Saturday, March 21, 2009

THE EL NAMES OF GOD ARE NOT BASED ON CANAANITE MYTHS OF THE SUMERIAN PANTHEON

By nature we humans are rebellious. A person who had some questions about the EL names of God, tried to link them with paganism in order to give him an excuse to defy and disobey the God of Bible. He wrote this:

"If you were to familiarize yourself with Hebrew, or at least other authors who are familiar with Hebrew, it would be apparent that many of the names of God that have been are actually the names of other gods, rather than just a set of different names describing the same deity. In the ancient past; Yahweh, El, El Elyon, Elohim, all refer to different gods of the Canaanite or Sumerian pantheon, the same people of which the Israelites came out of. Today, of course, we say that all those names refer to one God. This just means that the religion evolved over time. For instance, Elohim was the name of one of the pantheon of gods in the Sumerian religion who created humans. Yahweh was originally worshipped along with a goddess named Asherah. I hear this website, about Bible Origins, is a good place to look into this stuff. Check it out, a little knowledge never hurt anyone. I only ask that if you do look at it, that you be critical of their claims. Check it out, read the Bible, cross reference, etc."

Unfortunately the viewers of the BIBLE ORIGINS website may not be aware how the information on the website is grossly inaccurate and takes liberties of their own as they draw many scholarly lazy assumptions from historical records. To make the assumption that Yahweh was based on deities of the Sumerian deities is substantially flawed. God's holy name, Yahweh, was not at all revered amongst the canaanite pagans nor found within the Sumerian pantheon. If you are going the criticize the bible you must take into consideration the events that relate to the subject matter or you are guilty of creating a fabricated unrelated scenario. The reason why their assessment (the Jesus seminar "scholars") leaves out key unique details that demonstrate the distinction between the pagan storyline and the biblical genesis account, is because it's based primarily based on speculation - not historical fact. Without a real connection to the pagan religions all you are left with are linguistic titles devoid of the substance of pagan personality. Furthermore, we should see El, El shaddi, Elohim, etc as separate gods in Genesis; however, the titles actually refect one Being. However we see Abraham called out of his fathers house by the Lord God. The term Lord was the same connotation in Genesis all the way to our present day in the book of Revelations. It means "OWNER." Pagans in that day as well as those who create gods in their image have always sought a relationship with God on their own terms. Ultimately they all serve the same god of "self." The concept that God owns us was unthinkable to the pagan because they wanted to do their own will and pleasures, not wanting to be held accountable to anyone but themselves. Even within our day, a people will naturally move from worshipping the Creator toward worshipping the creation (the things Creator God has made).

Many are mistaken about Yahweh, the One and only God, the God of the Bible. There is a consistent thread throughout the Old Testament unto the New Testament regarding His divine nature. He is the Only Holy God; He actively sets Himself apart from all the man-made pagan gods. The very reason and fact why pagan gods were called false gods was because they were NO god at all - and in NO WAY was it an inference to the existence of other deities nor other beings that could be compared to Yahweh. Yahweh is and always has been in the class of deity all by Himself. There is no other. Anytime a person attempted to challenge Him, He personally trashes their idols before their face so that He can show the people His salvation. He still does this today. He is the Living God.

One of the key elements lacking in the skeptics assessment is the fall of humanity and how humanity's disobedience to God caused mankind to die spiritually resulting in broken fellowship with God. Idolatry is the natural by-product of a people who are disconnected from the One and Only Holy God. They lost a covenant (an all encompassing life agreement) relationship with Yahweh. Through idolatry, people created god's to worship that would bend to their own wills. Ultimately the people were in charge and they did their own wills. They even as they worshipped the creation and sought to define the Creator God as evil, that Gnostic concept of the creator being evil, wishing-washing and distant is a pattern you will find in all pagan religions. However simultaneously, there has been a division separating between that One and Only God vs. the "works of errors" that humanity has created. That One and Only God actively confronts real people in human history and holds them accountable throughout the Bible so that all may know that we are dealing with the same God throughout. That's just one example of continuity in the Revelation of the same GOD from Genesis to Revelations. Whether you take the flood event or the plagues of Egypt, He is that same One God who judges the disobedience of humanity irrespective of nation for He is the God of the whole Earth. In fact, each of the plagues of Egypt was a DEFEAT of specific Egyptian god's. Example there is no light in Egypt but there was light in Goshen was a defeat against "ra." He was called the God of Israel among the outside nations.
Even the Red Sea Crossing was a REAL event...investigate the underwater photos for yourself.

