Was Jesus a copy of other gods such as Horus?

Too often do I come across websites, blogs, word of mouth circulating while depicting how Christianity borrowed themes from earlier religions making it a copycat like the infamous Zeitgeist dillusion. I always seem to hear that Christianity is not unique because that it stole the ideas of other gods. Everyone familiar with the religion can understand that the centralized theme of “good vs. evil” and “light vs. dark” are as old as humanity itself. But specifically , there are attributes given to the gods of contesting religions of the following:

Born on Dec 25th
Was God in the Flesh
Born of a virgin
Died for our sins
Titled the redeemer, Son of God, Lamb of God,Resurrected

With the exception of his birth on December 25th, one could reasonably claim that it was stolen from pagan ideas. I believe that is true but it is more based on ideology than theology. It doesn’t make a difference. One shouldn’t assume that just because that date was fused in with Christianity that all elements such as his birth, death, and resurrection was too. I know there is a lot of information out there on the internet and he said, she said sources so I decided to investigate the actual history itself to come up with my own educated conclusion. I was quite surprised. I crossed studied each of the mythical gods in ancient history and did a break down analysis and comparison with Jesus. Anyone can make a claim but to actually be credited and backed up with history itself is quite often never used. I wanted to deflate these false information. Hopefully this might shed some more light for you to the pass the real TRUTH and the GOOD NEWS! As you read all of this I don’t want you to take my word for it. I also challenge you to go to a library, university, or ask a historian on mythology and you will find out for yourself instead of listen to artificial crap floating in the web today.

1. ADONIS- Associated with life/death cycle of vegetation
Death and resurrection- Apollodorus, who was a Greek writer born about 180 BC, about 2200 years ago who wrote the Library mentions his death but no resurrection

“And Adonis, while still a boy, was wounded and killed in hunting by a boar through the anger of Artemis.” – Apollodorus, The Library, Book III.

The earliest known record of a tradition involving a revived Adonis comes from Lucian of Samosata, the author of De Dea Syria.

“They say, at any rate, that the deed that was done to Adon by the boar occurred in their land, and in memory of that misfortune every year they beat their breasts and mourn and perform the ceremonies, making solemn lamentations throughout the country. And when the breast-beating and weeping is at end, first they make offerings to Adon as if to a dead person; and then, on the next day, they proclaim that he is alive and fetch him forth into the air, and shave their heads as the Egyptians do when Apis dies.”

The problem with this is that it was written a century after Christ, too late to influence Christianity.
Resurrection Theocritus, a Greek poet during the third century AD, after the time of Jesus, indicates in his Psalm of Adonis that Adonis is revived for a single day each year and then is carried out to the sea. There is a huge difference here. Jesus dies was resurrected and defeated death. On the contrary, Adonis dies, returns back to death and gets revived. Resurrection is not the same as revivication. Another problem with this is that it was written 2 centuries after Christ. So you tell me who borrowed what from whom?

Virgin Birth- according to the book, the Library:
“…this Smyrna conceived a passion for her father, and with the complicity of her nurse she shared her father’s bed without his knowledge for twelve nights. But when he was aware of it, he drew his sword and pursued her, and being overtaken she prayed to the gods that she might be invisible; so the gods in compassion turned her into the tree which they call smyrna (myrrh). Ten months afterwards the tree burst and Adonis, as he is called, was born…”

This indicates that he was born through incest than through a virgin birth.

2. DIONYSUS (BACCHUS) is the god of wine, the inpirer of ritual madness and ecstasy. He represents the intoxicating power of wine.(Doesn’t sound like a Jesus to me)
Virgin Birth- When discussing the virgin the birth, there is many version of Dionysus’ real mother. The Golden Bough, some traditions say that he was born of a deity, such as Persephone, the Greek mythical queen of the underworld, or Demeter, a Greek goddess of agriculture who is sometimes revered as the Mother Goddess. Jesus’ mother on the other hand was a mortal woman, a human. Other traditions have Dionysus born from a mortal woman named Semele. And there also was a tradition that Semele never actually gives birth to Dionysus, as we learn from Ovid, a first century Roman poet who wrote Metamorphoses. Ovid informs us that Semele asks to see the god who impregnated her. The god presents himself as a storm. Although the god tries to restrain himself, he inadvertently kills Semele:

