| Revision as of 15:23, 28 November 2004 editCheeseDreams (talk | contribs)4,094 edits Try that again (only actually click save before the delete key)-Retrieve page - page was intentionally moved (by me) to preserve the edit history of the section.← Previous edit | Revision as of 15:37, 28 November 2004 edit undoCheeseDreams (talk | contribs)4,094 edits →Jesus and Syncretisms: summarise 2 sectionsNext edit → | ||
| Line 11: | Line 11: | ||
| However, a number of critics have proposed that there was no historical Jesus, adducing as support for this position the paucity of non-Christian historical ] corroborating Christian writings. Perhaps most prolific of those Biblical scholars who discount the historical existence of Jesus is a professor of German, ], who argues that Jesus was originally a ] ]. | However, a number of critics have proposed that there was no historical Jesus, adducing as support for this position the paucity of non-Christian historical ] corroborating Christian writings. Perhaps most prolific of those Biblical scholars who discount the historical existence of Jesus is a professor of German, ], who argues that Jesus was originally a ] ]. | ||
| == Jesus and |
== Jesus and Syncretism == | ||
| ''Main article'':] | |||
| === Pythagoreanism and Astronomy=== | === Pythagoreanism and Astronomy=== | ||
| The ]s tied ] and ] to mystical meaning, and often encoded deeper meaning within geometric or numerical representations, themselves encoded as ''outer mysteries'' in the form of stories. Some scholars think that some of these stories and their deeper meaning was incorporated into the story of Jesus, rather than them being a reflection on historic events. For example, ''12 apostles'' is thought to be a reference to the ] itself derived from geometry of spheres, ''72 disciples'' is thought to be a reference to the precession of the Zodiac. | |||
| Schools of philosophers developed in the first millenium BC in the ]. One of the most radical was that of which ] was a member, holding that deep and holy meaning existed within ] above all else. The philosophical meaning (the ''inner mystery'') was not allowed to be mentioned to outsiders, though some were allowed to know about the geometrical properties of things (the ''outer mysteries'') - to the extent that there are tales of some being killed for revealing the ''inner mysteries'' to outsiders. Many observations were tied in with ], which had formed the basis of many tales in ] religions. Some of the esoteric and mystic ideas of the Pythagoreans also spread and influenced the religions of the region, some scholars think that the founding of Christianity was one of those thus influenced. | |||
| The bible claims Jesus had 12 disciples, though accounts (allegedly) vary as to who they were. 12 is also the maximum number of spheres of a fixed size which can be placed simultaneously in contact with a sphere of equal size. Splitting the heavens into such spheres around the central sphere containing the solar system, caused the Ancient Greeks to define the ] to have 12 parts. Some ancient cults, for example that of one of the (many) forms of Horus, consequently considered their deity to have 12 followers, both as 12 is the maximum possible simultaneously in contact with the central, and due to the alleged origin of some of these cults as astronomical observations. Some scholars postulate that this is also the reason that the authors of the bible chose there to be 12 apostles - a combination of the idea of Jesus as an astronomical figure being surrounded by the zodiac, and that there cannot be more than 12. | |||
| The Gospels state that there were 72 disciples (known as "the 72"). According to the ], the number 72 is also the number of races supposedly resulting from Noah (even though the counting is arbitrary and ignores the descendents of Peleg, but counts fathers with sons), and the number of those recieving the spirit with Moses (including the 2 absentees -Eldad and Medad), and the number of languages at the tower of Babel. The use of the number is thought by some academics to have astronomical origins in the fact that it takes 72 years for the procession of the constellations, and in this context the number appears in a story about the egyptian god ] winning 1/72nd of moonlight so that Ra's wife can have children. | |||
| The connection to the zodiac leads the number to have connotations of the "number of things in the background" - for example, the egyptian god ] is said to have conspired with 72 others to have trapped Osiris. Pythagoreans encoded this by choosing their symbol as the ] - formed from 5 angles each of 72 degrees (as five 72s add to 360), a shape which can also be shown to encode the relative diameters of two planetary orbits. It is for this this reason that some think it was chosen by the Gospel writers as the number of Jesus' disciples - encoding the idea of following on from the 12 apostles representing the zodiac. | |||
| ] | |||