The ONE and ONLY Lord God considered His El name titles to be synonymous with and a reflection of his personal name. I will show this from scripture. God recaptured and reclaimed His EL names, which had been perverted by the pagans in those days. You will find that He used them interchangeably throughout the Old Testament especially after pagan Canaan land was conquered by Israel in the days of Joshua. Again those pagan beliefs surrounding the names were the byproduct of a fallen, sinful humanity. The bible declares a prophecy given to Abraham by God hundreds of years before the manifestation that through His covenant with God all the nations of the world will be blessed. Today we see its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus, the Messiah's arrival as Savior and Lord.

You see as he actively reveals Himself He immediately makes a name for Himself, because HE IS PERSONAL and not an abstraction from our human lusts and desires like all the pagan deities. The very reason why fertility god's were so common was because lust is a strong desire and it was common for people to commit adultery and fornication. These people sought to justify their promiscuous lifestyle by inventing gods that would condone promiscuous lifestyle. (whether it was called Isis, Diana, Venus, Ishtar, etc. But the God of the Bible always declared that He had NOTHING to DO with those false gods. ) He is Righteous and He expected HIS people to be be set-apart for His will. The Bible provides us with a unified picture of the One and Only Holy God, even though 40 different authors from different backgrounds and different LANGUAGES who lived within a span of over 2000 year. These authors were carried along by Holy Spirit of God to not only write what God said and accomplished in their day, but what He would yet accomplish in the future. That continuous biblical theme that links the Old Testament (Old Covenant) with the New Testament (New Covenant) is the salvation of humanity through God's power alone.


PART 1


PART 2



Once a person investigates meanings of the levitical code, the feasts of the jews, the specific prophecies which identify the messiah, study the messianic genealogy, old testament rules and regulations, they will be amazed at the level of depth, harmony, and conceptual cohesion depicting the idea that God (Yahweh) IS Salvation and Jesus Christ is God with us. This salvation would come from God, be God, be empowered by God unto a people called "His own."

He is the Only God who said, "8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways, " says the Lord. 9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9)

The "god" that members of the Jesus seminars have invented simply does not exist. An atheist's personal assessment about god is based on their personal experience with inventing gods in their own image instead of truly repenting of their sin and turning their life over to Jesus who is God our Salvation and Much more. Some get offended with the Bible of the Bible because they expect Him to be like one of their idols that they can bend to their own will or mold into their own image. But when He deals with them that rebellious sin nature in which they never surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ and the truth comes out, Jesus was never their Lord (Owner). ONLY THOSE WHO ENDURE TO THE END THE SAME SHALL BE SAVED... NOT THOSE WHO SAY JUST A SIMPLE PRAYER. Many of the members of the Jesus Seminars are atheist with degrees in religion who invent a new story-line about the God of the Bible to justify their personal rebellion against Him, because they know that He is the only personal God who holds them accountable for their sins and evil they commit.

Again Christianity is NOT and HAS NEVER BEEN A RELIGION, IT is a KINGDOM. And before we were called Christians we were called: "And they shall call them The Holy People, The Redeemed of the Lord; And you shall be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken." Isaiah 62:12

Furthermore there is NO more a connection the Sumerian pagan gods of the Canaanites to Yahweh; in the same way there is no connect between the "Gaud" of the German legend and the God of the Bible. Linguistic title transliteration without representation is NOT evidence of transmutation.

The god of the Bible was first called Yahweh in Genesis 2:4 and identified as the Creator of the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 2:4 These [are] the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,


Although many people groups created their own "gods," the God of the Bible called them "false gods" and "a work of errors" because those people were really serving themselves. The Lord God continuely made arraignments to get their attention in order to bring salvation to those who respond to God's Word.
Click to see all the scriptures where the name Yahweh (the hebrew name for jehohvah) is mentioned in the Bible.

