21 Myths--Jesus Mirrors Pagan Religions

This myth is repeated a lot on the internet.  I've heard and read all kinds of conspiracy theories (especially on the internet).

Osiris. Krishna.  Horus.  Mithras. Dionysus.  Adonis.  Just to name a few.  As Dan Brown, the author of The Da Vinci Code, put it, "Nothing in Christianity is original."

So how does one answer these criticisms?

For one, these claims have been carefully scrutinized by scholars and academicians, and the broad conclusion is that the critics have it backwards.  Nearly all the connections seen between Christianity and pagan mythology happened in reverse.  The story and its details were superimposed from Christianity onto the myths, not the other way around.

Furthermore, many of the connections claimed between paganism and Christianity in movies and on the internet have no basis in fact.  For example, there are no accounts of Krishna being crucified and risen from the dead, as critics sometimes suggest. Edwin Bryant, an expert from Rutgers University on Krishna, says there is no trace of a story like this about Krishna.

Finally, parallels can be found in just about anything.  For instance, I bet we all know about the plane that took off on a beautiful morning from Massachusetts and later crashed into one of the tallest buildings in New York City at 9 o'clock, striking it between the 78th and 80th floors, killing everyone on board and many who were working inside.  It was a B-25, and the date was July 28, 1945!  What? You didn't realize that?

The coincidence certainly doesn't mean 9/11 didn't happen, but you would need to show a connection between these two events to demonstrate that one account is false, but they are both true with no clear connection.

Share this post today to help people in your life who are resisting Jesus by repeating this old myth about him. You can learn more about the 21 Myths in 21 Days blog series by clicking here!
Check out these other posts on the following myths: no historical proof of Jesus' life, that it's possible to follow Jesus and check out of the Churchthat Jesus taught the same thing other world religious leaders have, that Jesus is soft, easy, and accepting, that there are natural explanations for the supernatural miracle of the resurrection of Jesus Christthe idea that Jesus wants his followers to be rich, the denial of the divinity of Jesus, the myth that the Bible teaches theological truths about Jesus, but not historically reliable ones, the myth that the Bible's story about Jesus has changed over time, the fable that Jesus was never crucified, that there are other gospels than the four in the New Testament, that Jesus is a RepublicanJesus' inferiority to his Father, that Jesus' resurrection is the only resurrection, that the gospels contradict each other, as well as the myth that Jesus was an only child

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