Christ’s features and myths are in many ways similar to those of the Greco-Roman salvation cults of the time known as “mystery religions”, each having its own savior god or goddess. Most of these (e.g., Dionysos, Mithras, Attis, Isis, Osiris) were part of myths in which the deity had overcome death in some way, or performed some act which conferred benefits and salvation on their devotees. Such activities were viewed as taking place in the upper spirit realm, not on earth or in history.
Earl Doherty
Most of my blog posts are usually references or inspired by other authors. But now that I come across this quote on an atheist site it made me want to beg the question, “aren't these atheists just quoting from other atheists to prove their point?” Why don't they go look at the evidences themselves? When they attack Christ, they seem to just point at some Christians and call the hypocrisy from them and use that as evidence that Jesus is a liar of some sort. Of course they do believe he is a liar because they want to believe in naturalism and they come from a presupposition that hates God or any religious doctrine.
I want to respond this time in my own words and by my own knowledge of Scripture and history; my own facts. Here we go!
First of all, all those gods and “saviours” that Earl Doherty mentions are all from Egyptian mythology, not Greco-Roman. We know that the Egyptians were around 4 or 5,000 years BC. I think if Doherty studied Greek mythology it still wouldn't have really helped his argument to stand. The Romans had pagan gods that they did not even worship, but were more like statues of real persons, like a political celebrity today, some people worship them as an Obama who will save the world, but nothing divine.
The Greek gods from what we know are just absurd to even imagine. First of all the Greek gods were quite human and had the same problems and imperfections as their fellow humans—mortals. They lived lives just like mere mortals. They aged, ate, had sexual relationships. They were said to have lived to be very old and died. But they were only myths. We only have a few manuscripts about them.
Hercules' birth was just....weird. Alcmene was the mother of Hercules and the wife of Amphitryon, but the night she conceived Hercules and his twin brother Iphicles, Alcmene mated with both Zeus, who had disguised himself as her husband, and Amphitryon. As a result, Zeus was Hercules' father, but Amphitryon was the father of Iphicles.
Hercules when in his mother's womb was transported somehow like something out of star trek into Zeus' right thigh when Alcmene was burned up for having an affair with Zeus. Maybe your imagination is good or my explanation is horrible, so let me explain a little further in description. While Alcmene was getting burned up, Hercules as an unborn was taken out somehow and sown into Zeus' thigh, and somehow this foetus spent the rest of his time growing in Zeus' thigh until birth. Imagine that. And the story about Mary (a real person) giving birth to a child by conception by the Holy Spirit sounds similarly crazy?
You just can't compare the Bible to these mythologies. Some people will just bunch it up together with all these stories and other religions and not even look at the facts. They heard something about one god and then think that Jesus or Jehovah fit in the same group of non-sense. They go in with a presupposition, without looking at it in a neutral sense, and label it with the rest of the crazy stories.
Okay, now to the gods and goddesses mentioned by Doherty; none of which promised salvation. I would like to mention that in these times many many nations of people had similar gods. You'd expect this from this area in the middle-east and Africa. The Old Testament talks about all the types of peoples with different religions and the gods they worshipped, especially the Egyptians were mentioned. Moses came from that society. Everyone had some concept about God, but they chose to worship the image or nature in His place because they were misguided. God chose Moses and many other faithful men after him to make a plan to bring back all of mankind to fellowship with Him. Reading about these other cults and mythical stories makes us remember even more how true is the Word in the Bible.
One thing to mention about these mythical gods is that the people who worshipped them. What were these people like and what can we know about them by observing the scriptures they wrote. We can know that they were obviously obsessed with sex, money, and power. Also we can know it was all about futility. These people lived in a violent society. Some sacrificed their sons and daughters just to make the gods happy, in hope of an abundant crop. And some even had sexual orgies so that the gods would make it rain. These people lived in harsh conditions, drank a lot and partied a lot. They thought they could experience god through drunkenness or drugs to make the body numb so that you have could have a lucid experience like a trance. People did that back then, and even today we see it in many Asian philosophies and with the Rastafarians. This is what we would call general or natural revelation; through natural experiences you could experience the essence of God. Sometimes we can see in nature and imagine the power of our Lord and that something big is out there, but it doesn't really tell us anything about God or who He really is.
