Freethought Nation

Here's the new update to the article originally written in 1993 titled,

The Origins of Christianity and the Quest for the Historical Jesus Christ

It will be in the new book entitled, The Christ Myth Anthology

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2013 Astrotheology Calendar
The Mythicist Position
Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection
Stellar House Publishing at Youtube

Here's the text of the email I sent around regarding my updated "Origins" article. I hope this 30-page ebook will be widely distributed!

I've completely revised and updated my article "The Origins of Christianity and the Quest for the Historical Jesus Christ."

http://www.stellarhousepublishing.com/o ... ianity.pdf

My "Origins" article is the one that started it all, back in the early 1990s. In 1993, I wrote a letter of about a dozen pages and sent it around to some 60 publications, explaining how there was no credible scientific evidence that the gospel character of "Jesus Christ" was a historical figure and that there were many reasons to presume that he was, in fact, as mythical as Hercules.

In 1995, I posted this article online - a revolutionary act at the time, as I was one of relatively few people doing anything in this subject. As such, my TruthBeKnown.com site received quite a bit of traffic, and the article eventually ranked no. 1 in the world for a variety of search terms.

The fervent debate over this article led to me to write a short booklet, which turned out to be a 450-page book instead called "The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold." And the rest, as they say, is history! Or mythology, as the case may be.

I have since written extensively about many of the most controversial claims in Christ Con, producing "Suns of God," "Who Was Jesus?", "Christ in Egypt" and much more. "The Christ Conspiracy" was published in 1999, and it is need of revision. However, I decided to take the original article upon which it was based and revise it as part of a new book project called "The Christ Myth Anthology!"

"The Christ Myth Anthology" is a collection of previously published essays, such as can be found in "Suns of God," "Who Was Jesus?" and "Christ in Egypt," along with much new research. As I have done with the revised "Origins" article, I have used different sources in order to demonstrate the same thesis, without the difficulties my other sources brought with them.

When you read this newly revised "Origins" article - which is in fact a 30-page ebook for downloading, printing and passing around - you will note the many changes both in the language describing, for example, the various godmen who make up "The Characters" section and in the numerous sources.

http://www.stellarhousepublishing.com/o ... ianity.pdf

This ebook is fully cited, with 286 footnotes and a bibliography listing over 150 sources. (This file is a PDF, so if you have trouble opening it, you may be using a Mac or other system with an older version of the Adobe reader. You may need to update your reader or get another one, such as PrimoPDF.com)

If you haven't read my "Origins" article before, you will be pleasantly surprised, I hope, by the revelations therein. If you have read it previously - or "The Christ Conspiracy," which was produced from it - you will likewise be pleased, I hope, to see the new and improved material in the document.

Enjoy - and be sure to keep an eye out for my new book "The Christ Myth Anthology," which will hopefully be out in early 2010!

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Why suffer from Egyptoparallelophobia, when you can read Christ in Egypt? Try it - you'll like it:

Here's a neat comment someone posted at Freethought Nation:


Yes, The Christ Myth Anthology will be essentially a revised edition of Christ Con. CMA includes not only relevant excerpts from my older works but also articles published online and in magazines, as well as much brand new material. I have gotten rid of most of the old sources that were problematic and am using "more respectable" ones, as well as going to the primary sources wherever possible. And practical, as that is a VERY time-consuming process, especially in the case of Indian texts - phew!

As you say, I've actually been able to strengthen my case using these other sources, as they include even more parallels, for one thing.

Take a look at the sections on Buddha and Krishna in my news "Origins" article, for example.

Here are the lists, all carefully cited from credentialed sources, a number of whom are Christian authorities - do these motifs sound familiar?

Buddha

• Like Jesus, Buddha was a divine being, pre-existent in "heaven" before taking birth.
• Buddha was born of the virgin Maya, who was considered the "Queen of Heaven."
• He was of royal descent and was a prince.
• At his birth appeared a "marvelous and powerful light."
• After Buddha was born, a "slaughter of the infants was ordered by the tyrant Bimbasara..."
• When Buddha was a babe, a saint prophesied he would be great, as did Simeon concerning Christ (Lk 2:25-35).
• As a child he taught his teachers.
• Buddha was presented in the temple, where "the idols fell down before him."
• He began his quest for enlightenment at age 29.
• He crushed a serpent's head.
• Buddha was tempted by Mara, the evil one, who offered him "universal dominion."
• Sakyamuni Buddha had 12 disciples and traveled about preaching.
• He reformed and prohibited idolatry, was a "sower of the word," and preached "the establishment of a kingdom of righteousness."
• He performed miracles and wonders, healed the sick, fed 500 men from a "small basket of cakes," and helps a disciple walk on water.
• He preached a "sermon on the mount" and taught chastity, temperance, tolerance, compassion, love, and the equality of all.
• He was transfigured on a mount.
• Buddha was received in his native city with a triumphal welcome.
• He was betrayed by a disciple, who led others to kill him.
• Some of his persecutors became his disciples.
• A tremendous earthquake occurred upon Buddha's death.
• Buddha was crucified, suffered for three days in hell, and was resurrected.
• He ascended to Nirvana or "heaven."
• Buddha was considered the "Good Shepherd," the "Carpenter," the "Infinite and Everlasting" and the "Great Physician."
• He was the "Savior of the World" and the "Light of the World."