“But still Semele’s mortal body could not endure the storm, and she was consumed, by the fire of her nuptial gift. The infant Bacchus, still unfinished, is torn from the mother’s womb, and (if it can be believed) is sewn into his father’s thigh to complete his full term.” – Metamorphoses, book III, section 273-315.
Many ancient sources of literature, including The Bacchae, relay the mythical tradition that Semele was the daughter of Cadmus, who was the son of Agenor. Agenor, as we are told by ancient Greek writers, including Apollodorus, was the son of Poseidon, the legendary god of the sea, who also was known as Neptune. Semele’s great-grandfather Poseidon/Neptune was one of the very greatest gods of Greek mythology. He was also a brother to Zeus. And to complicate matters even more in terms of trying to suggest that there are similarities between Semele and Mary, Semele’s mother, Harmonia, was an immortal goddess who was the daughter of Aphrodite (also known as Venus). In other words, Semele was not a virgin or a mortal woman as opposed to Jesus’ mother Mary.
Turning water into wine. The earliest source of this was from Achilles Tatius, in his romance novel, Leucippe and Cleitophon, which is most commonly said to have been written during the second century AD, after the New Testament.
Resurrection and crucifixion- according to myth, Dionysus is born to a female deity, torn to pieces by Titans, re-gestated by Semele who is accidentally incinerated, and then sewn into the thigh of Zeus/Jupiter, until he reaches full term for the second time, and is born for the second time, from the thigh of Zeus/Jupiter. This is however a different view from the New Testament writers about Jesus.

3. KRISHNA Although the words Krishna and Christ might sound phonetically similar, they have different meanings. “Krishna” means “the black one,” or “dark one,” whereas the “Christ” means “anointed one” or “messiah.”
Virgin birth The Mahabharata, a Hindu religious text with details about the life and teachings of Krishna, says that Krishna was born in a prison, not a manger, and that his father was a nobleman, not a carpenter. As for a virgin birth, the Mahabharata says that Krishna’s parents were Princess Devaki and Vasudeva, (Mahabharata Book 12, Section 48), who had several children before he was born.
Death and crucifixion- As for the crucifixion and resurrection, it is true that the Mahabharata says that Krishna, who is alternately referred to as Keshava, is killed and that he returns to life, but he was not crucified. Instead, he receives a mortal injury to the heel while meditating in the forest:

“A fierce hunter of the name of Jara then came there, desirous of deer. The hunter, mistaking Keshava, who was stretched on the earth in high Yoga, for a deer, pierced him at the heel with a shaft and quickly came to that spot for capturing his prey.” – Mahabharata, Book 16, Section 4

4. HORUS son of Osiris and Isis, the war god, lord of the sky, often depicted as a falcon, hawk, or a lion’s body with a head of a hawk ( but never as the “Lamb of God” such as Jesus)
If you study the history of Horus, such as his losing his eye, avenging his father’s death by battling his uncle Set, and losing his testacle which explains why the desert is infertile, there is nothing similar to Jesus.
Virgin Birth- according to Plutarch, Isis lost her virginity before she was born:

“… but Isis and Osiris were enamoured of each other and consorted together in the darkness of the womb before their birth. Some say that Arueris came from this union and was called the elder Horus by the Egyptians, but Apollo by the Greeks.” – Plutarch, Osiris and Isis.

Isis and Osiris were not only husband and wife, they were brother and sister. In fact they were twins. And in accordance to their mythology, they had consummated their love for one another before they were born. There is also a tradition that Isis later marries her son Horus, further complicating any reasonable comparisons to Christianity. There are no reasons to believe a virgin birth from a mortal woman as the New Testament writers write. Its also very difficult to believe that a mortal virgin woman would produce a half lion/half hawk god.
Baptismal- According to the Egyptian book, the Book of Going Forth by Day, baptism was used to purify the newborn from the mothers womb. Also, water, especially the Nile’s cold water, which was believed to have regenerative powers, is ONLY used to baptize the dead in a ritual, unlike how the way the living Jesus was baptized.
Crucifixion and resurrection- There are two passages within the writing of Plutarch that might lead one to assume that the reconstruction of Osiris leads to a resurrection:

“Later, as they relate, Osiris came to Horus from the other world and exercised and trained him for the battle.” – Plutarch, Osiris and Isis.

