of years before the Bible was even written.
Since I had never heard of this before, I did more research and found that many comparative mythologists were united in believing that the Jesus story was “plagiarized” from earlier sources. I was shocked that this information has never been made widely available, which is why I constructed a table at Presents for the Planet. Five predominant mythologies have been selected to compare with the Jesus story, though many others show the same or additional parallels with astonishing likenesses. The Krishna story, for example, has anywhere from 100 to 300 parallels to that of Jesus, depending on the historian’s reference documents.
This history provides an insight into what has embarrassed biblical scholars for centuries: Why a man capable of performing the most astounding miracles known to civilization was not mentioned other than in the Bible and derived religious writings. History documents a King Herod, but he died two years before Jesus was said to be born and there is no mention of the mass slaughter of infants the New Testament says he ordered. There is also no mention of a Jesus, a man said to be capable of walking on water, healing lepers or raising the dead.
Due to the vast amount of information, the table should by no means be considered to be complete. For example, there were over 50 messiahs centuries before Jesus who were recorded to be 1) born of virgins, 2) to save mankind, 3) only to later be crucified, and then 4) resurrected. The majority also had the following in common:
• They were associated with the sun for the simple fact that the sun is the savior of most life on Earth, chasing away darkness and bringing light and warmth. (Hence the solar disks or halos or around their heads, why the most sacred day of the week for many of these religions is “Sunday” and why the “Son of God” is really the “Sun of God.”)
• They were born on December 25. On this day, three days after the Winter Solstice when the days begin to lengthen, the sun’s rise Northward again becomes detectable, heralding the beginning of the sun’s return to its most productive state.
• Their births were announced by a star in the East because that is the direction of the rising sun.
• They all die and are resurrected—and usually on the Vernal Equinox, when the sun rises directly East and day an night are equal in hours. Often called Easter, this symbolizes the regeneration of the Earth. Easter is defined as the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox, the full moon making it an ideal time to hold celebrations.
• They are associated with a cross because it represents the division of the four seasons of the year. The circle often seen in the center of the cross represents the circular path of the sun.
• They had 12 disciples to symbolize the 12 signs of the Zodiac, as well as when the sun is highest: 12:00 noon.
• They underwent their transfigurations at around age 30 since people didn’t live as long back then, so mid-life crises came earlier.
• Like Horus and Jesus, they had gaps in their life histories from the age of 12 to 30. In Egyptian mythology, the age of 12 was one of the indices of transformation from the natural or unregenerate state of humanity into the spiritual kingdom, on the symbolic basis of puberty, change of voice and development of mind. And 30 was the index of completed perfection, type of the spiritual heyday in evolution.
• The following numbers found in the Old and New Testaments are also regularly injected in scriptures associated with the other various saviors: 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 10, 12, 24, 30, 40, 70 and 300.
• The circuit of their one-year journeys throughout the year are similar and considered by many historians to be an astronomical allegory for the sun’s annual passing through the Zodiac. For example, Jesus begins his journey to Galilee (which literally means “circuit”) by visiting John, who baptizes him with water (Aquarius, the water bearer) and then visits two fishermen (Pisces, the two fish). A couple months later Aaron made a golden calf for the Israelites to worship (Taurus, the bull). Skip up three-fourths of the year to the happy time of harvest and you find Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, after which he has a temper tantrum about the money changers, who pick up their scales and leave (Libra, the scales of justice), and the list goes on.
The similar story recurring throughout the ages makes sense since the ancients, whose lives depended on agriculture, had a vested interested in studying the night skies to determine the time of year to plant, harvest, etc., and correspondingly made up stories to provide a mnemonic device of sorts in order to impart this knowledge to future generations. (See Solar Mythology and the Jesus Story for a compilation of archaeological evidence correlating the rest of the zodiacal signs with Jesus and the other “saviors of mankind.”
9 thoughts on “NT Historical, Or IsN’T Historical?”
Comments are closed.
Wonderful! I knew the story of Jesus “borrowed” pretty much everything from previous religions and I knew about the connection to the sun, but I had never heard or thought about all the connections to the Zodiac. Absolutely fascinating.
