Welcome, Guest: Register On Nairaland / LOGIN! / Trending / Recent / New
Stats: 3,150,756 members, 7,809,917 topics. Date: Friday, 26 April 2024 at 05:07 PM

23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. - Religion - Nairaland

Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Religion / 23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. (2906 Views)

26 Powerful Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Existed / Why I'm Convinced That No One Will Make Heaven, Be You A Christian Or A Pagan / Reasons Scholars Know Jesus Christ Never Existed (2) (3) (4)

(1) (2) (Reply) (Go Down)

23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. by winner01(m): 10:11pm On Jul 04, 2016
We know how our desperate atheists spend their lives telling us the following:
-Jesus never existed
-Jesus was copied from previous myths
-Jesus never resurrected
-Jesus was just a good jewish leader
-Jesus is a cry-baby
-Jesus was gay
-Jesus was ...............

We can always smile at their desperation and incoherent grumbles to desperately convince themselves that there is no God and their relentless struggles to make us join their train through mockery, vacuous arguments and unwarranted bigotry.

I saw this article somewhere and I thought it might help someone. God bless you as you read.


It is in recent times that a great number of people are claiming that Jesus is simply a rehash of older pagan secretive religions, and of the religions of dying and rising gods. We see this masqueraded as truth in films such as Zeitgeist, The Da Vinci Code and Irreligious which, to the layperson, seem to be factual and convincing. But how factually based are these claims? Surely anyone can misconstrue evidence to suit their presuppositional biases, especially if they don’t want to believe something. The first step for anyone really seeking to understand these allegations would be to consult the scholars in the relevant and necessary fields of expertise. What do they have to say? Is such an issue even on the table of debate nowadays? If so, or if not, then why?

In a nutshell this study will be focused on analyzing these comparisons, the educated opinions of the scholars, and trying to see if anything of these pagan parallels are seen in the Jesus of the New Testament.


Who are the mythicists?
Bart Ehrman, the world’s leading sceptical New Testament scholar, asks: “What is driving the mythicist’s agenda? Why do they work so hard at showing that Jesus never really lived? I do not have a definitive answer to that question, but I do have a hunch. It is no accident that virtually all mythicists (in fact, all of them, to my knowledge), are either atheists or agnostics. The ones I know anything about are quite virulently, even militantly atheist.”

Ehrman is certainly correct in his hunch. One of the leading mythicists of today is that of Richard Carrier, and Carrier happens to be an avowed atheist that writes for the Secular Web. Now Carrier with two or three other proponents are the only few propounding this view of mythicism, they are not even scholars in the relevant fields of expertise – such is seen of Bill Maher (Irreligious), Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code), James Coyman (Zeitgeist), and Brian Flemming (The God Who Wasn’t There).

The allegation in a Nutshell.
Proponents of this view, known as mythicists, say that Jesus was nothing more than a copy of popular dying and rising fertility gods in various places from around the world, some of these gods would include Tammuz in Mesopotamia, Adonis in Syria, Attis in Asia Minor, and Horus in Egypt.

It has only been in recent times that the mythicist allegations have been re-established due to the rise of the internet and the mass distribution of information from unaccountable, unreliable sources. In this article we are going to examine these parallels, and see whether or not they stand up to scrutiny. So, let us uncover the many reasons ‘why scholars know that Jesus is not a copy of pagan religions’. And when I say “scholars” it is not solely those of a Christian orientation but from diverse other backgrounds as well.


1. Professional scholars unanimously reject the claim that Jesus is a pagan copy.

Today just about every scholar in the relevant historical specializations unanimously rejects the notion that Jesus is a copy of pagan gods. It seems that the available evidence has persuaded them against these alleged parallels. For instance, T.N.D Mettinger of Lund University opines: “There is, as far as I am aware, no prima facie evidence that the death and resurrection of Jesus is a mythological construct…”

Warner Wallace, a former homicide detective, who himself looked into the allegations found that “The more you examine the nature of the gods who were worshiped before Jesus, the more you will notice their dissimilarities and the dishonesty of trying to compare them to the historical Jesus.”

Professor Ronald Nash, a prominent philosopher and theologian notes in his writing ‘Was the New Testament Influenced by Pagan Religions?’: “Allegations of an early Christian dependence on Mithraism have been rejected on many grounds. Mithraism had no concept of the death and resurrection of its god and no place for any concept of rebirth—at least during its early stages.” Nash then goes on to say, “Today most Bible scholars regard the question as a dead issue.”

Another leading New Testament scholar Professor Craig Keener writes that: “When you make the comparisons, you end up with a whole lot more differences than you do similarities.”

JZ Smith, a historian of religion and Hellenistic religions claims that: “The idea of dying and rising gods is largely a misnomer based on imaginative reconstructions and exceedingly late or highly ambiguous texts.”

Michael Bird, who is on the editorial board for the Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus, as well is a Fellow of the Centre for Public Christianity, clearly shows his annoyance when he writes: “Now I am normally a cordial and collegial chap, but to be honest, I have little time or patience to invest in debunking the wild fantasies of “Jesus mythicists”, as they are known. That is because, to be frank, those of us who work in the academic profession of religion and history simply have a hard time taking them seriously.”

Professor James Dunn in his article on “Myth” in the Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, writes: “Myth is a term of at least doubtful relevance to the study of Jesus and the Gospels.”


2. Experts in the field unanimously agree that Jesus lived and that we can know things about him. This is very unlike the many pagan gods.

The most credible New Testament, Biblical, historical, and early Christianity scholars today, from all backgrounds of belief, agree wholeheartedly that Jesus existed. Of course the debate arises in what we can know about Jesus but of which is irrelevant to this discussion. This very much separates Jesus from many of the dying and rising gods that often have no place in history as historical figures. As the once skeptical professor Bultmann penned: “Of course the doubt as to whether Jesus really existed is unfounded and not worth refutation. No sane person can doubt that Jesus stands as founder behind the historical movement whose first distinct stage is represented by the oldest Palestinian community.”

As Paul Maier, a former Professor of Ancient History, likewise remarks: “The total evidence is so overpowering, so absolute that only the shallowest of intellects would dare to deny Jesus’ existence.”

Professor Craig Evans, widely known for his writings on the historical Jesus, says that: “No serious historian of any religious or nonreligious stripe doubts that Jesus of Nazareth really lived in the first century and was executed under the authority of Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea and Samaria.”

Even leading anti-Christian skeptic, professor Bart Ehrman compares mythicism to young earth creationism: “These views are so extreme [that Jesus did not exist] and so unconvincing to 99.99 percent of the real experts that anyone holding them is as likely to get a teaching job in an established department of religion as a six-day creationist is likely to land on in a bona fide department of biology.”

Grant says, “To sum up, modern critical methods fail to support the Christ-myth theory. It has ‘again and again been answered and annihilated by first-rank scholars.’

So, if anything, the claim that Jesus never existed as a historical figure is viewed as an absurdity and is not even on the table of historical scholarship. Burridge and Could suggest an absence of such thinking in professional scholarship: “I have to say that I do not know any respectable critical scholar who says that (that Jesus did not exist) anymore.”


3. We actually know very little about these pagan secretive religions.

As of history it seems that these pagan religions were really only known by those in the relevant communities, and most of whom had no intention of sharing it with outsiders. Of course this would leave modern historians in a tricky situation, as we can know only little snippets of who these groups really were, and what their practices were like. As Bart Ehrman explains: “We know very little about mystery religions – the whole point of mystery religions is that they’re secret! So I think it’s crazy to build on ignorance in order to make a claim like this.”

C.S Lewis, a former atheist who looked into the issue himself, write that “The Pagan stories are all about someone dying and rising, either every year, or else nobody knows where and nobody knows when.”

As I quoted in the same manner in point 1, J.Z. Smith, a historian of religion and Hellenistic religious scholar writes: “The idea of dying and rising gods is largely a misnomer based on imaginative reconstructions and exceedingly late or highly ambiguous texts.”

If we have late and ambiguous texts, a lack of these texts, and many of these texts postdating Christianity, then where, may I ask, are these mythicists getting these alleged parallels from? As J.Z. Smith notes above, it comes from highly speculative “imaginative reconstructions” solely in the minds of the mythicists who have anti-religious/Christian agenda.


4. Most of what we know of secretive pagan religions comes after Christianity, not before it.

If it is true that most of what we know of these secretive religions postdates Christianity, then why, may I ask, are mythicists propounding the view that these texts predate Christianity? Why do they claim that the early Christian community copied elements of these secretive religions when they could not have?

Professor Mettinger of Lund University, and the majority of other scholars in the relevant fields, hold that there were no dying and rising gods before Christ, or before the advent of Christianity in the early 1st century: “The consensus among modern scholars — nearly universal — is that there were no dying and rising gods that preceded Christianity. They all post-dated the first century.” Mettinger goes on to say that: “The references to a resurrection of Adonis have been dated mainly to the Christian Era.”

Scholar Edwin Yamauchi writes that: “the supposed resurrection of Attis doesn’t appear until after AD 150.” And in the case of Mithra, professor Ronald Nash himself opines that: “Mithraism flowered after Christianity, not before, so Christianity could not have copied from Mithraism. The timing is all wrong to have influenced the development of first-century Christianity.”


5. The Jewish were a people who refrained from allowing pagan myths to invade their culture.

Many times in the Old Testament the Jews would reject their one true God, and engage in idolatry. We know of this because it is reported in our biblical texts but no evidence suggests that this happened in 1st century Palestine when Jesus was living. In fact, the New Testament overwhelmingly confirms that the Pharisees were very strict in application of the law (Paul, as a former Pharisee & prior to his conversion, went to the extent of authorizing the killings of early Christians for their blasphemous claim of a risen Jesus. Knowing this it hugely strains my belief that they would encourage paganism influences). Philosopher William Lane Craig writes that “For Jesus and his disciples they were first century Palestinian Jews, and it is against that background that they must be understood.”

Professor Ben Witherington notes that: “This notion was not a regular part of the pagan lexicon of the afterlife at all, as even a cursory study of the relevant passages in the Greek and Latin classics shows. Indeed, as Acts 17 suggests, pagans were more likely than not to ridicule such an idea. I can understand the apologetic theory if, and only if, the Gospels were directed largely to Pharisaic Jews or their sympathizers. I know of no scholar, however, who has argued such a case.” William Craig goes on to say:

“The spuriousness of the alleged parallels is just one indication that pagan mythology is the wrong interpretive framework for understanding the disciples’ belief in Jesus’ resurrection.” And that: “…anyone pressing this objection has a burden of proof to bear. He needs to show that the narratives are parallel and, moreover, that they are causally connected.”