Krishna

• Krishna is an incarnation of the sun god Vishnu, who rises or awakens on the winter solstice.
• Krishna was born in a stable of the "virgin" Devaki ("Divine One")
• He was of royal descent and was a prince.
• Krishna is the "King of the Yadus."
• Like the cave-born Christ of tradition, Krishna was born in a "cave-like dungeon."
• Upon birth, the baby Krishna, was placed in a "basket for winnowing corn; in other words, a manger."
• Great signs and wonders occurred at Krishna's birth, including the appearance of a bright star.
• His birth was attended by angels, wise men and shepherds, and he was presented with gifts, including gold and incense.
• His foster father was in the city to pay taxes when Krishna was born.
• The hero-god was persecuted by a tyrant who ordered the slaughter of infants.
• The infant Krishna was carried across a river.
• As a young boy, he worked miracles and wonders, and was hailed as a divine incarnation.
• He was worshipped by shepherds as a god.
• Krishna was "tempted" in the wilderness by "various fiends," before crushing the serpent's head.
• He raised a child from the dead and healed lepers, the deaf and the blind.
• Krishna preached faith "in God's love to man and in his mercy and forgiveness of sins arising therefrom."
• Krishna miraculously fed the multitudes.
• "He lived poor and he loved the poor," humbly washing the feet of guests.
• Like Jesus, Krishna continually manifested his divinity and then denied it.
• He was transfigured in front of his disciples.
• Krishna was anointed with oil by a woman bearing a jar of ointment.
• Krishna had a beloved disciple named Arjuna or "Ar-jouan."
• A fig or banyan tree figures prominently in Krishna's myth, as the god is depicted approaching a fig tree, where he "utters a sort of parable."
• Tradition holds that Krishna died after being shot in the foot while under a (fig) tree, leading to claims he was pinned against the tree by an arrow or "crucified."
• After his death, he ascended to heaven, where he lives on.
• Krishna descended into hell to rescue others.
• As Vishnu, he is the god "who incarnates himself when sin threatens to take the upper hand in the world, and destroys it."
• Krishna is "a personal savior, a messianic deliverer who will bring all men and women salvation if only they choose to give Him their devotion."
• Krishna is called the "Shepherd God," "Lord of the god of gods" and "Lord of lords," and was considered the "Redeemer," "Firstborn," "Sin Bearer," "Liberator," and "Universal Word."
• As Vishnu, he is the second person of the Trinity, considered the "Beginning, the Middle and the End," ("Alpha and Omega"), as well as being omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent.
• His disciples shouted the words "Jai Shri Krishna," meaning "Victory to Lord Krishna."
• A future incarnation of Vishnu is the Kalki avatar, who will arrive riding a white horse and destroy the wicked.

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Why suffer from Egyptoparallelophobia, when you can read Christ in Egypt? Try it - you'll like it:

Hi Acharya

I took the liberty of posting this on slideshare where people can find lots of easy sharing options, as well as having the ability of embedding it on their websites and blogs/forums that accept the code:

http://www.slideshare.net/vega32/originsofchristianity

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The "historical" Buddha?

Naturally, a Buddhist devotee has objected to my list of Buddha's characteristics.

In the very first paragraph of the "Buddha" section in my "Origins" article I write:


This fact is immediately overlooked, as people's minds glom onto a purported single "historical" character deemed "the Buddha." We are next regaled with the "true" story of this supposed "historical" figure of "the Buddha," which is a very mundane tale indeed, as you will see from the following email I received, along with derogatory remarks concerning Western scholars (and me, naturally). The fervor with which this "historical" Buddha is defended is not unlike that which we find as concerns the "historical" Jesus.

To reiterate, there have been many buddhas - a title meaning "Enlightened One," not a name - both mythical and historical, and their tales have been compiled in various texts that contradict each other at times, some of which have never been translated into other languages.


In the first place, even though I carefully cited practically every contention concerning Buddha - in a lengthy bibliography - this individual basically asserts that he just can't figure out where I'm getting my information from!

