Borrowed Christianity

In recent years, one of the attacks made against Christianity is that it is actually a religion [clearly] borrowed from other religions and thus, somehow, it is fake/not relevant. Before I even address this main thought, let me point out the purple elephant in the room: this attack is committing an extreme logical issue called the genetic fallacy. [See a list of the main logical fallacies through this site link] Basically, this attack works by explaining away something by determining its origins. While this sounds quite lame, it’s made more erroneous when said origins are rather embarrassing (i.e., Christianity is just recycled pagan myths).

Since there are too many variations of this attack, I’m just going to address the most popular one, made mainly via the media. In 2007, the movie Zeitgeist was released, claiming that not only was Christianity mainly borrowed from Egyptian mythology, but that it can be linked to 9/11, the Federal Reserve, and in general, a lot of not-so-good stuff.

[Read the Full plot summary here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1166827/plotsummary] [View the movie online]

Let me first state that I’m not going to address the 9/11 or the Federal Reserve myths and so forth. Most conspiracy theories (like the ones in this movie) don’t connect the evidence with their main thesis. Christianity has nothing to do with the Federal Reserve or 9/11. Furthermore, I am a Christian and I thoroughly hate the Federal Reserve. [I highly recommend this Youtube Video.]

Aside from the fact that this movie / this kind of attack makes an inherent logical problem, we need to ask the question “are its claims still real?” In short, no. In long, noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. Most of its claims dealing with other myths are factually incorrect, any 12 year old with internet access being able to refute them.

(For those of you who are already tired of reading-you lazy people!-an entire youtube channel, which is far more interesting than I, has been created to debunk most of the historical inaccuracies.)

The movie’s main goal is to say that Christianity can be linked to the Egyptian God, Horus, and thus it’s false. For those who are less lazy than the first bunch, let me just give you the final word on this subject:

1. Most of the similarities & links are either exaggerated or just made up.
2. Most of the history & dating is wrong.
3. Christianity is not true or false based upon its origins and supposed parallels.
4. Christianity is based on actual historical events.
5. There’s more evidence that other worldviews have borrowed/stolen from Christianity and not the other way around.

Just to show you just how old this attack is, Ronald Nash, writing 14 years ago in the Christian Research Journal, wrote about the whole concept, including these claims, concluding:

This biased and sloppy use of language suggests three misleading analogies between Osiris and Christ: (1) a savior god dies and (2) then experiences a resurrection accompanied by (3) water baptism. But the alleged similarities, as well as the language used to describe them, turn out to be fabrications of the modern scholar and are not part of the original myth. Comparisons between the resurrection of Jesus and the resuscitation of Osiris are greatly exaggerated.[4] Not every version of the myth has Osiris returning to life; in some he simply becomes king of the underworld. Equally far-fetched are attempts to find an analogue of Christian baptism in the Osiris myth. The fate of Osiris’s coffin in the Nile is as relevant to baptism as the sinking of Atlantis. [Source & Further Reading]

Anyone who knows anything about Egyptian history (ok, so that might not be very many of you :p) knows just how ridiculous these claims are!

Getting Deeper

If you’re still reading, I congratulate you. You are not lazy! Now enjoy the fruits of your journey in this in-depth debunking study.  The movie claims:

1. He [Horus] was born on December 25th of a virgin (Isis Mary).
   • False. He was born during the month of Khoiak (Octoberish).
   • Falsish. Isis was not a virgin. She was Osiris’s widow.
   • False. There’s no Egyptian literature that links Isis to anyone named Mary.
   • Confusing: Christians never claimed that Jesus was born on December 25. December is possible, but not as plausible as other dates. [See Did Jesus’ Birth Really Happen III]
2. A star in the East proclaimed his arrival; 3 kings came to the “savior”.
   • False. No star is mentioned.
   • False. No 3 kings are mentioned.
   • Confusing: the Bible never mentions “kings” or “3”. The magi were pagan astrologers. [See: Did Jesus’ Birth Really Happen IV]
   • False. Horus was never referenced to be a savior at birth.
3. He taught at 12; had 12 disciples; began ministry & was baptized at age 30.
   • These claims are all false, being unable to be linked to any known evidence.
4. Horus was betrayed & crucified; buried for 3 days; resurrected.
   • False. (For betrayal).
   • Exuberantly False. Crucifixion was not invented at the time of the ancient Egyptians, let alone 3000 BC (when the myth was created).
   • False. (Burial)
   • Mostly false: Some accounts say Isis resurrected several body parts of Horus, but not specifics or similarities.

[Fun fact: Want to make your college papers longer? Use this trick I used in college: Open up a word document, do a Ctrl+F, go to the 2nd tab, “Find and Replace all”. Find & Replace your periods “.” and up the size just 1 or so. When your periods are longer, they take up more space between your paragraphs and thus your pages are longer! :D]

The movie’s main goal is stated toward the end. The concluding thought is that religion is just a created entity with the end-goal of….making a one-world government. L-O-L! I can’t help but laugh at this statement! All the religions of the world are exclusive, and yet they are somehow going to get past their exclusiveness and make a one-world government? This makes no sense of so many different levels. Hypocritically, I suggest that people will accept the movie’s view on religion & Christianity while rejecting the conspiracy theories.

Score 1 for the uneducated.

~ by johnfoxe on December 9, 2008.