“In this way we shall undertake to deal with the numerous and tiresome people, whether they be such as take pleasure in associating theological problems with the seasonal changes in the surrounding atmosphere, or with the growth of the crops and seed-times and ploughing; and also those who say that Osiris is being buried at the time when the grain is sown and covered in the earth and that he comes to life and reappears when plants begin to sprout.” – Plutarch, Osiris and Isis.
This is too ambiguous to assume a bodily resurrection like Christ. It just indicates of a spiritual resurrection. He then became the ruler of the underworld, a story unlike Jesus. Another problem with crucifixion is that it wasn’t practiced 4 thousand years ago at the time of Horus so how is that possible? The earliest that we can actually date crucifixion is to the act of Darius the Persian, conqueror of Babylon in 519 BCE, when he had 3000 Babylonian prisoners crucified
Other- There are no mentions that Horus had 12 disciples like Jesus, but a mention of 4 demi-gods and 16 nobles accomanying him. There are no mentions of Horus being born in a manger, no mentions of Horus raising anyone from the dead like how Jesus rais ed Lazarus from the dead. Horus did however avenge Osiris’ death. If that these are true where are these facts at? Someone please tell me!

6. MITHRA- Mirthra was born out of a rock, not a virgin; was known for killing a bull; there are no textual evidence suggesting Mithras die, therefor no sacrifise or resurrection could be possible. Myths about Mithras parrallel accounts to Jesus wasn’t invented till 2 to 5 centuries after the Gospels were well known and circulated. Must I say more?

One thing that you have to understand is which version of Jesus you are comparing to. Jesus for once was NOT born on December 25th. We have the early testament writings for the first 300 years that never mention such a thing. The Bible mentions that during Christ’s birth there were shepherds tending to their sheep. Shepherds don’t tend their sheep in December. Christmas was added by paganized Roman Catholic Church 300 years later. Their version also says that Jesus was visited by 3 wisemen. The Bible never mentions how many wisemen there were. It was assumed 3 by the Catholic Church because of the 3 gifts. So in a way if you’re comparing pagan similarities with the rites, Jesus, Madonna and child-theme to the Roman Catholic Church, then you are correct.

CONCLUSION: Truth is revealed when you actually take time to study history. People see parallels and then jump into conclusions without examing history, dates, and sources. While other religions are constantly adapted and changing, the story of Jesus doesn’t. When you look closely, you see that some of the stories were written after the New Testament writers. Also those myths were created off pure imagination. The writers of Jesus did not take amusement because they were actually being killed, fed to lions, crucified, shot with arrows, burnt, beaten and exiled. Why do you think they would suffer and risk their lives for just writing a story with no monetary value? For fun? Furthermore, Christ may have been born over 2 thousand years ago, after those gods were known, but his prophecy and fulfillment as the Messiah predated up to 2000BC, longer than Adonis and Dionysus. A major difference was that stories were created using these Gods to explain seasonal, vegetational changes and cycles whereas Jesus actually had eyewitnesses, was historically documented, and was not related to cycles and changes. Even more, the gods depicted in other religions and myths had different forms and shapes, and some would come down to mate with humans giving birth to demi god offsprings. These concepts were alien to Christians and Jews. Their God had no form or shape just expressed in 2 different concepts until Jesus. Last but not least, just because there could be slight similarities, its details that make the difference. So read history and stop believing that crap and even worse, stop spreading it!! You must equip yourself with the armor of Truth so that the injection of lies can not penetrate you. The Truth will be revealed to you if you search for it!!

DO NOT RELY ON A YOUTUBE VIDEO OR ZEITGEIST FOR SALVATION! YOUR SALVATION IS IMPORTANT TO YOU!

Inspired by George Konig and About-Jesus.org, Lee Strobel Case for the Real Jesus

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Written by herqlez253

March 11, 2009 at 3:13 am

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Excellent study. This is yet another subject I have seen you write about that believers need to be made more aware of. There are many attacks against our Lord that are based on these lies of ‘pagan christs’ and most of us have no idea about pagan mythology so we can be easily deceived when some blasphemer says that the Messiah is just another myth that was based of of Osiris or Adonis or Tammuz etc.

littleguyintheeye

September 30, 2009 at 12:23 pm

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