Christianity and the 1st day has nothing to do with the Sun or a Sun divinity. The Jewish day we call Sunday is Yom Ree-Shon. Nothing to do with the Sun. As for ‘Son of God = Sun of God” you are aware that similarity only works in English aren’t you?
-The tradition that Jesus was born on December 25 emerged hundreds of years after the creation of Christianity. As you should know the gospels indicate Jesus was born in spring.
-There is no record of any star being associated with Horus birth. Sorry.
– None of the diety’s on your list ever are recorded to have died or been resurrected, or have 12 disciples. No peer-reviewed research has ever noted this, or sources provided. It is an internet myth. It belongs along with creationism as a serious suggestion.
Hi Don,
Thank you for your email. Before you make a statement that something isn’t true, however, you might actually want to do some research first.
There ARE peer-reviewed studies on the evidence that Jesus was actually derived from the “Sun of God” (see the journal the Review of Religious Research, for one).
Regarding the “sun of god” translation into English, have you ever listened to how the Arabic word for “sun” is pronounced? It’s pronouced “djay-shoos” which in turns sounds like the “Yay-soos” used in the germanic language, meaning… Jesus.
Re the star in the East: If there is no star associated with the birth of Horus, why do the hieroglyphics at the temple at Luxor (Egypt) show a star in the East in combination with a halo-endowed baby?
As for the gospels, who knows what they all say. Not only were there documented to be at least 64 of them (which the religious writers all threw out but four), but they regularly contradict each other.
Re the Dec. 25 birthdate: It is well-known the people who wanted to replace Paganism with Christianity used the same holidays in order to make the transition easier and look more credible.
Regarding 12 disciples, there are multiple sources that document Horus, Mithras and Buddha having them. Regarding resurrection, all of them were said to have risen after death, along with at least 50 other “saviors” noted in historical artifacts.
You didn’t say what your credentials are, but would you mind my asking where you have the authority or get the data to negate the assertions of scores of scholars of comparative mythology?
(For a list of these scholars noticing the hundreds of similarities between the Jesus story and ancient mythologies, please go to the following link: http://truthbeknown.com/zeitgeistsources.html).
Also, I’m sorry if the facts makes you uncomfortable. But please remember, just because you don’t want to believe it, doesn’t mean you can write it off as an Internet hoax. This knowledge was around long before there were even computers, let alone an Internet. And if more people realized the truth of these middle-eastern-stemming religions, it would help us to make some inroads on all the problems plaguing this world. The secular countries prove that a rational approach is conducive to helping to solve the problems of society.
Best,
Andrea
PS I must also disagree with your assertion that creationism is a “serious suggestion.” What’s seriously credible about a story where the actual historical, archaeological, chemical, physical, geological and biological facts not only don’t support its major tenets, but disprove them?
Andrea, I think what we have here is a moderately liberal, or at the very least old-earth, Christian who thinks the idea of a cobbled-together Jesus myth is as silly as young-earth creationism.
Otherwise, nice one.
I asked mythicist scholar D.M. Murdock for her response to the contentions by Don above.
She responded via her website at FreethoughtNation.com as follows:
“1) Christianity and the 1st day has nothing to do with the Sun or a Sun divinity. The Jewish day we call Sunday is Yom Ree-Shon. Nothing to do with the Sun.
2) As for ‘Son of God = Sun of God” you are aware that similarity only works in English aren’t you?
3) The tradition that Jesus was born on December 25 emerged hundreds of years after the creation of Christianity. As you should know the gospels indicate Jesus was born in spring.
4) There is no record of any star being associated with Horus birth. Sorry.
5) None of the diety’s on your list ever are recorded to have died or been resurrected, or have 12 disciples.
6) No peer-reviewed research has ever noted this, or sources provided. It is an internet myth. It belongs along with creationism as a serious suggestion.
Needless to say, this person does not know what s/he is talking about. All s/he has done is rip a few things out of context and, making strawman arguments, batted them around. His/her knowledge of the subject is shallow indeed.
