Nachricht #6758 in "METAPHYSICAL" (Oeffentlich) Datum : 28.Dec 91 16:24 Von : Ammond Shadowcraft An : All Betreff: Pagan Christs x of 19 => 6760 [Part 1 of 19] A FREETHINKER LOOKS AT THE PAGAN RELIGIOUS SYSTEM KNOWN AS CHRISTIANITY by Ammond Shadowcraft The focus of this article addresses the various pagan and mythical elements which formulate the Christian Religious System. Actually this topic could be pointed at all Western, hero-based belief systems since they share many similar features. Foreword Note: What follows is a compilation of pieces of text from the following books. These sections of text will help us get the big picture of how the Christian Belief System (sometimes herein referred to as the CBS) arose. THE STORY OF CHRISTIAN ORIGINS, Dr. Martin Larson, THE MASKS OF GOD series, Joseph Campbell, PAGAN CHRISTS, J.M. Robertson, and THE WHITE GODDESS, Robert Graves. Generally, most humans suffer from some form of culture trance or blindness. This article is an effort to penetrate that culture trance and look beyond into the very foundations of the prevailing organized religious focus of this nation. -------------------------------------------------------------- Myths And Their Importance Myths have a secure place in our hearts, and like any other belief system or bits thereof, they inspire or cause us to think and act in different ways (and sometimes against our better judgment). Myths gives us a different view of ourselves, our planet and environment. And myths give us hope of life in life and life after death. * * * * * "The comparative study of the mythologies of the world compels us to view the cultural history of mankind as a unit; for we find that such themes as the firetheft, deluge, land of the dead, virgin birth, and resurrected hero have a worldwide distribution appearing everywhere in new combinations while remaining, like the elements of the kaleidoscope, only a few and always the same. Furthermore, whereas in tales told for entertainment such mythical themes are taken lightly--in a spirit, obviously of play, they appear also in religious contexts, where they are accepted not only as factually true but even as revelations of the verities to which the whole culture is a living witness and from which it derives both its spiritual authority and its temporal power. No human society has yet been found in which such mythological motifs have not been rehearsed in liturgies; interpreted by seers, poets, theologians, or philosophers; presented in art; magnified in song; and ecstatically experienced in life empowering visions. Indeed, the chronicle of our species, from its earliest page, has been not simply an account of the progress of man the tool maker, but--more tragically--a history of the pouring of blazing visions into the minds of --- * Origin: (93:9510/0) Nachricht #6759 in "METAPHYSICAL" (Oeffentlich) Datum : 28.Dec 91 16:25 Von : Ammond Shadowcraft An : All Betreff: Christs x of 19 [Part 2 of 19] the seers and the effort of the earthly communities to incarnate unearthly covenants. Every people has received its own seal and sign of supernatural designation, communicated to its heros and daily proved in the lives and experience of its folk. And though many who bow with closed eyes in the sanctuaries of their own tradition rationally scrutinize and disqualify the sacraments of others, AN HONEST COMPARISON IMMEDIATELY REVEALS THAT ALL HAVE BEEN BUILT FROM ONE FUND OF MYTHOLOGICAL MOTIFS--VARIOUSLY SELECTED, ORGANIZED, INTERPRETED AND RITUALIZED, ACCORDING TO THE LOCAL NEED, BUT REVERED BY EVERY PEOPLE ON THE EARTH. "A fascinating psychological, as well as historical, problem is thus presented. Man, apparently, cannot maintain himself in the universe without belief in some arrangement of the general inheritance of myth. In fact, the fullness of his life would even seem to stand in direct ratio to the depth and range NOT of his rational thought but to his LOCAL MYTHOLOGY. Whence the force of these unsubstantial themes, by which they are empowered to galvanize populations, creating of them civilizations, each with a beauty and self compelling destiny of its own? And why should it be that when ever men have looked for something solid on which to found their lives, they have CHOSEN not the FACTS in which the world abounds, but the MYTHS of immemorial imagination--preferring even to make life a hell for themselves and their neighbors, in the name of some violent god, to ACCEPTING GRACEFULLY the bounty the world affords?" PRIMITIVE MYTHOLOGY: The Masks of God by Joseph Campbell, pages 3 & 4. 1959 Emphasis mine. * * * * * "It is unfortunate that, despite the strong mythical element in Christianity, 'mythical' has come to mean 'fanciful, absurd, unhistorical'; for fancy played a negligible part in the development of the Greek, Latin and Palestinian myths, or of the Celtic myths until the Norman- French 'troveres' worked them into irresponsible romances of chivalry. They are all grave records of ancient religious customs and events, and reliable enough as history once the language is understood and allowance has been made for errors in transcription, misunderstanding of obsolete ritual, and deliberate changes introduced for moral and political reasons." "Perhaps the greatest difficulty in solving complex mythological problems is that: Conquering Gods their titles take from the foes they captive make, and to know the name of a deity at any given place or period, is far less important to know than the NATURE OF THE --- * Origin: (93:9510/0) Nachricht #6760 in "METAPHYSICAL" (Oeffentlich) Datum : 28.Dec 91 16:26 Von : Ammond Shadowcraft An : All Betreff: Pagan Christs x of 19 6758 <==> 6761 [Part 3 of 19] SACRIFICES THAT HE OR SHE WAS THEN OFFERED." Taken from Robert Graves THE WHITE GODDESS, page 14. * * * * * The myth, according to the formula of Joseph Campbell, may be compared to a collective dream, and, reciprocally a dream may be analogous of an individual myth. A myth expresses the time-bound elements proper to a culture and an epoch in the same way that a dream comprises the elements relative to a particular dreamer. But both dreams and myths express, above all, experiences which may be universal and may have many forms. It is not necessary, for example, to be a neopagan to understand the erotic nature of Aphrodite or the humor of Hermes. And it is possible to communicate with the fears and wishes of other people without having the same dreams as they do. Just as there is more than one possible interpretation of a dream, so there are many equally valuable interpretations of the same myth. An appropriate or useful interpretation generally produces a liberating and deepening affect, while the inappropriate or useless one usually produces confusion. There are also some dreams, and some myths, whose function is to reveal to us the absence or need of values personified by an archetype which has been neglected. The discovery of such a myth may present itself as extremely significant in aiding the recognition, for example, that "I am not the heroic type" or that "I am not the musical type" of individual. Here is not the simplistic typology, but the felt presence of a power that is significant. Myths are complex. They don't lend themselves to dogmatic teachings. The adventures of the mythic persons, Gods and Goddesses, are movements of consciousness; they illustrate our inter and intra-personal conflicts, our interdependence, and our participation in the sacred. One must follow these movements in the same way one listens to music, or dances, or meditates. Harmony, not doctrine, finally results, and this harmony resembles, I think, that which we all look for under the topic of "human ecology" (the care and feeding of the human race). Through this it can be said that myths are the deep murmuring of human consciousness coming to know itself better. Over the ages this ability has been gathering itself together, examining its environment, and devising newer and better ways to know itself. The Pagan Aspects Of The Christian Religious System The Pagan-Christian Religious System is naturally a large and responsive myth. It acts in the hearts and minds of all those who are entranced with it. Its images, punishments and rewards literally consume the landscape of the believer's mind. Yet I find that, in many cases, the believer and unbeliever alike fail to understand the myth they are entangled in. Sometimes the individual can forget that the myth exists and revel in the knowledge and --- * Origin: (93:9510/0) Nachricht #6761 in "METAPHYSICAL" (Oeffentlich) Datum : 28.Dec 91 16:27 Von : Ammond Shadowcraft An : All Betreff: Pagan Christs x of 19 6760 <==> 6762 [Part 4 of 19] energy that the myth brings to them. "Know thyself" the ancient philosopher states. Knowing who we are and what we can undertake for ourselves is of paramount importance when viewing the pagan Christian myth. Yet the only way to have confidence we have completed the assigned task is to disassociate from the myth and look at it from the outside. There are two natures to the word "myth." One is the made up story that peacefully puts children to sleep somewhere about the middle of the myth. The other nature is that of the archetypal reality, symbolizing many of the actual situations of our lives. It was possible in ancient times to modify, accommodate, and interpret the myths according to the political and religious movements of the collective unconscious. I am hoping that we can examine the mythical aspects or elements of the C.B.S. Maybe we can escape the dogma and view the icons and events which provide a larger and better perspective of the pagan Christian Religious System, its pagan roots and what it means to twentieth-century mankind. Once we understand the myth (through rational consideration) and understand where the myth is capable of taking us as humans, we then have the unrestrained choice of whether to let the myth take us there or not. Let's then examine the Christian myth to see where it's taking Christians. The Original Pagan Savior-God The first savior-god that I could find is Osiris who is native to Egypt. Egyptian culture antedates all other Eurasian cultures except the Sumerian; but just how old it is, no one really knows. We know that the great pyramids were built during the fourth dynasty about 2700 BC; and that the Nilotic civilization was already very old at that time. The first dynasty dates back to at least 3000 and there was a predynastic culture stretching back to perhaps 8000 BC. The Egyptians invented the afterlife replete with rewards and punishments. This was because the Egyptians had a strong sense of life after death. In fact they could not envision anything less than a continuation of life as they knew it. Of course the expected rewards were dependent upon ethical and sacramental considerations in the individual's life. These concepts were invented in Egypt many centuries before they appeared anywhere else. Thus the preparation for eternity became a large industry consuming a major