Like John MacArthur said, experiencing the Holy Spirit “is not some kind of mystical experience. It's not some kind of ecstatic thing. It's not something that comes over you and catapults you into some unconscious behaviour. It's not being knocked over into a dead faint, as you see so often on television. It's not launching off into some ecstatic speech. It's not going out of yourself or being beyond control. It simply is to be continuously controlled by the Spirit who does it through the Word and that means we are obeying the truth.”
Since the beginning there was a promise of a Messiah who will come to bring mankind back to fellowship with God. "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." Genesis 3:15. Many pagan cultures were making up their own gods and it's not surprising how similar the stories might be. But there is no identical story like the life of Jesus. In the genealogies written in the Bible we can calculate that even before the Egyptians the people and events that happened in the Genesis account had been circulating around since the beginning. Grandparents would have told the story about the origins of the world to their offspring and passed down by generation. In other found manuscripts dating way after Genesis we find almost familiar stories, about God distributing the people around the world, the great flood, and certain laws (in secular circles known as "the golden rule"); an ethical code:
- One should treat others according to how one would like others to treat one's self (positive, passive form)
- Treat others as you would like to be treated (positive, active form)
- One should not treat others in ways one would not like to be treated (prohibitive, passive form)
- Do not treat others in ways you would not like to be treated (prohibitive, active form. Also called the Silver Rule)
It is no surprise that most of the world shares the same ethical code. It is commonly a standard which different cultures use to resolve conflicts. This concept was present in certain forms in the philosophies of ancient Babylon, Egypt, India, Greece, Judea, and China. It is not unusual that we find a common thread among the different cultures today. For God gave us a conscience to do so. Every person has the ability to learn his or her own morals. It's no reason why the atheists argue that they get their morals from their parents or the way they were brought up. This is quite right, and it is their excuse to why some people commit evil acts. They believe that man is naturally good, but it is their surroundings or the culture make them that way. It's not their fault, but the atmosphere in which they were raised. But that brings up a question; If man is naturally good, then why would the influence of another person change them to commit evil acts? What drives them to be evil? Since they were good, then they must be perfect and unable to be evil. How does evil exist in what is naturally good? Shouldn't one be good and other be evil? Can God be both good and evil as the atheists claim? This is not the topic on which I want to talk about right now so I have left it for another time perhaps. You can check my other posts about God and suffering and evil and morality.
The Bible says we are desperately wicked. This is why God instructs us how to live. He gave us a law because we wouldn't know how to act. The law actually condemns us because we are naturally sinful. Whatever we do is contrary to what is good and perfect. To God even the good deeds we do are like menstrual cloths or like a dog eating its own vomit. There is nothing good in man. Ever since Adam and Eve sinned all have been fallen after her seed. Eve believed in the lie of Satan instead of listening to her husband whom God had told the truth, and Adam disobeyed God by submitting to the words of his wife instead of what God had instructed to Him. Both had disobeyed God and separated the perfect communion with Him and mankind was blinded from the truth from then on.
