Pagan influences on the biblical stories of Jesus' life

[Cecelia]

I imagine there's a good deal of borrowing from other religions.

"Our God did this!"

"Well, so did our god! So there!"

[Silver]

Religion, being the strong handle on people as it was back then, found the need to always incorporate new ways of subduing the people. Therefore, it was only natural for one religion after another to borrow from previous religions yet making a new mark by adding something different and more relevant to the time.

[Pat Mustard]

Sorry, I was not thinking properly.  You are correct, Christianity is the middle child with the Judeo-Christian family.  Islam is the newest, and will most likely be the most problematic even though that role is usually reserved for the oldest.

And in accordance with your second reference, I do have links.

And okay, I got the number wrong.  I'm only human.

Sixteen is not correct.

Ten it is.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/unreasonabl...ate-jesus/
http://listverse.com/2009/04/13/10-chris...ate-jesus/

None on the lists are montheistic gods

Neither is the christian god. Having three distinct god figures amounts to polytheism, no matter how the various priesthoods dress it up.

[Drich]

None on the lists are montheistic gods

Neither is the christian god. Having three distinct god figures amounts to polytheism, no matter how the various priesthoods dress it up.

Ah.. No.

God is a title not a name.

Polytheism refers to the worship multiple gods in charge or in control of certain aspects of life or an elemental. Like Neptune=God of the sea, Haties= God of the underworld.Venus=love etc..
In other words it is the worship of several smaller supreme beings who have complete control over their element or aspect of life, but not others. In polytheism a specific God may have complete authority over Rock, Paper or Scissors but not all three. thus the constant in fighting and back biting.

Monotheism refers to one God control over everything. In the case of Christianity this complete control is shared by three deities.
In other words all three have control over Rock paper and scissors.

The terms refer to the division or unity of power in the title of God, not who or how many hold that title, but whether that title is equally shared or splintered.

[Minimalist]

Dripshit is a title, not a name, too.

[Huggy Bear]

Nope

How does one go about demonstrating that there was "no inspiration" from pagan religions in Christianity?

I'm genuinely curious as to how you support your claim that there is 'no truth' to claims of syncretism?

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: - Romans 1:20

I have always said that the ancient civilizations of the world were monotheists turned polytheists, and that Babylon was the origin of all the worlds mythologies as evidenced from my post from well over a year ago.

The establishment of Babel (Babylon, a great civilization of ancient times), ushered in Polytheism which spread from Babel into Egypt, from Egypt to Greece, and from Greece into the world.

My point is, every polytheistic religion can be traced back to Babel.

As told in the book of Genesis, God promised the woman a seed (this is the prophecy of the virgin birth because "seed" only comes from the man) which we all know to be Jesus Christ, the redeemer.

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. - Genesis 3:15

In the Book of Revelation Jesus is the Lion of Judah.

And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. -  Revelation 5:5

So here we have the first and last books of the bible depicting the Virgin and the Lion.

http://www.evidencetoconsider.com/prophe...dle-sphinx

The inset image is from the Temple of Esneh in Egypt. An image of s sphinx is placed between the signs for Leo (on the left) and Virgo (on the right, holding a branch). The word sphinx means “to bind closely together” (from the Greek Sphiggo). This indicates that this is the point at which the constellations begin and end. And, like the head of the sphinx, which is that of a woman, the constellations begin with Virgo, and end, like the tail of the sphinx, which is that of a lion, with Leo.

This means that before there was ever a scripture written God symbolized his plan in the zodiac and the ancient peoples knew this, and are without excuse.

Horus can be traced back to the Horites (you see, Egypt didn't originate anything):
http://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2011/...ement.html

Monotheism existed in ancient Kush long before the Jews were identifiable as a distinct people. Archaeological and anthropological evidence indicates that the Horite priests as early as 3000 B.C. believed in a single supreme creator.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horites

The first mention of the Horites in the Torah was when they were defeated by a coalition of Eastern kings led by the Kedorlaomer of Elam (in modern Iran). These kings had come through the Horite territory to subdue a rebellion by a coalition of other 'kings' of peoples whom they had ruled for twelve years, who were living near the Dead Sea and Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 14:1-12).

Later, according to Genesis 36, the Horites co-existed and inter-married with the family of Esau, grandson of Abraham through Isaac (Genesis 25:21-25). They were eventually brought under the rule of the descendants of Esau, also then known as Edom.