1. Christianity most certainly does have much to do with the sun, and the placement of its day of worship on SUN-day has to do with Paganism, not Judaism. If it were following the Jewish calendar, the Christian holy-day would have been place on Saturn-day. These are modern “English” designations but they are based on their originals many centuries ago in the pre-Christian world. Regardless, the solar connection to Christianity does not begin or end with this most obvious aspect. His/her glomming onto this spurious argument as if it debunks the entire body of research is a further reflection of his/her ignorance of the subject matter at hand.
The solar connection to Christian has been known for centuries, as exemplified by this quote from Thomas Paine:
Quote:
“The fable of Christ and his twelve apostles…is a parody of the sun and the twelve signs of the Zodiac, copied from the ancient religions of the Eastern world…. Every thing told of Christ has reference to the sun. His reported resurrection is at sunrise, and that on the first day of the week; that is, on the day anciently dedicated to the sun, and from thence called Sunday…”
Thomas Paine, The Complete Religious and Theological Works of Thomas Paine (382)
My many writings prove this connection between Christianity and the sun, including the ebook Jesus as the Sun throughout History. The knowledge of Christianity’s connection to solar mythology is well understood by churchmen themselves, as they built their churches oriented to the sun and other celestial phenomena. I have recently written about this orientation in an article “Archaeologist: American churches astronomically aligned.” To say that Christianity has nothing to do with the sun is frankly disingenuous and, again, ignorant. As we can see, there is simply no truth to this person’s contention.
2. No one has made any claim about the words “son” and “sun” being cognates in English or any other language. The critic’s remark again shows that s/he is very ignorant of the subject matter and is simply raising yet another straw man. You can find much about this “son-sun” debate in my “Rebuttal to Dr. Chris Forbes,” as well as elsewhere, such as at my forum and in my “ZEITGEIST Sourcebook.”
3. We are all well aware of the fact that “Christmas” was not overtly connected with Christ until the third and fourth centuries. However, in the New Testament, John the Baptist is represented as having been born six months before Jesus (Lk 1:36), with the adult John making the strange remark, “He must increase, so I must decrease.” (Jn 3:30)
Subsequently, St. John’s Day was placed on June 24th, six months before the supposed birth of Christ. John is thus the summer sun, while Jesus is the winter sun – precisely the same roles of the beheaded Anubis the Purifier and Osiris the KRST (see my book Christ in Egypt). This scripture itself is an indication that the creators of the Christian myth were aware of the Pagan solar savior’s birth at the winter solstice, a festival dating back thousands of years and celebrated abundantly around the Roman Empire and beyond.
Regardless of when it was incorporated into Christianity, the fact is that Christmas is a Pagan solar celebration taken over by Christianity – a tendency that did not begin or end with this one festival. Indeed, as I say, John the Baptist’s feast day was placed on the summer solstice, and, as even Wiki relates, “The Nativity of St John the Baptist is one of the oldest festivals of the Christian church.”
4. This contention is absolutely false, sorry, and it reveals once again that this individual has absolutely no idea what s/he is talking about. I have written extensively about this subject as well, including many pages in my book Christ in Egypt, which is excerpted in my article “The Star in the East and Three Kings.” A simple Google search would have revealed that fact. You can also find some of this information in my “Rebuttal to Dr. Chris Forbes,” under # 10.
5. I don’t know what list s/he is referring to, but the fact will remain that several gods and goddesses died and resurrected. One simple myth that many people know will debunk this false contention easily: The Greek goddess Persephone or Kore is taken into the underworld, after which the earth suffers the death of winter, until she is released in the spring, bringing life and salvation back to the planet. There are many more like this one, including the constant death and resurrection of Osiris. In the writings of Diodorus Siculus from the first century BCE, Horus is depicted has being killed and resurrected, as you can also find in my “ZEITGEIST Sourcebook” or “Rebuttal to Forbes.” I discuss this subject concerning the deaths and resurrections of the Egyptian gods extensively also in my book Christ in Egypt, in a chapter entitled “Burial for Three Days, Resurrection and Ascension.”
Many ancient gods and goddesses have also had 12 disciples, followers, helpers or were otherwise associated with the number 12. Again, I have discussed this subject in depth in my books and websites, but this individual pretending to be an expert doesn’t know any of those facts. In my book CIE, I have a long chapter entitled, “The Twelve Followers.” I have also created an enormous list of the 12 theme in my forum thread entitled, “The Twelve in the Bible and Ancient Mythology.”