Exodus 6:1 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For with a strong hand he will let them go, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land." 2 And God spoke to Moses and said to him: "I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name Lord I was not known to them. 4 I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers. 5 And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. 6 Therefore say to the children of Israel: 'I am the Lord; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 7 I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the Lord.' " 9 So Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel; but they did not heed Moses, because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage.

In Exodus Chapter 6, God said to Moses that He did not reveal his name Lord to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob but appeared to them as God Almighty, implying that He would make His name Lord known.

1. Yahweh's name was in use in Israel MUCH EARLIER than Ex 6 (162 times in Genesis, with 34 of those on the lips of speakers. It is imbedded in peoples names, such as Joshua and Jochebed)

2. In Ex 3.13f, God tells Moses to use the name 'Yahweh' on the elders of Judah, that they will recognize and listen to that name...

3. In the Ex 3 passage, however, you get the sense that God is about to 'cement' this name into the minds of his people...the passage in 15 ("the name by which i am to be remembered from generation to generation") leads us to believe something is about to happen vis-a-vis His name YHWH.

4. In the ex 6 passage, we get the difference...the 1st two verses do NOT say 'I did not make my NAME known', but rather 'I did not make MYSELF known to them AS YAHWEH'. In other words, His dealings with Abraham were 'according the character of an El Shaddai' instead of 'according to the character of YAHWEH'. (The content of the name YAHWEH was about to be revealed in the massive display of power, judgment and redemption called the EXODUS!)...

El Shaddai was a governing, protecting, covenant-making/keeping God--involved in provision, etc.---but NOTHING AS ABRUPTLY SALVIFIC as the Exodus! The pagan canaan people were already in bondage and in slavery to their various idols during the same time the people of Israel were in bondage to Pharaoh in Egypt. When Pharaoh refused to release the Israel from their egyptian captivity Yahweh sent specific plagues on the Egyptian nation until they were released. What's amazing is that each plague sent on the nation of Egypt was a defeat of particular pagan deities that were suppose to protect the Egyptian people, so that ALL would KNOW first-hand that HE, the LORD GOD, OWNS it ALL and RULES OVER ALL. All throughout the Bible the LORD GOD, YAHWEH, is seen constantly distinguishing Himself from all the make-believe gods of the people. (ie. Even Atheists have a habit of inventing make-believe gods, as an excuse to avoid the ONE and Only God who calls Himself Lord, OWNER. That makes the religion of atheism no different than the pagans of the ancient past unto the present.)

The Hebrew actually has a preposition (beth) in front of the phrase El Shaddai and Yahweh...it is technically called the BETH ESSENTIAE, with the force of focus on the character of the name...see Zond Pict. Ency. Bible, "Name": "In both instances it is the character or capacity of that name that is in view, not the bare knowledge of the name as the label for this person. Likewise, the 'name' also stood for his reputation, character, and accomplishments in doctrine and deeds." (notice how this last sentence becomes the major focus of the exodus event--"God makes a Name for Himself" as the redeemer and creator the nation of Israel.

5. The reason why He, the God of the Bible did NOT allow Himself to be called or known as Lord (Yahweh) is because a pagan culture would have perverted His reputation. God, in His wisdom, held it back from them.

Even the fact that most ancient cultures had a flood story from different parts of the world is testament that it was a common experience that touched every culture. BEHOLD how THE BIBLE most accurately DEPICTS the Vessel and the FLOOD EVENT as ACTUAL HISTORY and NOT MYTHOLOGY When I point out that just about every ancient culture as a flood story, it is not the result of data mining. The very fact that the specifics are completely identical within the large number cultures demonstrates that it was not a produce of fanasy but of actual history.

EXHAUSTIVE RESEARCH PROVES THAT CHRISTIANITY WAS NEVER BASED ON COPYCAT PAGAN MYTHS & LEGENDS: DEBUNKING the MYTH that CHRISTIANITY and BIBLE were based on MYTH

Besides, before we were called Christians we were called "THE HOLY PEOPLE." Isa 62:12 (Authentic Christianity is NOT and has never been a religion in the first place. It is a KINGDOM and JESUS IS THE KING WITHIN IT and OVER IT.