Craig concludes: “It boggles the imagination to think that the original disciples would have suddenly and sincerely come to believe that Jesus of Nazareth was risen from the dead just because they had heard of pagan myths about dying and rising seasonal gods.”

Professor Sanders likewise seems to suggest that Jesus is best made sense of within the world of the 1st century Judaism “…the dominant view [among scholars] today seems to be that we can know pretty well what Jesus was out to accomplish, that we can know a lot about what he said, and that those two things make sense within the world of first-century Judaism.”

Professor Martin Hengel notes: “Hellenistic mystery religions … could gain virtually no influence [in Jewish Palestine].”


6. The New Testament canon is history unlike much of the pagan secretive mysteries.

The gospels and the other literature of the New Testament are our most reliable sources of information we have on Jesus. The gospels, for example, are classified as Greco-Roman biography. Graham Stanton of Cambridge University writes: “I do not think it is now possible to deny that the Gospels are a sub-set of the broad ancient literary genre of ‘lives,’ that is, biographies.”

Also, the distinguished New Testament scholar Charles Talbert in his book ‘What are the Gospels’ speaks highly of another influential book that influenced scholars of the true genre of the gospels; he claims that “This volume ought to end any legitimate denials of the canonical Gospels’ biographical character.” Likewise David Aune, a prominent specialist in ancient literature, opines:

“Thus while the [Gospel writers] clearly had an important theological agenda, the very fact that they chose to adapt Greco-Roman biographical conventions to tell the story of Jesus indicated that they were centrally concerned to communicate what they thought really happened.”

What further corroborates the fact that the gospels texts are biographical literature is archaeology. As Urban von Wahlde, a member of the Society of Biblical Literature, concluded that archaeology “demonstrates the full extent of the accuracy and the detail of the Evangelist’s knowledge…. The topographical references …. are entirely historical …. some [parts of the gospel] are quite accurate, detailed and historical”

Professor Ehrman also comments that “If historians want to know what Jesus said and did they are more or less constrained to use the New Testament Gospels as their principal sources. Let me emphasize that this is not for religious or theological reasons—for instance, that these and these alone can be trusted. It is for historical reasons, pure and simple.”

What this shows is that the gospels are routed in history and that they are inspired by an actual person of history: Jesus of Nazareth.


7. Unlike the pagan secretive religions, Jesus is an ancient figure we can actually know about, what he thought of himself, and what he did as a historical figure of history:

Whether one holds that Jesus was really the Son of Man, thus God himself, or just a religious genius of the 1st century, we can both glean facts about his life, and ministry – according to the scholars. Professor Craig Evans informs us of scholarly consensus:

“…and so the consensus is, look, Jesus existed, he was Jewish, he wasn’t out to break the law. He was out to fulfil it. Jesus understood himself as the Lord’s anointed, that is as the Messiah.”

Professor Sanders states that: “Historical reconstruction is never absolutely certain, and in the case of Jesus it is sometimes highly uncertain. Despite this, we have a good idea of the main lines of his ministry and his message. We know who he was, what he did, what he taught, and why he died. ….. the dominant view [among scholars] today seems to be that we can know pretty well what Jesus was out to accomplish, that we can know a lot about what he said, and that those two things make sense within the world of first-century Judaism.”

Sanders goes on to say explain that miracle healings and exorcisms are part of what we can know about Jesus: “I think we can be fairly certain that initially Jesus’ fame came as a result of healing, especially exorcism.”

Stanton, a former prominent and widely respected New Testament scholar, once opined that “Few doubt that Jesus possessed unusual gifts as a healer, though of course varied explanations are offered.” Tomson, a lecturer in New Testament Studies claims that: “Although he apparently considered himself the heavenly ‘Son of Man’ and ‘the beloved son’ of God and cherished far-reaching Messianic ambitions, Jesus was equally reticent about these convictions. Even so, the fact that, after his death and resurrection, his disciples proclaimed him as the Messiah can be understood as a direct development from his own teachings.”

Professor Robert Grant explains that “Jesus introduced a very singular innovation. For he also claimed that he himself could forgive sins.” Grant goes on to say that that: “Jesus lived his last days, and died, in the belief that his death was destined to save the human race.”

The late scholar Maurice Casey wrote that: “He believed that his death would fulfil the will of God for the redemption of his people Israel.”

Again Professor Sanders believes that we can know that Jesus’ post-mortem appearances really convinced his earliest followers of his resurrection: “That Jesus’ followers (and later Paul) had resurrection experiences is, in my judgment, a fact. What the reality was that gave rise to the experiences I do not know.”

What this illustrates is that we can actually know quite a lot about the Jesus of history, according to the experts. In other words the majority consensus of historians is that Jesus actually existed, that we can actually know what he set out to accomplish, and what he seemed to have thought of himself. This is unlike the sketchy traditions we find in the secretive religions. Sometimes scholars are highly uncertain about the existence of some of these historical figures behind a few of the pagan religions.

6 Likes 4 Shares

Re: 23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. by winner01(m): 10:12pm On Jul 04, 2016
8. The Jesus of history does not fit the profile of someone that would be a myth.

In many aspects of Jesus’ life he was unique. This was evidently so compelling to those in his day that they followed him and often to their deaths and in their sufferings. Today scholars continue to be surprised by Jesus, as historian Edwin Judge notes:

“An ancient historian has no problem seeing the phenomenon of Jesus as an historical one. His many surprising aspects only help anchor him in history. Myth and legend would have created a more predictable figure. The writings that sprang up about Jesus also reveal to us a movement of thought and an experience of life so unusual that something much more substantial than the imagination is needed to explain it.”

C.S Lewis, best known for his essays on Christianity and for the fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia, regarding the Gospels comments: “All I am in private life is a literary critic and historian, that’s my job. And I am prepared to say on that basis if anyone thinks the Gospels are either legend or novels, then that person is simply showing his incompetence as a literary critic. I’ve read a great many novels and I know a fair amount about the legends that grew up among early people, and I know perfectly well the Gospels are not that kind of stuff.”

Yet at the very center of our gospels we have the activities, the life, the ministry and the person of Jesus. Much of what is recorded in the gospels is concretely based in the historical record.


9. Much of these secretive pagan religions have little to do with concrete history.

Edwin Yamauchi, a well known Professor history, notes that “All of these myths are repetitive, symbolic representations of the death and rebirth of vegetation. These are not historical figures …”

Similarly, Professor and biblical exegete William Lane Craig writes that: “In fact, most scholars have come to doubt whether, properly speaking, there really were any myths of dying and rising gods at all!”

It would thus prove difficult to draw parallels to Jesus from these pagan myths that had little to do with history in the first place.


10. Evidence of dishonest pseudo-scholar work – Dorothy Murdock:

Another known mythicist would be that of Dorothy Murdock; someone I’ve interacted with her on her Facebook page, Youtube channel, as well as also having consulted some of her articles on her personal website. When I tried to point out faults in her arguments she accused me of being a sexist and a chauvinist; she then banned me.

However, banning me is no remedy for crappy work. For example, there is one lengthy back and forth debate between here and prominent historian Mike Licona. Licona really does a solid job of critiquing Murdock’s work. In fact, some of the quotes below come from Licona in that interaction while many others hail from scholars he consulted in certain, relevant fields of expertise. Firstly, agnostic Professor Bart Ehrman (no friend of Christianity) upon review of Murdock’s book (The Christ Conspiracy) opines that: “It is filled with so many factual errors and outlandish assertions that it is hard to believe the author is serious.”

He goes on to write that “all of Acharya’s major points are in fact wrong”, and that “Mythicists of this ilk should not be surprised that their views are not taken seriously by real scholars, mentioned by experts in the field, or even read by them.”

Atheist historian Robert Price (a fellow mythicist) calls Murdock’s book “sophomoric.” He also commented that her book is “a random bag of (mainly recycled) eccentricities, some few of them worth considering, most dangerously shaky, many outright looney.”

In her book, Murdock claims that Jesus was a copy of one the Hindu god, Krishna. In fact, Murdock is even willing to take this further in her book ‘Suns of God: Krishna, Buddha and Christ Unveiled’. However, regarding this point that Krishna was crucified before Jesus, Edwin Bryant, Professor of Hinduism and translator of the Bhagavata-Purana (life of Krishna) responds by saying: “That is absolute and complete non-sense. There is absolutely no mention anywhere which alludes to a crucifixion.” Bryant then writes that “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about! Vithoba was a form of Krishna worshipped in the state of Maharashtra. There are absolutely no Indian gods portrayed as crucified.”

And regarding the alleged parallels that Murdock tries to draw between Hinduism and Christianity, Benjamin Walker in his book ‘The Hindu World: An Encyclopedic Survey of Hinduism’ says that: “[t]here can be no doubt that the Hindus borrowed the tales [from Christianity], but not the name.”

Murdock further claims that Christianity has failed in India because “the Brahmans have recognized Christianity as a relatively recent imitation of their much older traditions.” To this, Bryant simply commented, “Stupid comment.”

In his critique Licona goes on to say that “Murdock’s claim that Christianity has borrowed substantially from Hinduism is without merit. Her claims are false, unsupported, and exhibit a lack of understanding of the Hindu faith.”

In addition to Krishna, Murdock cites similarities between the Buddha and Jesus as an example of how Christianity has borrowed from Buddhism. Professor Chun-fang Yu, a specialist in Buddhist studies, comments: “[The woman you speak of] is totally ignorant of Buddhism. It is very dangerous to spread misinformation like this. You should not honor [Ms. Murdock] by engaging in a discussion. Please ask [her] to take a basic course in world religion or Buddhism before uttering another word about things she does not know.”

Subsequently, in a similar attempt by so many mythicist, Murdock tries to downplay one of the two references to Jesus within the work of 1st century historian Josephus Flavius (the passage on John the Baptist & Jesus’ brother James). She writes: “Although much has been made of these ‘references,’ they have been dismissed by scholars and Christian apologists alike as forgeries, as have been those referring to John the Baptist and James, ‘brother of Jesus.’” In return Mike Licona comments that:

“Murdock’s claim is grossly naïve as well as false. Josephus’ passage on John the Baptist is regarded as authentic and is hardly disputed by scholars. Edwin Yamauchi, Professor of History at Miami University writes, “No scholar has questioned the authenticity of this passage, though there are some differences between Josephus’s account and that in the Gospels . . .” New Testament scholar, Robert Van Voorst of Western Theological Seminary likewise comments that the passage by Josephus on John the Baptist is “held to be undoubtedly genuine by most interpreters” and that “scholars also hold [it] to be independent of the New Testament.”

