Sceptical explanations for Jesus

This page last updated July 7th, 2016
Egyptian gods

Most scholars, whether they are christians or not, agree that Jesus was a real Jewish man who can be described as a Jewish prophet, teacher and/or healer.

But occasionally a scholar, or more often someone with no real credentials, comes up with another theory. Jesus wasn’t actually a historical person, but the stories are legends, copied from other legends in the pagan world of the day.

In this section I examine a few of these theories.

horusEgyptian god Horus and Jesus
Are many events in the life of Jesus similar to the life of Horus, the Egyptian god? It turns out very few of the claimed parallels are real, the few resemblances are not remarkable, and most of them could not have been known by first century Jews.

mithrasJesus and Mithras
Did Christianity copy Jesus from the god Mithras? Historians say no. The claimed parallels are mostly invented, and Mithraism came on the scene too late. The “evidence” for the claims is mostly based on outdated authors whose views have long since been overturned by historians.

egyptiangodsWas Jesus a copy of pagan gods?
Are the gospels are legends, similar to many other legendary tales of gods? The historians say that, for a whole range of reasons, the legends and rituals of pagan mystery religious could not and did not have a significant influence on the development of christianity.

Photo: Wikipedia.

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