One of the most persistent and nagging questions that has bothered me since my high school days in a Catholic institution was this: Where did the story of the god-man Jesus come from? Did he really exist as a historical figure, as taught and believed in by the whole Christendom? Or was he just a recreation or reinvention by the gospel writers based on ancient pagan stories of the dying and resurrecting god-men?
For Christians the world over, the historical existence of Jesus the Christ is an article of faith for which there could be no doubt.
But why is it that almost everything we know about Jesus comes from the Canonical Gospels, which were written by his disciples long after he died and almost nothing outside of these sources?
How could they explain the utter lack of independent and verifiable information about an extraordinary man who reportedly performed many superhuman feats and miracles which were witnessed by thousands of people at that time?
How do we explain the fact that even contemporary historians in the time of Jesus, such as Josephus and Tacitus, made only slight reference to the man called “Christos” who founded a religious group that became known as Christians? No eyewitnesses to his miracles were cited by either of them.
In contrast, another great religious leader, Siddhartha, who lived 500 years before Christ and was later known as the Buddha, has a detailed history of his life and teachings.
Pre-Christian beliefs
Many years after college, I came across stories of ancient pre-Christian beliefs in dying and resurrecting gods whose lives paralleled in almost every detail the life of Jesus Christ. These stories were already known and held by these ancient people thousands of years before Christ.
Among the more than a dozen of these ancient pagan dying and resurrecting god-men were: Osiris in Egypt (around 2000 BCE); Dionysus in Greece (around 1200 BCE); Adonis in Syria (around 600 BCE); Attis in Central Asia Minor (around 1200 BCE); and Mithra in Persia (around 4000 BCE).
The following is a brief summary of such ancient beliefs in a dying and resurrecting god-man as represented by Osiris-Dionysus.
1) His father was god, and his mother a mortal virgin.
2. He was born in a cave or a humble cow shed on Dec. 25 in the presence of three shepherds.
3) He performed miracles and offered his followers to be born again through the rites of baptism.
4) He died at Easter time, descended into the underworld and lived again after three days.
5) His followers await his return, as he himself promised.
‘Religious cult’
Particularly disturbing to the early Christian Church Fathers was the religious cult of Mithras (Mithra) which originated in Persia 4,000 years before Christ. Mithra was in fact the most widely venerated god in the Roman Empire at the time of Christ.
Among the many similarities between Mithra and Jesus were as follows:
1) When Mithra was born, three wise men of Persia came to visit the baby and brought him gifts of gold, myrrh and frankincense.
2) Mithra was born on Dec. 25 during the winter solstice, which was celebrated as the birthday of the sun-god.
3) Mithra died on the cross, but before that he celebrated a last supper with his 12 disciples who represented the 12 signs of the Zodiac.
4) After his death, Mithra’s body was laid to rest in a rock tomb.
5) Mithra led a celibate life.
6) He ascended into heaven during spring (Passover) equinox, the time when the sun crosses the equator, making night and day of equal length.
Such stories of dying and resurrecting gods were known throughout the ancient pagan world long before Jesus Christ was believed to have been born.
When the great Christian historian, Tertullian, learned of these pagan gods’ stories, he was quoted as saying that the devil must have invented them to confuse Christ’s followers.
The historical existence of Jesus was staunchly and fiercely defended by the Christian apologists, because to believe otherwise would mean the collapse of the Christian faith.
Strongly-held beliefs are notoriously hard to change, despite facts to the contrary. As the Indian guru and philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti said, “When thinking starts with a conclusion, thinking stops.”
In the end, it does not really matter whether Jesus Christ existed in reality or not. What’s important is what you believe in.
We can ponder on the answer given by the spirit entity called “Seth” as channeled by Jane Roberts: “Jesus was a myth who became a reality in your world.”
E-mail jaimetlicauco@yahoo.com; tels. 8107245, 0998-9886292