Professor John Meier likewise says that Josephus’ mentioning of John the Baptist & James is “accepted as authentic by almost all scholars” and that it “is simply inconceivable as the work of a Christian of any period.” Jewish scholar, Louis Feldman of Yeshiva University and perhaps the most prominent expert on Josephus comments on this passage claims that: “There can be little doubt as to the genuineness of Josephus’ passage about John the Baptist.” Therefore, Murdock’s comment that this passage has “been dismissed by scholars and Christian apologists alike as forgeries” is demonstrably false.”

In her work, Murdock claims that myth enveloped early Christianity due to “the signs or constellations of the zodiac.” In response to this Noel Swerdlow, a Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago responds that:

“…she is saying something that no one would have thought of in antiquity because in which constellation of the fixed stars the vernal equinox was located, was of no significance and is entirely an idea of modern, I believe twentieth-century, astrology.”

Mike Licona in response to Murdock claiming that Jesus never existed in history provides a challenge: “I challenge Ms. Murdock to name someone other than Jesus who lived in the first century (e.g., Augustus, Tiberius, Nero, etc.), who is mentioned by 17 writers who do not share his convictions, and who write within 150 years of his life. No first century person was as well attested as Jesus”

Things became even worse for Murdock when Mike actually researched the sources that she had cited behind her work: “Practically all of her sources are secondary rather than primary sources. For example, she quotes Adolf Hitler as saying that it was his Christian convictions which led him to attempt to exterminate the Jews. Where did Hitler say this? We cannot know from reading her book, because her source is The Woman’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets! On still another point, she quotes Otto Schmiedel. However, when you look at the endnote, you find that her source is Rudolf Steiner, a mystic.”

Licona then goes on to give an analogy regarding Murdock’s work: “It is like someone arguing that terrorism is justified and cites ten terrorists claiming that terrorism is just. However, this does nothing to support their position that terrorism is justified; only that some believe that it is. It also indicates that she has not checked out the claims of her sources, but rather uncritically accepts what they say.” Licona concludes:

“But in terms of this book being a responsible account of the origin of Christianity, it is unsalvageable.”


11. None of the mythicists are actual scholars in the relevant fields of expertise.

Knowing this it should well encourage a pause for some thought. What we find is that no scholar in any of the relevant fields (independent of their personal worldview beliefs) holds to these radical views. Professor of New Testament Studies, Ben Witherington, explains that: “Not a single one of these authors and sources are experts in the Bible, Biblical history, the Ancient Near East, Egyptology, or any of the cognate fields….they are not reliable sources of information about the origins of Christianity, Judaism, or much of anything else of relevance to this discussion.”

Historian John Dickson of early Christianity and Judaism, likewise informs that: “anyone who dips into the thousands of secular monographs and journal articles on the historical Jesus will quickly discover that mythicists are regarded by 99.9% of the scholarly community as complete “outliers,” the fringe of the fringe.”

Scholard Michael Bird goes on to explain that mythicists are fringe atheists that no-one takes seriously: “There is a reason why this view is the sole possession of an energetic bunch of fringe atheists and has never been entertained as a possibility by experienced and respected scholars working in the field of Christian Origins.”

It seems that many of these mythicists are known to be atheists, and of the atheist crowd that is vocally anti-religion/Christianity. I suspect that this is why many of them are proponents of the mythicist theory. Such would also make sense, as what better way is there to try to discredit a religion than to attack the person behind it, in this case Jesus? As Professor Mettinger writes, I believe likewise: “From the 1930s. . . a consensus has developed to the effect that the ‘dying and rising gods’ died but did not return or rise to live again. Those who still think differently are looked upon as residual members of an almost extinct species.”


12. Jesus’ virgin birth is unique.

One of the events many Christians around the world celebrate on December 25th is that of Jesus’ birth. Of course no-where in the Biblical record does it anywhere allude to this specific date of Jesus’ birth; we simply do not know when Jesus was born. The 25th of December date is also allegedly a breeding pool for the mythicists alleged parallels. Thus in the context of the uniqueness of Mary’s virginal conception the prominent Biblical scholar Raymond Brown concludes: “No search for parallels has given us a truly satisfactory explanation of how early Christians happened upon the idea of a virginal conception…”

And for those who claim that Mithras, a pagan god, was born of a virgin in the exact same manner as Jesus was Professor Manfred Clauss of ancient history explains that “The sequence of images from the mythical account of Mithras’ life and exploits begins, so far as we can make out, with the god’s birth. The literary sources here are few but unmistakable: Mithras was known as the rock-born god.” Unless rocks count as virgins we do not not have a parallel here.

And following his own critical examination of this allegation, Louis Sweet writes: “After a careful, laborious, and occasionally wearisome study of the evidence offered and the analogies urged, I am convinced that heathenism knows nothing of virgin births. Supernatural births it has without number, but never from a virgin in the New Testament sense and never without physical generation, except in a few isolated instances of magical births on the part of women who had not the slightest claim to be called virgins. In all recorded instances which I have been able to examine, if the mother was a virgin before conception took place she could not make that claim afterward.”

In his book ‘The Virgin Birth’ Thomas Boslooper notes that: “The literature of the world is prolific with narratives of unusual births, but it contains no precise analogy to the virgin birth in Matthew and Luke. Jesus’ ‘virgin birth’ is not ‘pagan’.” Again, William Craig informs his readers that “The Gospel stories of Jesus’ virginal conception are, in fact, without parallel in the ancient Near East.”

If anything Jesus’ radical virginal birth is explicitly unique.


13. Jesus’ death had a radical impact on his disciples; a feat that no pagan god can boast.

In an article for the New York Times Peter Steinfels, an American journalist and educator best known for his writings on religious topics, questions what could have drastically changed the lives of so many after Jesus’ death: “Shortly after Jesus was executed, his followers were suddenly galvanized from a baffled and cowering group into people whose message about a living Jesus and a coming kingdom, preached at the risk of their lives, eventually changed an empire. Something happened … But exactly what?”

Even the skeptical New Testament scholar, Bart Ehrman, notes that “We can say with complete certainty that some of his disciples at some later time insisted that . . . he soon appeared to them, convincing them that he had been raised from the dead.”

E.P Sanders writes: “That Jesus’ followers (and later Paul) had resurrection experiences is, in my judgment, a fact. What the reality was that gave rise to the experiences I do not know.”

Rudolph Bultmann, hailed to be one of the most influential scholars of the New Testament writes: “All that historical criticism can establish is that the first disciples came to believe the resurrection.”

Luke Johnson, a New Testament scholar at Emory University, goes on to say that: “Some sort of powerful, transformative experience is required to generate the sort of movement earliest Christianity was.”

Dale Allision another prominent New Testament scholar, and ancient historian notes that, “I am sure that the disciples saw Jesus after his death.”

What makes this case even more compelling is that these very same followers, and the skeptics Paul and James, underwent persecution for this proclamation. Several even went to their deaths as a result. I struggle to believe that a mythological being could have so drastically changed the lives of so many men.


14. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is unique.

As an event of history, especially within the context of the 1st century Judaism, the resurrection of Jesus was a unique once off event. Knowing this the alleged parallels that the mythicists seem to draw between Jesus and the pagan gods are spurious. Professor Bart Ehrman believes that “there’s nothing about them [Hercules and Osiris] dying and rising again.” and “It is true that Osiris “comes back” to earth …. But this is not a resurrection of his body. His body is still dead. He himself is down in Hades, and can come back up to make an appearance on earth on occasion.”

Likewise Professor Mettinger concludes that: “there were no ideas of resurrection connected with Dumuzi/Tammuz” and “The category of dying and rising deities as propagated by Frazer can no longer be upheld.”

According to Professor Edwin Yamauchi: “there’s no resurrection of Marduk or Dionysus …… there was no real resurrection of Tammuz.”

In agreement Jonathan Smith writes that: “There is no unambiguous instance in the history of religions of a dying and rising deity.”

Professor Mettinger again says that “While studied with profit against the background of Jewish resurrection belief, the faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus retains its unique character in the history of religions. The riddle remains.”

Professor Ronald Nash illustrates his view on the alleged Mithras Jesus parallel: “Allegations of an early Christian dependence on Mithraism have been rejected on many grounds. Mithraism had no concept of the death and resurrection of its god and no place for any concept of rebirth—at least during its early stages.”

Theologian Norman Geisler demonstrates the overt differences between Jesus and other pagan gods, as in the case of Osiris: “The only known account of a god surviving death that predates Christianity is the Egyptian cult god Osiris. In this myth, Osiris is cut into fourteen pieces, scattered around Egypt, then reassembled and brought back to life by the goddess Isis. However, Osiris does not actually come back to physical life but becomes a member of a shadowy underworld…This is far different than Jesus’ resurrection account.”

This tells us that scholars see these alleged parallels as not actually parallels at all.

3 Likes 1 Share

Re: 23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. by winner01(m): 10:13pm On Jul 04, 2016
15. The notion that Jesus is a copy parallel of Mithras is rejected by scholars.

Some claim that Jesus is a copy of Mithras, they claim in the following comparisons that Mithras was:

1. Mithras sacrificed himself.
2. He was resurrected.
3. He had disciples.
4. Mithra was born of a virgin on December 25th.
5. He was called the Messiah.
6. He was born from a virgin.

Firstly, this is questionable since very little is known about Mithraism because no texts have been found or none exist. What we know comes from archaeology in the form of hundreds of discovered mithraea artefacts, as well as in the writings of Christians and other pagans in the 2nd and 3rd centuries.

Secondly, scholars have found no clear evidence of Mithraism until the mid to late 1st century, after Christianity was established. Therefore the early Christians could not copy anything, as there was nothing to copy in the first place.

Thirdly, the comparisons are spurious on all levels. As for starters Mithras did not sacrifice himself at all, and no-one actually knows if or how he died. Scholars seem to think that Mithras was killed by a bull. This killing of by the bull seems to be the source of the Mithraic ritual, known as taurobolium, of killing a bull and allowing the blood to drench the worshiper. Now, there may be parallels between this ritual and Jewish animal sacrifice, or the Christian Eucharist, but the earliest reference to the ritual is the middle of the 2nd century – these comparisons, even if accurate, are spurious, and post-date Christianity. As Ronald Nash notes: “Indeed, there is inscriptional evidence from the fourth century A.D. that, far from influencing Christianity, those who used the taurobolium were influenced by Christianity”

As, in the first place, we have no record of Mithras actually dying, there is no record of him being resurrected either, especially not in the way like Jesus seemingly was. And the claim that Mithras had disciples is incorrect, there is no evidence that he existed as a historical figure, and there is no evidence that he had any disciples. He was seen as a god, and not as a human.