To see how, click the fourth link titled "The Message That We Were Born to Hear" after you click this link below.

THE MESSAGE


_____________________________________________


THE MYTH THAT CHRISTIANITY IS BASED ON MYTH


Tis' the season to expect desperate Bible Skeptics to make wild conspiracy claims against those who follow Christ Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Such skeptics make alleged parallels between Christianity and pagan religions that is based on outdated speculations that were never supported by the archaeological evidence. Skeptics do not realize that MOST CHRISTIANS ALREADY UNDERSTAND that December 25th is NOT the birthday of Christ and the FACT that the Bible NEVER GAVE A DEFINATIVE DATE OF HIS BIRTH. And so my basic response is SO WHAT? Just because the backslidden Catholic Church attempted to Christianize paganism does not change the Fact that Jesus was born and that His life and events in the Bible have been CONFIRMED by archaeology and historical record.

  • The Case for Christmas from Eyewitness Testimony (5:26) - Lee Strobel

  • The Case for Christmas from Early Recorded Accounts (6:51) - Lee Strobel

  • The Case for Christmas from Archeological and Historical Records (4:22) - Lee Strobel

  • Christmas Celebrates the Birth of God, not a Man (5:57) - Lee Strobel

  • The Case for Christmas from Fulfilled Prophecy (6:36) - Lee Strobel

  • Easter Ultimately Proves the Case for Christmas (6:14) - Lee Strobel

  • The Verdict is Convincing in the Case for Christmas (6:17) - Lee Strobel

  • Was Jesus Really Born of a Virgin? (6:45) - Lee Strobel, Mark Mittelberg

  • What Child Is This? The Identity of the Child Christ (9:26) - Lee Strobel


  • Why the Virgin birth?
    The virgin birth was NOT a clever idea from the imaginative heart men; it was prophesied all the way back in the book of GENESIS. Yes, that's right, Genesis. Some Christians and most Bible skeptics have not seen this ancient prophecy.
    Genesis 3:14-15
    14 So the Lord God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel."

    The problem is that women DO NOT HAVE SEED; only males have seed. Therefore, this prophecy of conception was not going to be fulfilled your typical way with the seed of a man. No one but God could take the credit for such a feat. There is no example of an ancient myth or legend that talks about a virgin birth within pagan cultures that predates the birth of Christ. Moreover, notice how this verse deals with a bruised heel. The word for bruised in the greek is transliterated as Shuwph or the Phonetic Spelling sounds like "shoof." This word does not just mean a bruise as we Americans think of a bruise on the skin like a welt from a punch in the our English. The word means to gape as a lion does with its mouth open in front of its prey also it means to crush. We should not be surprised that crucifixion literally crushes the heel of its victims with a spike that pierces right through the heels of both feet into the wood of a Roman cross. Therefore, this is just one a few examples within the Bible that describes crucifixion before it was invented. It is the skeptics of the Bible, not Christians, who avoid reality by spending more time inventing speculations and science-Fiction parallels in order to create their imaginary world of unbelief.

    The fact the Bible mentions specific people and places means that the events could not be based of legends but actual history. Even those who communicated the gospel expected to be believed and NEVER expected the hearers to take them as fables or adopted myth, but actual events. Paul writes, "nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith." (1 Timothy 1:4) "But reject profane and old wives' fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness." (1 Timothy 4:7) and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables." (2 Timothy 4:4) "not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth." (Titus 1:14) Even Peter said, "For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty." (2 Peter 1:16)

    The trustworthiness of the Bible's historical statements has been corroborated again and again both through archaeological discoveries and through close correlation of the Bible's content with other independent ancient sources.