| The story in the ] in which Jesus catches 153 fish is alleged by some to be a geometric diagram coded by ] (a system related to ], assigning fixed numbers to each letter of the ancient Greek alphabet). Supposedly, Peter is represented by a circle whose circumference corresponds to the isopsephia of "Simon Peter", the other six people (since they are all fishers) represented by similar circles but crammed inside a boat (Peter jumped out), all touching at a point. Peter's coat is represented by a chord (of a circle of the same size as the boat), whose width is the isopsephia of "Fisher's coat", facing away from the others (as peter jumped in that direction). The net is formed by the rhombus circumscribed by the half-intersection of two circles of the same width as the isopsephia of "The Net" and of "Fishes" (which are the same)), and it is split into a 4x4 grid each of which is claimed to represent a fish - the width of which is 153. | |||
| In addition, 153 is the sum of the numbers 1 to 17 (there are 16 rhombus plus the containing "net"), it is also one 16th of the isopsephia for "Multitude of Fishes", and it is the first part of the ratio 153:265, which is the closest approximation at the time of Pythagoras to the width-height ratio of the rhombus representing the net (which is within a ] - the "Flesh of the Fish"), which itself was known as the "measure of the fish". The diagram allegedly describes an esoteric view of heirarchy of the universe, as described by ], a follower of the ]s. The story itself is remarkably similar to one told of ], for the purpose of encoding such mystic teaching. | |||
| The stories of the feeding of the 5000 and of the 4000 have long been thought to have hidden meaning, particularly as the ] later refers back to the stories and questions whether the disciples understand them. Early ideas where that the 5000 were the Jews, the 4000 the gentiles, the 5 loaves the ], the 12 a reference to the disciples with the two sevens various Christian references (the ideas vary as to which). However, this is subject to arbitrary assignation of the numbers, some of which (particularly the 7) are concepts from after the gospels were written (the Jews treated the Torah as 1 book not 5, for example), and other scholars suggest instead that it has geometric meaning. Cynics of the idea of deep meaning, however, think that, since the stories do not explicitely state that the loaves and fish were actually given out but merely displayed, the scraps could be donations to the disciples own meal, and thus the meaning is simply that those who have more get less, and those who have less get more. | |||
| Other stories are thought to have more cryptic meaning, one of the best examples being the story of the ''153 fish'', which is thought to encode via ] (a greek version of ]) a mystical diagram known to ], the 153 being a repeated number in the diagram, and having religious significance connected to the ]. Many scholars have thought, throughout the centuries, that the feeding of the 5000 and the 4000 has a cryptic meaning, early ideas tying the numbers to Jews, Gentiles, the Torah, and Apostles, wheras more recent ideas suggest there is an encrypted mystic diagram. Other instances of isopsephia are thought to occur, such as 666 which is quite literally the number of ''the great beast''. | |||
| Some scholars think that other instences of geometry and isopsephia are encoded in the bible, and the ] features numbers prominantly, even explicitely stating ''The number of the great beast is 666'' (which is exactly the isopsephia value of "The Great Beast"), which, perhaps deliberately, is in the ratio of the perfect 5th to 888 (the isopsephia of "Jesus"). | |||
| === Horus === | === Horus === | ||
| Line 112: | Line 99: | ||
| === Issues of priority === | === Issues of priority === | ||
| Early christians (such as ] and ]) tended to provide unprovable supernatural explanations for the similarities with Mystery Religions, favouring statements that the ] was responsible for the similarites, producing them to trick people into the wrong religion before Christianity came into existance a centuries later. Modern approaches are more reasoned, suggesting that all surviving evidence of the beliefs in the mystery religions postdates Jesus, and that the myths did not feature crucifixion in their early forms. The counter argument to such ] is that crucifixion is the likely consequence of the religions becoming mystery religions rather than their more literal original form, and that no surviving evidence of Christianity pre-dates Jesus either. | |||
| Scholars are divided on the question of whether the similarities between these beliefs are due to ] on the part of the Christians or of the mystery religions themselves. Particularly in the case of Mithras, the similarities with Christianity were considered remarkable. The church father ] tried to explain this away thus | |||
| :"''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 tended to provide similarly unprovable supernatural explanations for the similarities, favouring statements that the ] was responsible for the similarites, by virtue of the its ability to prophecy. For example, the early christian ] ] 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'' | |||
| Modern approaches to the question rely on more reasoned argument. | |||
| In favor of the mystery religions copying from the Christians is - | |||