Fourthly, Mithras was not born of a virgin, unless we count rocks as virgins. As Clauss, a professor of ancient history at the Free University of Berlin, in his book ‘The Roman Cult of Mithras‘ explains: “The sequence of images from the mythical account of Mithras’ life and exploits begins, so far as we can make out, with the god’s birth. The literary sources here are few but unmistakable: Mithras was known as the rock-born god.”

Fifthly, I would encourage anyone to forward primary evidence that Mithras was referred to as the “Messiah”, because there is no evidence of this. As Professor Gary Lease has noted: “After almost 100 years of unremitting labor, the conclusion appears inescapable that neither Mithraism nor Christianity proved to be an obvious and direct influence upon the other”

Professor Edwin Yamauchi concludes: “We don’t know anything about the death of Mithras…We have a lot of monuments, but we have almost no textual evidence, because this was a secret religion. But I know of no references to a supposed death and resurrection.”


16. That Jesus is a copy of Horus is rejected by scholars.

Some claim that Jesus is a copy of Horus, they claim in the following comparisons that Horus was:

1. Born on December 25
2. Mary, Jesus’ mother, is a copy of the Horus account.
3. Born of a virgin.
4. Three kings came to adore the new-born “saviour”.
5. Was a saviour.
6. He became a child teacher at the age of 12.
7. Like Jesus, Horus was “baptized”.
8. He had a “ministry”.
9. Had twelve “disciples”
10. Was crucified, was buried for three days, and was resurrected after three days.

Horus was born during month of Khoiak, this would be either October or November, and certainly not December 25 as the mythicist claims. We should also note that we don’t actually know when Jesus was born, and it most likely was not on the 25th of December. This alleged parallel should be rejected.

Secondly, Horus was born to Isis, and there is no mention in history of her being called “Mary” at any time or place, or by anyone. Even worse for those using this as an alleged parallel is that “Mary” is an Anglicized form of her real name which is actually Miryam or Miriam, therefore, “Mary” was not even used in the original biblical manuscripts! Someone is clearly making up nonsense.

Thirdly, Isis was not a virgin. Isis was actually the widow of Osiris and conceived Horus with Osiris. In fact, we read: that “[Isis] made to rise up the helpless members [penis] of him whose heart was at rest, she drew from him his essence [sperm], and she made therefrom an heir [Horus].”(Encyclopaedia Mythica)

Fourthly, there is no record of three kings visiting Horus at his birth. This becomes even more questionable when we find that our gospel accounts don’t even state the actual number of magi that came to see Jesus at his birth. Fifthly, Horus was not even a saviour by any means; he did not even die for anyone like Jesus did.

Sixth, I would challenge anyone to produce a single piece of primary evidence that tells us of Horus being a teacher at the age of 12. There is none that scholars have ever found.

Seventh, Horus was also not “baptized”, at least not like Jesus was at the hands of John the Baptist in the Jordan river. The only account of Horus that involves water is one story where Horus is torn to pieces, with Isis requesting the crocodile god to fish him out of the water. That clearly sounds like a baptism doesn’t it?

We have no account of Horus ever having a “ministry”, especially not one like Jesus’.

Horus also did not have 12 disciples. According to data, Horus had four demigods that followed him, and there are some indications of 16 human followers and an unknown number of blacksmiths that went into battle with him.

Subsequently, there are different accounts of how Horus actually died, but none of them ever involves a crucifixion.

Lastly, we have no accounts of Horus even being buried for three days. We have no accounts of Horus being resurrected, and especially not in the bodily form as Jesus was. There is no account of Horus coming out of the grave with the body he went in with. Some accounts have Horus/Osiris being brought back to life by Isis and then becoming the lord of the underworld.

All these alleged parallels are spurious at best.


17. That Jesus was a copy of Dionysus is rejected by scholars.

Some claim that Jesus is a copy of Dionysus, they claim in the following comparisons that Dionysus was:

1. Born of a virgin.
2. Born on the 25th of December.
3. Turned water into wine.

Again, as noted, point 2 can be dismissed because we don’t know when Jesus was born.

Secondly, there are two common stories of Dionysus’ birth. One story involves the god Zeus, who is his father, either impregnating the mortal woman Semele, or impregnating Persephone (the Greek Queen of the underworld). This has nothing to do with a virgin birth. In the other narrative there is also no virgin birth. However, the second narrative seems to be a copy of the Genesis biblical because it appears to describe what the book of Genesis said thousands of years before. In this narrative of Dionysus’ birth it describes fallen angels, and then impregnating human women. Either way, there’s nothing here to be a parallel of Jesus.

We are all likely familiar with the miracle story of Jesus turning water into wine but was this a copy from the pagan god Dionysus, as some have alleged? No. Firstly, Dionysus gave King Midas the power to turn whatever he touched into gold. Also, he gave the daughters of King Anius the power to turn whatever they touched into wine, corn, or oil. But this should hardly be surprising as Dionysus was the god of wine. However, there do seem to be stories where Dionysus supernaturally fills empty vessels with wine, but the actual act of turning water into wine does not occur. There’s no parallel here either.


18. That Jesus is a copy of Krishna is rejected by scholars.

Some claim that Jesus is a copy of Krishna, they claim in the following comparisons that Krishna was:

1. Born of a virgin.
2. That there was an infant massacre.
3. That there was a star in the East that guided the wise men to his birth.
4. Was crucified.
5. Was resurrected.
6. Krishna’s father was a carpenter, like Jesus’ father.

Firstly, never is a virgin birth attributed to Krishna. In fact, his parents had seven previous children. Some mythicists claim that Krishna was born to the virgin Maia, however what we find is that this is incorrect as according to our Hindu texts Krishna is the eighth son of Princess Devaki and her husband Vasudeva.

In the Gospels we read that King Herod felt threatened by Jesus’ birth, and that resorted to killing the infants in Bethlehem. Yet, is this a copy from a narrative concerning Krishna?

Not, it isn’t. Instead what we find is that Devaki’s six previous children were murdered by her cousin, King Kamsa, due to a prophecy foretelling his death at the hands of one of her children. This narrative tells us Kamsa only targeted Devaki’s sons, and never issued a command to kill male infants, unlike the gospel accounts. We read in ‘Bhagavata, Bk 4, XXII:7‘ “Thus the six sons were born to Devaki and Kamsa, too, killed those six sons consecutively as they were born.”

Thirdly, what about the star and the wise men? This is a questionable parallel since Krishna was born in a prison and not within a stable. Further, his parents bore him in secret.

Some have even alleged that Krishna was crucified like Jesus was, but crucifixion is never once mentioned in any Hindu text even though we are told how Krishna dies. We read that he was mediating in the woods when he was accidentally shot in the foot by a hunter’s arrow. Maybe because the arrow that pierced his foot was wood, much like was Jesus’ cross, I suppose means Krishna was crucified?

What about a resurrection? Firstly, we have zero evidence that Krishna descended into the grave for three days and appeared to many witnesses like Jesus did, as the mythicist claims. Instead, the actual account says that Krishna immediately returns to life and speaks only to the hunter where he forgives him of his actions.

Nevertheless, there are obvious differences between the resurrections of Jesus and Krishna’s appearance to the hunter who killed him. These are:
Jesus’ resurrection defeated the power of sin and death. Krishna’s resurrection had no real effect on mankind.
Jesus appeared to approximately 500 eye witnesses in the New Testament. Krishna appeared only to the hunter.
Jesus rose from the dead three days later. Krishna immediately returned to life.
Jesus did not ascend into Heaven until after the Great Commission. Krishna immediately “ascended” into the afterlife.
Jesus was aware of what was to take place. Krishna had no foreknowledge concerning his death.
Jesus ascended into a physical realm (Heaven). Krishna transcended into a mental state (or inconceivable region). The concepts between Heaven (Christianity) and Nirvana (Hinduism) differ greatly.

Lastly, what about Krishna’s father? Was his father, Vasudeva, a carpenter like Jesus’ Earthly father was? It is true that Krishna’s father was also said to be a carpenter, yet this is not suggested anywhere within our actual Hindu texts. What we are told is that Vasudeva was a nobleman in the courts of Mathura as he was married to Princess Devaki. However, when Krishna fled the wrath of Kamsa with his foster parents, we are told his foster-father Nanda was a cow herder: “Thou art the most beloved of Nanda, the Cow-herd” (Bhagavata, Bk 8, I, pg 743).

No parallels.


19. That Jesus was a copy of Attis is rejected by scholars.

Some claim that Jesus is a copy of Attis, they claim in the following comparisons that Attis was:

1. Born of a virgin.
2. Born on the 25th of December.
3. Crucified.
4. Was resurrected.

Before anything is to be considered the accounts we have of Attis are wide ranging and thus are not very reliable.

First off we can see that Attis was not born of a virgin. In fact, according to this legend, Agdistis arises from the Earth as a descendant of Zeus. Agdistis gives birth to the Sangarius river which brings forth the nymph, Nana, who either holds an almond to her breast and becomes impregnated by the almond or sits beneath a tree where an almond falls into her lap and impregnates her. Nana later abandons the child who is then raised by a goat. We are left to assume Attis was conceived from an almond seed which fell from a tree as a result of Zeus’ spilled semen. Not a virgin birth.

Again, as mentioned before, the 25th of December has no significance at all, we don’t know when Jesus was born, therefore, any alleged parallel cannot, logically, be a pagan parallel.

Thirdly, what about a crucifixion? Again, this is clearly questionable. We see that Attis castrates himself beneath a pine tree and thus dies from bleeding to death. Attis castrates himself after he is made to go insane before his wedding by Agdistis. Subsequently, his blood flows onto the ground from his severed penis and brings forth a patch of violets. How is a crucifixion remotely hinted at here?

Fourthly, was Attis resurrected like Jesus was? There are different accounts of this. In one narrative we find that Agdistis is overcome with remorse for what she had done (causing Attis to castrate himself and die because of it), and thus requests for Zeus to preserve the corpse of Attis so that it never decomposes. That is not a resurrection.

In the other account Agdistis and The Great Mother carry the pine tree back to a cave where they both mourn the death of Attis. Any resurrection story doesn’t surface until much later when Attis is transformed into a pine tree. Being transformed into a tree is vastly different from Jesus rising in bodily form from the dead.

