Is the story of Jesus unique?

[samuraiX]

The originality of Jesus

Who was the Son of the highest God, and the biggest healer in Antiquity? He healed the sick and even raised the dead. Hear and behold: former paralysed walked again, the blind could miraculously see again, and the deaf could listen and the mute speak after the Master’s gentle touch! But he did not only heal the body, he also healed the soul. They called him Saviour and Redeemer, and he healed both rich and poor, men and women, young and old, slaves and free men, friends and enemies. In one occasion a paralysed man was brough to him in his bed, and took his bed and left walking after the Saviour had touched him. What was this Saviour’s name?

… Asklepios. He was around from as early as 1500BC

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Who was born by a mortal virgin mother and had a divine Father, and was known as the “Saviour of the world”? Before he was born his parents wandered to a bigger town, and prophets had foretold his birth and that he would be a king. This instigated a search for the infant Saviour by a leading figure who wanted to kill him. After growing up the Son of God was shown all the kingdoms of the world from a high mountain. He also walked on water and when he met his end his mother and his favorite disciple stood by him. He then tells his mother: “Do not cry, I’m going to heaven”. When he dies he utter: “It is finished” and the earth trembles and darkness cover the land. Then he ascended to heaven, and his greatest achievement was to conquer death.

His name was of course…Hercules. His Temple was built in 21BC

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We all of course know the Redeemer who was no figure of pagan Greek polytheism. He was the true Saviour who wanted to help and save the sinful humans, by sacrificing himself. But he was willing to do this, out of love, pity and compassion for the humans.

His name:…Prometheus.

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Now, who was the real Son of God, born by a mortal virgin mother, and often presented as the venerated newborn infant, or depicted riding a donkey? He healed the sick and did numerous wonders, among those making fine wine from plain water. He was killed but resurrected from the dead and became immortal. The followers of this God often ate a holy meal in a kind of sacramental union with the deity to achieve immortality after their death. One of this god’s finest achievements was his death, his sacrifice, which delivers the whole human kind.

The God was the very popular Dionysos.

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Who is the “Light of the World“, the One, the God who defeated death? Born of a virgin mother, considered the first true King by the people. Who rose from the grave and ascended to heaven. He defeated death, and must be considered the single true God.

Of course the Egyptian Osiris!

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Now, the real God often called the “Light of the world“, “The good shepherd”, “The lamb” and is “…the way, the truth, and the life“. Identified with a cross. Who could that be?

Horus, (the son of Osiris).

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The original “Light of the world” was the mediator between God and man and was born on the 25.th of December. Local shepherds witnessed his birth and gave him gifts. He had 12 disciples, and when his work was done on earth he gathered together to a last supper, and then ascended to heaven. At doomsday he will return to pass judgment on both the living and the dead. The righteous will go to heaven and the sinful will be killed in a giant fire. Sunday is his holyday, and this religion gave us the seven days of the week. His followers called each other “brothers” and their leaders “fathers”. They practiced babtism and established a sacred meal ritual, where flesh and blood was symbolically consumed by initiates. Above earth was heaven, and below the dark hell with demons and the sinners.

The ‘Light of the World’ is of course the sungod Mithra.

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Wise men were led to his birth by a star, and his conception was miraculous. After his birth the ruler in the area wanted him dead and started a hunt for the child. But his parents were warned by a heavenly messenger who told them to escape over the river with the holy child. Here, he was met by shepherds. His adoptive human father was a carpenter. The boy grew up and did many great deeds, and was the mediator between God and man.

His name: Krishna.

NOTE: Author Kersey Graves (1813-1883), a Quaker from Indiana, compared Yeshua’s and Krishna’s life. He found what he believed were 346 elements in common within Christian and Hindu writings. I’m aware that many of the connections are a stretch so I tried to only include ones that are agreed upon by other sources and historical archives. He also made connections between the virgin birth, the names of the mothers, and the date of their births. Those were shown later to be wrong.

