Why are there so many similarities between the story of Jesus and Other Pagan Gods who predated Him?

Question

I have been trying to learn about the history of the early church, and when reading about the Gnostics, (1st century Christians) I discovered that they actually believed in a metaphorical savior, not a literal one. This led me to explore earlier beliefs and I learned that almost all dietys from early pagan religions have a Jesus like story in them. See the link below for a list.

http://www.egyptcx.netfirms.com/major_teachings_jesus_pagan.htm

Just wondering how Christians account for this?

Please don't invoke the devil clause, unless you have to because these religions predated Christianity and in some cases Judaism.

neil s - No Predating is the flirting that occurs before the guts are gathered to ask for a date.

NELL - the Dead sea scrolls have shown that large parts of the OT and NT have actually been dramatically changed to provide room for Jesus to fulfill prophesy... http://www.egyptcx.netfirms.com/dead_sea_scrolls_deception.htm

notyou31 - The virgin birth and Assumption stories were actually around long before the early Christians or even the Jews. Ancient Egyptians believed in a God who became man, born of a virgin who was killed for their sins so they could obtain eternal life. He ascended to heaven to become one with RA. Strikingly familiar to the Jesus story.

It All Matters - I am sorry I touched a nerve. Christians like you with your defensive insults are creating Atheists daily, keep it up.

John E - Great stuff, I am looking into it right now. The author of the link listed above seems to have done quite a bit of research, but could have been fooled by the internet... Thanks. I'll check it out. What about the similarities between Krishna, Buddha etc...?

Answer 1

The obvious answer is that Jesus is just an amalgam of pre-existing ideas.

...a picture is worth 1000 words:

http://altreligion.about.com/library/weekly/aa052902b.htm

http://altreligion.about.com/library/graphics/bl_saviors.htm

You can find equally amazing similarities between ancient art of Orpheus (the good shepherd) and Jesus, as well as Bacchus and Jesus.

Answer 2

God who created the heavens also created in heavens prophecies. There is a difference between prophecy and telling your own future.

Luke 21:25 "There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars..."


If it sounds strange to you that all these stories seem the same then their roots can be traced to one source. Perhaps that source is a long ago prophet who listened to God. Prophesied and children of children made their own stories about this. Just look at the common Easter practices today. Most people don't know where dying Easter eggs come from. They have no clue but the original meaning was lost (at least in the united states.)

I recommend this website:

http://www.bethlehemstar.net/

Answer 3

Just to let you know, Judaism was the first religion, when Abraham and his son separated, one forming Islam, the other, Judaism.

As for the similarities between Jesus' life and the pagan myths, I'm not sure. What i do know, is that in the old testament, there were hundreds of prophecies predicting the Messiah's birth, life, death, and resurrection. Jesus fit every one of those requirements.

The odds of just anyone doing that is comparable to filling the entire state of Texas with 3 inches of quarters, tossing a colored coin somewhere in the mass of quarters, then telling a blind person to pick out the colored quarter on their first try.

In other words, next to impossible.

The bible was written over a period of thousands of years, by over 40 different people. Yet it does not have any discords.

That is what I know.

(if you want more info, email me at [e-mail])

Answer 4

The early Christians realized that they would need a way to convert the Greeks and Romans who believed that gods could copulate with human beings. That's why they made up the story of the virgin birth and the assumption.

Answer 5

If you study ancient religions there are very strong parallels between the bible and Koran with an religion based in Egypt that pre dated the Pharaohs. I'm not saying Jesus or Mohamed were not real just stating a little known fact is all!

Answer 6

Because a lot of the Christian faith and beliefs were "stolen" from Pagan religion. An interesting tidbit would be the Gilgamesh Epic (and many other flood epics that are easily comparable to the Noah's Arc story).

Keep on studying and learning! Good question!

Answer 7

Well, generally, the similarities Strengthen the case for general thesism, that there is a god, but other things were added in to the record for the gain of people, but greatly discredits the specific thesism (E.g. Christianity)

Answer 8

Watch this movie!! It explains EVERYTHING you are asking. Early religions, i.e. Horus, are actually personifying the sun... not an actual person. !2 constellations= 12 disciples, Virgin Mary= Virgo the Virgin, Dead for 3 days and resurrected= the sun appears to be disappearing up until Dec. 22. It is stationary for 3 days, and begins to rise again on December 25, i.e. Jesus's birth day. The sun is also in the house of the Southern Cross (Crux) then= Jesus died on the cross. Just please watch the video!!! Here is the link!

http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/

Answer 9

If you read every detail about every pagan god, you will find just as many, if not more, similarities between your own life and those of the stories. That's what you get when you only look at the similarities.

Answer 10

New twist on an old theme. If you cant beat them, kill them or convert them, then just make their holidays coincide with yours. Any religion is a time based issues. The longer it is around the more muddy the origins of it become until no one knows the truth. Then the mud becomes the truth.

Answer 11

There were too few books to copy during that period.

If they have some trading partners from the Eastern part of the world, I bet they can make a better Jesus. Combining the mythology of the East and West, that would be cool, isn't it?