After watching the zeitgeist movie I have been curious as to the relationship between Jesus and the "Sun God." There were a lot of interesting points made, but it was rather bias. Do you know of any good literature that explains why Jesus is believed to be the Sun God and any literature that refutes this point of view? I want to learn about both sides of the issue here. I'm not a one-sided man. If you don't know of any literature, then web links are fine. It is just that I prefer books over the internet. Thank you.
And I have found some books on this topic but not many. Your input is greatly appreciated.
2007-10-04 06:17:18 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Well the LDS/Mormons believe that Christ visited others around the world that believed in Him after his Resurrection. This may have lead to a degradation of His visit to sun god status
I have linked the beginning of the account of Jesus' visit to the ancient American continent.
D
2007-10-04 06:27:14 · answer #1 · answered by Dionysus 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Try anything by the old mythographers .... Robert Graves, James Frazer, Walter Burkert.... they won't talk about Jesus, per se, because of the time period they lived in, but they will give you a really good idea about what a dying/returning god is, and then you can draw your own links. If you want a specific book about this topic, try: Jesus Mysteries by Freke and Gandy or writings by Earl Doherty, such as "THE JESUS PUZZLE: Did Christianity Begin with a Mythical Christ?" and "Challenging the Verdict"
As for stuff that refutes this point of view, I'm not sure about any BOOKS that specifically refute it (though there probably are some, and it may be included in the Lee Strobel "Case for Christ" books) -- I have also linked some websites below. Being well read on a subject is important, no matter which side you come down on.
One thing to keep in mind is that links between other dying god and sungod myths and the Jesus story might go either way (e.g. in some cases those myths were written down post-Christianity and drew from Christian ideas). Of course, in many cases the timelines will be rather clear on that.
2007-10-04 13:42:26 · answer #2 · answered by threskiorn 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
An objective way to study this is to research the "Sun God" myths and writing and Jesus first, or at least get a working comprehension of both. This way you will have a better basis to determine the validity of the side's arguments.
I currently don't have an opinion on whether or not there is a relation between Jesus and the sun god as it is a secondary issue, or meaningless until a Deity is actually indicated to exist or some reason to suspect that one does.
2007-10-04 13:24:52 · answer #3 · answered by Pirate AM™ 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Religion is far more than just the mythology it is based on.
I personally do not agree with the identification of Jesus with Helios. He would be more likely to be identified with Mithras, Apollo or even Dionysus in my opinion as I find more points of similarity between Jesus and those deities.
There is an essay by Sannion titled "The Ivy-Covered Cross" that addresses the similarities between Jesus and Dionysus. At the end of the essay, Sannion lists his sources.
2007-10-04 13:30:04 · answer #4 · answered by Anne Hatzakis 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The earliest Christians were Greeks and Hellenized Jews who were well acquainted with the beliefs and traditions of the many Mystery Religions of that time. Simply put, the earliest Christians were converted pagans and one of the arguments the early Church used to convert pagans was the numerical association Jesus Christ had with the the sun god Helios.
2007-10-04 13:21:22 · answer #5 · answered by Justsyd 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
It gets complicated: in some circles, the *imagery* of the sun, (and of light, and of dawn) is taken as perfectly appropriate to apply to Jesus as son. Spelling gets very important here, as well as separating imagery from myth.
The classic Chrismas carol "Hark the herald angels sing"
goes
" Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace,
Hail, the Sun of Righteousness
Light and life to all He brings,
Risen with healing in His Wings."
This is the Sun being applied to the Son, not the Son being a type of Sun-god.
That isn't to say the reverse can't, and hasn't, been proposed.
The reference below has Spurgeon (no less!) contemplating "Jesus as the sun..."
" ...brethren, if you would sun yourselves in Christ's beams, let me bid you reflect his light whenever you receive it...."
Amazing...
2007-10-04 13:38:09 · answer #6 · answered by Pedestal 42 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Jesus is not a sun god,he is the Son of God.
2007-10-04 13:23:55 · answer #7 · answered by elaine 30705 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
You might read the New Testament and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
As for the anti-religious publications, they are everywhere.
Peace!
2007-10-04 13:23:24 · answer #8 · answered by C 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Many similarities to Jesus' story and earlier story of Horus and Isis. The moral is similar. Check Egyptology sections of bookstores. & good luck.
2007-10-04 13:20:49 · answer #9 · answered by Goethe's Ghostwriter 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Sun = Son
sun god = god's son
Get it?
2007-10-04 13:20:00 · answer #10 · answered by DaveFrehley 3 · 2⤊ 2⤋