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Who then, was the God whose mother was told by an angel that she would give birth to a holy child destined to be a Saviour? Even as a child he instructed the priests in the temple in religous matters, while his parents were looking for him. He started his religious career when he was ca 30 years of age, and surrounded himself with 12 disciples. One of the disciples is his favorite another is a traitor. He and his disciples abstain from wealth and travel around talking in parables and metaphors. This God called himself “Son of Man” and was referred to as “Prophet“, “Master” and “Lord“. He did many great wonders and healed the sick, blind could see again and deaf hear.
He also walked on water. When one of his disciples tried to do the same, he started to sink – his faith was not strong enough.

We are here obviously talking about Buddha.

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Our Saviour cannot be mistaken for any other. He performed countless miracles on earth, miracles well attested to by bystanders. He healed the sick and the crippled, restored sight to the blind, cast out demons, and even raised the dead! His birth was of a virgin, foretold by an angel. While still a child, he exhibited extraordinary knowledge of religious scripture. He reformed the corrupt and worldly religions of his day. He was crucified, rose from the tomb and appeared to his disciples to prove to them his power over death, after which he ascended to Heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father. He was known as “the Son of God!” His message is of love and compassion.

We give you: Apollonius of Tyana*

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And there is of course the God-man, the prophet, the founder of a great monotheistic religion that still exist today. He preached that there was only one true God, and his teachings focused on the eternal fight between good and evil. The teachings include the idea of the Saviour will wake the dead and pass judgment on all. The righteous ones goes to Paradise and the sinful straight to a burning Hell. The very word of Paradise stems from this religion. This semigod started his career in his early thirties, and had a following of disciples. As a band of monks they wandered around, preaching their religion. He was eventually killed and sent to heaven.

And he was the Persian Zarathustra.

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The problem for Jesus is that all these deities are much older than him. You don’t have to be very bright to see where the authors of the Gospels got their “divine inspiration” when they created the Jewish version of the popular God-Man/ World-Saviour of Antiquity.

source: WTF - The story of Jesus isn't unique? Of course it isn't.

[XellosMoon]

No shocks here... Healing the sick, curing the blind are all standard MO in the ancient world. Almost all important figures can be associated with stuff like a virgin birth. Lots and lots of dudes get the same rep.

And remember that we hear it from countless hearsays so...

[hellionist]

I wonder why it became so popular, though?

[samuraiX]

I wonder why it became so popular, though?

correct, why did the story of jesus became popular when it was not unique and is now one of the dominant religion in the world

[XellosMoon]

correct, why did the story of jesus became popular when it was not unique and is now one of the dominant religion in the world

Its not unique... People didnt become christians because jesus healed a sick dude. The population on that period was increasingly devided by social status. The rich were all powerful while the poor were... well slaves. Plus the Roman Gods were losing their grip on the people. Then came in Christianity who preached that all were equal in the eyes of God. Once Christianity broke the forever marginalized social structure... well the rest is history.

Not to mention that 90 percent of the Roman population were poor, slaves and women... Not all religions accepted all groups

Those miracles he performed might have been made to bolster his reputation. Or maybe he did really perform them.

[hellionist]

I stand corrected. He's popular only on Christians' viewpoint. Other countries with other main religions don't actually regard him the way Christians do. Nonetheless, most still have an idea on who he is (or who he's supposed to be).

[samuraiX]

Its not unique... People didnt become christians because jesus healed a sick dude. The population on that period was increasingly devided by social status. The rich were all powerful while the poor were... well slaves. Plus the Roman Gods were losing their grip on the people. Then came in Christianity who preached that all were equal in the eyes of God. Once Christianity broke the forever marginalized social structure... well the rest is history.

Not to mention that 90 percent of the Roman population were poor, slaves and women... Not all religions accepted all groups

Those miracles he performed might have been made to bolster his reputation. Or maybe he did really perform them.

but we are talking about the stories since this is the basis on RC, his teaching and story in the bible, ppl became RC since rome decreed it to be state religion

so if the RC base the bible or stories of jesus to recruit ppl, why this story why didnt other similar story bloom the same way as jesus story, wht made it unique that it survived this long

[bishop]

Even though this seems to be getting old..it still does not fail to amaze me.