portion of all Egyptian human energy. Tem or Ra preceded Osiris and it was Tem who laid the egg in the chaotic waters from which he himself was reborn and evolved. It appears that the ancient Egyptians knew life evolved from the sea. Tem, Shu and Tefnut were worshiped by the dark-skinned aborigines some six or seven thousand years ago. Sometime around 3000 BC Egypt was invaded by the light-skinned Aryan-Sumerians who stormed out of Mesopotamia, conquered the natives and grafted their gods over --- * Origin: (93:9510/0) Nachricht #6762 in "METAPHYSICAL" (Oeffentlich) Datum : 28.Dec 91 16:28 Von : Ammond Shadowcraft An : All Betreff: Pagan Christs x of 19 6761 <==> 6763 [Part 6 of 19] the blessed. A terrific battle ensued between Set and Horus, who subdued his evil uncle and bound him with chains, himself (Horus) sustaining a brushed heel and finally crushing the Serpent's head. (See Genesis 3:15). Horus ruled Egypt happily for the remainder of his life. After a trial before the gods in Khenti-Amenti, annihilation by fire was inflicted upon Set, the Diabolical Adversary. The similarities between Osiris/Horus and Christ are among other things: o Divine birth o Being both divine and human at the same time. o An untimely death and a wondrous resurrection. o Osiris avenges his death through the destruction of the adversary by his son Horus. o Osiris becomes the judge of the afterlife and permits or denies entrance into the Elysian fields. The Elysian fields were the proverbial lands of milk and honey and symbolize rest from work. o The Osirian and Christian worshipers both partake in the symbolic eating of the flesh of both deities and the drinking of the deities blood as a sacramental prerequisite to entrance into heaven. o Osiris (Horus) and Christ were both great god-man entities. Human yet divine, capable of taking on all our sorrow. Both taught justice and practiced mercy. Both died, were buried and then rose from the grave. Both gave to all members who would follow them the gift of eating their flesh and drinking their blood so that this sacrament might then transfigure them into the expected celestial gods. Both went before the followers to provide a place of abode for their followers in Elysium or heaven. Both were merciful judges before whom all men and women would have to appear before entrance into heaven. I strongly suspect that the common denominator here is that Greek and Egyptian Mystery Cultists who lived in and around Israel had a profound affect upon the creators of the Christian myth. My opinion is that earlier the Hebrews (while in captivity and the later the semi-independent Jews) were heavily influenced by the Osirian and Aton mythology of the Egyptians, their neighbors. And while the Hebrews were in captivity in Babylon they picked up much of the common mythical possessions of the area and time. After reviewing this material I have come to the conclusion that the story of the resurrection of Christ is close to the myth of Horus/Osiris. In fact the story of Jehovah, Holy Spirit, Mary, Jesus and Satan so closely parallels the myth of Aton, Amon-Re, Isis, Osiris/Horus and Set that I consider the myths concerning Jesus a later borrowing and retelling of older pagan myths. --- * Origin: (93:9510/0) Nachricht #6763 in "METAPHYSICAL" (Oeffentlich) Datum : 28.Dec 91 16:29 Von : Ammond Shadowcraft An : All Betreff: Pagan Christs x of 19 6762 <==> 6764 [Part 8 of 19] brain matter, might reasonably be proposed as the earliest religious rite of the human species. He writes that this ritual was practiced possibly as far back at 400,000 B.C. The first hard evidence, though appears around 200,000 to 75,000 B.C. Although crude, savage and grotesque, this rite was the core of the concept of the Eucharist. The conviction that it was possible for humanity to achieve immortality by eating the body or drinking the blood of a god, or of an immortal God-man who died so that mortal men might have abundant and everlasting life, became a dominating obsession in the ancient world. The cult of Osiris forbade the older cannibalism, but didn't proscribe the dismemberment and eating of enemies; and it certainly practiced the bloody sacrifice of captives and the sacramental rending and eating of the sacred bovine, which symbolized Osiris. The moral elevation of the Osirian cult lay in its identification of bread with the body, and barley ale with the blood of their god. The partaker of this Eucharist could achieve the mystical transformation and become an Osiris by living on wheat and barley bread during his lifetime, by drinking and eating the sacred ale and cakes during the annual mysteries, and by enjoying the same fare in heaven. By this simple metaphysical transposition the bloody sacrament became symbolic but didn't lose any of its effect. For Osiris was, to his believers, literally and with complete reality, the divine seed which came down from heaven and was reborn from the earth that men might live happier lives; and all who eat of the bread (flesh) and drank of the ale (blood) might live forever. Whoever drank of the blood and ate of the flesh of Osiris had eternal life. Whoever drank of the blood and ate of the flesh dwelt in Osiris, and Osiris dwelt in him. This was the divine mystery which was given to the world by Egypt and which spread through the Mediterranean area in various cults. This concept originated only once but proliferated in all directions and became a dynamic force in every mystery-cult. After taking communion for so many years, I