Jesus, pre-4th century Christianity, and syncretism - Definition and Overview

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this article is about the idea that certain aspects of Jesus and pre-4th century Christian church originated as syncretisms. For discussion of the development of the church after this time, and later potential syncretisms such as Christmas rituals, and syncretisms from Christianity, see the article History of Christianity, and other articles.

Christianity developed in a world of highly syncretistic religion; Hellenic philosophy had overwritten many local religions with highly popular mystery religions, in which the gods were mere allegory. Despite being entirely surrounded by them, no strong mystery religion developed in Israel, unless Christianity is identified as such, despite their phenomenal success around the remainder of the Mediterranean and Near-east. Some scholars, beginning in the nineteenth century with Alexander Hislop in The Two Babylons, think that either Jesus is the missing syncretism, or that at least some of the stories about Jesus arose as a result of the influence.

Other scholars, including James Akin, have more recently rejected such thinking as an example of the pagan influence fallacy, a subtype of the genetic influence fallacy. This fallacy occurs when a similarity between two cultures or belief systems leads someone to assume their must be a causal link between the two. An example would be observing the pyramids in Meso-America and Egypt and concluding that their must be one civilization responsible for both, or that one civilization borrowed from the other.

Horus

Like many early religions, the myth of Horus took on aspects of various other local religions in a syncretistic way as the nation of Egypt expanded, and its capital moved. Consequently, there are many, sometimes conflicting, stories told of Horus, who is usually given different epithets indicating which syncretism is being referred to. Egypt stretched through Sinai, and to the Levant, and had much cultural influence over the surrounding region, deriving from trade relationships and expatriate enclaves. During the Ptolemeic era, parts of Palestine were under the political control of Egypt. As such, stories of Egyptian gods became known to the Jewish populace; some scholars think this led to further syncretism creating some of the details about Jesus recounted in the Gospels.

The Nativity of Meh

An early myth involving Horus is that of his birth to the goddess Meh, also known as Meri, in some versions being seen as a human virgin. In the story, she receives an announcement of her motherhood from Thoth (a god who predominantly acted as the messenger of the heavens), and is supernaturally impregnated by the holy spirit (Kneph) transmitted to her by Thoth via an Ankh. During the birth, Meh received 3 wise visitors bearing gifts. Meh's consort and protector is Seb, as Meh was goddess of the Nile, and Seb was the crocodile god. After the birth, they had to flee persecution from the evil serpent/dragon Herrut (also known as devourer of the infants), who was fundamentally opposed to what Horus stood for, and Seb took the mother and child into the reeds of lower Egypt to hide.

Translation of stories between languages in the ancient world often led to unusual changes of name of some of the characters, for example, the king Khshayarsluf was translated into Greek as Xerxes. The translation was limited by both the difficulty of pronouncing sounds in the destination language, and by having to conform to general rules of the language. Semitic languages do not distinguish between plosives and fricatives (e.g. between b and v) to the extent that they use the same letters. In addition, those writing down a name in a different language (i.e. one that has only been heard by that language rather than seen written) often choose unvoiced sounds (e.g. f rather than v) as these take less effort to say than voiced equivalents. Hebrew was also a language fond of theophory in its names, so translating a the name of god X would result in such combinations as Jo-X (meaning God is X) and X-iah (meaning X of God).

Some scholars allege that the tale of Horus' birth to Meh forms the basis of Jesus' nativity, Aramaic speakers having transcribed the story of Meri and Seb as that of Mariah and Jo-sef (f is written in Greek as ph), with Mariah being corrupted by Greek into Maria in Greek and thus Mary in English. In particular it is alleged that Herrut (a dragon/serpent) was changed into Herod (Syriac for dragon), and the story of Herod's persecution and slaughter of the innocents (for which there is no evidence excepting the Gospel of Matthew and the apocryphal Gospel of James) thus serving as political propaganda against Herod the Great.

The Birth of the Sun

Eventually, Ra (a sun god) and Horus merged into the syncretism Ra-har-akh-te, and Horus absorbed the legends of Ra as well. As the sun, Ra was perceived as being born on the summit (Apta) of a mountain (which represented the earth). Apta is also the Egyptian word for manger/crib resulting in the idea of Ra being born in a manger, and mangers being annually paraded around the streets in a festival celebrating the sun.