6. “No peer-reviewed research has ever noted this”
This person’s writing is bad and vague, so I don’t know what “this” is, but I’ll assume s/he is referring to Jesus mythicism and the scholarship showing Jesus to be the sun. If s/he had actually studied the subject, s/he would know that MANY highly qualified scholars in a variety of relevant fields over the centuries have put forth much material on these subjects.
In fact, the issue was so popular that a number of American Founding Fathers engaged in mythicist thinking. The numerous quotations I have provided in my books in a wide variety of languages using research dating back thousands of years to the most modern research readily disprove this false contention. I have also provided more pointed articles, such as “What is a Mythicist?” and “The History of Mythicism,” which demonstrate that those involved in this field have been quite erudite and credentialed.
The rest of his/her claim is equally false: “It is an internet myth. It belongs along with creationism as a serious suggestion.” Again, only someone who doesn’t know the subject matter in any significant depth would make such claims. Indeed, his/her remarks themselves should be classified with creationism, as they have been shown here to be false, unscientific and poorly researched.
As we can see, scanning a few encyclopedia entries and reading Christian apologist websites does not make one an expert on this subject.”
_________________
http://www.TruthBeKnown.com
http://www.StellarHousePublishing.com
http://www.FreethoughtNation.com
Here is a revised answer to Don’s statements with mythicist scholar D.M. Murdock:
http://freethoughtnation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=23130#p23130
“Krishna and Buddha have nothing to do with Jesus”
This post is in response to the claim that the Jesus story has “absolutely nothing to do with Krishna or Buddha.” As we can see, this assertion is based on ignorance of the scholarship within academic circles both in the U.S. and Europe, which I believe I demonstrated quite abundantly in my book Suns of God: Krishna, Buddha and Christ Unveiled.
Nevertheless, many more sources of this material can be found, for example the following…
In the chapter entitled, “Infancy Parallels” in his book Buddha & Christ: Nativity Stories and Indian Traditions, volume LX of the scholarly series Studies in the History of Religions, published by the academic publisher E.J. Brill in 1993, professor at the University of Notre Dame Dr. Zacharias P. Thundy writes:
“It is possible that Matthew incorporated elements from the Krishna story into the Buddhist story and judaized his version in order to proclaim the superiority of Jesus as the leader and king of the new religious movement.” (123)
From this discussion it is obvious that those who are making such claims about Krishna and Buddha having nothing to do with Jesus have not studied the issue in depth and do not know what they are talking about, as mainstream scholarship has repeatedly examined this issue over the past centuries. Indeed, these “Big Three” have been the basis of much study within the field of comparative religion and mythology. The blithe dismissal of this massive body of work is the mark of a rank amateur.
_________________
http://www.TruthBeKnown.com
http://www.StellarHousePublishing.com
http://www.FreethoughtNation.com
From Meg via email:
I was reading through the answer by Andrea and I noticed that Aaron and the golden calf were mentioned as occuring in the same year as Jesus and his diciples. Aaron built the calf a couple of centuries earlier, after Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt (i.e. Jesus was not yet around). I was just wondering where Andrea got this information? Or maybe I read it wrong. Feel free to correct me if I did.
From Andrea, who was having login trouble:
Hello,
Sorry for the delay in response.
You’re right about the golden calf story. I should have noted that Taurus the Bull, From April 20-May 20, represents that Bulls are needed for plowing and tilling the fields. According to http://www.usbible.com/astrology/gospel_zodiac.htm
The bulls are his disciples.
1.Sermon on Mission (Matt. 10:1-42). Jesus tells his disciples what they need to do to add followers.
2.The disciples go out to their cities to preach the message (Matt. 11:1).
3.John the Baptist is a bull of a different breed (Matt.11:2-19).
4.Jesus reproaches unrepentant towns (Matt.11:20-24).
5.There is still much work to be done. It’s time to take the yoke off and rest.
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matt.11:28-30).
6.Taurus covers Matt. 10:1-11:30.
Hope that clears things up.
Best,
Andrea