| * the fact that all surviving evidence of the beliefs in the mystery religions postdates Jesus. | |||
| * The Osiris and Dionysius myths did not feature crucifixion in their early forms | |||
| Against this argument is placed the considerations that - | |||
| * The Osiris and Dionysius myths developed additional features when converted into mystery religions. Since the principle feature of mystery religions is the death and resurrection of a central god-as-man figure. It is likely that this change produced the idea of crucifixion in the myths. | |||
| * the fact that all surviving evidence of the beliefs of Early Christians also postdates Jesus. | |||
| * Imagery surrounding the Mystery Religions survives from at least the 3rd Century AD. Imagery surrounding Jesus in similar style only survives as early as the 5th Century. | |||
| * Early Christians systematically burnt texts which showed them in an unfavourable light | |||
| * Early Christians were troubled by the similarities, but could only come up with the excuse that the devil satirised christianity in advance. | |||
| == Sources == | == Sources == | ||
Revision as of 15:37, 28 November 2004
 | The subject of this article is controversial and content may be in dispute. When updating the article, be bold, but not reckless. Feel free to try to improve the article, but don't take it personally if your changes are reversed; instead, come here to the talk page to discuss them. Content must be written from a neutral point of view. Include citations when adding content and consider tagging or removing unsourced information. |
| Part of a series on |
 |
| Jesus in Christianity |
| Jesus in Islam |
| Background |
| Jesus in history |
| Perspectives on Jesus |
| Jesus in culture |
Perspectives of Historicity
Many Christians believe that God plays an active role in history through miracles and divine revelation; and some take as a basis for their faith a divine authority for the Bible, and the divinity of Jesus. Some Christians believe in God but question the divinity of Jesus and the Bible, and rely more heavily on the work of scientists and historians.
Since Christological arguments for the existence of God became more prevelant in evangelical teachings, the issue of the historicity of Jesus gained greater significance, and arguments about historiography started to be used in significant ways in this context. Most Christian scholars, and many non-Christian scholars, do not dispute that a person named Jesus once lived, connected in some way to the biblical accounts, thinking that evidence for Jesus' existence is by historical standards fairly strong.
Many historians do not dispute the existence of a person who was named Jesus, but there is much less acceptance of the narrative of his life and death, and far less for any miraculous claims. Many scholars think that interpretations of Jesus' sayings are secondhand and literary extrapolations from his actions and mythologized invented detail which have been applied to an historical figure.
However, a number of critics have proposed that there was no historical Jesus, adducing as support for this position the paucity of non-Christian historical sources corroborating Christian writings. Perhaps most prolific of those Biblical scholars who discount the historical existence of Jesus is a professor of German, George Albert Wells, who argues that Jesus was originally a Gnostic myth.
Jesus and Syncretism
Main article:Jesus and syncretism
Pythagoreanism and Astronomy
The Pythagoreans tied astronomy and geometry to mystical meaning, and often encoded deeper meaning within geometric or numerical representations, themselves encoded as outer mysteries in the form of stories. Some scholars think that some of these stories and their deeper meaning was incorporated into the story of Jesus, rather than them being a reflection on historic events. For example, 12 apostles is thought to be a reference to the Zodiac itself derived from geometry of spheres, 72 disciples is thought to be a reference to the precession of the Zodiac.
Other stories are thought to have more cryptic meaning, one of the best examples being the story of the 153 fish, which is thought to encode via Isopsephia (a greek version of Gematria) a mystical diagram known to Plato, the 153 being a repeated number in the diagram, and having religious significance connected to the Vesica Piscis. Many scholars have thought, throughout the centuries, that the feeding of the 5000 and the 4000 has a cryptic meaning, early ideas tying the numbers to Jews, Gentiles, the Torah, and Apostles, wheras more recent ideas suggest there is an encrypted mystic diagram. Other instances of isopsephia are thought to occur, such as 666 which is quite literally the number of the great beast.
Horus
Like many early religions, Horus developed as a series of syncretisms with other local gods, taking on aspects as the nation of Egypt expanded, and as 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 even under the political control of Egypt. As such, stories of Egyptian gods became known to the Jewish populus, something that some scholars think led to further syncretism creating some details about Jesus recounted in the Gospels.