In terms of the Zodiac, sun rises at the winter solstice in the constellation Virgo, which is directly above the constellation Capricorn (and therefore the sun can be said to have come from Capricorn). To the Hellenic world, Capricorn was known as the Stable of Augeas, Justin Martyr himself stating that Jesus was born when the sun had its birth in the Augean Stable. The other constellation known as a stable was Auriga, next to the constellation known as Taurus (the bull/oxen) to the Hellenic world, and the constellation known to the Hellenic world as the Ass-of-Typhon (in the modern world it is Ursa Major).

Many Hellenic writers knowing of the sun-aspect of Horus would be aware that the story of the birth of Horus in a crib was in a stable with an ass and ox by the stable. Thus some scholars think that this is the origin of the stable scene in the nativity of Jesus, the author including it as part of their ascribing the Horus nativity to Jesus, perhaps deliberately using the solar references to encode an inner mystery such as astronomy.

The Underworld

Another birth legend of Horus was that it occurred in the underworld, which was known as the house of bread due to the importance of the grain harvest to Egypt, and the consequential funerary rites in which the dead were buried with a loaf of bread. In addition to absorption from other legends of the birth of Horus, it was said to have been heralded by the star Sirius. House of bread in Hebrew is Beth Lehem, leading scholars who think Jesus' nativity is a syncretism from Horus' to suggest that this is the reason for the choice of Jesus' birthplace, and also the source of the star in the east, which if true has the more esoteric implication that Jesus was born in the underworld.

The underworld also features in a separate story of Horus, in which he (in the form Har-nedj-itef known to the Greeks as Harendotes) raises his father Osiris back to life (i.e. takes him out of the underworld). The underworld itself was also known as The house of Anu, after the Annu/Anu-the prehistoric settlers who founded upper Egypt (i.e. the underworld was "the house of the ancestors"), the name of the Anu being preserved over the centuries by hieroglyphs carved in stone and the book of the dead.

Osiris itself derives from the Greek name of the god, however, the original Egyptian (i.e. demotic) name is thought by most demotic scholars to have been Azer (minority views taking a slightly different opinion as to the precise pronunciation of the leading vowel in the hieroglyph). Converting the name into Hebrew by applying theophory produces El-azer (The god-Osiris), which when converted into a Greek name, in order to comply with Greek naming standards, thus losing the initial vowel (so that it starts with a consonant) and gaining a Greek noun ending, becomes Lazeros. Since, in addition, in Hebrew House of Annu is Beth Anu (note that y and u were interchangeable in Hebrew), some scholars think that the story of the raising of Lazarus (the Greek is Lazaros) at Bethany derives also from the Horus myth.

Set - The Adversary

Set, originally one of the highest of the good gods, gradually absorbed all the malice and evil of the wicked ones (such as Apep) to become the most evil of gods. The reason for this is thought, by historians, to be due to supporters of a large Set cult mounting a failed but significant rebellion, and thus becoming discredited. Set, over time, also in consequence became the arch adversary of Horus, and is thought by some scholars to have been the prototype for Satan, the names also sharing an etymological and semantic connection.

One tale of this enmity describes how Set takes Horus to the wilderness for 40 days, one version having Set take Horus to a mountain top, and also describes how, at one point during this time, Horus is tempted with all earthly powers to give up his task. It is thought by those who study the origin of such myths that this represents the darkness of winter (the wilderness) and how the sun (Horus) has to battle to escape. Some also think that this is the origin of the biblical story in which Jesus is taken to the wilderness and tempted by Satan for 40 days.

Horus light of the world

Horus also shares many titles with Jesus, deriving from the various syncretisms, and for a wide variety of reasons, for example - The Lamb, Light of the World, The Good Shepherd, The way, the truth, the life, the anointed one (Christos in Greek). Some scholars think that the use of such titles by Christians is a direct attempt to overwrite the worship of Horus, by redirecting the reference of the titles, and may originate in syncretistic absorptions. Others think they were an attempt to replace worship of Horus by worship of Jesus, as a result of the conflict and opposition between Christianity and the mystery religions.

