'The Truth' Sounds Too Familiar...

[FallentoReason]

If copyright laws existed 2000 years ago then the authors of the NT would have been sued heavily.

MITHRAISM (1500 B.C.)

Mithras slaying the bull.[1]

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Us too you have saved by shedding blood which grants eternity

Similarities between Mithras and Christ/Christianity[2]:

• Both saved mankind by performing sacrificial deeds
  
• Both had virgin births in a sense. (Mithras was born as an adult out of a rock).
  
• Both Mithraism and Christianity celebrated the birth of their god on the winter solstice, the 25th of December according to the Julian calendar.
  
• Both told of a Last Supper linked with the blood sacrifice whose symbolic recreation by eating bread and wine provided salvation for all worshippers.
  
• Both told of a Last Supper linked with the blood sacrifice whose symbolic recreation by eating bread and wine provided salvation for all worshippers.
  
• Both emphasized purification through baptism, Mithraists by washing themselves in the blood of sacrificial oxen.
  
• Both featured secret temples located underground. For Christians it was a temporary expedient to avoid persecution, but for Mithraists it became a permanent institution.
  
• Both told of a major flood, in the case of Mithra through his having shot an arrow into a stone cliff to quench mankind's thirst. Unfortunately, the entire world's population was drowned in a flood produced by the water spout that gushed from the hole his arrow produced. One man alone (a Noah figure borrowed from the earlier Sumerian myth of Atrahasis) was warned in time and could therefore save himself and his cattle in an ark.
  
• Both the Old Testament and Mithraic legend told of the first human couple having been created.
  
• As opposed to other early religions, which consigned all the dead to an underworld, both Christianity and Zoroastrian dogma located hell in the underworld and heaven in the sky, where God was located.

EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY (~3100 B.C.)

Isis-Mari (Isis the beloved) with son Horus/Mary with son Jesus.[3]

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Similarities between Horus and Christ[4][5]:

• Both begotten Sons of the Father (Osiris in Horus' case).
  
• Mothers: Isis-Meri -> Horus, Mary -> Jesus
  
• Earthly fathers: Seb (aka Jo-Seph) -> Horus, Joseph -> Jesus
  
• Both of royal descent.
  
• Both mothers were told by an angel of their son-to-be.
  
• Birth heralded by: Sirius (the morning star) -> Horus, "star in the East" -> Jesus.
  
• Both have their birthdays celebrated during the winter solstice.
  
• Death threat during infancy: Herut -> Horus, Herod -> Jesus
  
• Both have no data of life events between ages 12-30
  
• Baptism location: river Eridanus -> Horus, river Jordan -> Jesus
  
• Baptiser: Anup the Baptiser -> Horus, John the Baptist -> Jesus.
  
• Both transfigured on a mountain.
  
• Both were referred to as Christ i.e. the anointed one (KRST for Horus).
  

The list goes on and on and on but you can check that out for yourself.

GREEK MYTHOLOGY (~1300 B.C?)

Heracles (or Hercules in Roman) performing one of his 12 deeds as the saviour of humanity[6].

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Similarities between Heracles and Christ[7]:

• Both their mothers became pregnant through union with God (Alcmene/Zeus or Jupiter in Roman).
  
• Both had earthly fathers (Heracles' father was called Amphitryon).
  
• Both their parents made a trip from their hometown elsewhere where the son was born. Heracles' parents went from Mycenae to Thebes where he would be born.
  
• Both are known to hail from their parents' hometown even though they were born in a different town.
  
• Both nearly died as infants. Hera attempted to kill Heracles.
  
• Both were tempted before their ministry. Hermes took Heracles to a high mountain where the tempations happened.
  
• Both walked on water and raised someone from the dead (Alcestis in Heracles' case).
  
• Both had someone who betrayed them. Heracles' second wife Deianira caused his death and this horror led her to hang herself.
  
• Both died, resurrected and ascended to heaven.

HELLENISTIC JUDAISM (~200 B.C.)

It's thanks to this new breed of religious people that the stories of Christ came to be. Their interpretation of the OT gave rise to allegories found in the Gospel of Mark and the epistles of the early Christians. I have made numerous threads on this topic showing where various details about Jesus' life came from in the OT.

As we have seen, the life of Jesus is not one bit original. It can be said that the ideas are all similar to past religions, but ultimately the way in which the Jesus story gets told in detail comes from the OT and other documents around at the time (like Josephus' life and works). This is where the Jesus story gets its form.

Sources
[1]http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5095/5426972313_50704c0551_z.jpg
[2]http://edwardjayne.com/christology/mithra.html
[3]http://www.eyeofhorus.biz/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/IsisHorusMaryJesus.jpg
[4]http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_jcpa5b.htm
[5]http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_jcpa5d.htm
[6]http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/heracles-199x300.jpg
[7]http://www.jesusgranskad.se/jesus_parallels.htm