The Bible says we are blind to the truth. That is why God asks us to be humble. It takes humility to surrender one's will to God. It takes great sacrifice to follow Jesus. All who are worthy of the kingdom must take up their own cross and follow Him. You must give up everything to follow Him. That is why Jesus told the young rich man to sell everything then follow Him. The young rich man was so full of pride. He had kept half of the commandments and believed that if he did enough good deeds he could inherit heaven. But it is not what you can do, there is nothing good in man. Jesus said, "Why do you call me good? Only God is good." Jesus wasn't denying His deity but acknowledging himself as God because only God is good. There are no good deeds you could do to inherit the kingdom. All have fallen short of the glory of God. Only you must give up yourself, all your pride, and come to Jesus with a repented heart. That means to turn away from your old self, to deny the goodness in yourself, then follow the way He instructs us to live. He commands us to fight against our flesh. Our own feelings, desires, and lusts. You must come to the Father with humility and meekness, accept that Jesus defeated all those sins, He conquered what you couldn't beat. All the sins you even fight with today, Christian, believe that He already fought them for you and you can rest in His works. He took your punishment on the cross, and rose to life three days later to prove he was the true Messiah. "Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring." It does not say, 'And to offsprings,' referring to many, but referring to one, 'And to your offspring,' who is Christ." Galatians 3:16.
Tombs of Unresurrected Gods
We have warnings about false messiahs in the Old Testament (Torah). All of these religions we have seen in the past and today are a result of the Fall.
False stories and false messiahs that have died and passed through history because of their false claims. Christianity is in no way an outcome of pagan religions, but those religions were the result of the Fall. Man persisted to find union and communion and intimacy with God--creating gods made by hand, in a king, or in the mind. He did not find Him, but only been strayed away. These were gods of fertility--promising good fortune, rain, or a good season of crops.
And you see the distortion with the modern religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Islam, and Rastafarianism.
But what happened to these gods when the nation was prosperous? Why don't we see this very much in prosperous cities like Hong Kong? People don't see the need for a god to make them happy or give them what they want like some magical genie.
Immediately after Jesus resurrected to the Father, false messiahs were written in the Greek society. Many stories circulated around the culture. Emperor Vespasian was said to have cured a blind man (110 AD) and Apollonius of Tyana raised a girl from the dead (217 AD). It is no wonder that in this time between 100AD and 400AD the Romans Empire converted to Christianity. Paul had been there evangelizing and spreading the Gospel. It is not a surprise that these stories circulated around and rich rulers wanted a piece of the fame. They wouldn't have wanted anyone worshipping anyone but themselves. Christians were making a ruckus in Rome. Christians were thrown to the lions because they were labelled as enemies of the state and to the Emperor.
In Roman society, confirmation by others was sought-after as well as required. Be they the elders of his family, his patron or his clients, army comrades, or even - in an election - the people of Rome; no Roman could be his own judge, but could see himself only through the eyes of others.
Similarity in stories doesn't prove anything. The first Roman Emperor was in rule just shy of 30 years Before Christ. The first recognized king of Rome (716 BC) was its mythical founder, Romulus. To him is attributed the foundation of the senate. And the last King was Tarquin and instead announced Rome to be a republic (510/509 BC). The Latins, as they were known, settled in the wider area of Rome around 1000 BC. However those early settlements were not to be mistaken for anything like a city. They kept pigs, herded sheep, goats, cattle and lived in primitive, round huts.
So how could such archaic beginnings ever lead to a city of power which would rule the world? The rise of Rome was certainly not inevitable, but it had many advantages right from the start. Rome lies only a few miles from the sea with all its possibilities of trade. Besides from the Greeks the Romans learnt fundamental skills such as reading and writing, even their religion is almost entirely derived from Greek mythology. i.e. for Jupiter write Zeus, Mars is Ares, Venus is Aphrodite, etc. There is no way you could say the gods came first. They came around the same time Jesus was being announced and the time he lived on earth with us, but actually recorded hundreds of years After Death.
The Bible constantly warns about false miracles, not only in the New Testament but in the Old Testament as well. Even if these miracles happened, maybe they were believers, or maybe they were the works of Satan just like the Pharaoh's magicians. But we can easily criticize those miracles as demon because we don't want to believe it, and in return the non-believer would then criticize Jesus that he could have been doing miracles of demons. Remember Jesus was not ridiculed because of his miracles, it was because the Pharisees and teachers of the law were offended that he would forgive sins (Luke 5:21). Jesus said to the Pharisees, "Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"—he said to the man who was paralysed—"I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home." (Luke 5:23-24).