The Isis Cult

In later times, the minor goddesses of Egyptian mythology became increasingly absorbed my more significant goddesses, for example, Meh became absorbed by first Hathor and then they became absorbed by Isis. Eventually, Isis absorbed all the goddesses of Egyptian myth, collecting a great cult following in consequence, and transferring all the stories of the female goddesses to her (sometimes preserving the earlier names, but with the understanding that they now were epithets of Isis).

The consequential trinity of Isis-Horus-Osiris (the other gods of Egyptian lore having been absorbed by Osiris or Horus) closely reflects that of Mary-Jesus-God (the father). Some scholars think the treatment of Mary (referred to as veneration or hyperdulia by some Christians to differentiate it from latria (i.e. worship of God), but is widely seen outside Christianity as worship, the differentiation being seen as hair-splitting to avoid the conclusion) descends directly from the cult of Isis, merely changing names. Since the holy-ghost was not worshiped in early Christianity (but Jesus, God, and Mary were) and Kneph was not worshipped in Egyptian myth, those who think Isis was a model for Mary also think the version of the trinity reflecting Christian practice (i.e. the one including Mary), rather than dogma (i.e. with Mary replaced by the holy-ghost), derives from that of Isis.

The significance of the cult of Isis led to many depictions of Isis with Horus as a holy baby, in which form Horus was referred to as Har-pa-khered (in Greek, Harpocrates). The images of Harpocrates and Isis are similar to those of the early depictions of the Virgin Mary used within Christianity. As the known surviving depictions of Isis date from before the first century AD, whereas the earliest known image of Mary with the child Jesus is found in the catacombs of Priscilla in Rome, dating from the early third century, scholars who think the Mary cult is merely a syncretism of the Isis cult think that the imagery took this path as well. However, sceptics of this viewpoint, including Karl Keating, note that images of a mother with her child are common to almost all cultures of the world.

Another feature in common with stories of Jesus is the mention in the Book of Revelation chapter 12 that a woman is clothed in the sun, with the moon at her feet, wearing twelve stars as a crown. Although this woman is not specifically identified as Mary by the author of Revelation, and some Christians have identified her as a personification of the Church, many have identified her with Mary. The image itself is also a common description of Isis, Horus' mother, which allegedly derives from the Isis story having its origin in astronomical observation. It also bears some resemblance to Joseph's dream of the sun, moon, and twelve stars bowing down to him, as related in the book of Genesis.

Osiris-Dionysus

At some point, Platonic philosophy syncretised the story of an appropriate god, so that the story could be used to encode deeper philosophy (the inner mystery). The idea of the story as literal truth was completely abandoned, except for the purpose of making outsiders curious to learn, to gain more followers. Later, a variety of other stories about the god were syncretised, and some were invented, producing the tale of a Life-death-rebirth deity symbolizing the awakening of knowledge and the abandonment of an initiate's prior life.

This new type of religion proved so popular it quickly spread throughout the Hellenic sphere of influence, and local forms arose replacing the central figure with one more appropriate to the region. These mystery religions absorbed the previous religions of the region, making the central figure in coastal Egypt and Sinai Aion, in Egypt Osiris, in Rome Bacchus, in Greece Dionysus, in Syria Adonis, in Phrygia (western Turkey) Attis, and in Samaria (Mesopotamia) Antiochus. Because of the broad similarities of these figures, some observers have classed them collectively as life-death-rebirth deitys.

Despite being surrounded by, and trading with, cultures where there was dominance such religions, Judaism resisted being subverted into a mystery religion, perhaps due to its only having one God, of whom tales were told that were too dissimilar. However, some scholars think that an appropriate version of the tale was made up, inventing the figure of a particularly holy rabbi who was crucified and resurrected, Jesus, syncretising bits of the other localised versions where suitable.

Life death and rebirth

Some mystery religions had a similar set of central tenets, which may have had a common deeper understanding, but interpreting them literally, as the members of the mystery religions did not do, produces similar central tenets to those of Christianity. At the core of most of the mystery religions was the idea of a god born as man from a human mother but with a god as father, so as to represent both the earthly part of mankind and the spiritual part entwined.

