Lord Raglan came up with this framework for assessing mythological heroes from the past. He contends that such figures as Zeus, Jesus, Appollo conform to several of the following;

(1) The hero's mother is a royal virgin;
(2) His father is a king, and
(3) Often a near relative of the mother, but
(4) The circumstances of his conception are unusual, and
(5) He is also reputed to be the son of a god.
(6) At birth an attempt is made, usually by his father or his maternal grandfather, to kill him, but
(7) He is spirited away, and
(8 -) Reared by foster-parents in a far country.
(9) We are told nothing of his childhood, but
(10) On reaching manhood he returns or goes to his future kingdom.
(11) After a victory over the king and/or a giant, dragon, or wild beast,
(12) He marries a princess, often the daughter of his predecessor, and
(13) Becomes king.
(14) For a time he reigns uneventfully and
(15) Prescribes laws, but
(16) Later he loses favour with the gods and/or his subjects, and
(17) Is driven from the throne and the city, after which
(18) He meets with a mysterious death,
(19) Often at the top of a hill.
(20) His children, if any, do not succeed him.
(21) His body is not buried, but nevertheless
(22) He has one or more holy sepulchres.

--Lord Raglan, The Hero: A Study in Tradition, Myth, and Drama


How well do you think Jesus would score on this framework? Ok, let's compare him to other mythological heroes of the past;



[table]
[tr][td]Hero [/td][td]Score[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Oedipus [/td][td]22[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Thesus [/td][td]20[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Jesus [/td][td]19[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Romulus [/td][td]17[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Hercules [/td][td]17[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Persus [/td][td]16[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Zeus [/td][td]15[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Jason [/td][td]15[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Robin Hood [/td][td]13[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Apollo [/td][td]11[/td][/tr]
[/table]


You see, Jesus scores quite high on this index. Where do you think you local traditional heroes score? Give a go!
References;
http://www.amazon.com/Study-Folklore-Alan-Dundes/dp/0138589445

A document that will especially appeal to Muslims and those with a Chinese background, as well as many others.
The Mystery of the "Sinless" Son

Buddha could not correct this, Muhammad could not correct this, no ideology or philosophy could correct this, only one name under heaven could correct this . . . Jesus!

"And He hath made me blessed wheresoever I be," (Surah 19:31).

"Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be save" (Acts/Injil 4:12).

Let us first compare what is known about Jesus and what is know about Muhammad.

Jesus Muhammad
His name means His name means "praised
"Savior" - Isaiah 63:8 one." Also "Al-Amin,"
Matthew 1:20-23 also, trustworthy
"Immanuel" --"God is
with us!"

Born of a virgin, Mary Born of Ammiah
No earthly Father, Abd Allah was his father
According to Bible and
Quran.

Born about 4 B.C. in Born A.D. 570 in Mecca
Bethlehem, Israel

Raised by Mary, his Raised by his mother,
mother and Joseph, his Hailima the nurse, then
adopted father. his uncle and grandfather.

Labored as a local Started as a shepherd then
carpenter in city of became a camel caravan
Nazareth, Israel. leader to Syria.

Spoke in Hebrew, Spoke only Arabic.
Aramaic and probably
Greek.

Was literate; wrote no Was literate; wrote the
Books. the Quran.

Attracted multitudes by Attracted multitudes by
his miracles and teachings. by his teaching and the sword.

Had to move to the city Had to move to Medina because
of Capernaum because of of rejection by his townspeople.
rejection by his towns-
people.

Was never married. Married to fifteen wives.

Lived a sinless life, Lived no sinless life, prayed according to both according to Bible the Bible and the Quran often for forgiveness.
and Quran.


Waged no physical war. Waged physical war by fighting
or leading in 66 battles.

Ordered the death of no one. Ordered the death of many men
(some as old as 100 years) and
women (the first was a poetess).

Established a religion of Established a religion of
mercy even for fear and the sword.
one's worst enemies.

Established an eternal Established an earthly empire.
"spiritual" kingdom.

Died by crucifixion in Died in Medina due to affects of
Jerusalem at age 33. pneumonia and poisoning at age 62.
.

Arose the third day, Lingers still in his grave still
alive from the dead, awaiting the Day of Judgment,
emptying His tomb. according to the Quran.
Quran/Suras 355 and
Suras 1933) Bible
Matthew 27:27-28:10

Old Testament predicted No scripture predicted his coming.
his coming, His life, death,
and raising again.
Isaiah 53:1-12

Mentioned in the Qu'ran Mentioned in the Qu'ran
(97) ninety-seven times. (25) twenty-five times.

1,500,000,000 claim to be 800,000,000 claim to be
his followers. his followers.

Many of His followers Many of his followers (Muslims) are known
(Christians) are known for their fanatic dedication to
for their dedication, love, war and vengeance, even
and caring for others, or killing other Muslims.
even for their enemies.