1 Like 1 Share

Re: 23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. by winner01(m): 10:14pm On Jul 04, 2016
20. That Jesus was a copy of the Buddha is rejected by scholars.

Some claim that Jesus is a copy of Buddha, they claim in the following comparisons that Buddha was:

1. Born of a virgin.
2. There wise men at Buddha’s birth.
3. Presented with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
4. Born on the 25th of December.
5. Descended from a royal lineage, like did Jesus.
6. Crucified.

First off, Gautama was not born of a virgin, he was born to Suddhodana and his wife, Maya, of 20 years. Another reason for rejecting that Maya was a virgin is because she was the king’s favourite wife. The ‘Acts of the Buddha‘ shows us that Maya and her husband Suddhodana having sexual relations (for example, “the two tasted of love’s delight…”).

Secondly, there seems to be no mention of wise men at all in the Buddhist texts. There also seems to be no record of these specific gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. What is, however, mentioned in a writing that post-dates Christianity we are told the gods (not wisemen) gave Gautama sandalwood, rain, water lilies, and lotus flowers for gifts – these are Buddhist symbols, and have nothing to do with Christianity. This is also not surprising as royal births are often celebrated with festivals and gifts in Buddhist culture.

Again, we are not told the birth date of Jesus, so this cannot be a parallel.

Unlike Jesus, Gautama was an immediate royal descendant born into privilege. Jesus was a distant descendant of King David born into poverty. They are basically opposites.

There seems to be no mention of a crucifixion in any Buddhist source. In fact, we are told that Gautama dies of natural causes at the age of 80. His followers accompany him to a river and provide him with a couch: “Be so good as to spread me a couch… I am weary and wish to lie down…’ Then the [Buddha] fell into a deep meditation, and having passed through the four jhanas, entered Nirvana.”


22. That Jesus was a copy parallel of Zoroaster is rejected by scholars.

Some claim that Jesus is a copy of Zoroaster, they claim in the following comparisons that Zoroaster was:

1. Born of a virgin.
2. Tempted in the wilderness.
3. Began his ministry at age 30, like Jesus.
4. Sacrificed for mankind’s sins.

There is no mention of a virgin birth in any Zoroastrian text nor do the events of Zoroaster’s birth seem to have any relation to Jesus. In fact, there are two different accounts of his birth. In one narrative Zoroaster’s parents, Dukdaub and Pourushasp, were a normal married couple who conceived a son through natural means. Zoroaster is described as laughing when he is born as well as having a visible, glowing aura about him:

“[Zoroaster] had come into the posterity…who are Pourushasp, his father, and Dukdaub who is his mother. And also while he is being born and for the duration of life, he produced a radiance, glow, and brilliance from the place of his own abode…” (Denkard, Bk 5 2:1-2)

In the other narrative, which is a later text, an embellishment is added by the Zoroastrian followers. In this narrative we are told that Ahura Mazda (the main deity of Zoroastrianism) implants the soul of Zoroaster into the sacred Haoma plant and through the plant’s milk Zoroaster is born. Nothing here is like a virgin birth.

But was Zoroaster also tempted by an evil spirit to renounce his faith with the promise of receiving power over the nations, like Jesus was? This story is evident in the Vendidad, a Zoroastrian text which lists the laws regarding demons. However, this was written well after the life of Jesus somewhere between 250 – 650 AD. Because of this late date the early Christian scribes could not have copied anything in this text. What we do read sounds strikingly familiar to Jesus’ 40 days in the desert; according to ‘Vendidad Fargad 19:6‘: “Again to him said the Maker of the evil world, Angra Mainyu: ‘Do not destroy my creatures, O holy Zarathushtra… Renounce the good Religion of the worshippers of Mazda, and thou shalt gain such a boon as…the ruler of the nations.'”

Like Jesus, Zoroaster was believed to have begun his teachings at the age of 30. Though Zoroaster technically came out of seclusion at the age of 30 to begin his teachings, he was shunned and ignored for 12 years until his religion was accepted by King Vishtaspa. However, the story surrounding Jesus differs greatly. Jesus attracted followers instantly, and Zoroaster was believed to be killed around the age of 77 while Jesus was killed at the age of 33. Any parallels become questionable on the basis that Zoroaster is not mentioned in texts until to around 225 AD; that is almost 200 years after Christianity had already been in circulation.

Lastly, was Zoroaster’s death spiritually significant? It is believed Zoroaster was killed at the age of 77 after being slaughtered on one of his temple altars by Turanian invaders, however this aspect of his life is debated by scholars. Either way, his death was never believed to atone for sin or to hold any other spiritual purposes.


23. Jesus’ crucifixion in comparison to other alleged deities is unique.

Kersey Graves in his book ‘The World’s Sixteen Crucified Saviors’, names the following as crucified deities, and therefore, the crucifixion of Jesus is a pagan copy. Well, let’s analyze these “crucifixions” to see if they actually, firstly, are crucifixions. If, in fact, they are crucifixions then we should compare them to Jesus’ crucifixion, and see if they are the same:
Mithras – Mithras was carried into heaven on a chariot, alive. This is not a crucifixion.
Bali – There are various accounts regarding Bali’s death. One says that he was forced down (bodily) into the underworld after being deceived by Vamana, an avatar of Vishnu. In other accounts, Bali is said to have been released and granted kingship. No crucifixion occurs in either story.
Romulus – Romulus was not crucified, but rather is said to have been taken up into the heavens while still alive.
Quirinus – No accounts seem to indicate him dying.
Iao and Wittoba – there seems to be no information regarding the deaths of these two figures in any original sources.
Orpheus – He was not crucified, but said to have been killed by Dionysus’ frenzied maenads after refusing to worship any god but Apollo.
Bel – He is often associated with Zeus, and no accounts seem to indicate his death.
Prometheus – He was chained to a mountain where an eagle ate his liver on a daily basis, as punishment from Zeus. Hercules would later free him. No crucifixion.
Indra – There are different accounts of Indra’s death. In one narrative he is swallowed alive by a serpent called Vritra. Vritra then spits him out at the commands of some other gods. Because Indra is saved by the gods there is no death, nor a crucifixion.
Dionysus – There is no crucifixion, instead he was eaten alive by Titans during infancy.
Esus/Hesus – His followers would participate in human sacrifices by hanging a victim from a tree after disembowelment. There is no mention of a crucifixion.
Attis – Attis bled to death after castrating himself below a tree.
Alcestis – Alcestis agrees to die for her husband after he makes a deal with the gods. When the time comes, Alcestis is described as being in bed. The gods are touched by her devotion, take pity on her, and reunite her with her husband. No crucifixion is indicated here.
Tammuz – He was allegedly killed by demons sent by Ishtar after she found him on her throne. Not a crucifixion.
Krishna – Krishna was never crucified as he was shot in the foot with an arrow while he was meditating in a forest.
Osiris – Osiris was tricked by Set, then sealed into a chest, and dumped into the Nile. The method of crucifixion was not even invented by this time.
Questzalcoatl – Quetzalcoatl is never crucified at all. In one narrative he burns himself alive out of guilt for sleeping with a celibate priestess. In a different narrative we are told he was burnt by fire that was sent by the gods.

Source:https://jamesbishopblog./2015/01/19/23-reasons-why-scholars-know-jesus-is-not-a-copy-of-pagan-religions/

God bless you for reading.


cc; KingEbukasBlog, Richirich713, thoniameek, anas09, Tufanja, elantraceey, OLAADEGBU, KingEbukaNaija, ceeted, Chidexter, lezz, analice107, bxcode, Topeakintola, UyiIredia, Tellemall, vooks, Ishilove, sukkot, gatiano, mrpresident1, Drefan2, Strawman, dazzle101, Dejideji1, Farmerforlife, muafrika2

4 Likes 4 Shares

Re: 23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. by cckris: 10:54pm On Jul 04, 2016
Christ Jesus still RULES OVER you anyhow.
Re: 23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. by winner01(m): 11:00pm On Jul 04, 2016
Re: 23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. by winner01(m): 11:06pm On Jul 04, 2016
cckris:
Christ Jesus still RULES OVER you anyhow.
And He will rule over me forever my brother. What else can I ask for. His rule is perfect.


[img]http://www.divinerevelations.info/documents/jesus_pictures/jesus_050.jpg[/img]

2 Likes

Re: 23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. by Scholar8200(m): 11:23pm On Jul 04, 2016
Excellent one op!!! Stay blessed

This confirms that there is somebody somewhere trying to upgrade LIES as TRUTH unfolds. The first TRUTH they (through Semiramis) stole was God's promise that the seed of the woman will bruise the serpent. They thought it will end there but they were mistaken!

Some even do theirs in retrospect eg '' gospel of Barnabas''

They have FAILED. This ignoble act of theirs only confirms that
Jesus is The Way, the Truth and the Life.

Op,Watch as the theophobes prove to be better than all the scholars mentioned above!

6 Likes 2 Shares

Re: 23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. by KingEbukasBlog(m): 9:51am On Jul 05, 2016
Thank God for winner01 . More and more revelations are being made and the lies of the foolish ones are being exposed .

Lilbrown007 thinks Jesus did not exist . I wonder what Dalaman will say this time

3 Likes

Re: 23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. by realmindz: 10:59am On Jul 05, 2016
I saw a pix of Jesus over there, the saviour of the blacks.




Why is the bible story focused on the Jews? it was simply a Jewish account like every other culture having theirs.....



why was it necessary for the bible to make everyone believe that Adam and Eve populated all races?.....

Without that belief religion will never stand.

of course our ancestors all came from a single parent and thru them, sin came into the world..yes, so it was easier to explain why blacks, Chinese etc sud adopt christianity.

without that concept, the essence of Jesus coming to the world to save mankind from the sins inherited from Adam and Eve will be a complete waste.

so from there we can, adopt the concept of one God and every other Gods that existed befr will all be called false gods and Yaweh is jealous of all his other contending gods.

good, so we can create the bible to keep dem delusioned...hmmm talk of mind control.



but it is quite not easy editing the bible to fit into this...
for example, there were some people cain was afraid of, how can we explain these people.? (they were of other races and tribes, tell no one pls)

then the issue of Cain's wife, we will simply not talk about it and skip that part.... (nice idea)

2 Likes

Re: 23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. by realmindz: 11:13am On Jul 05, 2016
But guys, pls chill this concept of Adam and Eve will not work.

For example, how come is it that the Jews suddenly were the only ones who knew that Yaweh was the true God if we all came from him...They were the only ones who remembered the garden of eden story.

Adam and eve to Abraham wasn't too long a generation for the rest of the world to suddenly forget Yaweh.