The figure goes on to die, for the sins of man (in the majority of Osiris-Dionysus religions), entering the underworld, and is restored to life within 3 days (in the majority of Osiris-Dionysus religions). The 3 days in those religions derives from 2 sources, firstly an ancient Persian belief that the soul is still in connection with the body for 3 days after death (and thus resurrection must occur before the time is up), and secondly from the solar observation that (viewed from the Mediterranean) the daily highest point of the sun in the sky stops moving for 3 days during a solstice (many of the Osiris-Dionysus religions deriving from sun gods).

Rituals

Followers of some mystery religions had a ritual bath or cleansing (in some locations by full immersion in water), and considered themselves afterwards to have been reborn. The early Christian church father Tertullian commented on this that In certain Mysteries it is by baptism that members are initiated and they imagine that the result of this baptism is regeneration and the remission of the penalties of their sins

Another religious practice similar to Christianity was the symbolic re-enactment of the death of Osiris-Dionysus, in many areas using bread and wine to symbolise the body and the blood; this was partly chosen due to the original nature of the gods (for example, Dionysus was originally associated with grapes). One surviving inscription regarding this (and explicitly referring to a form of Osiris-Dionysus) states that "he who will not eat of my body and drink of my blood, so that he shall be made one with me and I with him, the same shall not know salvation".

Dates

Some of these saviour figures, such as Aion, were held to have been born on January 6th (the date held by some early Christians as that of Jesus' birth), whereas others were born on 25th December (the date of the winter solstice at the time under the Julian calendar, and the date held by later Christians as that of Jesus' birth). These dates were chosen due to the connection to solar deities.

Death

In Euripides' play The Bacchae, Dionysus founds a new religion, and is plotted against by the king, Pentheus; he is arrested, unjustly found guilty, and executed wearing a crown of ivy (which was standard garb for Dionysus), which bears some similarity to tales of Jesus' death. This play was a satire on the relationship between the mystery religions (one devoted to Dionysus and another to Demeter) and the priests of other faiths. Stories and images of Dionysus, for example, Aristophanes' The Frogs, depict him riding on a donkey (one of the animals Dionysus was particularly identified with) on the way to his death, with the crowd waving branches towards him (as was the standard ancient practise for welcoming celebrities—in Jerusalem it was often done with readily available palms).

Dionysus was also associated with certain trees, and consequently some versions of the myth have him being crucified on one, as attested by various images of various of the manifestations being crucified. Images from other mystery religions also feature crucifixion, however most of these date from after the second century, although is important to note that most Christian images of crucifixion date from after the fourth century. One early second century image, of crucifixion, survives as a wall graffito in Rome, and most scholars so far have considered it depicts Jesus, although it does not specify the identity, and the crucified figure has a donkey's head, an animal associated with Dionysus (although the image is thought to be satire).

Mystery religions also taught that the central figure will return at the end of the world to judge mankind (living and dead); however, unlike most interpretations of Christianity, this was understood to have the deeper meaning that mankind's fate lay in its own hands and failing to listen to the wisdom from the mystery religions would, inevitably, spell disaster, rather than a literal judgement by Jesus.

Other parallels

Other similarities exist with stories about Jesus, for example, according to Tacitus, Dionysus was thought to have turned water into wine at a marriage, (a story related to his status as a wine god), and Serapis (a further syncretism of Osiris-Dionysus (as Osiris) with Horus and Apis, who were also Egyptian gods) was, according to a letter by the Roman emperor Hadrian, called Christ and Serapis' followers called themselves Christians. Another nativity parallel is that of Dionysus himself being born in a cave, in the presence of 3 shepherds, which, although seeming at odds with modern interpretations placing the birth of Jesus in a stable, was the original understanding of Christians - the Greek text only specifying a manger and in Bethlehem stables were often housed in caves.

Mithras Sol Invictus

Worship of Mithras (known as Mithraism) developed in the Roman army during the first century BC, though it is currently unknown how this particular mystery religion originated, as it appears to have little to do with the Zoroastrian Mithra. Since it developed amongst a group of highly mobile people (professional soldiers), it quickly spread to the outer regions of the empire. It soon proved to be amongst the most popular of the mystery religions, and at Rome, by the start of the third century emperors were openly encouraging it, as the religion favoured their rule.