As a side note, what I find Interesting is that the descendant of Esau were described as having red skin.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edom

The Hebrew word Edom means "red", and is derived from the name of its original founder, whose name was Esau, the elder son of the Hebrew patriarch Isaac, because he was born "red all over".

Does the term "redskin" sound familiar? If we look at the native American symbol for God (The Great Spirit), and the symbol for Horus, they both depict an all seeing eye.



Could these native Americans be the descendants of the red-skinned Edomites formerly known as the Horites?

[Drich]

Huggy bringing the Heavy bat of research!!!

[The Atheist]

Nope

How does one go about demonstrating that there was "no inspiration" from pagan religions in Christianity?

I'm genuinely curious as to how you support your claim that there is 'no truth' to claims of syncretism?

The burden of proof lies with the one making the positive assertion. Since there's no credible evidence to suggest this hypothesis, professional scholars reject it.

[SteveII]

Something I wrote from an old thread:

The Teacher of Righteousness was interesting. If illustrates that the Jews were waiting for a Messiah. A moral teacher and the same political climate would result in similarities. It does not seem to be a myth so therefore can't be a recycled myth.

Regarding The 10 Christlike Figures, I think you can always find some similar fact/teaching/circumstance in any ancient religion because all religions have certain characteristics in common: god(s), human interaction, teachings on origins, morality codes, gods being born, gods dying, unfaithfulness, redemption, how to live, and the fact that the human adherents all have the similar experience of being human.

The list of 22 things from Carrier is an interesting list. However, it seems to have been worded vaguely to include Jesus and as many "heroes" as possible. It also mis-characterizes some of the facts believed about Moses and Jesus. The list seems contrived to make a point ignoring the fact there would be hundreds of relevant differences in any "heroes" story to make it unique.

If Christianity was a recycling of old myths, then it all had to be developed and synthesized between Jesus' death and the writing of Paul's letters or at the latest the gospels a few years later. That would be an impressive undertaking resulting in a systematic theology that had to:

1. Be compatible with OT monotheistic doctrine of God
2. Be compatible with OT prophecies
3. Be internally consistent
4. and since most of you believe that Jesus actually/probably existed, had to be compatible with what the people knew to be true about Jesus--whom Paul never net.

It also assumes that, presumably Paul, was familiar with the details of each of the examples of ancient myths you give. I don't see reasons why that would be true. He would have been studied in Jewish law and the OT. Access to the details of extinct and eastern religions would have to be explained for this to be plausible.

Then you are back to the question of: Why would Paul go through all that trouble to make up such a complicated story? If you are tempted to say for power and/or money, please provide evidence for that assertion.

[Minimalist]

How does one go about demonstrating that there was "no inspiration" from pagan religions in Christianity?

I'm genuinely curious as to how you support your claim that there is 'no truth' to claims of syncretism?

The burden of proof lies with the one making the positive assertion. Since there's no credible evidence to suggest this hypothesis, professional scholars reject it.

Perhaps you need to broaden the spectrum of "scholars" you rely upon?

http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily...neighbors/

An even more common motif featured in early Christian art that draws directly from pagan funerary art is that of the Good Shepherd. Commonly represented as a young, beardless man holding a sheep across his shoulders, we see this representation in pagan funerary contexts long before the advent of Christianity. Initially, this image seems to have an association with the pagan god Hermes, who was the patron deity of shepherds and who would accompany the souls of the deceased into Hades. Eventually, however, the image seems to have developed into a symbol of care and comfort in the afterlife. In antiquity, this widely disseminated image was an ideal candidate for artistic syncretism. The Gospels’ story of Christ as the Good Shepherd (John 10:1–9) and similar parables that make allegorical reference to the image of a benevolent and protective shepherd (Luke 15:3–7; Matthew 18:12–13) was an excellent fit for an image that was already known, used and associated with divine protectiveness.

The use by the Christians of pagan sacred imagery is not necessarily confined solely to the Greco-Roman world. The cultural and religious syncretism that took place in Greek and Roman society with other, even older civilizations meant that many early Christians had a wealth of artistic examples that may have originated outside of their immediate cultural landscape. One example is an Egyptian artistic motif: Scholars have long hypothesized that the image of Mary nursing or holding the Christ child close to her breast is an iconographic image borrowed from the ancient Egyptian motif of the goddess Isis nursing the infant Horus.