now understand what is going on. * * * * * 'And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it , and gave it to his disciples, and said "Take, eat, this is my body." And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, "Drink ye all of it; for this is my body of the New Testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom"'. MATT. 26:26-28 'I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say. The cup of the blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood --- * Origin: (93:9510/0) Nachricht #6764 in "METAPHYSICAL" (Oeffentlich) Datum : 28.Dec 91 16:30 Von : Ammond Shadowcraft An : All Betreff: Pagan Christs x of 19 6763 <==> 6765 [Part 10 of 19] mystery cults; and, second, that without this preparation it could have never made any important headway. We note that great as was the debt of the Gospel Jesus to Buddhist and Essene ethics and to Zoroastrain metaphysics and eschatology, neither Persia nor India had ever known a soter and therefore to this day Christianity is able to win very few converts in these lands. The same held true for the Jews, the Arabians, the Iranians, the Japanese, the Chinese, and such primitive people as the American Indians. Among the peoples who had risen above barbarism, only those who had already accepted Osiris, Dionysus, Attis, Adonis or Mithra, could accept Jesus as their savior-god. 3. Source of Christian Appeal. Christianity was successful because of its similarity to other religions which had already permeated the Greco-Roman world. Its advantage was twofold: first, it was the creation of a people, the Jews, more dedicated to religion than any other; and second, it possessed an historical founder to whom was attributed almost every quality and achievement with which the mystery-cults had endowed their own originators. 4. Why Pagans Accepted Christianity. The gods of the pagan cults were shadowy figures, which their followers exchanged for a savior so real and so human that they could almost grasp His hand, or at least a hand which had lain in His. Christianity recruited its converts from the ranks of the mysteries by giving a new name to the doctrines and rituals which had been practiced since before the dawn of history. And this is the reason why Justin Martyr could say that 'the Jews, in truth, who had the prophecies and always looked for the coming of Christ, not only did not recognize Him, but... even mistreated Him. But the Gentiles, who had never heard of Christ until His apostles went from Jerusalem and preached about Him and gave them the prophecies, were filled with joy and faith, and turned away from their idols, and dedicated themselves to the Unbegotten God through Christ.' This writer, however, was not quite so naive as the words would indicate, for many passages in his works betray his acute awareness of the fact that, although the Greeks had never heard of Jesus, they were certainly familiar with older, similar soters." STORY OF CHRISTIAN ORIGINS, pgs 295-296. * * * * * We know the pagan Christian Fathers knew this fact intimately. Their weak and unconvincing excuse was that the "Devil having known the prophecies imitated them before the time of Christ in effort to confuse humanity." But there is a more rational explanation. At about 100 CE there was an erudite and observant traveler named Pausanias. His travels --- * Origin: (93:9510/0) Nachricht #6765 in "METAPHYSICAL" (Oeffentlich) Datum : 28.Dec 91 16:31 Von : Ammond Shadowcraft An : All Betreff: Pagan Christs x of 19 6764 <==> 6766 [Part 11 of 19] recorded that by 100 C.E. every province, city, and village he visited in the Roman Empire "teemed" with the temples, altars and shrines of Dionysus, Demeter, Persephone, Cybele, Adonis (who was Tammuz in the O.T.), Diana, Isis, Serapis, Hecate, Mithras, and others of similar nature. These religious archetypes patterned the Gentile mind not only for the coming pagan Christian religion(s), but also for one another as adherents visited other temples and conversed with the visiting clergies and laities. The various themes all swirled together to provide a fertile base to work from. But how did the pagan Christian cult(s) overcome the previously established cults of the Cretan-Olympian pantheons? It's simple. There were many times more poor and ignorant than there were rich and educated. While the rich enjoyed their lives away from the masses, the mystery-cults were silently wringing from them the red carpets they trod. And when the pagan Christian cult(s) took power from the Cretan-Olympian cults it was only because of the story (testimony) that some apostle had actually touched the hand of Jesus. The pagan Christian cult(s) were more immediate than their competition. Of course the poor and uneducated would believe the stories of the evangelists. Neither those ancient nor the early evangelists knew much of how the mind/body complex works. Thus fundamentalism--the mistaking of an inner subjective reality for an external objective reality--had become a rampant social condition. Sacrificing the God/man The two main features of the CBS are the Eucharist and Sacrifice of a God man. These two features were well known and well loved by pagan mystery cultists centuries before the pagan Christian Cults integrated them into the Gospels. The Eucharist, as mentioned before, goes way back into prehistory and is based upon the ritual consumption of the God/man. Osiris, Dionysus, Attis and many others were ritually consumed. The practice dates to a time when a human sacrifice