In one syncretism, Horus is the son of a god, and a human (virgin) mother called Meri (phonetically identical to Mary). In this myth, the mother is "married" to Lord Seth, a name which some scholars alledge is identical to Jo-Seth in Hebrew, since the prefix Jo- is merely a combinatorial form of Yahweh, which is often rendered as Lord. In some versions of the story, a heavenly messenger (Thoth) announces to Meri that she will carry the holy child, which later occurs by impregnation via the holy spirit (depicted as being transmitted via Thoth's Ankh).
The specific location of birth is the underworld, which was known as the house of bread (potentially due to the importance of the grain harvest and associated funerary rites), which in hebrew is translated as Beth Lehem. In addition, Horus' birth was heralded by the star Sirius, was in a manger (resulting in parades of a manger at winter solstice festivals), was witnessed by shepherds, and later by 3 visitors bearing gifts, and was subject to the threat of murder by Herut. Some scholars think this myth is the origin of the story of Jesus' nativity (which does not appear in the Gospel of Mark thought by some to be the origin of the other gospel accounts).
Another story concerning Horus is that of his raising from the underworld (i.e. from the dead) of his father (in this case being Osiris), who in demotic (the ancient egyptian language) is named Aser. In hebrew, the phrase the god Aser is El-Aser, which in Greek gains the ending -os becoming Elazeros, the same as the Greek for Lazarus. In addition, the underworld's name was Annu or House of Annu, which in Hebrew is Beth Anu. Because of the strong similarities, some scholars think that the story of Lazarus is a syncretism from the Horus myth.
There is a myth of Horus, dramatising the darkness of winter, in which Horus battles Set (his adversary) for 40 days in the wilderness, at one point being offered the temptation of all earthly powers. There is a similar story also of Jesus battling with Satan (which means "adversary", and is etymologically related to Set), which some scholars alledge is a copy, perhaps meant to encode the same teaching, but later having its meaning subverted to a more literal interpretation.
The Osiris myth also includes stories of Osiris being whisked away to the top of a mountain in the desert for 40 days by Set, where Set offers Osiris total power on earth. In the Jesus story, there is a similar event with Satan being the protagonist. The difference in the names Set and Satan is merely one of modern translation. In demotic, Set can be written Setn, which has almost total phonetic identity with Satan, as well as the strong semantic identity between "Adversary" and standard opinions of Set's behaviour as a god.
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 (Christ 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 absorbtions.
The significance of the cult of Isis led to many depictions of Isis with Horus as a holy baby. The images have a remarkable similarity to those of the Virgin Mary used by the associated cult of Mary within Christianity. Some scholars think the depictions, and indeed the cult, originates from that of Isis, since the known surviving depictions of Isis date from before the 1st century AD, wheras those of Mary only exist from the 3rd and 4th Centuries.
Another feature in common with stories of Jesus is the mention in the Apocalypse of St. John the Divine that Mary is clothed in the sun, with the moon at her feet, wearing twelve stars as a crown, which is a common description of Isis, Horus' mother. It allegedly derives from the Isis story having its origin in astronomical observation.
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 symbolising the awakening of knowledge and the abandonment of an initiate's prior life.
This new religion proved so popular it quickly spread throughout the hellenic spere of influence, and local forms arose replacing the central figure with one more appropriate to the region. These Mystery religions consumed the previous religions of the region, making the central figure in coastal Egypt and Sinai Aion, in Egypt Osiris, in Rome Bacchus, in Greece Dionysius, in Syria Adonis, in Phrygia (western Turkey) Attis, and in Samaria (Mesopotamia) Antiochus. Each considered themselves merely a translation of the other, and thus they are collectively known to scholars as that of Osiris-Dionysus.
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 it 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.
Mystery religions had a common set of central tenets, which had a common deeper understanding, but interpreting them literally produces similar central tenets to those of Christianity. At the core of all 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, entering the underworld, and is restored to life within 3 days (due to an ancient belief that the soul is still in connection with the body for 3 days after death, after which time, resurrection is not possible).
Followers of most mystery religions were baptised (in some locations by full immersion in water), and considered themselves afterward to have been re-born. 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 practices similar to Christianity was that the symbolic death of Osiris-Dionysus was re-enacted in many areas by bread and wine, symbolising the body and the blood, partly chosen due to the original nature of the gods (for example, Dionysus was originally associated with grapes). One surviving inscription regarding this (and explicitely 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.