Talk of the Babylonians, Egyptians Philistines etc all suddenly forgot their histories from garden of eden and suddenly had their gods whom they worshipped thousand of years...
They jst couldn't remember their first parents Adam and Eve and their first home. Even the Africans could not jst trace their histories anymore but needed the Jewish to help them remember.

or even Yaweh himself suddenly had a people he called his people and was jealous of some other gods who were not existing according to our bible..



Guys, we need to re-edit the bible to fit into modern age. No no, we can't do that, that will ruin the concept of the perfect holy book inspired by God.

believe me guys, people once they have faith will do anything to defend and fight for it without ever applying their critical reasonings.

jst watch it guys, billions of educated and enlightened minds will stick to this belief till death.

4 Likes 2 Shares

Re: 23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. by realmindz: 11:24am On Jul 05, 2016
Hmmm. u guys are rly smart. it's actually working.

Can u guys believe that these blacks have been convinced and they are ready to die for these beliefs.

wow! they have forgotten where they come from and who the are....


hol hol hol hol up !!!! hahahahaha! !!!! guys common, this is hilarious, they actually thought they came from the two jews and became black rotfl!!!

they even labelled their ancestors evil!!!! hahahahaha oh sh.it this is fantastic..


but wait oo guys, some of them are rly beginning to get enlightened and asking questions...guy forget that! Didn't we write in our books that such people will be called fools! We have done a great job brainwashing them, no one will ever take them serious.

They will be too insignificant to make a change....They will be asleep or a real long time never to be awoken to discover their heritage....

3 Likes 1 Share

Re: 23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. by dalaman: 12:59pm On Jul 05, 2016
KingEbukasBlog:
Thank God for winner01 . More and more revelations are being made and the lies of the foolish ones are being exposed .

Lilbrown007 thinks Jesus did not exist . I wonder what Dalaman will say this time

What is there to say? Sure there is a man behind the myth and Legend. Mohammed lived as a historical person too. But that doesn't mean that the stories in the Hadith are true. Jesus as a man lived but that doesn't mean that the stories in the gospels which were written 40-70 years after he died were true. The contradictary nature of the gospel stories cancel each other out themselves. I've never compared Jesus to any pagan God ever because it doesnt even matter to me. Christianity is just another man made religion and that's the fact of the matter.

7 Likes 1 Share

Re: 23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. by KingEbukasBlog(m): 1:25pm On Jul 05, 2016
dalaman:


What is there to say? Sure there is a man behind the myth and Legend. Mohammed lived as a historical person too. But that doesn't mean that the stories in the Hadith are true. Jesus as a man lived but that doesn't mean that the stories in the gospels which were written 40-70 years after he died were true. The contradictary nature of the gospel stories cancel each other out themselves. I've never compared Jesus to any pagan God ever because it doesnt even matter to me. Christianity is just another man made religion and that's the fact of the matter.

Provide proof the gospel is not true . There is no contradiction anywhere . Why do you think the Gospel books were permitted to be part of the historical account of Jesus since you claim they are contradictory ? They are not contradictory or else any "contradictory book" would have been deemed heretical and destroyed . Read about the Council of Nicea and the role the participants played and stop spewing garbage in a public forum - its embarrassing .
Re: 23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. by dalaman: 2:00pm On Jul 05, 2016
KingEbukasBlog:


Provide proof the gospel is not true . There is no contradiction anywhere . Why do you think the Gospel books were permitted to be part of the historical account of Jesus since you claim they are contradictory ? They are not contradictory or else any "contradictory book" would have been deemed heretical and destroyed . Read about the Council of Nicea and the role the participants played and stop spewing garbage in a public forum - its embarrassing .

The gospels are demonstrably false. They place events and time that completely cancel each other out. For example when exactly was Jesus born? Was he born during the time of Herod or not? When exactly was Jesus crucified? Was it a day before the passover or not? Who did the women see when they went to the tomb? Was it a man or two angels? All these things depend on the gospel account you read. But am not even going dwell on all these endless contradictions. The gospels are demonstrably false given that what Jesus himself and the promise he made are false.

We can put it to test and see. Jesus we were told said that

You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father.
John 14:13


It says you can ask for anything in his name and he will do it. So please I know you truly have faith in Jesus and you truly believe in him. I will ask you to ask Jesus to please heal all the babies that are born with down syndrome in Nigeria today. They are suffering for no reason of their own, they just happen to be born with a genetic disorder that is making them suffer. Pray to God to heal them. It is a noble and good prayer. Anybody that can provide a cure to down syndrome will be hailed the world over. Say that noble prayer and let's see if it does not fail. It will fail despite the promise of Jesus because it is a lie. The gospel is a lie and the promise of Jesus is a lie. That is why even when you say it it will never happen because it is a lie. If it is true then prove that is is true. I don't have time for these endless back and forth. If the gospel is true we will see it in action because it is a lie we fail to see it in action period.

2 Likes

Re: 23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. by Nobody: 2:05pm On Jul 05, 2016
KingEbukasBlog:
Thank God for winner01 . More and more revelations are being made and the lies of the foolish ones are being exposed .

Lilbrown007 thinks Jesus did not exist . I wonder what Dalaman will say this time
One Thing Is For Sure We Know Mohammed Existed!! FACT But Jesus Mbanu His Story Has Been bleeped Up That We Cant Even Find A Real Historical Evidence Of His Existence

4 Likes

Re: 23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. by Tellemall: 3:33pm On Jul 05, 2016
Winner01 and Kingebukas blog, the former called and so I'm here.

Winner, these atheists are hopeless. It's a decision to ignore glaring facts and then pretend to be intelligent and rational and logical afterwards.

The typical atheist is a bigot and a shallow-minded person. They will deem you unintelligent once you don't believe their religion of scientific evidence, when in fact all Christians believe in science, seeing as science is simply a standard of education.

I believe in science, but I believe even more in the Bible. That doesn't make me uneducated, as most atheists with issues will claim. It means that I have something I believe in that isn't the common facts available to any Tom, dick and Harry, all in the name of science and technology!

Once atheists get a sniff of Christianity they grow rabid. But if you feed them Buddhism, Sikhism, Bahaism, the Mohammedan religion and even animism and supernaturalism, without an iota of evidence, they will swallow it without any problems and call it a "culture"and believe in roaming ghosts.

Atheists do not have a problem, except the one that lies with Christianity. As such, the only thing you can do is remind them of what they know and hope it bears witness against them one day.

2 Likes 2 Shares

Re: 23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. by winner01(m): 5:01pm On Jul 05, 2016
realmindz:
I saw a pix of Jesus over there, the saviour of the blacks.


Why is the bible story focused on the Jews? it was simply a Jewish account like every other culture having theirs.....

why was it necessary for the bible to make everyone believe that Adam and Eve populated all races?.....

Without that belief religion will never stand.

of course our ancestors all came from a single parent and thru them, sin came into the world..yes, so it was easier to explain why blacks, Chinese etc sud adopt christianity.

without that concept, the essence of Jesus coming to the world to save mankind from the sins inherited from Adam and Eve will be a complete waste.

so from there we can, adopt the concept of one God and every other Gods that existed befr will all be called false gods and Yaweh is jealous of all his other contending gods.

good, so we can create the bible to keep dem delusioned...hmmm talk of mind control.

but it is quite not easy editing the bible to fit into this...
for example, there were some people cain was afraid of, how can we explain these people.? (they were of other races and tribes, tell no one pls)

then the issue of Cain's wife, we will simply not talk about it and skip that part.... (nice idea)

realmindz:
But guys, pls chill this concept of Adam and Eve will not work.

For example, how come is it that the Jews suddenly were the only ones who knew that Yaweh was the true God if we all came from him...They were the only ones who remembered the garden of eden story.

Adam and eve to Abraham wasn't too long a generation for the rest of the world to suddenly forget Yaweh.

Talk of the Babylonians, Egyptians Philistines etc all suddenly forgot their histories from garden of eden and suddenly had their gods whom they worshipped thousand of years...
They jst couldn't remember their first parents Adam and Eve and their first home. Even the Africans could not jst trace their histories anymore but needed the Jewish to help them remember.

or even Yaweh himself suddenly had a people he called his people and was jealous of some other gods who were not existing according to our bible..
Guys, we need to re-edit the bible to fit into modern age. No no, we can't do that, that will ruin the concept of the perfect holy book inspired by God.

believe me guys, people once they have faith will do anything to defend and fight for it without ever applying their critical reasonings.

jst watch it guys, billions of educated and enlightened minds will stick to this belief till death.



realmindz:
Hmmm. u guys are rly smart. it's actually working.

Can u guys believe that these blacks have been convinced and they are ready to die for these beliefs.

wow! they have forgotten where they come from and who the are....
hol hol hol hol up !!!! hahahahaha! !!!! guys common, this is hilarious, they actually thought they came from the two jews and became black rotfl!!!

they even labelled their ancestors evil!!!! hahahahaha oh sh.it this is fantastic..
but wait oo guys, some of them are rly beginning to get enlightened and asking questions...guy forget that! Didn't we write in our books that such people will be called fools! We have done a great job brainwashing them, no one will ever take them serious.

They will be too insignificant to make a change....They will be asleep or a real long time never to be awoken to discover their heritage....


These are nothing but disgraceful strawman replies


dalaman:


What is there to say? Sure there is a man behind the myth and Legend. Mohammed lived as a historical person too. But that doesn't mean that the stories in the Hadith are true. Jesus as a man lived but that doesn't mean that the stories in the gospels which were written 40-70 years after he died were true. The contradictary nature of the gospel stories cancel each other out themselves. I've never compared Jesus to any pagan God ever because it doesnt even matter to me. Christianity is just another man made religion and that's the fact of the matter.

This is equally disgraceful. Why do you pretend as if you are not aware that several atheists on this forum claim that Jesus never existed? I've never seen you convince any of such atheist that he existed. No matter how much you want christianity to be man-made, no matter how louder you repeat it, no matter how much you invest your life in disproving it, it will continue to smile at your obsession and grow in its millions.
This thread is for people who think Jesus never existed.






dalaman:

We can put it to test and see. Jesus we were told said that
You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father.
John 14:13
It says you can ask for anything in his name and he will do it. So please I know you truly have faith in Jesus and you truly believe in him. I will ask you to ask Jesus to please heal all the babies that are born with down syndrome in Nigeria today. They are suffering for no reason of their own, they just happen to be born with a genetic disorder that is making them suffer. Pray to God to heal them. It is a noble and good prayer. Anybody that can provide a cure to down syndrome will be hailed the world over. Say that noble prayer and let's see if it does not fail. It will fail despite the promise of Jesus because it is a lie. The gospel is a lie and the promise of Jesus is a lie. That is why even when you say it it will never happen because it is a lie. If it is true then prove that is is true. I don't have time for these endless back and forth. If the gospel is true we will see it in action because it is a lie we fail to see it in action period.
You shall not test the Lord your God! Sickness exists and will continue to exist in this world of evil. It does not disprove the power of our God. As a matter of fact, the Bible confirms that life in this world will not be easy. So this reality is consistent with the Bible, however you choose to interpret it will not change anything.
Millions of people all over the world get answers to their prayers, even doctors attest to miracles.