    Luke, the friend and companion of Paul, is the author of the third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, which may be two parts of one continuous historical work.1 Luke mentions three emperors by name: Augustus (Luke 2:1), Tiberius (Luke 3:1), and Claudius (Acts 18:2 and Acts 11:28). The birth of Jesus is fixed in the reign of the emperor Augustus, when Herod the Great was king of Judaea, and Quirinius governor of Syria (Luke 1:5, 2:2). Luke dates by a series of synchronisms in the Greek historical manner the beginning of John the Baptist's ministry (Luke 3:12), just as the Greek historian Thucydides dates the formal outbreak of the Peloponnesian War in his History, book II.2 Luke accurately names the Roman governors Quirinius, Pilate, Sergius, Paullus, Gallio, Felix, and Festus, Herod the Great and a few of his descendants, including Herod Antipas the tetrarch of Galilee, the vassal-kings Herod Agrippa I and II, Berenice and Drusilla, Jewish priests such as Annas, Caiaphas, and Ananias, and Gamaliel, the great Rabbi and Pharisaic leader. An author relating his story to the wider context of world history must be careful, because he affords the reader abundant opportunities to test the degree of his accuracy. Not only does Luke take this risk, but he stands the test admirably. F. F. Bruce writes:
    One of the most remarkable tokens of his accuracy is his sure familiarity with the proper titles of all the notable persons who are mentioned in his pages. This was by no means such an easy feat in his days as it is in ours, when it is so simple to consult convenient books of reference. The accuracy of Luke's use of the various titles in the Roman Empire has been compared to the easy and confident way in which an Oxford man in ordinary conversation will refer to the Heads of Oxford colleges by their proper titles--the Provost of Oriel, the Master of Balliol, the Rector of Exeter, the President of Magdalen, and so on. A non-Oxonian like the present writer never feels quite at home with the multiplicity of these Oxford titles. But Luke had a further difficulty in that the titles sometimes did not remain the same for any great length of time; a province might pass from senatorial government to administration by a direct representative of the emperor, and would then be governed no longer by a proconsul but by an imperial legate (legatus pro proetore).

    F. F. Bruce gives multitudes of specific examples of the incredible accuracy of Luke as a historian.
    F. F. Bruce, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?, fifth ed. (Downers Grove, Ill.: Inter-Varsity Press, 1960), p. 80, 82-92

    Among the many supposed mistakes of Luke that have since been vindicated was the mention in Luke 3:1 of Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene in the fifteenth year of Tiberius (A.D. 27- 28). The only Lysanias of Abilene otherwise known from ancient history was a king who was executed by the order of Mark Antony in 34 B.C. We now have archaeological evidence of a later Lysanias who had the status of tetrarch. An inscription recording the dedication of a temple reads, "For the salvation of the Lords Imperial and their whole household, by Nymphaeus, a freedman of Lysanias the tetrarch." The reference to "Lords Imperial," which was a joint title given only to the emperor Tiberius and his mother Livia, the widow of Augustus, establishes the date of the inscription to between A.D. 14 and 29, the years of Tiberius' accession and Livia's death, respectively.

    (Eduard Meyer, Ursprung Und Anfange Des Christentums (Stuttgart: J. G. Cottaishe, 1962), pp. 46-49.)

    Jesus Christ was most likely born around April or May because that is the time that shepherds in that pat of the world would have been watching their flocks by night. Lambs are born within the season of spring and shepherds were known for watching their flocks by night in that season because of wolves and foxes were the predators of the baby lambs. This gives practical credibility to the reason why the Bible declares that Jesus is the Lamb of God who "takes away" (remissions) the sins of the world. (The Gospel of John 1:29, 36) & (Revelations 5:6, 7:9)

    They attempt to force the mythology of pagan religions to fit into Christianity. However when ask them where is their archaeological source or the earliest historical accounts of those myths which justify their claims. They usually retreat back to an author who merely made a speculation without any evidence. When the rubber meets the road, they cannot take bits and pieces of random legends from different cultures and societies in order to "say" that the historically verified events that took place in the Bible were adapted. It is like saying Winston Churchhill did not exist because a person can creatively make a literary parallel with his life and that with Raglan's motifs of a hero. A motif is a recurring subject, theme, idea, etc., esp. in a literary, artistic, or musical work; a distinctive and recurring form, shape, figure, etc., in a design, as in a painting or on wallpaper.

    Using their faulty logic you can prove that even Winston Churchill did not exist.
    Click Here


    Atheists and Secular Humanist are so desperate to avoid the One and Only Holy God who alone holds them accountable for their sin and rebellion that they have found to need to regurgitate unsubstantiated claims from authors who reference historical fiction writers such as Dan Brown, Acharya, Freke, Gandy, Wynne-Tyson, the late Joseph Campbell, and others.