was identified with the God (perhaps a Vegetative or Animal God symbolized in human form) and was sacrificed and eaten. Over the ages the earliest human sacrifices were found detestable. Animals were then substituted and sacrificed as the ritual identifier of the God which was then followed by grain offerings, breads shaped into the form of the God, sometimes in the shapes of natural items (sun, moon, etc.). The mythos of the Jewish Christ integrated this practice into its mysteries. There is strong reason for this. For some 200-plus years before the time recorded for Jesus, the Greeks and their mystery cults invaded and changed Israel for all time. A war was instituted to diminish or wipe out the Hellenizing influence. Part of the Hellenizing influence was an effort to update or change the Jewish religion. After the Maccabees War the Hellenizing cultists were --- * Origin: (93:9510/0) Nachricht #6766 in "METAPHYSICAL" (Oeffentlich) Datum : 28.Dec 91 16:32 Von : Ammond Shadowcraft An : All Betreff: Pagan Christs x of 19 6765 <==> 6767 [part 13 of 19] into the Gospel myth. The God/man Jesus is both the King of the Jews and the son of God, the King of Israel. As stated before the sacrifice of the king or king's son was found injurious to the state. Before animal and grain sacrifices became acceptable, criminals and prisoners of war were substituted. Yet the criminal had to be identified with the king. This was done by putting royal robes on the sacrifice and parading the sacrifice around, calling it the king. * * * * * "The number three was of mystic significance in many parts of the East. The Dravidians of India sacrificed three victims to the Sun-god. In western as in eastern Asia, the number three would have its votaries in respect of trinitarian concepts as well as the primary notions of 'the heavens, the earth, and the underworld.' Traditionally, the Syrian rite called for a royal victim. The substitution of a criminal for the king or kings son was repugnant, however, to the higher doctrine that the victim be unblemished. To solve this problem one of the malefactors was distinguished from the other criminals by a ritual of mock-crowning and robing in the spirit of 'sympathetic magic'. By parading him as king, and calling the others what indeed they were, it was possible to attain the semblance of a truly august sacrifice." PAGAN CHRISTS, by J.M. Robertson page 45 * * * * * There is virtually nothing in this mythos that did not originate in other surrounding pagan cultures. * * * * * "We can only conclude that the death ritual of the Christian creed was framed in a pagan environment and embodies some of the most widespread ideas of pagan religion. The two aspects in which the historic Christ is typically presented to his worshipers, those of his infancy and death, are typically Pagan." PAGAN CHRISTS by J.M Roberts, page 52. * * * * * What about the man Jesus then? Was he divine? Did he exist? Was he the pagan Savior? Most, if not all, of the Christian Religious System is pagan in origin. Perhaps the only item not borrowed from pagan sources was the Messiah concept. That, of course, was taken from the Jewish hysteria of the time. In the siege of Jerusalem in 72 C.E. there were some 18 Messiahs inside Jerusalem alone. Neither the God/man Jesus nor the self-proclaimed militant messiahs saved Jerusalem. Such was the measure of hysterical superstition upon the nation of Israel. * * * * * "There is not a conception associated with Christ that is not common to some or all of the Savior cults of antiquity. The title Savior was given in Judaism to Yahweh; among the --- * Origin: (93:9510/0) Nachricht #6767 in "METAPHYSICAL" (Oeffentlich) Datum : 28.Dec 91 16:33 Von : Ammond Shadowcraft An : All Betreff: Pagan Christs x of 19 6766 <==> 6768 [Part 14 of 19] Greeks to Zeus, Heilos, Artemis, Dionysus, Hercales, the Dioscurui, Ceybele and Aesculapius. It is the essential conception of Osiris. So, too, Osiris taketh away sin, is the judge of the dead and of the last judgment. Dionysus, the Lord of the Underworld and primarily a god of feasting ('the Son of Man commeth eating and drinking'), comes to be conceived as the Soul of the World and the inspirer of chastity and self purification. [J. M. Robertson may be referring to Attis here.] From the Mysteries of Dionysus and Isis comes the proclamation of the easy 'yoke'. Christ not only works the Dionysiac miracle, but calls himself the 'true vine.'" "Like Christ, and like Adonis and Attis, Osiris and Dionysus also suffer and die and rise again. To become one with them is the mystical passion of their worshippers. They are all alike in that their mysteries give immortality. From Mithraism Christ takes the symbolic keys of heaven and hell and assumes the function of the virgin-born Saoshyant, the destroyer of the Evil One. Like Mithra, Merodach, and the Egyptian Khousu, he is the Mediator; like Khousu, Horus and Merodach, he is one of a trinity, like Horus he is grouped with a Divine Mother; like Khousu he is joined to the Logos; and like Merodach he is associated with the Holy Spirit, one of whose symbols is fire." "In fundamentals, therefore, Christism is but paganism reshaped. It is only the economic and doctrinal evolution of the system--the first determined by Jewish practice and Roman environment, the second by Greek thought--that constitutes new phenomena in religious history." PAGAN CHRISTS by J.M. Robertson pages 52,53 * * * * * No religion develops in a vacuum. All religions are influenced not only