GakuseiDon

Acharya S writes that (my emphasis):

A more complex etymological similarity can been found in the Mexican name Mexitli or Mesitli, meaning “the Anointed One,” obviously related to the Egyptian Messu and the Hebrew Messiah.

If Acharya S is now moving away from a position that there was an ancient advanced global civilization (hopefully Dave31 can confirm that one way or the other), then how to explain the etymological similarity of the Mexican name "Mexitli" meaning "the Anointed One" (though misogynistic Wiki suggests it means "navel/child of the moon"), to the "obviously related" Hebrew word for "Messiah"? You can't get that by just looking at the sun.

GakuseiDon

To emphasize my point: It would be one thing if the sun gods were named world-wide as "Arrrrghhh!-I'm-blind!" or "Holy-crap-that's-bright!" We could attribute it to a common experience of viewing the sun. But how to explain similar-sounding names?

For example, Archarya S suggests that Hercules' name was related to both sun and storm gods. From "The Christ Conspiracy":

Moreover, the Mayan creator god was called “Hurakan,” and the Caribbean storm god was “Hurukan,” both of which are nearly identical to the Tibetan wrathful deity, “Heruka,” which in turn is related to Herakles or Hercules. It is from this stormy god that we get the word “Hurricane.”

Also, "Hercules" as sun god:

In the 19th century the papal throne, St. Peter’s chair, was cleaned, only to reveal upon it the 12 labors of Hercules, who, as we have seen, was a sun god...

Heracles, or Hercules, is well-known for his 12 labors, which correspond to the 12 signs of the zodiac and are demonstrations of his role as “Savior.” Born of a virgin, he was also known as the “Only Begotten” and “Universal Word.” The virgin mother of Heracles/Hercules was called Alcmene, whose name in Hebrew was “almah,” the “moon-woman,” who, as Walker says, “mothered sacred kings in the Jerusalem cult, and whose title was bestowed upon the virgin Mary. Parallels between earlier myths of Alcmene and later myths of Mary were too numerous to be coincidental...

Walker also recounts the story of Hercules and its relationship to the Christian tale:

His Twelve Labors symbolized the sun’s passage through the twelve houses of the zodiac... After his course was finished, he was clothed in the scarlet robe of the sacred king and killed, to be resurrected as his own divine father, to ascend to heaven... The influence of Heracles’s cult on early Christianity can hardly be overestimated... Heracles was called Prince of Peace, Sun of Righteousness, Light of the World. He was the same sun greeted daily by the Persians and Essenes with the ritual phrase, “He is risen.” The same formula announced Jesus’s return from the underworld (Mark 16:6). He was sacrificed at the spring equinox (Easter), the New Year festival by the old reckoning. He was born at the winter solstice (Christmas), when the sun reaches his nadir and the constellation of the Virgin rises in the east.

It would be good if Dave31 can confirm how much Acharya S has backed away from her sources in "The Christ Conspiracy". Does she still hold to a view that an "ancient advanced global civilization" is the best explanation for the wide-spread of similar names?

tanya

here's a link

In my opinion, we have too little data, and too much prejudice.

Vorkosigan

Clearly, Acharya S' positions are all invalidated by this fruitcake belief, in the same way that believer's Historicist positions are all invalidated by their fruitcake belief that Jesus rose again on the third day.

Toto

Interesting - but - what does this link have to do with Acharya S?

aa5874

The Historicist position is NOT invalidated by the belief in the resurrection--Christians and fundamentalists are NOT really Historicists.

Christians and fundamentalists BELIEVE in the same Mythology of the ancient Greeks/Romans. Jesus was the LAST Myth God of the Romans.

Historicists are those who claim THEIR Jesus was actually a human being and that he was Embellished.

Historicists Beliefs are invalidated because they NO Credible source of antiquity.

The Historicists BELIEFS are inherently invalidated by their own Admittance that THEIR sources are a Pack of Embellishments.

In effect, the claim that Jesus lived in Nazareth, was Baptized by John and was crucified may have NEVER happened but were invented.

GakuseiDon

Interesting link. I had never heard of "cultural hyperdiffusionism" (the idea that cultures worldwide can be traced back to one central culture in the remote past) before existing as a specifically proposed theory.

I think the pertinent part from the link is as follows, as some mythicists make similar claims:

These scholars—mainstream historians and archaeologists... are 100% locked into this “evolutionary” idea of how history works... they dismiss any anomalous evidence or find plausible explanations for any evidence that does not jive with this reality.

Moreover, being a “scholar” or an “academic” is a job, a profession, which is part of a larger structure. If you want to get a job as a “scholar” or “academic” you absolutely need to buy into its mindset; buy into the paradigm. If you don’t buy in then you simply won’t get hired, and you won’t climb the ladder and move up. Thinkers and researchers who might have wilder or different or more extra ordinary ideas of the past are thus weeded out so that the ones who are left are those who have bought into the existing paradigm.

Thus, no scholar dares challenge the “established” model against hyperdiffusionism, that is, if he or she wishes to get published or win research grants or move along in the profession. This is the simple way in which research into the human past is being controlled by forces we can’t see and most of us don’t understand.

And I guess it is true, to the extent that this is how academia works. But the link author doesn't put this down to any conspiracy theory, describing scholars working in the field as "fundamentally honest and hard-working people who perform the extraordinarily laborious task of unearthing artifacts from our ancient past... they’re not trying to deceive the public in any way."

Toto

I'm still not finding a direct connection between hyperdiffusionism and anything Acharya S has written.

She seems to toy around with these sorts of ideas, but could probably do as well without them.

outhouse

no one with credibility claims this

Dave31

Actually, there are many such as Dr. Robert Price for one, as this is what the evidence from the historic and literary records show. Those who claim otherwise are the ones with no credibility as there's no credible evidence to substantiate the claims of earlier gospels by Mark, Matthew, Luke or John. Even a cursory search will show this.