Which Greek legend had the most influence on Christianity?

Question

Occasionally parallels are made between Greek legends and the Holy Bible scriptures.

Do you feel that any particular Greek legend had more of an effect on Christianity as we know it today than the others?

Answer 1

I'd say Prometheus.

Here's god who is son of the main sky god Zeus. He comes down to earth to give mankind a gift, but as a result he's nailed to a wall until he dies, only to be resurrected to the right hand of his father Zeus by his will.

Sound familiar?

And what language was the New Testament first written in again?

Answer 2

Hi, Pagan:

Protestants have shed most pagan myths adopted by Catholics to help pagans become Christians. But they fail on one point.

You will recall that in Greek Mythology Hades was separated from the living world by the River Styx. According to the Fables, Achilles was dipped in that river and immortalized except for his heel.

The Hades concept of Hell was accepted a couple centuries before Jesus by the Jews. Its influence is found in the book of Maccabees, too. That is the reason Jesus taught the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. He was not teaching a pagan doctrine, but just used it go get a point across, that if someone was raised from the dead, they would not believe the truth because they rejected Moses and the Prophets.

In Hebrew teachings, the dead go to the grave. Survivors scraped the bones of the deceased and placed them in stone boxes (Ossury) to await the resurrection when God calls forth the redeemed from the graves.

I hold to that school, too as Jesus said there was two resurrections, one for the righteous, and one for the damned--you don't want to be in that group, because they are burnt up and suffer the "second death."

More on this as the Bible code is cracked at http://abiblecode.tripod.com

Shalom, peace in Jesus, Ben Yeshua

Answer 3

I think Egyptian myths had more of an impact:

Just look at the 'life story' of just ONE of the mythical beings whose story PREDATES (I can't emphasize that enough) Jesus's, and see how many similarities there are. Keep in mind that no Christian believes that this mythical being (the Egyptian man-god Horus) ever actually existed.

Take note, there are more than a couple of similarities--therefore this is a l-o-n-g list:

===================

A comparison of Horus and Jesus:

BOTH conceived by a virgin.
BOTH were the only begotten son of a god.
BOTH mothers had similar names (Meri and Mary).
BOTH foster fathers had similar names (Jo-Seph and Joseph).
BOTH foster fathers were of royal descent.
BOTH had their births announced by an angel to the mother.
BOTH births were heralded by a star.
BOTH births were/are celebrated in late December.
BOTH had shepherds witness the birth.
BOTH had three visitors bring gifts later on.
BOTH had their death threatened in infancy (by Herut and Herod), and are divinely warned to flee to protect the child.
BOTH had rite of passage rituals at the age of 12.
BOTH are missing details about their life between the ages of 12 and 30.
BOTH were baptized at 30 years of age.
BOTH of their 'baptizers' were later beheaded.
BOTH were taken from a desert up to a high mountain to be tempted by their respective arch-rivals (Sut/Set and Satan).
BOTH resist the above temptation.
BOTH had twelve primary disciples.
BOTH walked on water.
BOTH cast out demons.
BOTH healed the sick.
BOTH restored sight to the blind.
BOTH ordered the sea in similar ways ("He stilled the seas with his power" and "Peace, be still").
BOTH raised someone from the dead (Osiris and Lazarus).
BOTH were transfigured on a mountain.
BOTH had a Sermon on the Mount.
BOTH were killed by crucifixion.
BOTH were killed next to two thieves.
BOTH descended into Hell, only to resurrect after a few days.
BOTH had their resurrection announced by women.
BOTH myths say that they will return to rule for 1,000 years at some point in the future.

Now, the above list is with me LEAVING OUT the wordier parts. So, Christians--how can you dismiss out of hand such a STAGGERING number of parallels? How can any Christian be so arrogant as to say "well, we're right and they're wrong," when the myths are almost exactly the same, barring insignificant details? Even many of the names are similarly spelled!

Answer 4

No because Christianity is a continuation of the Jewish religion under the new covenant that God established through Jesus Christ. Back when the Greeks were going around claiming that the earth rested on the shoulders of a Giant named Atlas God had already told us...

Job 26:7 He stretches out the north over the void and hangs the earth on nothing. 8 He binds up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not split open under them.

Answer 5

Definitely Dionysus and Orpheus. For more information pls check the following links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jesus_Mysteries
http://egodeath.com/bensonmysteryrels.htm
http://www.christian-thinktank.com/copycatwho2.html
http://www.frontline-apologetics.com/mystery_religions_early_christianity.htm
http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/pr/pr06.htm

On the other hand the Greek philosopher who influenced the formation of the early Christian theology was Plotinus.

Answer 6

All of them. Roman legend too...and Pagan, and *insert valid religion of your choice here*

Christianity is basically a bastardization of many religious practices...it borrowed from all of them.

Answer 7

Alexander the Great.

Answer 8

The resurection of the Phoenix is like the resurection of Jesus.

Answer 9

Thier flood story is pretty close