Your request is watery, God has healed several people of diseases. During the time of Jesus, there were sick people all over the world. I never heard that he commanded sickness to leave the world at once. What he said however is "Come to me, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden and I will give you rest." If your son is suffering from downs syndrome, just say it and stop beating about the bush, I will personally pray for his miracle.

1 Like 1 Share

Re: 23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. by Busayorafael(m): 7:29pm On Jul 05, 2016
Tellemall:
Winner01 and Kingebukas blog, the former called and so I'm here.

Winner, these atheists are hopeless. It's a decision to ignore glaring facts and then pretend to be intelligent and rational and logical afterwards.

The typical atheist is a bigot and a shallow-minded person. They will deem you unintelligent once you don't believe their religion of scientific evidence, when in fact all Christians believe in science, seeing as science is simply a standard of education.

I believe in science, but I believe even more in the Bible. That doesn't make me uneducated, as most atheists with issues will claim. It means that I have something I believe in that isn't the common facts available to any Tom, dick and Harry, all in the name of science and technology!

Once atheists get a sniff of Christianity they grow rabid. But if you feed them Buddhism, Sikhism, Bahaism, the Mohammedan religion and even animism and supernaturalism, without an iota of evidence, they will swallow it without any problems and call it a "culture"and believe in roaming ghosts.

Atheists do not have a problem, except the one that lies with Christianity. As such, the only thing you can do is remind them of what they know and hope it bears witness against them one day.

He believes in science but believes more in the Bible. Krishna be praised!

1 Like

Re: 23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. by Anas09: 5:12pm On Jul 06, 2016
winner01:
20. That Jesus was a copy of the Buddha is rejected by scholars.

Some claim that Jesus is a copy of Buddha, they claim in the following comparisons that Buddha was:

1. Born of a virgin.
2. There wise men at Buddha’s birth.
3. Presented with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
4. Born on the 25th of December.
5. Descended from a royal lineage, like did Jesus.
6. Crucified.

First off, Gautama was not born of a virgin, he was born to Suddhodana and his wife, Maya, of 20 years. Another reason for rejecting that Maya was a virgin is because she was the king’s favourite wife. The ‘Acts of the Buddha‘ shows us that Maya and her husband Suddhodana having sexual relations (for example, “the two tasted of love’s delight…”).

Secondly, there seems to be no mention of wise men at all in the Buddhist texts. There also seems to be no record of these specific gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. What is, however, mentioned in a writing that post-dates Christianity we are told the gods (not wisemen) gave Gautama sandalwood, rain, water lilies, and lotus flowers for gifts – these are Buddhist symbols, and have nothing to do with Christianity. This is also not surprising as royal births are often celebrated with festivals and gifts in Buddhist culture.

Again, we are not told the birth date of Jesus, so this cannot be a parallel.

Unlike Jesus, Gautama was an immediate royal descendant born into privilege. Jesus was a distant descendant of King David born into poverty. They are basically opposites.

There seems to be no mention of a crucifixion in any Buddhist source. In fact, we are told that Gautama dies of natural causes at the age of 80. His followers accompany him to a river and provide him with a couch: “Be so good as to spread me a couch… I am weary and wish to lie down…’ Then the [Buddha] fell into a deep meditation, and having passed through the four jhanas, entered Nirvana.


22. That Jesus was a copy parallel of Zoroaster is rejected by scholars.

Some claim that Jesus is a copy of Zoroaster, they claim in the following comparisons that Zoroaster was:

1. Born of a virgin.
2. Tempted in the wilderness.
3. Began his ministry at age 30, like Jesus.
4. Sacrificed for mankind’s sins.

There is no mention of a virgin birth in any Zoroastrian text nor do the events of Zoroaster’s birth seem to have any relation to Jesus. In fact, there are two different accounts of his birth. In one narrative Zoroaster’s parents, Dukdaub and Pourushasp, were a normal married couple who conceived a son through natural means. Zoroaster is described as laughing when he is born as well as having a visible, glowing aura about him:

“[Zoroaster] had come into the posterity…who are Pourushasp, his father, and Dukdaub who is his mother. And also while he is being born and for the duration of life, he produced a radiance, glow, and brilliance from the place of his own abode…” (Denkard, Bk 5 2:1-2)

In the other narrative, which is a later text, an embellishment is added by the Zoroastrian followers. In this narrative we are told that Ahura Mazda (the main deity of Zoroastrianism) implants the soul of Zoroaster into the sacred Haoma plant and through the plant’s milk Zoroaster is born. Nothing here is like a virgin birth.

But was Zoroaster also tempted by an evil spirit to renounce his faith with the promise of receiving power over the nations, like Jesus was? This story is evident in the Vendidad, a Zoroastrian text which lists the laws regarding demons. However, this was written well after the life of Jesus somewhere between 250 – 650 AD. Because of this late date the early Christian scribes could not have copied anything in this text. What we do read sounds strikingly familiar to Jesus’ 40 days in the desert; according to ‘Vendidad Fargad 19:6‘: “Again to him said the Maker of the evil world, Angra Mainyu: ‘Do not destroy my creatures, O holy Zarathushtra… Renounce the good Religion of the worshippers of Mazda, and thou shalt gain such a boon as…the ruler of the nations.'”

Like Jesus, Zoroaster was believed to have begun his teachings at the age of 30. Though Zoroaster technically came out of seclusion at the age of 30 to begin his teachings, he was shunned and ignored for 12 years until his religion was accepted by King Vishtaspa. However, the story surrounding Jesus differs greatly. Jesus attracted followers instantly, and Zoroaster was believed to be killed around the age of 77 while Jesus was killed at the age of 33. Any parallels become questionable on the basis that Zoroaster is not mentioned in texts until to around 225 AD; that is almost 200 years after Christianity had already been in circulation.

Lastly, was Zoroaster’s death spiritually significant? It is believed Zoroaster was killed at the age of 77 after being slaughtered on one of his temple altars by Turanian invaders, however this aspect of his life is debated by scholars. Either way, his death was never believed to atone for sin or to hold any other spiritual purposes.


23. Jesus’ crucifixion in comparison to other alleged deities is unique.

Kersey Graves in his book ‘The World’s Sixteen Crucified Saviors’, names the following as crucified deities, and therefore, the crucifixion of Jesus is a pagan copy. Well, let’s analyze these “crucifixions” to see if they actually, firstly, are crucifixions. If, in fact, they are crucifixions then we should compare them to Jesus’ crucifixion, and see if they are the same:
Mithras – Mithras was carried into heaven on a chariot, alive. This is not a crucifixion.
Bali – There are various accounts regarding Bali’s death. One says that he was forced down (bodily) into the underworld after being deceived by Vamana, an avatar of Vishnu. In other accounts, Bali is said to have been released and granted kingship. No crucifixion occurs in either story.
Romulus – Romulus was not crucified, but rather is said to have been taken up into the heavens while still alive.
Quirinus – No accounts seem to indicate him dying.
Iao and Wittoba – there seems to be no information regarding the deaths of these two figures in any original sources.
Orpheus – He was not crucified, but said to have been killed by Dionysus’ frenzied maenads after refusing to worship any god but Apollo.
Bel – He is often associated with Zeus, and no accounts seem to indicate his death.
Prometheus – He was chained to a mountain where an eagle ate his liver on a daily basis, as punishment from Zeus. Hercules would later free him. No crucifixion.
Indra – There are different accounts of Indra’s death. In one narrative he is swallowed alive by a serpent called Vritra. Vritra then spits him out at the commands of some other gods. Because Indra is saved by the gods there is no death, nor a crucifixion.
Dionysus – There is no crucifixion, instead he was eaten alive by Titans during infancy.
Esus/Hesus – His followers would participate in human sacrifices by hanging a victim from a tree after disembowelment. There is no mention of a crucifixion.
Attis – Attis bled to death after castrating himself below a tree.
Alcestis – Alcestis agrees to die for her husband after he makes a deal with the gods. When the time comes, Alcestis is described as being in bed. The gods are touched by her devotion, take pity on her, and reunite her with her husband. No crucifixion is indicated here.
Tammuz – He was allegedly killed by demons sent by Ishtar after she found him on her throne. Not a crucifixion.
Krishna – Krishna was never crucified as he was shot in the foot with an arrow while he was meditating in a forest.
Osiris – Osiris was tricked by Set, then sealed into a chest, and dumped into the Nile. The method of crucifixion was not even invented by this time.
Questzalcoatl – Quetzalcoatl is never crucified at all. In one narrative he burns himself alive out of guilt for sleeping with a celibate priestess. In a different narrative we are told he was burnt by fire that was sent by the gods.

Source:https://jamesbishopblog./2015/01/19/23-reasons-why-scholars-know-jesus-is-not-a-copy-of-pagan-religions/

God bless you for reading.


cc; KingEbukasBlog, Richirich713, thoniameek, anas09, Tufanja, elantraceey, OLAADEGBU, KingEbukaNaija, ceeted, Chidexter, lezz, analice107, bxcode, Topeakintola, UyiIredia, Tellemall, vooks, Ishilove, sukkot, gatiano, mrpresident1, Drefan2, Strawman, dazzle101, Dejideji1, Farmerforlife, muafrika2


The Name "Jesus" is a continues thorn on Satan and his Apostle's flesh. Wonderful!!!, There's no fable they won't fabricate to make Jesus ordinary, they think by doing this, they will escape the Judgement awaiting them? Everyday, I get convinced that indeed, Jesus is who he says he is. With all the religions in the world, and these folks only have issues with Jesus.
There's indeed something Satan is fighting against.
The means determines the end.
Thank you father for the prevellege to know you.

4 Likes 1 Share

Re: 23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. by Anas09: 5:24pm On Jul 06, 2016
winner01:
20. That Jesus was a copy of the Buddha is rejected by scholars.