We have to remember that when these gospels were written, they were written by witnesses of eye witnesses in the time that Jesus was on earth. These pagan stories were written hundreds of years after they were presumed of happening, and made up even after Jesus' resurrection. In the latter centuries we find other stories about Jesus depicted in a different way. These are just other false stories about the Messiah. The true evidence should be found in the closest manuscripts and within the lifetime of the people mentioned. That way if anything was altered someone would have done something about it. In the time the four gospels were written we can find a consistency in all of them, even when the four authors didn't live in the same countries when they wrote them. Luke wrote his gospel based on Matthew and Mark's account and as well as other witnesses of Jesus. John is called to be the most descriptive and accurate because John was more literate in Greek. Just look at the length of his sentences compared to the others, especially Mark. His Greek grammar was well good in those days. Today the Greek grammar has been changed a bit and it is the origin from where our languages in western culture today were descended. (Actually to be clear, it was the Hebrews who first invented the Alphabet; "A and B = Alpha and Beta," and the Greeks basically added vowels, but the whole origins of the Alphabet is up to scrutiny.)
Roman Paganism
The Religion of Rome
If anything, the Romans had a practical attitude to religion, as to most things, which perhaps explains why they themselves had difficulty in taking to the idea of a single, all-seeing, all-powerful god.In so far as the Romans had a religion of their own, it was not based on any central belief, but on a mixture of fragmented rituals, taboos, superstitions, and traditions which they collected over the years from a number of sources.
To the Romans, religion was less a spiritual experience than a contractual relationship between mankind and the forces which were believed to control people's existence and well-being.
The result of such religious attitudes were two things: a state cult, the significant influence on political and military events of which outlasted the republic, and a private concern, in which the head of the family oversaw the domestic rituals and prayers in the same way as the representatives of the people performed the public ceremonials.
However, as circumstances and people's view of the world changed, individuals whose personal religious needs remained unsatisfied turned increasingly during the first century AD to the mysteries, which were of Greek origin, and to the cults of the east.
The Origins of Roman Religion
Most of the Roman gods and goddesses were a blend of several religious influences. Many were introduced via the Greek colonies of southern Italy. Many also had their roots in old religions of the Etruscans or Latin tribes.Often the the old Etruscan or Latin name survived but the deity over time became to be seen as the Greek god of equivalent or similar nature. And so it is that the Greek and Roman pantheon look very similar, but for different names.
An example of such mixed origins is the goddess Diana to whom the Roman king Servius Tullius built the temple on the Aventine Hill. Essentially she was an old Latin goddess from the earliest of times.
Before Servius Tullius moved the center of her worship to Rome, it was based at Aricia.
There in Aricia it was always a runaway slave who would act as her priest. He would win the right to hold office by killing his predecessor. To challenge him to a fight he would though first have to manage to break off a branch of a particular sacred tree; a tree on which the current priest naturally would keep a close eye. From such obscure beginnings Diana was moved to Rome, where she then gradually became identified with the Greek goddess Artemis.
It could even occur that a deity was worshipped, for reasons no-one really could remember. An example for such a deity is Furrina. A festival was held every year in her honour on 25 July. But by the middle of the first century BC there was no-one left who actually remember what she was actually goddess of.
Prayer and Sacrifice
Most form of religious activity required some kind of sacrifice. And prayer could be a confusing matter due to some gods having multiple names or their sex even being unknown. The practice of Roman religion was a confusing thing.Resource: Roman-Empire.net
Greek Mythology
The Creation of Man by Prometheus (A brief description)
Prometheus and Epimetheus were spared imprisonment in Tartarus because they had not fought with their fellow Titans during the war with the Olympians. They were given the task of creating man. Prometheus shaped man out of mud, and Athena breathed life into his clay figure.
