Jesus Christ: Historical figure or Mythical character?

Let us consider three characters, calling them Character B, Character D, and Character Z. Under each is given available information about them.

Character B

·         B is taken prisoner.

·         He is tried in a hall of justice.

·         He is tormented and mocked by a rabble.

·         He is led away to the mount.

·         B is taken with two other prisoners, one of whom is released.

·         After he is sacrificed on the mount, the rabble goes on the rampage.

·         His clothes are taken.

·         B disappears into a tomb.

·         He is sought after by weeping women.

·         He is resurrected, appearing to his followers after the stone is rolled away from the tomb.

Character D

·         He was born of a virgin on December 25^th and, as a Holy Child was placed in a manger.

·         He was a traveling teacher who performed miracles.

·         He rode in a triumphal procession on an ass.

·         He was a sacred king killed and eaten in an eucharistic ritual for fecundity and purification.

·         He rose from the dead on March 25^th.

·         He was the god of wine and turned water into wine.

·         He was called ‘King of Kings’ and ‘God of Gods’.

·         He was considered the ‘Only Begotten Son’, ‘Savior’, ‘Redeemer’, ‘Sin Bearer’, ‘Anointed One’, and the ‘Alpha and Omega’.

·         He was identified with the Ram or Lamb.

·         His sacrificial title of ‘Dendrites’ or ‘Young Man of the Tree’ intimates he was hung on a tree or crucified. 

Character Z

·         Z was born of a virgin and ‘immaculate conception by a ray of divine reason’.

·         He was baptized in a river.

·         In his youth, he astounded wise men with his wisdom.

·         He was tempted in the wilderness by the devil.

·         He began his ministry at age 30.

·         Z baptized with water, fire and ‘holy wind’.

·         He cast out demons and restored sight to a blind woman.

·         He taught about heaven and hell and revealed mysteries, including resurrection, judgment, salvation and the apocalypse.

·         He had a sacred cup or grail.

·         He was slain.

·         His religion had a eucharist.

·         He was the ‘Word made flesh’.

·         Z’s followers expect a ‘second coming’ in the virgin-born Saoshyant or Savior, who is to come in 2341CE

If we replace each of the characters B, D, and Z by the name Jesus, nearly every one of the statements under them is to be found in the new testament chronicles of the life of Jesus.

But, in reality, the first two are mythical characters (like Rama and Sita of Ramayana) while the last is a historical figure that existed long before Jesus!

Character B

He is mythical god Baal or Bel of Babylon, frequently mentioned in the old testament.

Character D

Character D stands for Dionysus who is thought of as being a Greek god, but he is a remake of the Egyptian god Osiris. The Romans renamed him as Bacchus, the god of wine.

Character Z

This is Zarathustra, better known as Zoroaster (the Greek version of his name). He was a prophet from Persia. Zoroaster probably lived around the sixth century BCE.  The religion of Zoroastrianism is named after him.

All the statements under the three characters are taken ‘verbatim’ (with names removed) from the book ‘The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold’ by DM Murdoch (aka Acharya S).

One is left wondering: what is the ratio of myth to fact in the gospel account of the life of Jesus? Did Jesus really exist? Is Jesus’ story a re-adaptation of earlier myths?

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