Some claim that Jesus is a copy of Buddha, they claim in the following comparisons that Buddha was:

1. Born of a virgin.
2. There wise men at Buddha’s birth.
3. Presented with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
4. Born on the 25th of December.
5. Descended from a royal lineage, like did Jesus.
6. Crucified.

First off, Gautama was not born of a virgin, he was born to Suddhodana and his wife, Maya, of 20 years. Another reason for rejecting that Maya was a virgin is because she was the king’s favourite wife. The ‘Acts of the Buddha‘ shows us that Maya and her husband Suddhodana having sexual relations (for example, “the two tasted of love’s delight…”).

Secondly, there seems to be no mention of wise men at all in the Buddhist texts. There also seems to be no record of these specific gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. What is, however, mentioned in a writing that post-dates Christianity we are told the gods (not wisemen) gave Gautama sandalwood, rain, water lilies, and lotus flowers for gifts – these are Buddhist symbols, and have nothing to do with Christianity. This is also not surprising as royal births are often celebrated with festivals and gifts in Buddhist culture.

Again, we are not told the birth date of Jesus, so this cannot be a parallel.

Unlike Jesus, Gautama was an immediate royal descendant born into privilege. Jesus was a distant descendant of King David born into poverty. They are basically opposites.

There seems to be no mention of a crucifixion in any Buddhist source. In fact, we are told that Gautama dies of natural causes at the age of 80. His followers accompany him to a river and provide him with a couch: “Be so good as to spread me a couch… I am weary and wish to lie down…’ Then the [Buddha] fell into a deep meditation, and having passed through the four jhanas, entered Nirvana.


22. That Jesus was a copy parallel of Zoroaster is rejected by scholars.

Some claim that Jesus is a copy of Zoroaster, they claim in the following comparisons that Zoroaster was:

1. Born of a virgin.
2. Tempted in the wilderness.
3. Began his ministry at age 30, like Jesus.
4. Sacrificed for mankind’s sins.

There is no mention of a virgin birth in any Zoroastrian text nor do the events of Zoroaster’s birth seem to have any relation to Jesus. In fact, there are two different accounts of his birth. In one narrative Zoroaster’s parents, Dukdaub and Pourushasp, were a normal married couple who conceived a son through natural means. Zoroaster is described as laughing when he is born as well as having a visible, glowing aura about him:

“[Zoroaster] had come into the posterity…who are Pourushasp, his father, and Dukdaub who is his mother. And also while he is being born and for the duration of life, he produced a radiance, glow, and brilliance from the place of his own abode…” (Denkard, Bk 5 2:1-2)

In the other narrative, which is a later text, an embellishment is added by the Zoroastrian followers. In this narrative we are told that Ahura Mazda (the main deity of Zoroastrianism) implants the soul of Zoroaster into the sacred Haoma plant and through the plant’s milk Zoroaster is born. Nothing here is like a virgin birth.

But was Zoroaster also tempted by an evil spirit to renounce his faith with the promise of receiving power over the nations, like Jesus was? This story is evident in the Vendidad, a Zoroastrian text which lists the laws regarding demons. However, this was written well after the life of Jesus somewhere between 250 – 650 AD. Because of this late date the early Christian scribes could not have copied anything in this text. What we do read sounds strikingly familiar to Jesus’ 40 days in the desert; according to ‘Vendidad Fargad 19:6‘: “Again to him said the Maker of the evil world, Angra Mainyu: ‘Do not destroy my creatures, O holy Zarathushtra… Renounce the good Religion of the worshippers of Mazda, and thou shalt gain such a boon as…the ruler of the nations.'”

Like Jesus, Zoroaster was believed to have begun his teachings at the age of 30. Though Zoroaster technically came out of seclusion at the age of 30 to begin his teachings, he was shunned and ignored for 12 years until his religion was accepted by King Vishtaspa. However, the story surrounding Jesus differs greatly. Jesus attracted followers instantly, and Zoroaster was believed to be killed around the age of 77 while Jesus was killed at the age of 33. Any parallels become questionable on the basis that Zoroaster is not mentioned in texts until to around 225 AD; that is almost 200 years after Christianity had already been in circulation.

Lastly, was Zoroaster’s death spiritually significant? It is believed Zoroaster was killed at the age of 77 after being slaughtered on one of his temple altars by Turanian invaders, however this aspect of his life is debated by scholars. Either way, his death was never believed to atone for sin or to hold any other spiritual purposes.


23. Jesus’ crucifixion in comparison to other alleged deities is unique.

Kersey Graves in his book ‘The World’s Sixteen Crucified Saviors’, names the following as crucified deities, and therefore, the crucifixion of Jesus is a pagan copy. Well, let’s analyze these “crucifixions” to see if they actually, firstly, are crucifixions. If, in fact, they are crucifixions then we should compare them to Jesus’ crucifixion, and see if they are the same:
Mithras – Mithras was carried into heaven on a chariot, alive. This is not a crucifixion.
Bali – There are various accounts regarding Bali’s death. One says that he was forced down (bodily) into the underworld after being deceived by Vamana, an avatar of Vishnu. In other accounts, Bali is said to have been released and granted kingship. No crucifixion occurs in either story.
Romulus – Romulus was not crucified, but rather is said to have been taken up into the heavens while still alive.
Quirinus – No accounts seem to indicate him dying.
Iao and Wittoba – there seems to be no information regarding the deaths of these two figures in any original sources.
Orpheus – He was not crucified, but said to have been killed by Dionysus’ frenzied maenads after refusing to worship any god but Apollo.
Bel – He is often associated with Zeus, and no accounts seem to indicate his death.
Prometheus – He was chained to a mountain where an eagle ate his liver on a daily basis, as punishment from Zeus. Hercules would later free him. No crucifixion.
Indra – There are different accounts of Indra’s death. In one narrative he is swallowed alive by a serpent called Vritra. Vritra then spits him out at the commands of some other gods. Because Indra is saved by the gods there is no death, nor a crucifixion.
Dionysus – There is no crucifixion, instead he was eaten alive by Titans during infancy.
Esus/Hesus – His followers would participate in human sacrifices by hanging a victim from a tree after disembowelment. There is no mention of a crucifixion.
Attis – Attis bled to death after castrating himself below a tree.
Alcestis – Alcestis agrees to die for her husband after he makes a deal with the gods. When the time comes, Alcestis is described as being in bed. The gods are touched by her devotion, take pity on her, and reunite her with her husband. No crucifixion is indicated here.
Tammuz – He was allegedly killed by demons sent by Ishtar after she found him on her throne. Not a crucifixion.
Krishna – Krishna was never crucified as he was shot in the foot with an arrow while he was meditating in a forest.
Osiris – Osiris was tricked by Set, then sealed into a chest, and dumped into the Nile. The method of crucifixion was not even invented by this time.
Questzalcoatl – Quetzalcoatl is never crucified at all. In one narrative he burns himself alive out of guilt for sleeping with a celibate priestess. In a different narrative we are told he was burnt by fire that was sent by the gods.

Source:https://jamesbishopblog./2015/01/19/23-reasons-why-scholars-know-jesus-is-not-a-copy-of-pagan-religions/

God bless you for reading.


cc; KingEbukasBlog, Richirich713, thoniameek, anas09, Tufanja, elantraceey, OLAADEGBU, KingEbukaNaija, ceeted, Chidexter, lezz, analice107, bxcode, Topeakintola, UyiIredia, Tellemall, vooks, Ishilove, sukkot, gatiano, mrpresident1, Drefan2, Strawman, dazzle101, Dejideji1, Farmerforlife, muafrika2


The Name "Jesus" is a continues thorn on Satan and his Apostle's flesh. Wonderful!!!, There's no fable they won't fabricate to make Jesus ordinary. They think by doing this, they will actually take Jeaus' divinity from him, then escape the Judgement awaiting them? Everyday, I get convinced that indeed Jesus is who he says he is. With all the religions in the world, these folks only have issues with Jesus.
There's indeed something Satan is fighting against.
The means determines the end. I am glad that none of us shall escape standing before him on the last day. The dead shall arise, the living shall line up, everyone of us.

Good News Translation. Revelation 1:7 Look, he is coming on the clouds! Everyone will see him, including those who pierced him. All peoples on earth will mourn over him. So shall it be!

Thank you father for the prevellege to know you.

3 Likes 2 Shares

Re: 23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. by KingEbukasBlog(m): 11:13pm On Jul 06, 2016
cool cool cool
Re: 23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. by Nobody: 5:12pm On Jul 07, 2016
Most Atheists on NL do not read further than what they post here. Someone trying to compare Jesus with Krishna definitely has no information about anything Indian.

1 Like 1 Share

Re: 23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. by winner01(m): 1:09am On Jul 08, 2016
Muafrika2:
Most Atheists on NL do not read further than what they post here. Someone trying to compare Jesus with Krishna definitely has no information about anything Indian.
Even some more confirmation from non christian sources.

2 Likes

Re: 23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. by KingEbukaNaija: 9:57pm On Jul 11, 2016
Muafrika2:
Most Atheists on NL do not read further than what they post here. Someone trying to compare Jesus with Krishna definitely has no information about anything Indian.

true
Re: 23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. by winner01(m): 11:59pm On Jul 16, 2016
.
Re: 23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. by winner01(m): 9:13am On Jul 17, 2016
Jesus is Lord.
Re: 23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. by KingEbukaNaija: 12:00am On Jul 18, 2016
cc : lalasticlala , mynd44
Re: 23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. by winner01(m): 10:21am On Jul 24, 2016
KingEbukaNaija:
cc : lalasticlala , mynd44
lalasticlala
Re: 23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. by KingEbukaNaija: 4:30pm On Jul 31, 2016
lalasticlala

This is very informative bro
Re: 23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. by KingEbukaNaija: 6:58pm On Nov 27, 2016
lalasticlala , mynd44
Re: 23 Reasons Why Scholars Know Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Religions. by KingEbukaNaija: 10:44pm On Nov 27, 2016
lennycool

read and understand

(1) (2) (Reply)

Is There Anyone Here With A Prophetic Gift That I Can Speak With? / Black Panther & Perjury: Chadwick Boseman's Death Could Have Been Avoided / How Long Was The First Day Of Creation

(Go Up)

Sections: politics (1) business autos (1) jobs (1) career education (1) romance computers phones travel sports fashion health
religion celebs tv-movies music-radio literature webmasters programming techmarket

Links: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

Nairaland - Copyright © 2005 - 2024 Oluwaseun Osewa. All rights reserved. See How To Advertise. 261
Disclaimer: Every Nairaland member is solely responsible for anything that he/she posts or uploads on Nairaland.