Prometheus had assigned Epimetheus the task of giving the creatures of the earth thier various qualities, such as swiftness, cunning, strength, fur, wings. Unfortunately, by the time he got to man Epimetheus had given all the good qualities out and there were none left for man. So Prometheus decided to make man stand upright as the gods did and to give them fire.
Greek Gods
The origins of the gods of ancient Greek religion are described in the Theogony, the famous poem of the Greek writer Hesiod (around 700 BC) and the Library of Apollodorus. The Greek gods were very much human. Like I mentioned before they had wars with each other, sexual relations, and even family troubles. The Greeks stopped believing in them because they had just as many problems with them and couldn't solve the issue of sin, couldn't answer the questions of life, but drew them closer and closer into disillusionment.
Then out of the void appeared Erebus, the unknowable place where death dwells, and Night. All else was empty, silent, endless, darkness. Then somehow Love was born bringing a start of order. From Love came Light and Day. Once there was Light and Day, Gaea, the earth appeared.
Then Erebus slept with Night, who gave birth to Ether, the heavenly light, and to Day the earthly light. Then Night alone produced Doom, Fate, Death, Sleep, Dreams, Nemesis, and others that come to man out of darkness.
Meanwhile Gaea alone gave birth to Uranus, the heavens. Uranus became Gaea's mate covering her on all sides. Together they produced the three Cyclopes, the three Hecatoncheires, and twelve Titans.
However, Uranus was a bad father and husband. He hated the Hecatoncheires. I'm gonna stop right here... you can read the rest. You get the point, it's way different in origin.
Resource: http://www.greek-gods.info/greek-gods/dionysus/
I'm gonna end this with a description of some of the gods Doherty mentioned:
Dionysus
Dionysus was a god known for his lightheartness and always offered his help to anyone in need. He was therefore very popular among gods and mortals and many festivals were being held every year in his honour. Nevertheless, Dionysus was many times misunderstood.
Dionysus was one of the Olympian gods who actually did not live in Mount Olympus but was constantly travelling around the world together with Satyrs and Maenads in order to discover the secrets of winemaking.
Resource: http://www.greek-gods.info/greek-gods/dionysus/
Isis and Osiris
Isis and Osiris were actually ancient gods of Egypt. Osiris symbolized in his death the yearly drought and in his miraculous rebirth the periodic flooding of the Nile and the growth of grain. He was a god-king who was believed to have given Egypt civilization.
Osiris was the first child of Nut and Geb, and therefore the brother of Seth, Nephthys, and Isis. He was married to his sister, Isis. He was also the father of Horus and Anubis. These traditions state that Nephthys (mother of Anubis) assumed the form of Isis, seduced him (perhaps with wine) and she became pregnant with Anubis. (Much different in origins with the Hebrews who worshipped our Lord Jehovah).
The oldest religious texts refer to Osiris as the great god of the dead, and throughout these texts it is assumed that the reader will understand that he once possessed human form and lived on earth. As the first son of Geb, the original king of Egypt, Osiris inherited the throne when Geb abdicated. At this time the Egyptians were barbarous cannibals and uncivilized. (No wonder God freed the Jews) Osiris saw this and was greatly disturbed. Therefore, he went out among the people and taught them what to eat, the art of agriculture, how to worship the gods, and gave them laws. Thoth helped him in many ways by inventing the arts and sciences and giving names to things. Osiris was Egypt's greatest king who ruled through kindness and persuasion. Having civilized Egypt, Osiris traveled to other lands, leaving Isis as his regent, to teach other peoples what he taught the Egyptians.
During Osiris' absence, Isis was troubled with Seth's plotting to acquire both her and the throne of Egypt. Shortly after Osiris' return to Egypt, in the twenty-eighth year of his reign, on the seventeenth day of the month of Hathor (late September or November), Seth and 72 conspirators murdered him. They then threw the coffin in which he was murdered into the Nile, with his divine body still inside.