The Mithras religion is often thought to have its ultimate origin in the cult of Mithra, a deity connected to popular forms of Zoroastrianism (though it is important to note that strictly, early Zoroastrianism is dualist, and modern Zoroastrianism is monotheist, and neither includes Mithra). The caste of priests of the Zoroastrian religion were the Magi, who, due to the religion's connection to the stars (a reputation centred on Babylon), were considered both to be holy men and great astronomers.

Magi were held in great esteem by most of the Mediterranean and near-eastern world, and as such, things associated with them were given great respect. Thus the presence of Magi (in Greek magoi, sometimes translated wise men or kings) at Jesus' birth may have been inserted to suggest that even these great holy and wise men thought Jesus was important, thus lending credence to Christianity.

One of the ancient gods associated with Mithra was Ea, the moon god, and god of the waters. By the time of the mystery religions, Ea was referred to as Oannes (or sometimes considered as Oannes' father), which resembles the Greek word Ioannes (i.e. John). According to the myths, Oannes spent the days teaching mankind wisdom. Consequently Ea is thought by some scholars, such as Joseph Campbell, to be the origin of the story of John the Baptist.

Jesus allegedly was born on the winter solstice (when the sun starts to reappear), six months after John was born on the summer solstice (when the sun starts to disappear); John baptises with water (the symbol of Ea) and Jesus with fire (the symbol of the sun); and Jesus is born to a young virgin whereas John is born to an old married woman. These comparisons, together with the biblical passage where John says to Jesus "as you become more, I must become less", lead some scholars to think John is used in the story as a representation of the moon, and Jesus as the sun.

By the end of the 3rd century, the popular cults of Apollo and Mithras had started to merge into the syncretism known as Mithras Sol Invictus or simply Sol Invictus (the unconquerable sun—a term confusingly also used by other cults), and in 274 the emperor Aurelian (whose mother had been a priestess of the sun made worship of this form official.

The Emperor Constantine I was, like emperors before him, high priest of the Mithraic religion. However, he was also interested in creating unity for the sake of ease of governance, and to this end involved himself in a dispute between Christian groups over Arianism, summoning the First Council of Nicaea and attempted to enforce the outcome, though without much success.

Constantine also tried to smooth the differences between Christianity and its main competitor, the official religion of Sol Invictus. In doing so, he moved the date of celebration of Jesus' birth to December 25th (since this was the date that Mithras' birth was celebrated, and that of Bacchus (another form of Osiris-Dionysus) as well that of other winter solstice festivals such as Saturnalia).

In addition, Constantine instituted use of the Chi-Rho symbol, representative of Christianity, also alleged by some scholars to have had use as an obeloi for "auspicious" thus serving both Christian and non-Christian purpose simultaneously. Constantine's desire for unity, and his tolerance for the existence of Christianity simultaneously to Sol Invictus, has led some scholars to postulate that there was little difference between the two religions (and thus each was able to absorb elements of the other with ease).

Popular legend holds that Constantine I was Christian; however, he never publicly recanted his position as high priest of Mithras Sol Invictus, and the only alleged occurrence of Constantine I converting was on his deathbed (as reported by later Church Fathers), which is impossible to verify either way. Some have suggested that he was baptised by an Arian priest, which is also unverifiable. However, it was not that unusual for people in the fourth century to avoid fully converting to Christianity until quite late in life, because of the strong warnings against continuing in sin after having converted and the spiritual consequences thereof.

Some scholars assert that Christianity grew in strength as the prime difference with the mystery religion was that Christianity took the superficial (i.e. literal) interpretation as the correct one, as would newcomers to the mysteries, thus attracting a stronger number of adherents to its views. This was observed quite early, for example, the second century Celsus (whose words are preserved in Origen's Contra Celsum, a text designed against Celsus) states that Christianity

continues to spread amongst the vulgar, nay one can even say it spreads because of its vulgarity, and the illiteracy of its adherents. And while there are a few moderate, reasonable, and intelligent people who are inclined to interpret its beliefs allegorically, yet it thrives in its purer form amongst the ignorant

Shocked by this development, the emperor Julian (later denoted "the Apostate" because of his departure from Christianity) attempted to restore the previous religion by suppressing and persecuting Christianity, while encouraging both Judaism and a sort of neo-paganism. However, this was short lived, as emperors such as Constantine II repealed Julian's actions and encouraged the growth of Christianity. This state of affairs was finally enforced by a decree in 394 (by Theodosius, an Emperor who ascribed to Christianity) which banned outright any non-Christian worship.