About 5000 Greek and Four different Qu'ran
and Aramaic manuscripts traditions existed and instead
of the New Testament exist of the variations preserved for
in whole or in part. The future comparison, all but one
best and most important of was destroyed. The Hijazi
these date back to about tradition, the Kufan tradition,
A.D. 350. the Basran tradition, and the
Comparison of Syrian tradition from Ubayy
these show extreme care ibn Ka'b, one of the scribes of
given by scribes that they Muhammad. Uthman was
not be corrupted and the commissioned to destroy all but
original teachings faith- his edition.
fully preserved.

Jesus taught that all Muhammad claimed to have
revelation from God added to the Revelation of God.
ended with Him.
(Bible/Romans 10:4
Revelation 22:18-19)

My friends, why do I bring these things up? It is because in all our short lives, the truth about God has the greatest influence on our lives, both in this life and in our eternity.

I believe that only God knows Muhammad's heart and motives. I believe God sent true Christians with uncorrupted Bibles to Muhammad, but I also believe Satan sent false Christians to Muhammad with corrupted texts and Muhammad chose to believe the false Christians teaching instead of the "true Christians." How sad! This is like believing one of today's cults that have sprung out of Christianity, instead of true Christianity.

Each of these cults have added another "revelation" in addition to the Bible and/or the Qu'ran saying their teacher or prophet was the final and true prophet. The ancient "Christian cults" who influenced Muhammad taught there was no trinity, that Jesus was not crucified nor did he die, and that Jesus was not anything but a glorified angel.

Oh, that Muhammad would have become a true believer in Jesus. How different his life would have been! He would have refused to go into war or to kill any of his enemies! He would have shown only love to Jews, idolaters and many of them would have left their former lives to follow the Jesus he loved.

Muhammad esteemed Jesus as the highest of all prophets and reported to have said, "I am most akin to the son of Mary among the whole of mankind," and "I am most close to Jesus, son of Mary, among the whole of mankind in this worldly life and the next life." (Sahih Muslim, Vol. 4, pp. 1260-1261).

If only Muhammed’s choice would have truly been to walk like Jesus! Yet you can! My prayer is that you consider the true Jesus of the Bible!

Even with the corrupt ideas the cults had shared, Muhammad still had some truths about Jesus. What are these in the Qu'ran?
1. Jesus was born of a virgin (Sura 19:16-35)
2. Jesus was the "Messiah" of the Old Testament prophecies. (Sura 4:171)
3. Jesus was a Spirit from God. (Sura 4:171)
4. Jesus was the "Word of God." (Sura 4:171)
5. Jesus was faultless and sinless. (Sura 19:19) This is the greatest "19" verse of the Qu'ran, and makes Jesus the greatest prophet, for:
Adam sinned. (Sura 2:36, 7:22,23),
Abraham sinned. (Sura 26:82),
Moses sinned (Sura 28:15-16),
Jonah sinned (Sura 17:142),
David sinned (Sura 38:24-25),
Muhammad sinned (Sura 47:19, 48:1-2, 33:36-38),
yet Jesus did not sin!

"But we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet without sin."

6. Jesus is illustrious in the world and the hereafter. (Sura 3:45)
7. Jesus was taken up to heaven by God. (Sura 4:158)
8. Jesus was to come back to earth for judgment (Sura 43:61) translation. Yusuf Ali and Mishkat IV pp. 78-80.

Why then was Jesus so hated by the Jewish religious leaders who wanted him dead?

First, Jesus healed a man who had not walked in 38 years and did this on the Sabbath day! He would forgive peoples’ sins. (Luke 7:49)

"So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. Jesus said to them, My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.’ For this reason the Jews tried to all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God." (John 5:16-18)

Surat al-Imran (The Family of Imran) 3:49 states of Jesus, "I healed him who was born blind, and the leper, and I raise the dead, by Allah’s leave."

Again Jesus said, "I and my Father are One." The Jews took up stones to stone Him, and Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of these do you stone me?" The Jews answered Him, "We stone you for no good work, but for blaspheming, because you, being a man, make yourself God." (John 10: 30-33)

Why would Jesus make such a claim? Jesus "knew no sin" (I Corinthians 5:21), Jesus "did not sin" (I Peter 2:22), Jesus "was without sin" (Hebrews 4:15), and in Jesus "is no sin" (I John 3:5). Since both the Bible and the Quran agree on this point, (Sura 19:19), can you see the need for the "sinless" One, Jesus, equal with God, to forgive your sins? Jesus is ready to do this, but first you must understand the most important mystery of mysteries!

Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." (John 5:24)

The mystery of God that is revealed next is the one of God’s own "Suffering" for his lost children of humanity; to set them back on the correct path again. Have you ever loved one intimately your heart, only to watch them go a wrong way? Then read on . .