Some forms, such as that of Aion, were born on January 6th (the date held by early christians as that of Jesus' birth), wheras others were born on 25th december (the date of the winter solstice at that time, chosen due to the connection to solar deities, and the date held by many later Christians as that of Jesus' birth). One of the more dominant forms, Dionysus, was born after a 7 month pregnancy (which early Christians thought was the case for Jesus), in a cave, in the presence of 3 shepherds. Although birth in a cave seems at odds with modern interpretations of the infancy narrative placing the birth of Jesus in a stable, the original understanding of Christians was that it was in a cave, as the greek text only specifies that the child was laid in a "manger", and in the Bethlehem area stables were often housed in caves.
According to Eurypides, in his play The Bacchae, Dionysus founded a new religion, was plotted against by the elders, arrested, unjustly found guilty, and executed wearing a crown of ivy (which was standard for Dionysus to wear), for reasons of satire on the relationship between the mystery religions and priests of other faiths. Stories and images, from the time, of Dionysus 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 the tree, 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 (though none survive from earlier than the 3rd century, although this is two centuries before the origin of any surviving images of Jesus being crucified).
Many of the mystery religions (particularly the manifestation as Attis) considered (as far as the literal interpretation went) that the central figure died (in the case of Attis and some others, by crucifixion) on March 23rd and was resurrected on March 25th (partly connected to the equinox, and earlier winter death-resurrection festivals), which were the dates that early Christians thought Jesus died and resurrected (until the calculation via the lunar calender became preferred - resulting in the variation of the date of Easter). Mystery religions also taught that the central figure will return at the end of the world to judge mankind (living and dead), however 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.
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 origin 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 emporer Hadrian, called Christ and Serapis' followers called themselves Christians. Scholars are divided on the issue of whether the similarities are an amazing co-incidence, whether the Osiris-Dionysus stories were copied from Christianity, or whether Christianity was the copyist, particularly since the implications of each viewpoint stir religious passions.
Mithras Sol Invictus
Worship of Mithras (known as Mithraism) developed in the Rome 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 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 contain Mithra). The caste of priests responsible for the cult of Mithra were the Magi, who, due to the religions 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 meditteranian and near-eastern world, and as such, things associated with them were given great respece. It is thought that, should it be fictional, the presence of Magi (in greek magoi, sometimes translated wise men or kings) at Jesus' birth was inserted to suggest that even these great holy and wise men thought Jesus was important, thus lending credence.
One of the ancient gods associating with Mithra (the earlier non-mystery form of Mithras) 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 in greek is written Ioannes (i.e. John), and, 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 is born on the winter solstice (when the sun starts to reappear), six months after John is born on the summer solstice (when the sun starts to dissappear), 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 wheras John is born to an old married woman. These comparisons, together with when, in the bible, 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 (i.e. a sun-god).
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 CE the emperor Aurelian (whose mother had been a priestess of the sun) made worship of this form official.
The Emporer Constantine I was, like emporers before him, pontifex maximus (great 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 many disputes between Christian groups, arranging councils (such as that of Nicea, discussing Arianism, amongst other things) and enforcing outcomes, thus creating the institution of orthodoxy.
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, the Christian sabbath was moved from Saturday (which it had inherited from Judaism) to Sunday (the day holy to Mithras Sol Invictus, since it was "the day of the sun")
Constantine also instituted use of the Chi-Rho symbol, representative of Christianity, also alledged by some scholars have had use as an obeloi for "auspicious" thus serving both Christian and non-Christian purpose simultaneously. Constantine's lust for unity, but his tolerance for the existance 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 had it that Constantine I was Christian, however, this is a fallacy. Constantine never recanted his position as pontifex maximus of Mithras Sol Invictus, and the only alleged occurance of Constantine I converting was on his deathbed (as alleged by later church fathers), which is impossible to verify either way.
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 simply larger the stronger number of adherants 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 adherants. 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 emporer Julian attempted to restore the previous religion by supressing and persecuting Christianity. However, this was short lived, as emporers such as the Constantine II (whom many confuse with Constantine I) repealed Julian's actions and encouraged the growth of Christianity. This state of affairs was finally enforced by a decreee in 394 (by Theodosius, an Emporer who ascribed to Christianity) which banned outright any non-Christian worship.