  • EXHAUSTIVE RESEARCH PROVES THAT CHRISTIANITY WAS NEVER BASED ON COPYCAT PAGAN MYTHS & LEGENDS


  • It is completely DISHONEST to shove pagan myths into the God of the Bible who provides all humanity with an accurate historical account of mankind's rebellious history in making gods in their own image and according to their own lustful desires. In fact, the God of the Bible (Yahweh) continuously told His people to be separate (Holy) from the pagans and NEVER to adopt their practices into His worship. Why, you ask? Because in God's awesome wisdom and foresight he was laying foundational patterns for the salvation of the human race so that both His people (the Jews) and everyone else would together know when His salvation came to earth. The very same God who created this world in the book of Genesis IS "God with us" in the person of Jesus Christ unto the book of Revelations.

    IF people spent more time studying the prophetic parallels already contained within the Bible between how Jesus Christ is:
    1) the Passover Lamb of God in his life and His preparation during His scourging,
    2) seen throughout every single article in the Tabernacle of Moses
    3) the fulfillment of every Jewish Feasts, including His second coming in the feast of Tabernacles,
    4) the mercy seat on Ark of the Covenant,
    5) our High Priest who gives us access to the Holy God,
    6) the embodiment of well over 333 specific prophecies fulfilled in Himself,
    7) and how He has become the Last Adam in which His people are now born again of His incorruptible seed, thus the Father sees those who are in Christ Jesus as a New Creature because they are no longer under sinful Adam's bloodline;

    not only would EVERY Jew receive their Messiah, but even the most stubborn skeptic believe in the One and Only God, who is Salvation - the Lord Jesus Christ.

    P.S. This is an excerpt from my other blog - the DaVinci Code Breaker


    Mike Licona answered this question during a conference on the DaVinci Code Sunday, May 21, 2006 at Corporate Landing Middle School in Virginia Beach, VA. I, Hilton Harrell Jr, have been given permission to post his research on this blog. This is an excerpt from his website.

    "In 1988, I discovered after further review that there are indeed claims of dying and rising gods in other religions -- some of which are very similar to the Christian records. What is of great interest is that every single one of those accounts postdates Jesus by more than 100 years! While in a number of instances the religion, in which the dying and rising god appears predates Jesus, the account itself, where we find the dying and rising god, actually postdates Jesus. It appears that it was these other religions that were influenced by Christianity rather than the other way around.

    A prime example is Brown's mention of Mithras. The religion of Mithras predates Christianity. But we do not have an early report of Mithras with all of the details mentioned by Brown. I am unaware of any account, even a late one, of a Mithras who dies, is buried in a rock tomb, then resurrected in three days.


    Why Mithraism was NEVER an influence on Christianity



    T.N.D. Mettinger is a senior Swedish scholar who has written what is perhaps the most recent academic treatment of dying and rising gods in antiquity. He states that the scholarly consensus is that none of these pre-date Christianity and that the few who think differently are viewed as an "almost extinct species." Although Mettinger himself admits to going against the consensus, believing there are as many as five pre-Christian accounts of dying and rising gods, he admits that two of the five are uncertain. Of the remaining three, one is said to live again but is never seen by anyone including the gods, while another appears in a report that is unclear. According to Mettinger, only one clear account of a dying and rising god predates Christianity. However, he adds that this account is so different from the Christian account that no parallel can be said to exist.

    In summary, the consensus of today's scholars agree that there are no pre-Christian accounts of dying and rising gods, and the most recent treatment of the subject is from a scholar who disagrees but adds that none are parallels to the resurrection of Jesus."

    http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=23268
    Mettinger, Tryggve N. D., Riddle of Resurrection: "Dying and Rising Gods" in the Ancient Near East (Coniectanea Biblica, Old Testament, 50)


    PROOF OSIRIS, HORUS, AND JESUS ARE NOT TRIPLETS!!!





    DARWINISM AND ATHEISM: UNSCIENTIFIC & MYTHICAL