Freethought & Rationalism Archive

pharoah · 10-15-2005, 10:41 AM

Horus is an Egyptian deity who was worshipped thousands of years before Jesus. According to this page there are about 200 parallels between the lives of Horus and Jesus. The table that the site has lists some of the more remarkable parallels. The question I have is, do these parallels still hold up to recent scholarship?

Quote:

Stories from the life of Horus had been circulating for centuries before Jesus birth (circa 4 to 7 BCE). If any copying occurred by the writers of the Egyptian or Christian religions, it was the followers of Jesus who incorporated into his biography the myths and legends of Horus, not vice-versa.

According to author and theologian Tom Harpur: "[Author Gerald] Massey discovered nearly two hundred instances of immediate correspondence between the mythical Egyptian material and the allegedly historical Christian writings about Jesus. Horus indeed was the archetypal Pagan Christ."

Zeichman · 10-15-2005, 11:24 AM

Looking at it, the author seems to be assuming that the Gospels form one unified tradition which is definitely not the case.

A lot of it looks pretty bunk, especially the "Lazarus" thing.

Toto · 10-15-2005, 02:47 PM

Unfortunately, this is not one of religioustolerances's better efforts.

Search for "Harpur" in this forum, and you will find that it is problematic at best, and has been debunked in large part.

E.g.:

Parallels between Christianity and Egyptology

Fantastic Voyage · 10-16-2005, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zeichman

Looking at it, the author seems to be assuming that the Gospels form one unified tradition which is definitely not the case.

A lot of it looks pretty bunk, especially the "Lazarus" thing.

Just so I understand fully, are you saying that the comparisons between Horus and Christ as listed in Religous tolerance are completely false.

I thought for sure I found the smoking gun.

Zeichman · 10-16-2005, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fantastic Voyage

Just so I understand fully, are you saying that the comparisons between Horus and Christ as listed in Religous tolerance are completely false.

I thought for sure I found the smoking gun.

I'm definitely not the person you want if you're looking for a final authority on this (Chris Weimer may be the man you're looking for, among others), but a lot of it is definitely BS, and comes from selectively reading the gospels as a harmony. While most of these would be classified as "glaringly erronious" or "fallacious", some examples more obvious than others would be the Christmas thing, treating the virgin birth as if it goes back to the earliest Christians (as a unified tradition), saying that Jesus' alleged temple experience as a youth was a bar mitzvah, declaring Satan as his "arch-rival" (what?), etc.

Certainly not a smoking gun, if you're looking to prove the "Jesus Myth." If you're looking for some parallels generalized and restated using Christian vocabulary with a naively harmonic reading of the gospels' stories, then that's what you ought to be reading.

Toto · 10-16-2005, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fantastic Voyage

Just so I understand fully, are you saying that the comparisons between Horus and Christ as listed in Religous tolerance are completely false.

I thought for sure I found the smoking gun.

Please do your homework and read some past threads, including this one:

Tom Harpur, Christian Mythicist. (Harpur is the source for the religious tolerance article.)

Fantastic Voyage · 10-16-2005, 09:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toto

Please do your homework and read some past threads, including this one:

Tom Harpur, Christian Mythicist. (Harpur is the source for the religious tolerance article.)

I did actually, and discoverd that most readers found his work bunk. I also familiar with Graves work.

I guess I just wanted some clarification. It just seemed to good to be true.

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10-15-2005, 11:24 AM	#2
Zeichman Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: USA Posts: 562	Looking at it, the author seems to be assuming that the Gospels form one unified tradition which is definitely not the case. A lot of it looks pretty bunk, especially the "Lazarus" thing.

10-15-2005, 02:47 PM	#3
Toto Contributor Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Los Angeles area Posts: 40,549	Unfortunately, this is not one of religioustolerances's better efforts. Search for "Harpur" in this forum, and you will find that it is problematic at best, and has been debunked in large part. E.g.: Parallels between Christianity and Egyptology

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