Secondly, I have studied Buddhism for decades - possibly even longer than this individual has - so the repeated exhortations for me to study it further are rather condescending. Moreover, this missive reflects a very narrow understanding of Buddhism that does not even incorporate the longstanding Tibetan tradition, which I have been studying for some 25 years.

This Buddhist is apparently convinced that there was one "historical" Buddha with a very mundane biography that barely resembles that of Jesus. Because he is evidently oblivious to all the stories that permeate Tibetan Buddhism, he is apparently insisting that we are only allowed to discuss this one purported "historical" Buddha.

From my long-term studies - which have included texts showing one or more blatantly magical and mythical Buddhas - I have concluded that this business with "the Buddha" being a boring old human fellow may be the result of a concerted attempt to ground him in "history" so he can be held up in competition with Krishna, Christ or other supposedly "historical" figure. Yet, even in post-Christian times, we find images of Buddha's mother giving birth to him through the side, as if that's a "historical" motif! Moreover, his main birth motif of an elephant entering into Maya's womb - which appears on pre-Christian monuments - is a sign we are dealing with a myth. In reality, we must amputate numerous mythical and magical motifs in order to find a "historical" Buddha.

Indeed, since we are dealing with a patent myth, it needs to be understood that myths change over time, and what I am portraying is a compilation from a variety of sources, some of which have not been translated into modern languages and are not readily available. That fact, however, does not mean they were not available in ancient times when the Christian effort occurred.

As one example of how myths change, concerning the contention that Buddha had 12 "disciples" is a "glaring error" - and it is only one purported "error," by the way, not two - in my article, I had even included a hotlink to the Temple of the Recumbent Buddha in China, which has an image of the Buddha surrounded by 12 other buddhas. The text on that site relates:




This image demonstrates not only that Buddha was in fact portrayed as having 12 companions or disciples - this site itself using the term "disciples" - but also that there are other buddhas. This temple is dated to several centuries after the common era, so it could be contended that this scene, so suggestive of the Last Supper, was copied by Buddhism from Christianity.

In this regard, it should also be kept in mind that the terms "pre-Christian" and "post-Christian" based on the BC/AD or BCE/CE timelines can be highly misleading. Simply because something occurred or was adopted after the year 1 AD/CE does not mean that we can automatically pronounce it as having come from Christianity. In the first place, the Christian effort had no significant impact until the second century, and its motifs certainly had not spread into India - the original land of the Buddha tales - by this time. Secondly, there are still some areas to this day that are pre-Christian, in other words where Christianity has never been heard of.

Thus, even though something may have come long after the "Christian era," it may have been borrowed not from Christianity but from other traditions that are clearly pre-Christian, such as in the case of Buddha and the 12 - the god or godman with the 12 being a motif also found within the Egyptian, Mithraic, Greek and Roman traditions as well.

I had the opportunity to run this devotee's message by one of the scholars whom he impugns, although not by name. As I stated in my "Origins" article, Dr. Christian Lindtner is a scholar of Buddhism and Sanskrit, having studied the latter for some 30 years. His response was as follows:


As has been the case with Christianity, it seems that Buddhism has its adherents who automatically assume others are ignorant and wrong without even checking the numerous sources carefully cited. This assumption is followed by an array of derogatory remarks impugning not only my scholarship but also that of others, including in this case the apparently insensate and fumbling "Western" scholars who just can't seem to function without "misunderstanding" and "misinterpreting" the texts.

In my mind, it is a refreshing quality - and a mark of true enlightenment - not to assume automatically that someone is wrong when discussing mythical figures but to be curious and to follow up on the information, especially when it is carefully and painstakingly cited. That effort is what I do on a daily basis - and what constitutes real research, rather than belief, faith and euphoria.

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Why suffer from Egyptoparallelophobia, when you can read Christ in Egypt? Try it - you'll like it:

I just read this book and agree with it. I too have been researching the origin of Judeo/Christianity. I am a bedraggled refugee from the "Holy" Roman Catholic Church and suffered 30 years of their bullshit until my study of Science convinced me of the non-existence of a "Creator/God". I have also studied Egyptology and saw the close plagiarism of it's religious myths by the Roman Catholic Church to create it's "Son of God": Jesus Christ.

Christianity was founded on a lie and simple people have not woken up to it yet. At the same time, they are hoodwinked out of their hard earned money on the pretence that they will go to some "skydaddy" in a fictitious heaven.

I am attending an Atheist Convention in Melbourne, Australia next March and will plug Acharya's books as hard as I can. Oh. Prof. Richard Dawkins is one of the speakers.