Amazing that questions such as these are still being raised. Only someone who knows nothing about Ancient Mythology and/or Church History would ask questions or make comments such as these.

Was Jesus Christ really a “copy” of all these mythological characters.

Let us examine each one:

The originality of Jesus

Who was the Son of the highest God, and the biggest healer in Antiquity? He healed the sick and even raised the dead. Hear and behold: former paralysed walked again, the blind could miraculously see again, and the deaf could listen and the mute speak after the Master’s gentle touch! But he did not only heal the body, he also healed the soul. They called him Saviour and Redeemer, and he healed both rich and poor, men and women, young and old, slaves and free men, friends and enemies. In one occasion a paralysed man was brough to him in his bed, and took his bed and left walking after the Saviour had touched him. What was this Saviour’s name?

… Asklepios. He was around from as early as 1500BC

Was Asklepios really the son of the highest (Greek) god? - No, not really.

In the hierarchy of deities in the Greek religion, Zeus was the ‘big boss’.

Asklepios was the son of one of the greek gods, Apollo.

Asklepios also had a wife named Epione and had six daughters.
Asclepius - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Did Askepios actually walked the Earth as a person? Did he actually heal sick people and made paralytics walk? Was Asklepios considered a “savior” to mankind? –The answer is “no”, “no” and “no”.

Who was born by a mortal virgin mother and had a divine Father, and was known as the “Saviour of the world”? Before he was born his parents wandered to a bigger town, and prophets had foretold his birth and that he would be a king. This instigated a search for the infant Saviour by a leading figure who wanted to kill him. After growing up the Son of God was shown all the kingdoms of the world from a high mountain. He also walked on water and when he met his end his mother and his favorite disciple stood by him. He then tells his mother: “Do not cry, I’m going to heaven”. When he dies he utter: “It is finished” and the earth trembles and darkness cover the land. Then he ascended to heaven, and his greatest achievement was to conquer death.

His name was of course…Hercules. His Temple was built in 21BC

Was Hercules really the son of a “virgin” mother? – Nope..not really.

Hercules was the illegitimate son of Zeus and Alcmene.

In the myth of Hercules, Zeus (Jupiter) had physical relations with a human woman named Alcmene. So Alcmene was in no way a “virgin”.
Hercules - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As to the thread starters claim that Hercules walked on water, I am at a loss. I am not sure what text or source he got that from. As I am not aware that Hercules was ever credited for walking on water.

And I issue a challenge to the thread starter to present credible source that says Hercules walked on water.

We all of course know the Redeemer who was no figure of pagan Greek polytheism. He was the true Saviour who wanted to help and save the sinful humans, by sacrificing himself. But he was willing to do this, out of love, pity and compassion for the humans.

His name:…Prometheus.

Was Prometheus really a “true Savior”? -Hardly.

Prometheus was credited for giving the early humans the gift of fire. And not as the thread starter claims that he wanted to save humans from their “sins”.

Did Prometheus sacrifice himself for man’s sake? – Far from it.

In the Greek mythology, Zeus was angered by what Prometheus did..give fire to the humans. That Zeus punished him by having him bound to a rock, and have an Eagle eat his liver during the day only to have it grow back for the cycle to begin again the next day.
Prometheus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So does anybody see any similarities between Prometheus and Jesus Christ?

I’m not going to go through all the characters presented by the thread starter mainly because of writing space concerns.

But I will say that they are all equally preposterous.

Should anyone have any questions, I will gladly address each one as they are posted.

[Raigoki]

IMHO... I think TS' source is trying to compare it in a broader concept. wherein...

1. There is a great & Powerful being.
2. This being had a son with human-like properties. (+some powers)

and i assume those factors that are not similar with Jesus story (as bishop stated) can be added by those who recorded/wrote the His story just to make it "different".

