Mythological plagiarism?
You may hear that the account of Jesus is the same as the myths of Horus or Mithras. The Christ / Mithras Myth Theory was popularized, if not invented, by two French academics in the 18th century CE – Charles Francois Dupuis (1742-1809) and Constantin Francois Chasseboef de Volney (1757-1820). Dupuis was a Professor of Rhetoric at College de Lisieux, Paris and de Volney was a philosopher and orientalist. In the fervor of the French Revolution of 1789, many revolutionaries denounced Christianity – specifically Catholicism – as a myth which had encouraged the rise of the upper classes at the expense of the lower. Dupuis' 1794 13-volume Origine de Tous les Cultes (republished in English in 1872 as The Origin of All Religious Worship) popularized the claims listed above as well as many others but these were all fabrications of anti-Christian/pro-Revolutionary writers advancing their own agenda.
In the late 1800's the theory was promoted by English poet Gerald Massey, who was discredited by scholars of the time.
The "similarities."
Jesus - Born of a virgin
Jesus: Born on December 25th? Nope. His birthday is never mentioned in scripture.
You may hear that the account of Jesus is the same as the myths of Horus or Mithras. The Christ / Mithras Myth Theory was popularized, if not invented, by two French academics in the 18th century CE – Charles Francois Dupuis (1742-1809) and Constantin Francois Chasseboef de Volney (1757-1820). Dupuis was a Professor of Rhetoric at College de Lisieux, Paris and de Volney was a philosopher and orientalist. In the fervor of the French Revolution of 1789, many revolutionaries denounced Christianity – specifically Catholicism – as a myth which had encouraged the rise of the upper classes at the expense of the lower. Dupuis' 1794 13-volume Origine de Tous les Cultes (republished in English in 1872 as The Origin of All Religious Worship) popularized the claims listed above as well as many others but these were all fabrications of anti-Christian/pro-Revolutionary writers advancing their own agenda.
In the late 1800's the theory was promoted by English poet Gerald Massey, who was discredited by scholars of the time.
The "similarities."
Jesus - Born of a virgin
- Horus was born from his mother Isis, who was not a virgin. She was a widow to Osiris who had been killed and dismembered. Using magic, Isis, reassembled his body and breathed life into him. It was a sexual union that Horus was born from.
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- Mithras - Born from a rock and not a person.
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Jesus: Born on December 25th? Nope. His birthday is never mentioned in scripture.
- Mithras / Horus: Said to have been born on December 25th. There is no source for this.
- December 25th is also not the winter solstice. That falls on December 21st or 22nd.
- Source: The earliest source having December 25th as the birthday of Jesus is by Hippolytus of Rome (3rd c.) He based it on the assumption that the conception of Jesus took place at the Spring equinox or March 25th according to him. He added 9 months and got December 25th and established a date for festivals.
- Mithras - He is never shown with disciples. He is shown with the 12 signs of the zodiac which are constellations of stars. Second photo is Mithras killing a bull surrounded by other events in his life.
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- Horus - This one depiction is him before 12 gods not disciples. Second photo, he is pictured with 12 stars representing half a 24 day. He was a sky god and considered to contain the sun/day and moon/night.
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- Crucifixion was a method of execution invented by the Roman Empire thousands of years after the times of Mithras / Horus
- Mithras - There is nothing that shows Mithras was crucified or resurrected. In the Mithras cult he never dies or has a last supper.
- Horus - He was never crucified or resurrected. He never died or had a last supper either.
- Osiris - He was resurrected from the dead temporarily but died again and became the lord of the underworld.