After the ban, and subsequent suppression, many Mithraeums were converted into Christian churches (such as Notre-Dame du Taur, and the Church of San Clemente), often dedicated to the archangel Michael. Some scholars think that at this time Christianity absorbed the remaining practises and beliefs of Mithras, not already a part of Christianity, to an extent transferring the concept of Mithras to the archangel Michael (including being protector of Soldiers, for example). They argue that the congregations and churches were both the same, and that there was little change involved.

Issues of priority

In judging the parallels between the mystery religions and Christianity, several factors have to be weighed. Firstly, whether there is truly a parallel, though some parallels appear to be truly parallel. Secondly, it must be determined if the similarity is causal, though if this were the case, it would imply non-historicity of the events, as they would just be duplicate myths. Flood myths exist in Native American religion as well as in Babylon, and pyramids were built by the Aztecs as well as the Egyptians. Despite their similarity, few would posit a sharing between those cultures.

Thirdly, there is the question of priority. The surviving documents on which the arguments of syncretism rest postdate the events of the New Testament, but even the surviving Christian documents are often very late. Thus it is uncertain in which direction the "copying" occurred, if it indeed occurred. Several Church Fathers present arguments, usually appealing to the supernatural, to explain the similarities, leading to the argument that the pagan religions must have predated Christianity, because otherwise there would be no need for this argument. On the other hand, it is well-documented, that the early form of the Osirus and Dionysus myths had their protagonists torn or cut apart, not crucified. In most cases, the current state of the documents, some of which were destroyed by Christians, makes it impossible to decide this issue with certainty. Surviving mystery religion imagery dates from at least the third century, while Christians in this time period tended to use symbols, such as the ichthys, labarum, or anchor, rather than images of Jesus.

Fourthly, scholars must consider how the elements similar to the mystery religions in Christianity and Judaism were received, that is, whether they were seen as positive, negative, or neutral. For example, circumcision was practised in many parts of the Near East, but for the Jews, this rite had a special meaning relating to the covenant between them and God. Pagan circumcision did not have this meaning. Similarly, pagan use of the cross (most common in East Asia and the Americas), seems not to be related to the Christian use, which was determined by Jesus's alleged death on the cross. Other influences of pagan myth were taken on in a negative sense. For instance, Creation according to Genesis is a negative parallel of the Babylonian creation myth in Enuma Elish. The Babylonian creation was the result of a chaotic war between opposing gods, while the Hebrew version shows an ordered creation by a single God. Similarly, the flood narrative in Gilgamesh has the flood caused by a wicked caprice of the gods, while the Hebrew version shows a flood brought about by a just God's condemnation of a rebellious people.

Finally, there is the question of the origin of the parallels. Three main sources are cited: purely natural parallelism (copying), divine origin (prophecy through the pagan religions), or diabolical origin (the Devil mocking Christianity). Early Christians often cited the third cause of the parallels. For instance, Tertullian wrote,

"The devil, whose business is to pervert the truth, mimics the exact circumstances of the Divine Sacraments. He baptises his believers and promises forgiveness of sins from the Sacred Fount, and thereby initiates them into the religion of Mithras. Thus he celebrates the oblation of bread, and brings in the symbol of the resurrection."

Other early Christians provided similar supernatural explanations for the similarities, favouring statements that the Devil was responsible for the similarities, by virtue of its ability to prophecy. For example, the early Christian apologist Justin Martyr writes (in First Apology)

"Having heard it proclaimed through the prophets that the Christ was to come and that the ungodly among men were to be punished by fire, the wicked spirits put forward many to be called Sons of God, under the impression that they would be able to produce in men the idea that the things that were said with regard to Christ were merely marvellous tales."

Justin Martyr also suggested that other religions borrowed ideas from Judaism, including its prophecies, so as to seem to fulfil the prophecies although not fully comprehending them, although this argument can be applied to Christianity as well.