After the ban, and subsequent supression, many Mithraeum 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). This is due to the idea that since the congregations were the same, in the same churches, and, in their opinion, there was little difference in the myths (except that Christianity took the story literally).
Issues of priority
Early christians (such as Justin Martyr and Tertullian) tended to provide unprovable supernatural explanations for the similarities with Mystery Religions, favouring statements that the Devil was responsible for the similarites, producing them to trick people into the wrong religion before Christianity came into existance a centuries later. Modern approaches are more reasoned, suggesting that all surviving evidence of the beliefs in the mystery religions postdates Jesus, and that the myths did not feature crucifixion in their early forms. The counter argument to such apologetics is that crucifixion is the likely consequence of the religions becoming mystery religions rather than their more literal original form, and that no surviving evidence of Christianity pre-dates Jesus either.
Sources
Main article:Jesus and textual evidence
Although there is much evidence of Jesus attested by the Bible and the New Testament apocrypha (those works which the Council of Laodicea did not consider valid), those arguing against Jesus' historicity point out that since these are works written for religious reasons, they cannot be considered unbiased. Of the secular commentators in existence within memory of Jesus, from the evidence of their surviving works (which still survive in significantly high number to fill hundreds of volumes of text) only 6 are claimed to have written anything relating toJesus - Pliny the Younger, Josephus, Suetonius, Philo, Lucian, and Tacitus. Many scholars consider it odd that a man of such significance as Jesus should be missing from historic texts and records, since lesser figures are, unless, that is, Jesus didn't exist, or was insignificant. Supporters of Jesus' historicity proclaim that the other records became the New Testament.
Suetonius gave a single statement referring to Chrestus- some think this is a typographical error referring to Christ, but others point out that Chrestus translates as Useful One, a common slave name. Philo makes no mention of Jesus or Christians, but his philosophy matched to the extent that early Christians considered him as one of them. Lucian wrote a satire demonstrating the existence of Christians but condemning them as easily lead fools, wheras Pliny the Younger wrote the same opinion in prose. Tacitus wrote two paragraphs, one evidencing Christianity's existence, and one describing Jesus' death, which some scholars think he merely wrote having asked a Christian who Jesus was.
Many Christians use a passage from Josephus (found only in quotations apparantly from it by Eusebius) as evidence that the Bible is not the only contemporary document proclaiming the truth of their faith (such as the Resurrection of Jesus as Christ, part-God, who was executed at the suggestion of Jewish leaders, and won many converts). However, critical scholars note that the passage uses terms Josephus nowhere else uses, the passage is a rather odd thing for a non-Christian Jew to write, the other text reads more continuously without the passage in question, and that the first person known to have claimed that Josephus did not mention Jesus was Origen (who lived centuries before Eusebius who is the first person known to have claimed (or quoted) that he did). The discovery of a more neutral 10th century version, bolstered Christian hopes of the validity of the passage, however, it fails to explain why the earlier 9th century manuscripts should have the flaws, and may itself be a forgery.
The only known text claiming to be a form of official governmental records which also evidences Jesus, is the collection known as the Letters of Herod and Pilate. They are found in some 6th century manuscript copies of the work of Justus of Tiberias (who was of the same time as Josephus). However, these are almost universally regarded as forgeries, due to extreme obviousness, failure to match historic events or people, failure to match the biblical accounts, appearance as a vindictive wish list of retribution against Pilate and Herod, and other problems.
Jewish records, both oral and written, of the period, were compiled into the Talmud, a work so large that it fills at least 32 volumes. Within its vastness, there is very little mention of anyone called Jesus, the closest match being a person or persons called Yeshu. However, the description of Yeshu does not match the biblical accounts of Jesus, the name itself is usually considered to be a derogatory acronym for anyone attempting to convert Jews from Judaism, and the term does not occur in the Jerusalem version of the text (which, compared to the Babylonian version, would be expected to mention Jesus more). Some Christians proclaim that the lack of references, and the difficulty in associating Yeshu with Jesus, is due to Christianity being negligable when the Talmud was predominantly created, in addition to the Talmud being more concerned with teachings, than recording history.
