Question from Casey:
In a previous question about the birth of Christianity the answer detailed the many links between the story of Jesus and other ‘myths’. It was then suggested that the story of Jesus was stolen. My question, however is that if so many other ‘myths’ exist that are so similar doesn’t that imply that there is more truth to Jesus’s life as even non Christians are stating His story? All ‘myths’ tend to have a basis in truth. Just something to think about.
God Bless.
Answer by SmartLX:
The myth of centaurs has a basis in truth. The basis is that people have ridden horses for thousands of years, but not everyone has. Some tribes and races unfamiliar with horses, when seeing them ridden for the first time, have failed to immediately realise that the human riders were separate from their mounts, and identified the two as a single creature until they became familiar with the utility of horses.
The point is, just because you can easily see where the myth came from doesn’t mean that there was ever a real horse-man hybrid. Not even P.T. Barnum tried to fool anybody with that one, and he once exhibited a carefully crafted mermaid.
In the story of Jesus we see claims which have been repeated throughout history at the foundation of different religions, and this is the likely basis for the similarity of those claims. In what’s now known as the early-to-middle first century, there was definitely a group of people trying to convince everyone that their now-absent leader not only spoke for God but was God. They went about it in the usual manner of people in their position: they told a story which was amazing and yet satisfyingly well-aligned with prophecies and symbolic numbers (and I use “well-aligned” deliberately, given the possible Zodiac connections).
The fact that others had tried this before says little or nothing positive about the veracity of the claims about Jesus. It just tells us that his chroniclers might have been reassured by historical precedent that people would believe them.
Answer by Andrea:
The fact that the myth of the sun god Horus preceded the tales of Buddha, Christna, Jesus, etc. by about one to two thousand years shows that the latter myths all stemmed from one source.
The main reason the Christ mythology still survives today is because Christians had the luxury of slaughtering the opposition,e.g. the Crusades.
I don’t know that it is true that all myths tend to have a basis in truth. I have yet to see a jolly guy dressed in red drop presents down my chimney, for example.
Of course, you’re entitled to believe whatever you choose to believe — provided it doesn’t hurt anyone else or you don’t try to shove your beliefs down the throats of others. If your beliefs make you feel better, I’m all for it.
Thank you for your question.
Best,
Andrea
Tag: mythology
NT Historical, Or IsN’T Historical?
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.”