Often, the sense of the Jewish-Christian version is very different from its pagan parallels so as to represent a completely different truth. An example could be seen in the parallel of the story of the Garden of Eden with that of Prometheus. In both, God (Zeus) has forbidden something to man, in one case the fruit of the tree of knowledge, in the other fire. In both, his enemy (the serpent, or Prometheus) conspires to provide this to man. However, the interpretation is very different. In the Greek myth, Prometheus is a hero who is unfairly punished for the good he has wrought by opposing Zeus' unjust decree, while the Jewish story has Adam and Eve's sin bringing untold woes upon the earth. Those who accept the action of the Devil in the world might argue that the Greek story is an evil perversion of the truth expressed in the Hebrew version.

On the other hand, some Jewish and Christian scholars have pointed to the fact that the Bible itself indicates God's use of pagan elements to prepare his revelation. For instance, the non-Jewish priests and prophets Melchisedek, Jethro and Balaam might be mentioned, or the fact that a Canaanite god had the name El, which was later applied by the Jews exclusively to the one God.

Appeals to the divine and diabolical in explanation of the parallels are categorically rejected by atheists and many secular scholars, as they are intrinsically unprovable. Such appeals also presuppose the existence of supernatural entities, which atheists reject. Nonetheless, for theologians operating in a scientific sense on the basis of faith, they are valid arguments.

See also

• Comparative religion

External links

• discussion of potential syncretisms with other religions (http://www.truthbeknown.com/origins.htm)
• Beautifully illustrated site discussing syncretisms both of stories and of religious practices (http://geocities.com/christprise/pagan-origins.html)
• Christian site on Josephus evidence (http://www.josephus-1.com/)
• Argument from Christian point of view (http://www.christian-thinktank.com/jesusref.html)
• Pro Jesus' existence (http://www.bibleviews.com/non-biblical.html)
• Argues Jesus was originally a relatively minor figure (http://www.geocities.com/paulntobin/sources.html)
• PBS' From Jesus to Christ (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/story/)
• The Jesus Puzzle (http://www.jesuspuzzle.com/)
• The Quest of the Historical Jesus By Albert Schweitzer Full online text (http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/schweitzer/)
• Highly critical view of archaeology at Nazareth from www.jesusneverexisted.com (http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/nazareth.html)
• Radical Criticism (http://www.radikalkritik.de/in_engl.htm)
• Journal of Higher Criticism (http://www.depts.drew.edu/jhc/)
• List of isopsephia values (http://www.jesus8880.com/chapters/gematria/isopsephia-values.htm)

Sources

• James Akin, "Pagan Influence Fallacy", This Rock, Volume 11, Number 3, March 2000. [1] (http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2000/0003chap.asp)
• Timothy Freke & Peter Gandy, The Jesus Mysteries - was the original Jesus a pagan god? ISBN:0722536771
• Michael Grant, Jesus: An Historian's Review of the Gospels
• Edgar J. Goodspeed, Biblical Forgeries
• Raymond E. Brown, Joseph Fitzmyer, Roland Murphy, Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, 1968
• Rudolf Bultmann, History of the Synoptic Tradition,Harper & Row, 1963
• Edgar V. McKnight,What is Form Criticism?, 1997
• Norman Perrin,What is Redaction Criticism?
• Robin Jensen,Understanding Early Christian Art, Rutledge, 2000
• Stephen Patterson, Marcus Borg, John Dominic Crossman, Edited by Hershel Shanks,The Search for Jesus: Modern Scholarship Looks at the Gospels,Biblical Archaeology Society, 1994 Symposium at the Smithsonian Institution, 11 Sept 1993
• Earl Doherty, The Jesus Puzzle. Did Christianity Begin with a Mythical Christ?: Challenging the Existence of an Historical Jesus, Publisher: Canadian Humanist Pubns; 1st edition (October 19, 1999)
• Phyllis Graham, The Jesus Hoax, Publisher: Frewin; (1974)
• Charles Guignebert, Jesus, Publisher: Albin Michel; (December 31, 1969)
• Gordon Stein, An Anthology of Atheism and Rationalism, Publisher: Prometheus Books; (December 1, 1989)
• George A.Wells, The Historical Evidence for Jesus, Publisher: Prometheus Books; (January 1, 1988)
• Ian Wilson, Jesus: The Evidence, Publisher: Regnery Publishing; 1 edition (October 1, 2000)
• Barker, Dan. Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist. Freedom From Religion Foundation, 1992.
• Bruce, F. F. The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? 5th ed. Intervarsity, 1960.
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