Gnosticism
The Epistles of Paul
The epistles of Paul can be split into two sections, those known as the Pastoral Letters, and the non-Pastoral letters. The authenticity of the Pastoral letters is disputed by many scholars, for various reasons. The non-Pastoral letters do not mention Jesus in any way which implies he actually existed. The non-Pastorals feature many things in common with Gnosticism, including the esoteric style in which they were written. Some scholars theorise that Paul was a gnostic teacher, and as such saw Jesus as an allegory, as part of a Jewish mystery religion.
 | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. |
The Synoptic Gospels
The gospel of Mark makes much mention of secrets and of secret teachings. This is a founding principle of gnosticism, the secret teachings being gnosis. If the Secret Gospel of Mark is genuinely attributable to the same author, it can be considered to imply the existance of secret teachings. Thomas Didymous, also known as doubting Thomas, can be considered to be a Gnostic allegory. His name, having parts from two languages, literally means "Twin Twin". A twin of the Gnostic initiate is used to represent the earthly part of a character. Association between Thomas and Jesus points to Thomas being the earthly part of Jesus' gnostic self. This is further identified by the gradual learning process Thomas is put through, leading him to attain the nickname "doubting Thomas", symbolising the learning of the gnostic initiate. To gnostics, Jesus symbolises the gnostic initiate's higher self. His death and resurrection symbolise the throwing away of previous beliefs, and coming to gnosis. The naked youth at gethsemene, if identified with the white robed youth, at the tomb (who in some gospels is referred to as an angel), symbolises the initiation ceremony. These ceremonies typically consisted of stripping completely naked, being baptised, and then being robed in a white cloth. To gnostics, Jesus was not real. If the synoptic gospels are gnostic, they do not provide evidence for Jesus.
| This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. |
The Gospel of John
There is some doubt over the nature of the Author of the Gospel of John. Traditional views place it as being John, a disciple. More recent study reveals that it has various discrepencies with the description of John given in the bible. The generally accepted opinion is the John was the last gospel to be written. Most scholars place it in the second century, though are divided as to whether at the beginning or the end. During the second century, Christianity was embroiled in arguments over the nature of Jesus, particularly with the Gnostics. However, the synoptic gospels did not provide much anti-gnostic argument, and those who were vehemently anti-gnostic used quotes from the Gospel of John. The gospel of John differs substantially from the Synoptic Gospels. The first evidence of mention of the Gospel of John is in the works of Iranaeus, a vehement anti-gnostic. He makes great use of it, and there is some suspicion that he made it up for this purpose. If this is the case, the Gospel is a fake, and cannot count as evidence.
| This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. |
Other Gospels
Many non-canonical gospels exist. Sometimes, these are used to support evidence for Jesus. However, many consider some of these works to be wild fictions, such as the Infancy Gospel of Paul. Others are clearly gnostic, and as such cannot support the existance of Jesus as anything other than allegory.
| This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. |
Persecution of Gnostics
Gnosticism survived into the 13th century, producing groups such as the Cathars. Gnostic ideas of god, the consideration of Jesus as allegory, that it was the idea of Jesus' actions (as interpreted in Gnostic texts) that was the saving of Mankind rather than Jesus' actual actions, as well as willingness to tolerate other faiths, made the catholic church feel deeply threatened. To counter this, the pope ("Innocent" III) organised a "crusade" (massacre) against the gnostics known as the Albigensian Crusade. Then it created the Medieval Inquisition, from which other Inquisitions such as the Spanish Inquisition developed, to hunt anyone who still held the beliefs.
| This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. |
See also
External links
- discussion of potential syncretisms with other religions
- Beautifully illustrated site discussing syncretisms both of stories and of religious practices
- Christian site on Josephus evidence
- Argument from Christian point of view
- Pro Jesus' existence
- Argues Jesus was originally a relatively minor figure
- PBS' From Jesus to Christ
- The Jesus Puzzle
- The Quest of the Historical Jesus By Albert Schweitzer Full online text
- Highly critical view of archaeology at Nazareth from www.jesusneverexisted.com
- Radical Criticism
- Journal of Higher Criticism
- List of isopsephia values
Reference
- 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.
- Fox, Robin Lane. The Unauthorized Version: Truth and Fiction in the Bible. New York: Vintage, 1991.
- Keller, James A. Contemporary Doubts About the Resurrection. Faith and Philosophy 5 (1988): 40-60.