by it's predecessors but by the contemporaries of the time also. Such is the nature of Christism yesterday and today. Now about Jesus the man, did he exist? There is some justifiable doubt. All the teaching of Jesus can be attributed to other sources and grafted over the Gospel myth. Nothing he said was substantially different in any way from previous sayings. It is possible that Jesus was not a man but a contrived myth. * * * * * "The Christian myth grew by absorbing details from pagan cults. The birth story is similar to many nativity myths in the pagan world. The Christ had to have a Virgin for a mother. Like the image of the child-god in the cult of Dionysus, he was pictured in swaddling clothes in a basket manger. He was born in a stable like Horus--the stable temple of the Virgin Goddess, Isis, Queen of Heaven. Again , like Dionysus, he turned water into wine, like Aesculapius, he raised men from --- * Origin: (93:9510/0) Nachricht #6768 in "METAPHYSICAL" (Oeffentlich) Datum : 28.Dec 91 16:33 Von : Ammond Shadowcraft An : All Betreff: Pagan christs x of 19 6767 <==> 6769 [Part 15 of 19] the dead and gave sight to the blind; and like Attis and Adonis, he is mourned and rejoiced over by women. His resurrection took place, like that of Mithra, from a rock tomb." PAGAN CHRISTS, by J.M. Robertson * * * * * The man Jesus possibly did not exist. There are however, sources that speak of others seeing him. These were secondhand sources. No direct observations were made. At one time or another we have all had a vision of Deity in our minds. Such is the sight of Jesus, a mental image. What of the Gospels then? They are passion plays designed to be read or acted out in front of an audience. Passion plays were a common feature of pagan religion. Looking at the Gospels themselves one finds a choppily written scene-by-scene display of the life of the God/man. Only the important aspects of his life are described. The minor events and influences of the life of Jesus are not recorded, which leaves one to think that the Gospels were indeed written as plays. * * * * * "When we turn from the reputed teaching of Jesus to the story of his career, the presumption that it has a factual basis is so slender as to be negligible. The Church found it so difficult to settle the date of its alleged founder's birth that the Christian era was made to begin some years before the year which chronologists latter inferred on the strength of other documents. The nativity was placed at the winter solstice, thus coinciding with the birthday of the Sun-god. And the date for the crucifixion was made to vary from year to year to conform to the astronomical principle which fixed the Jewish Passover. [The Passover is moon-based, an already familiar pagan method of cyclic, monthly dating.] In between the birth and death of Jesus, there is an almost total absence of information except about the brief period of his ministry. Of his life between the ages of twelve and thirty we know nothing. There are not even any myths. It is impossible to establish with any accuracy the duration of the ministry from the Gospels. According to the tradition it lasted one year, which suggests that it was either based on the formula 'the acceptable year of the Lord', or on the myth of the Sun-god." PAGAN CHRISTS by J.M. Robertson, page 68 * * * * * The Quest for the Historical Jesus * * * * * "...It is only in comparatively modern times that the possibility was considered that Jesus does not belong to history at all. Those who come across this idea for the first time are naturally startled by it. In fact the suspicion that Jesus might be as mythical as other ancient saviors as Osiris, --- * Origin: (93:9510/0) Nachricht #6769 in "METAPHYSICAL" (Oeffentlich) Datum : 28.Dec 91 16:34 Von : Ammond Shadowcraft An : All Betreff: Pagan Christs x of 19 6768 <==> 6770 [Part 16 of 19] Mithra and Krishna arose as a result of a serious effort to discover his real voice and actions. the most scrupulous of analysis of the texts failed to reveal a convincing picture of an authentic person." PAGAN CHRISTS, page 63 * * * * * Well such is what J.M. Robertson claims. * * * * * "Modern biblical critics freely admit that some of the Gospel narrative must be fiction. We know now that much of it was composed well after the events it purports to describe. Comparative religion has drawn attention to close pagan parallels--to the essential features of the story--the virgin birth, the sacrificial death and resurrection. The same is true of the rites of baptism and sacramental communion. Many critics still feel, however, that these are accretions which, together with the miracles, can be safely shed without injury to a nucleus of historical fact. They argue that pagan Gods may have some of the attributes of Jesus, and although they may have been regarded as law givers and teachers, they did not leave behind a coherent and profound teaching. Apollo, Osiris and the rest seem, therefore, to be obviously mythical, whereas Buddha and Jesus are not. The teachings of each of the latter, it is felt, bear the unmistakable stamp of a single, unique mind. Such a doctrine could not have formed itself spontaneously." PAGAN CHRISTS, page 64. * * * * * Robertson contends that the rite of baptism superseded the rite of circumcision. This makes sense to me. It is much less painful and physically safer to undergo ritual initiation through baptism by water than by ritual circumcision. The gentile Christists would contend for this; and, as the Jewish