[bishop]

@Rai..

IMHO... I think TS' source is trying to compare it in a broader concept. wherein...

1. There is a great & Powerful being.
2. This being had a son with human-like properties. (+some powers)

This is very unlikely to happen.

Again, if you look at history, Rome was in power during the time of Jesus. And the Jews were subjugated by the Roman (Greeks).

This was a great humiliation to the Jews, who were being forced to assimilate. Something which was contrary to the Torah.

Prior to the birth of Jesus during the early reign of the Roman (Greek), there have already been rebelions by the Jews to fight the assimilation.

So to say that Jesus, his witness and the Jewish Historians tried to "copy" Greek Mythology, is totally proposterous.

And there is one very crusial differnce that seem to be ignored by many:

The life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was witnessed by many, and recorded by noted Historians.

While the likes of Hercules and Prometheus are known Mythology.

So for the story of Jesus Christ to be (intentionally) "made different" by writters, means that there has to be a major conspiracy by not only the witnesses, but also the writters as well as the historians.

And if we look at it from a macro view, this is totally impossible.

[Diabolique]

It's kinda funny. Before reading this, I thought most Atheist were well-read and knew a great deal of history, but after reading this, I now know just how wrong I was on that assumption.

It's choke full of inconsistencies that the author just seemed to pull out just to make his/her point. A lot of "Virgin" mothers were mentioned, but for those who know their mythology, all one could do is roll their eyes at it.

Even going as far as with Buddha saying his mother was visited by an Angel... sure... if by Angel he meant a White Elephant with Six Tusks.

[Shinobi73]

Wow talk about way off! I think this thread should be re-titled to “Totally Way Off Assumptions”

I don’t have to be a history buff to know the difference between mythology and history. I was equally as surprised as Bishop about Hercules! Hercules was one of my favorite Greek characters and I’ve read quite a few stories about him – seriously, walking on water!

Even if you say that this is what the articles on the link say – the TS should have at least read the claims thoroughly and checked if they had basis themselves.

[samuraiX]

-ASKLEPIOS was a healer, a dead raiser....

A young virgin, Alcmene, is married to an earthly man, Amphitryon. He does not touch his wife, however, until the great god Zeus has impregnated her, so that she can give birth to a son, half-man, half-god, while still remaining a virgin. This son is Hercules...

Hercules is able to walk on water, but his true feat is to overcome death, a death leading to life eternal. His wife Deianeira causes his death by accident, is overcome by horror and remorse, and hangs herself. The dead body of Hercules is burnt on the mountain Oeta.

from: Jesus in Comparative Light and the book

But when Zeus succeeded to the kingdom of heaven, and wanted to extirpate the whole race of man, the place of which he proposed to give to quite a new race of beings, Prometheus prevented the execution of the scheme, and saved the human race from destruction...

from: PROMETHEUS : Greek Titan god of forethought, creator of mankind ; mythology ; pictures

the whole point of the thread is that the story of jesus is a compilation of other gods story not compare one god to jesus, its like they got a little bit of this and that from other story and compiled it to make a whole story of jesus

[Diabolique]

Asklepios is the son of Apollo (the god of the sun) and Coronis. He was paid to raise a dead person, and Pluto fearful that soon he would no longer have any domain over any of the dead, forced his brother Zeus to honor their agreement of seperate dominions and so Zeus killed Asklepios with a mighty thunderbolt.

Hercules has no accounts whatsoever of ever walking on water to my knowledge.

Prometheus: Took pity on mankind who huddled in their caves and gifted them with the knowledge of fire. Zeus in his anger bound him to a mountain and had ravens/eagles/hawks (different accounts) eat his liver by day, regenerate it at night only to be eaten the next day.

[suave]

I think it would be better to post something to acclaim Christ's divinity than to post something to disclaim it.

These are just details... and in an issue as big as this one... details are not that important.