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Rev. Robert Tobin (Minister, First Church of Atheism)

Oh please do, I like Dawkins but he made a couple snide comments about Acharya's work concerning the winter solstice proving he knows absolutely nothing about astrotheology. He needs all of her works but if he just had the "Origins" e-book and Christ in Egypt he would learn much. In fact, it would be great to have a review of Christ in Egypt from Dawkins in support of a fellow Freethinker... hint, hint.

_________________
2013 Astrotheology Calendar
The Mythicist Position
Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection
Stellar House Publishing at Youtube

Wow, Your analysis of historical sources is so biased. I guess you want to mislead yourself and others.

A white elephant entered someone and left through their side sounds like the Christmas Story?? The Christmas story is an attempt to imitate the white elephant story?? Mary's story and the white elephant story are not similar.

Christians have certainly entertained lots of nonsense. It may be difficult to separate the genuine from embellishments that are nonsense. December 25 is a nonsense date that may have been added by someone. Clear away some of these trappings but do not do yourself the disservice of discarding what is good.

Jesus is impressive in what he said apart from the miracles. He is impressive in who he is.

Some that you want to emphasize as inconsistencies actually supports the genuineness of the accounts. Any judge in any courtroom expects to hear some variation of reports from eye witnesses. There are a multitude of details that each retain and organize with some difference and some inaccuracy. When accounts are completely consistent something suspicious is up.

akpadoug, There is nothing "biased" about presenting important facts from our religious past that show parallels with Christianity. What is biased is omitting these facts due to culturally biased brainwashing.

On the other hand, your remarks are full of bias, including your obvious bias in accepting Jesus as not only a historical figure but also the son of God.


You'll need to substantiate your claim. Just because it may be your own biased opinion doesn't make it so.


Straw man argument - nobody made that claim. The point is not about the white elephant coming out of Maya's right side, the point is Buddha's miraculous birth dating to the 3rd century BCE according to Sanskrit scholar Dr. Edward W. Hopkins. No need to make fallacious arguments about comments nobody has made. That smells suspicious.


You'll need to do more than that since billions of Christians have celebrated Dec 25th as Jesus birthday since the 4th century and still do to this day. Do YOU celebrate Christmas and Easter?


From a former Preacher of 20 years:

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2013 Astrotheology Calendar
The Mythicist Position
Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection
Stellar House Publishing at Youtube

Buddhist and Sanskrit scholar Dr. Christian Lindtner has provided me with an unsolicited endorsement he originally wrote in Danish, which is also included here. Dr. Lindtner received his PhD in Buddhist Studies from the University of Copenhagen in 1982 and has been studying the ancient Sanskrit and Pali texts for some 30 years.

He has really thrown down a gauntlet here - I've been waiting for years for a professional scholar to make such a bold challenge. Good on him!


The original Danish:

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Why suffer from Egyptoparallelophobia, when you can read Christ in Egypt? Try it - you'll like it:

Oh SNAP!!! Those comments by Dr. Lindtner are the strongest I've ever seen! Those in academia such as theologians, historians, biblical scholars, as well as priests, reverends, ministers, preachers, etc., need to "lean into the wind," as Dr. Phil likes to say, because they got it coming. It's about damn time academia had its feet held to the fire for enabling an "historical Jesus" based on a house of cards to continue unchallenged, all while utterly refusing to even consider the Mythicist Position. It seems many have entertained the possibility that Jesus may have been a myth, EXCEPT ACADEMIA! They have much esssssplaining to do.

Here, Earl Doherty drives home that point:

The Mythicist position:

What is a Mythicist?
http://www.stellarhousepublishing.com/mythicist.html

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2013 Astrotheology Calendar
The Mythicist Position
Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection
Stellar House Publishing at Youtube

Dr. Lindtner has asked me to add a note in response to the comment about Buddha and the "white elephant."

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Why suffer from Egyptoparallelophobia, when you can read Christ in Egypt? Try it - you'll like it:

I see, said the blind man, "a white elephant" = "a white cloud" = "the holy ghost!"

_________________
2013 Astrotheology Calendar
The Mythicist Position
Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection
Stellar House Publishing at Youtube

Buddhist influence on Christianity?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism_and_Christianity

Christianity's "Great Commission"?

On page 270, of "The 5 gospels: what did Jesus really say" by Robert W. Funk "93", it says:

On page 108, of "The Gospel of Jesus" "99" by Jesus Seminar Director & founder Robert W. Funk:

500 years or so earlier the Buddha gave a similar commission to his own disciples. Then he addressed the monks:

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2013 Astrotheology Calendar
The Mythicist Position
Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection
Stellar House Publishing at Youtube

Bravo, Christian Lindtner! You fearlessly embody the dictum of the late, great Paul Feyerabend: "The only maxim that does not inhibit research is 'Anything goes!'" I, for one, am eager to learn much more about the new and exciting line of research you are opening up!