Christists died baptism did replace circumcision as a physical sign of new spiritual being. * * * * * "We shall consider the case of Buddha later. First let us look at the main objections to this view that the existence of a body of teaching is overwhelming evidence of the existence of an historical teacher. The earliest Christian documents are ascribed to Paul. These epistles were written long before the canonical gospels were put together and accepted by the Church. The older portions, however, tell us nothing about the life of Jesus. The silence of Paul is remarkable if indeed he was familiar with the Jesuine biography. Secondly, the unity of teaching, which it is said, would show it to have been the work of one mind is conspicuously absent. So far from displaying coherence, the ethical precepts are frequently obscure and contradictory. So far from being original, many --- * Origin: (93:9510/0) Nachricht #6770 in "METAPHYSICAL" (Oeffentlich) Datum : 28.Dec 91 16:35 Von : Ammond Shadowcraft An : All Betreff: Pagan Christs x of 19 6769 <==> 6771 [Part 17 of 19] of the sayings are merely quotations from Hebrew literature, and some have pagan parallels. As for the Sermon on the Mount, it is no more than a patchwork of utterances found in the Old Testament." PAGAN CHRISTS pg. 64 * * * * * It seems the earliest of the gospel forms was lost with Matthew and Mark being dependent upon these lost forms. This scans nicely. The earliest forms were probably the purest of the Jewish-Messianic story of a political Messiah. As time went by more of the pagan gentile influence was felt as needed. Various features of the virgin birth of the God/man, the nativity scenes, the Last Supper, the betrayal, the crucifixion and mysterious resurrection were incorporated into the present gospels to appeal to pagan cultist. Some scholars indicate that Revelations was next in line. This scans nicely as it presents a supposedly Jewish-Christian eschatology. When one looks at the symbolism one can see the Mazedian influence in Revelations. Revelations seems to present a first or second step in the evolution of the Sacrifice and Resurrection of the God man. Perhaps a middle step is more appropriate. A middle step between Jewish Messiah cults and Gentile Saviour cults. It would be monumental to eliminate all supposedly contradictory and questionable passages from the Gospels. Fortunately that work has already been done--with some surprising, for me at least, outcomes. Here's one.. * * * * * "For over a hundred years German scholars have been struggling to solve this problem, and their efforts have been unavailing. In order to establish some solid textual foundation for the historicity of Jesus, they have piled hypothesis upon hypothesis with ever new refinements. The retreat from this hopeless task was finally sounded by the eminent German critic, O. Schmiedel. After an exhaustive search, he was satisfied that he had discovered some texts which passes the most severe tests and were entirely credible. But in the whole of the gospels all he could salvage were NINE such texts. Let us enumerate this forlorn handful of unwounded survivors. 1) Mark XXX.17 [really mark 10.17] f.f. "Why callest me thou good?" etc. 2) Matt XII.31 f.f. "Blasphemy against the Son of Man pardonable" 3) Mark III.21 "He is beside himself" 4) Mark XII.32 "Of that hour and day knoweth no man" 5) Mark XV.34, Matt "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" etc. 6) Mark VIII.12 "No sign shall be given this generation." 7) Mark VI.5 "He was able to do no mighty work there." 8) Mark VIII.14-21 Rebuke to disciples concerning bread and leaven.." 9) Matt XI.5, Luke VII.22 Passage to be taken in the sense of spiritual healing, since it ends with mention of preaching- --- * Origin: (93:9510/0) Nachricht #6771 in "METAPHYSICAL" (Oeffentlich) Datum : 28.Dec 91 16:36 Von : Ammond Shadowcraft An : All Betreff: Pagan Christs x of 19 6770 <= [Part 18 of 19] -not a miracle at all." PAGAN CHRISTS pgs 64,65. * * * * * What was the basis for selecting these texts? Basically O. Schmiedel felt that where Jesus speaks simply as a man, making no pretense to divinity, or to miraculous powers, and where he is presented as failing to impress his relatives and neighbors with any sense of his superiority--there the record is entirely credible. Because of the content I'll have to quote J.M. Robertson on this... * * * * * "According to Schmiedel, these passages represent "the foundation pillars for a truly scientific life of Jesus... They prove not only that in the person of Jesus we have to do with a completely human being, and that the divine is sought in him only in the form in which it is capable of being found in a man; THEY ALSO PROVE THAT HE REALLY DID EXIST, and that the Gospels contain at least SOME ABSOLUTELY TRUSTWORTHY FACTS concerning him. "This will shock the believer without satisfying the scientific naturalist. I submit that the proposition I have italicized is absolutely untenable. On this point may be staked the whole dispute about the actuality of the gospel Jesus. It simply does not follow that because a statement is credible it is therefore trustworthy or proved. If it were so, half the characters in fiction could be "proved" to be real people. Perfectly credible statements are made about them." PAGAN CHRISTS, pgs 64-65. * * * * * And I would add that perfectly credible statements are made BY fictional characters also. It is credible to pronounce that Joe Catholic said a hundred Hail Marys this morning. Such