- Mackie, J.L The Miracle of Theism: Arguments for and against the Existence of God. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982.
- Martin, Michael. The Case Against Christianity. Temple University, 1991.
- McCabe, Joseph. The Myth of the Resurrection and Other Essays. 1925. Prometheus, 1993.
- Miller, Glenn. Christian `bias' in the NT Writers: Does it render the NT unreliable or inadmissable as evidence? 23 Feb. 1995.
- O'Hair, Madalyn. Fundamentalism. Memphis State University. 22 Oct. 1986.
- O'Hair, Madalyn. Why I Am An Atheist. Second Revised Edition. American Atheist Press, 1991.
- Ranke-Heinemann, Ute. Putting Away Childish Things: the Virgin Birth, the Empty Tomb, and Other Fairy Tales You Don't Need to Believe to Have a Living Faith. Translated by Peter Heinegg. 1992. Harper Collins, 1994.
- Russell, Bertrand. Why I Am Not a Christian. Touchstone, 1957.
- Spong, John Shelby. Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism: A Bishop Rethinks the Meaning of Scripture. Harper Collins, 1991.
- Stamos, David N. Why I Am Not a New Apostolic Leaving the Fold: Testimonies of Former Fundamentalists. Edited by Ed Babinski. Prometheus, 1995.
- Stein, Gordon Ed. An Anthology of Atheism and Rationalism. Prometheus, 1980.
- Stein, Gordon Ed. The Encyclopedia of Unbelief. Prometheus, 1985.
- Stein, Gordon Ed. Freethought in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. Greenwood Press, 1981.
- Stein, Gordon Ed. God Pro and Con: A Bibliography of Atheism. Garland, 1990.
- Robert Ingersoll A Checklist. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1969.
- Stein, Gordon and Marshall Brown. Freethought in the United States: A Descriptive Bibliography. Greenwood Press, 1978.
- Swinburne, Richard. For the Possibility of Miracles - To Believe or Not to Believe: Readings in the Philosophy of Religion. Edited by E.D. Klemke. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1992.
- Taylor, Larry. MessiahGate - A Tale of Murder and Deception. August 1987: 1-7.
- Till, Farrell. Did They Tarry in the City? The Skeptical Review. Volume 3, Number 2.
- Watts, Charles. The Claims of Christianity Examined from a Rationalist Standpoint. Watts & Co., 1895.
- Wheless, Joseph. Forgery in Christianity: A Documented Record of the Foundations of the Christian Religion. Psychiana, 1930.
- Wheless, Joseph. Is It God's Word? Kessinger, 1925.
- Zindler, Frank R. Biography. - Leaving the Fold: Testimonies of Former Fundamentalists. Ed. Ed Babinski. Prometheus, 1995.
- Zindler, Frank R. Dial an Atheist: Greatest Hits from Ohio American Atheist Press, 1991.
Remains of original article before edit started
Debates concerning the historicity of Jesus center on two issues: the role of God in natural and human history, and the veracity of the New Testament as a historical source.
The Epistles Of Paul
Paul's letters appear to have a distinct lack of detail about Jesus' day-to-day existence or activities, leading to scholars such as Earl Doherty suggesting that Paul's idea of Jesus was derived from his reading of the Tanakh. Most of Paul's references to Jesus make little mention of his time on earth, although, in letters that many scholars consider to be forgeries, there is reference, in moderate detail, to the Last Supper as though it was an actual historical event.
In this extreme position within this skeptical view, Paul had not heard of any actual person named Jesus from Nazareth (or Bethlehem), but rather believed in a metaphysical Jesus who died on some ethereal plane at the beginning of time, or some far-off time in history.
Gnostics
In general, some Christians groups tended to oppose Gnosticism; for instance Marcion was quickly condemned for his Gnostic interpretation of the Scriptures. Irenaeus, a reknowned second century heresy condemner, and church father, said, in Against Heresies, of the Valentinian group of Gnostics "They keep asking us how it is that when they confess the same things, and hold the same doctrines, we call them heretics"
The case for the myth usually states that the reason Christianity doesn't view Jesus as a myth is because they didn't comprehend it. The failure of mystery religions was that by their very nature, the masses took the stories somewhat literally, with the belief in the literal truth of stories eventually superceding the understanding of it as metaphor.