Isis, with the help of her sister Nephthys, and Anubis and Thoth, magically located Osiris' body. Upon learning the his brother's body was found, Seth went to it and tore it into fourteen pieces and scattered them throughout Egypt. Isis once again found every part of his body, save his phallus (it had been eaten by the now-cursed Nile fish). She magically re-assembled Osiris and resurrected him long enough to be impregnated by him so that she could give birth to the new king Horus. (Please point out the similarities when you see them, because I don't see them).
Resource: Egyptianmyths.net
Doesn't the religion of Mithra prove that Christianity is false? by CARM
Some critics of Christianity teach that the Christian religion was not based upon divine revelation but that it borrowed from pagan sources, Mithra being one of them. They assert that the figure of Mithra has many commonalities with Jesus, too common to be coincidence.
Mithraism was one of the major religions of the Roman Empire which was derived from the ancient Persian god of light and wisdom. The cult of Mithraism was quite prominent in ancient Rome, especially among the military. Mithra was the god of war, battle, justice, faith, and contract. According to Mithraism, Mithra was called the son of God, was born of a virgin, had disciples, was crucified, rose from the dead on the third day, atoned for the sins of mankind, and returned to heaven. Therefore, the critics maintain that Christianity borrowed its concepts from the Mithra cult. But is this the case? Can it be demonstrated that Christianity borrowed from the cult of Mithra as it developed its theology?
First of all, Christianity does not need any outside influence to derive any of its doctrines. All the doctrines of Christianity exists in the Old Testament where we can see the prophetic teachings of Jesus as the son of God (Zech. 12:10), born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14), was crucified (Psalm 22), the blood atonement (Lev. 17:11), rose from the dead (Psalm 16:10), and salvation by faith (Hab. 2:4). Also, the writers of the gospels were eyewitnesses (or directed by eyewitnesses as were Mark and Luke) who accurately represented the life of Christ. So, what they did was write what Jesus taught as well as record the events of His life, death, and resurrection. In other words, they recorded history, actual events and had no need of fabrication or borrowing.
There will undoubtedly be similarities in religious themes given the agrarian culture. Remember, an agriculturally based society, as was the people of the ancient Mediterranean area, will undoubtedly develop theological themes based upon observable events, i.e., the life, death, and seeming resurrection of life found in crops, in cattle, and in human life. It would only be natural for similar themes to unfold since they are observed in nature and since people created gods related to nature. But, any reading of the Old Testament results in observing the intrusion of God into Jewish history as is recorded in miracles and prophetic utterances. Add to that the incredible archaeological evidence verifying Old Testament cities and events and you have a document based on historical fact instead of mythical fabrication. Furthermore, it is from these Old Testament writings that the New Testament themes were developed.
Following is a chart demonstrating some of the New Testament themes found in the Old Testament.
| Theme | Old Testament Reference | New Testament fulfilled in Jesus |
| Ascension of Jesus to the right hand of God | Ps. 110:1 | Matt 26:64; Acts 7:55-60; Eph. 1:20 |
| Atonement by blood | Lev. 17:11 | Heb. 9:22 |
| Begotten Son, Jesus is | Psalm 2:7 | Acts 13:33; Heb. 1:5 |
| Crucifixion | Psalm 22:11-18; Zech. 12:10 | Luke 23:33-38 |
| Eternal Son | Micah 5:1-2; Psalm 2:7 | Heb. 1:5; 5:5 |
| God among His people | Isaiah 9:6; 40:3 | John 1:1,14; 20:28; Col. 2:9; Matt. 3:3 |
| Incarnation of God | 1)Ex 3:14; 2)Ps. 45:6 Isaiah 9:6;Zech. 12:10 | 1)John 8:58; 1:1,14; 2)Heb. 1:8; Col. 2:9; Heb. 1:1-3 |
| Only Begotten Son | Gen. 22:2. See Typology | John 3:16; Heb. 11:7 |
| Resurrection of Christ | Psalm 16:9-10; 49:15; Is. 26:19 | John 2:19-21 |
| Return of Christ | Zech. 14:1-5; Mic. 1:3-4 | Matt. 16:27-28; Acts 1:11; 3:20 |
| Sin offering | Ex. 30:10; Lev. 4:3 | Rom. 8:3; Heb. 10:18; 13:11 |
| Son of God | Psalm 2:7 | John 5:18 |
| Substitutionary Atonement | Isaiah 53:6-12; Lev. 6:4-10,21 | Matt. 20:28; 1 Pet. 2:24; 2 Cor. 5:21;1 Pet. 3:18; |
| Virgin Birth | Isaiah 7:14 | Matt. 1:25 |
(For a more complete list please go to Are the New Testament themes found in the Old Testament?)