is a credible statement concerning Catholics. But is it trustworthy? Such thinking requires a leap. The leap involves a thought process that says what is possible must indeed be true. T.X. Huxley makes this same mistake. Huxley says that Saul's visit with the Witch of Endor is entirely probable, so there is no reason not to believe it. It is probable that I, as a child, fell into a dark hole for 3 days and nights. History is full of discredited "probabilities". Afterward It's highly probable that Jesus the man lived. However, I think his life was much different from what most would like to think. It's apparent that the state of paganism during the time of Jesus was one composed of vibrant mystery religions. In fact the Roman state Gods were being forced into decline via the onslaught of the mystery religions. This provided the mythic soup base for the myth of the God/man Jesus to simmer in. I think it highly likely that Jesus was a Essene mystic, perhaps renounced by them because of his love for alcohol, who was --- * Origin: (93:9510/0) Nachricht #7194 in "METAPHYSICAL" (Oeffentlich) Datum : 12.Jan 92 19:28 Von : Ammond Shadowcraft An : All Betreff: Pagan Christs, 9 of 19 [Part 9 of 19] of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?' 1ST CORTH. 10:15-16 * * * * * While some neopagans think that the pagan Christian religion appropriated The (pagan) Sacrificial God/Man it seems more appropriate to say that the pagan Christian religion is pagan and therefore has (mythic) features native to the surrounding pagan traditions. How did the rest of the pagan Christian mythos arise? Where did it come from? In 175 BCE Antiochus Epiphanes, the eighth Selucid king, came to the throne. In 167 BCE he sacked Jerusalem, looted and desecrated the Temple. Then and there he instituted a Dionysiac-Eleusinain sacrifice in the Temple and systematically depopulated the city of all Jews who rejected Hellenic culture. This in turn caused the Maccabean Wars, (when the foreigners were thrown out the Jews fought each other in a vicious internecine war). In 103-76 BCE the struggle between the Sadducees and Pharisees was so bitter that Alexander (notice the Hellenic name?) Janneaus (named after Janus, the two-faced god) ordered 800 Pharisees to be hung on crosses in the midst of the city. But before he killed them, he cut the throats of the wives and children of these 800 before their eyes. Under this changing and violent history the Hellenic and Egyptian cultists were driven underground. Because these cultists couldn't get educated in such a harsh social situation, they became as the common people and were swept up in the Messianic hysteria of the time under Pompey and Herod the Great. * * * * * "Cultic Preparation for Christianity" a sub-chapter in THE STORY OF CHRISTIAN ORIGINS by Dr. Martin Larson. A. Elements in Christianity 1. Four Primary Components. As we have noted, the Gospel Jesus consists of four basic components: soterology, which came from the mystery-cults; ethics, which came primarily from India; eschatology, largely derived from Persia; and the supernatural Messianic concept, which was an Essene adaptation of a Zoroastrian doctrine. The history of Christianity over 18 centuries has proved conclusively that its devotees can take or leave the last three of these; some have embraced, others have rejected, one of more of them. But the one central hope which remains constant, the essential element which gives vitality to the religion of Jesus Christ, is the faith in Him as the SOTER, that is, the god-man who sacrificed Himself for us, whose eucharist makes us divine, and who confers upon us resurrection and blessed immortality. 2. Soterology of Paramount Importance. We regard these two conclusions as inescapable: first, that the ancient world had been thoroughly prepared for Christianity by the god-man --- QuickBBS 2.75 Ovr * Origin: CRYSTAL CAVE DAS MAGICKAL TREFFPUNKT 719-391-1092 (93:9510/0) Nachricht #7195 in "METAPHYSICAL" (Oeffentlich) Datum : 12.Jan 92 19:29 Von : Ammond Shadowcraft An : All Betreff: Pagan Christs 19 of 19 [Part 19 of 19] manipulated by the Zealots into causing something near to a revolution. Some of the Zealots following a plan of their own, whipped up even more discontent until at a late date they fed him into the Roman political machine for public martyrdom. There he died, a failed Messiah who followed other failed Messiahs and who would be followed by still more. But the boiling Messianic fervor did not abate with the death of Jesus. The Zealots knew the hysteria would continue and realizing their opportunity propagandized the populace with alleged eye witness accounts of Jesus, the risen Messiah. While this didn't achieve the revolution they desired, the Zealot's actions provided the mystery cultist with the disinformation they needed to start a new cult. Over time the Jewish Messianic Christians died and were replaced by Hellenized Christians who knew and loved the myths of the Dying and Resurrecting Gods. The final product would then become one of their making. It appears that the Gospels are something akin to passion plays. These plays became the basis of the mythic truth our pagan forbears have transmitted to us through the Church's processes of canonization of Scripture. Thus the man Jesus died, but the pagan legacy given him and which his name bears remains with us till this day. Copyright Ammond Shadowcraft, Dec 1991 --- QuickBBS 2.75 Ovr * Origin: CRYSTAL CAVE DAS MAGICKAL TREFFPUNKT 719-391-1092 (93:9510/0)