Did Christianity really borrow a lot of their beliefs from Ancient Egypt? ?

Question

Ex fundie here.

I am discovering some weird things lately about Christianity and wondered if someone can explain the relationship between the Christian Religion and other ancient religions such as the Egyptians.

For example I heard that Horus, had a very similar lifestory if compared to that of Jesus. Is this true or mere speculation?

Answer 1

Pagans

Answer 2

Roman Emperor Constantine in fear of unrest, called a meeting (Council of Nicea) of the popes and at that meeting they decided on things such as what day Christmas would be on, what day Easter would be celebrated.and so on.

December 25 was originally a pagan holiday taken over by the Christians.

Also, if you research Gabriel's Revelation you'll find that it is suspected that there was a messiah who was killed by Romans and came back to life in 3 days(like Jesus) however this took place at least a generation BEFORE Jesus came about.

There are many reasons to question Christianity, but unfortunately it is most often Christians who refuse to question.

Answer 3

All the ancient civilizations and religions (Egyptians, Sumerians, Greeks, Mayas, Aztecs, native American Indians, Babylonians, Chinese, Japanese...) share the following common beliefs :

Creatures that came from the heavens and created mankind in their image.

A cataclysm that sunk the planet in its own debris.

A noble family or one man and one woman that repopulated mankind.

A noble philosopher person that preached peace and love.

A superior god that is the ruler of all.

Giants that fought with the God (or Gods) for the ruling of planet Earth.

Hybrids (half human, half animal) creatures that were worhsiped as divine creatures.

Flying devices that could carry people at large distances.

...etc.. etc.. etc....

Being bound by the beliefs of one religion only is equal to begin self-blinded to the truth.

I have a long and strong Orthodox Christian background. At the age of 12 I asked a priest who happened to be a family friend as well :

" - but... If the Ancient Greeks were so smart and they could develop the sciences that became the basis of the western world how could they possibly be pagans and believe in non-existent gods, especially since, in comparison with today, scientists are non-believers? Ancient Greek scientists were ALL believers in the Dodecatheon!"

Needless to say that the only answer I received was : "You will burn in h**l for believing anything else but His Word".

(I was 12 at the time, 25 years ago, I am Greek and at the time I had only read a little bit about Ancient Egypt and Sumeria etc... etc.. etc...)

Growing up, I had the chance to study a little bit deeper and the fortune to discover that ancients shared common knowledge.

I do not claim to know the true history of mankind.

But the Ancients certainly knew a lot more than what we claim to know these days.

Seek knowledge, conquer it but be prepared to get answers that you were not ready to discover.

Answer 4

It's utterly false.  Christianity got a lot of its traditions and beliefs from Judaism, with a little bit of paganism mixed in (the date and traditions associated with Christmas, the name and traditions associated with Easter, mostly).  And it makes sense, because most of the first converts were either Jews, or Greeks and Romans.  Roman society absorbed everything from around them.  In the late first century, they adopted the Persian god Mithras, and before that, they had gods similar to or exactly like gods in other societies.  In Athens, there were nearly as many shrines to gods as there were people when Paul visited there!

But is Jesus like any of these gods?  Only in very general terms.  For example:

-Royal lineage (though Jesus' was much more distant)

-Miraculous birth (though none of them were actually born of a virgin)

-Ability to perform miracles (though none of the miracles performed were on the same scope with Jesus' major ones, like raising the dead, walking on water, and calming a storm with just a word)

-being descended from a deity (though these other gods were the result of actual sexual contact, unlike Jesus, whose conception involved no s*x whatsoever)

The differences are considerably more vast than the similarities.

And Horus is nothing like Jesus, other than in the most general terms (see above).

I've studied Greek mythology, Roman mythology, Celtic mythology, Norse mythology, and Egyptian mythology.

And yes, Zeitgeist is a bunch of rubbish.  I've started a blog about it on my 360 page.  There's a link to it on my profile.

Edit:  I've also studied Zoroastrianism.  They do not have an eternal h**l, like Christianity does.  In Zoroastrianism, people who did not practice good thoughts, good words, and good deeds were sent to the "outer darkness", where they waited until the "end", at which time they were destroyed, or rejoined Ahura Mazda.

Answer 5

Virgin Birth: The "savior" god Dionysus born to the virgin Semele.

Healing the sick: Isis

Walking on water: Poseidon

Resurrection- Osiris

Baptism-By the time of Jesus, purification with water was already an ancient pagan sacrament. Purification -- from unclean foods, or acts, or contacts -- is an idea so old it fades into pre-history. Pagans purified themselves with fire, incense, blood sacrifice, they even purified themselves with a winnowing fan or sea onions! But the most used, most widespread tool of pagan purification was...water.

Heaven & h**l or belief in the afterlife The Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh describes an afterlife where worms eat sinners, but the blessed lie on a couch and drink pure water.

Trinity. Anu, Enlil, & Enri-Sumeria Eke,Deva, & Trimurtti-India Brahma, Vishnu, Siva- Babylon

Answer 6

Non-believer here.

"For example I heard that Horus, had a very similar lifestory if compared to that of Jesus."

I wouldn't say very similar, but they are both savior deities, so there are some similarities.

"What about the movie Zeitgeist - Is it all a bunch of rubbish?"

Pretty much. There is a case to be made against the historical Jesus, but Zeitgeist's "sun = son" stuff is not it.

Additionally, the second and third bits of Zeitgeist kinda show the maker's...let's say, true colours?

Answer 7

I believe that "Christianity" was taught and known by the people of God long before Jesus Christ was actually born....from the beginning of time.  The people in the "church" knew that the Savior would be born.  There are many revelations in the OT looking forward to the Savior's birth  as well as his teaching of his   death and resurrection.

Answer 8

Some aspects of the OT are deliberate adaptations of Egyptian (and Babylonian) ideas. The contents of the first eleven chapters of Genesis are good examples. They have no absolute value in historic terms (and certainly not in scientific terms, as certain American 'lunatics' believe). These stories were not intended as representing history, but morality and man's position in the cosmos. They said to Egyptians, 'Here's the reality about morality and the deity. See the contrast'. So modern minds must look for the contrasts, not the similarities, though one can hardly expect antichrists to do so.

In the case of the Egyptians, the idea of the king (pharaoh) being divine was of central importance politically, as it was later in the decadent Roman Empire. So the idea of gods being born as men was nothing unusual. There  was very little about Horus that was similar to Jesus, and one cannot take the latter as a copy of the former.

There were many varied ideas about deities and the afterlife in the ancient world, far more than there have been since Christ, and some of them inevitably coincide with the Christian view. Just because some idea precedes another does not in any way invalidate the second one. It may indeed reflect a true concern of the human psyche. Inevitably, antichrists turn this upside down also.

Some ideas, such as that of Mithras, were deliberately adapted after Christ as copies of the Christian message, and attest to the power of Christianity. Again, antichrists have every interest in distorting that fact.

.

Answer 9

YES!!

I like zeitgeist but lots of people said it was rubbish but I disagree. I've read books that support that movie and the history of religion dates back thousands of years before christanity. Religion (especially christanity) was created to control the masses and set them at war with each other. read david icke's the biggest secret. That will give you a lil more insight to how crazy religion is and how it has brainwashed people over the centuries

Answer 10

Yes, if you look into the history of religion you soon see many similarities, basically its all made up ball c**p for the weak minded who cannot accept death.  

Answer 11

Doubtful.