As you can see, there is no need for any of the Christian writers to borrow from anything other than the Old Testament source in order to establish any Christian doctrine concerning Jesus. If the argument that pagan mythologies predated Christian teachings and therefore Christianity borrowed from them is true, then it must also be truth that the pagan religions borrowed from the Jewish religion because it is older than they are! Given that all of the Christian themes are found in the Old Testament and the Old Testament was begun around 2000 B.C. and completed around 400 B.C., we can then conclude that these pagan religions actually borrowed from Jewish ideas found in the Old Testament. Think about it, the idea of a blood sacrifice and a covering for sin is found in the first three chapters of Genesis when God covered Adam and Eve with animals skins and prophesied the coming of the Messiah.
Furthermore, those who wrote about Jesus in the New Testament were Jews (or under the instruction of Jews) who were devoted to the legitimacy and inspiration of the Old Testament scriptures and possessed a strong disdain for pagan religions. It would have been blasphemous for them to incorporate pagan sources into what they saw as the fulfillment of the sacred Old Testament scriptures concerning the Messiah. Also, since they were writing about Jesus, they were writing based upon what He taught: truth, love, honesty, integrity, etc. Why then would they lie and make up stories and suffer great persecution, hardships, ridicule, arrest, beatings, and death all for known lies and fabrications from paganism? It doesn't make sense.
At best, Mithraism only had some common themes with Christianity (and Judaism) which were recorded in both the Old and New Testaments. What is far more probable is that as Mithraism developed, it started to adopt Christian concepts.
"Allegations of an early Christian dependence on Mithraism have been rejected on many grounds. Mithraism had no concept of the death and resurrection of its god and no place for any concept of rebirth -- at least during its early stages...During the early stages of the cult, the notion of rebirth would have been foreign to its basic outlook...Moreover, Mithraism was basically a military cult. Therefore, one must be skeptical about suggestions that it appealed to nonmilitary people like the early Christians."1
What is more probable is that with the explosive nature of the Christian church in the 1st and 2nd century, other cult groups started to adapt themselves to take advantage of some of the teachings found in Christianity.
"While there are several sources that suggest that Mithraism included a notion of rebirth, they are all post-Christian. The earliest...dates from the end of the second century A.D."2
Therefore, even though there are similarities between Christianity and Mithraism, it is up to the critics to prove that one borrowed from the other. But, considering that the writers of the New Testament were Jews who shunned pagan philosophies and that the Old Testament has all of the themes found in Christianity, it is far more probable that if any borrowing was done, it was done by the pagan religions that wanted to emulate the success of Christianity.
1. R. Nash, Christianity and the Hellenistic World as quoted in Norman Geisler, Baker's Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics, Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1999, p. 492.
2. Bill Wilson, compiled by, The Best of Josh McDowell: A Ready Defense, Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1993, p. 167.
Resource: http://www.carm.org/christianity/bible/doesnt-religion-mithra-prove-christianity-false
Highlight
On further defence against these claims to pagan gods read this post http://walkwithmen.blogspot.com/2009/10/stand-to-reason-zeitgeist-movie.html
And if you want to study it yourself from the atheist perspective go to http://www.pocm.info/index.html. It actually really helped me with my research.
Acts 4:12 (ESV)
"And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
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