Christ in Egypt: Horus, Sun of God

[DWill]

I think drdalet does have a point, though. If we simply accept that the Bible is a mishmash of legend, myth, and history we won't get upset about it not being true in the sense that we have come to value most. This applies to something like God's commands to slaughter all the Canaanites. If we think about this act being done, we'll be hating God, but if we then realize that no such thing ever happened, our anger is then against a fictional act and character. We can go on to think about what such a god says about the society that created it.

The importance of pointing out the evidence of the fictions of the Bible is to prevent the dangerous literalists from claiming justification for present-day policies from the words of the Bible. The Middle East is a trouble spot in part because of so many people insisting on the literalness of scripture.

[tat tvam asi]

Just imagine what the middle east would be like today if no such literalism existed in the first place.

[FTL99]

Tat tvam asi and I have discussed the below before. I thought it might be helpful to bring up here.

The general lists like the Osiris/Horus list quoted below exists because, for example, we had people in the 19th century like Gerald Massey (who was heavily peer reviewed by the top Egyptologists of his day) trying to explain these parallels to a mostly Christian audience who knew absolutely nothing about the Egyptian religion. Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs weren't translated until after the discovery of the Rosetta Stone. "until the discovery of the Rosetta Stone by Napoleon's troops in 1799 and the subsequent translation of such by Champollion in 1822, no one could read Egyptian hieroglyphs!"

They were trying to explain the pre-Christian parallels in such a way that even Christian authorities would understand. Justin Martyr did something similar around 150ce in his first apology:

"And when we say also that the Word, who is the first-birth of God, was produced without sexual union, and that He, Jesus Christ, our Teacher, was crucified and died, and rose again, and ascended into heaven, we propound nothing different from what you [PAGANS] believe regarding those whom you esteem sons of Jupiter...."

The parallels do not have to be exact carbon copies and, in fact, it's absurd to expect them to be. These concepts have evolved over time with similarities and differences due to environment, culture and era. The point is that the CONCEPTS existed throughout the Egyptian religion and influenced many religions, including Christianity.

So, what we have today is the same thing that happened to those 19th century scholars connecting the parallels; people like Acharya S and many others getting abused and derogated for trying to explain the Egyptian myths in a format that even Christians could understand. It appears that Christians detest seeing any connections made.

Tat tvam asi explains:

"PS It should be noted that Massey was trying to explain these parallels to Christian audiences and so he made reference to the parallels in Christianity such as the Virgin Birth motif and the motif of the 12 which were a part of the Egyptian religion long before Christianity was created. It was his way of trying to explain it in his day and age. The way that I broke it down previously may better explain the parallels in this day and age with less confusion involved. But nevertheless Massey didn't make these things up and neither has anyone else since. The documentation proves that. And it isn't at all speculative to see parallels between Horus and Jesus as Robert seemed to be suggesting earlier before I posted the documented sources for ZG, it's actually a matter of solid scholarship which is touched on in CiE."

"... In reality, a number of the mythical motifs regarding Horus and other Egyptian deities startlingly resemble characteristics and events attributed to Jesus Christ, indicating that the gospel story is neither original nor historical. As may have been expected, many of these correspondences are not widely and neatly found in encyclopedia entries and textbooks, so they have often been dismissed without adequate study and with extreme prejudice. In my previous work, The Christ Conspiracy, I presented various aspects of the Horus myth out of the hundreds brought to light by Gerald Massey and others. Some of these comparisons are as follows:

• Horus was born on “December 25th” (winter solstice) in a manger.
• He was of royal descent, and his mother was the “virgin Isis-Mery.”
• Horus’s birth was announced by a star in the East and attended by three “wise men.”
• At age 12, he was a child teacher in the Temple, and at 30, he was baptized.
• Horus was baptized by “Anup the Baptizer,” who was decapitated.
• The Egyptian god had 12 companions, helpers or disciples.
• Horus performed miracles, exorcised demons and raised Osiris from the dead.
• The god walked on water.
• Horus was “crucified” between two “thieves.”
• He (or Osiris) was buried for three days in a tomb and resurrected.
• Horus/Osiris was also the “Way, the Truth, the Life,” “Messiah,” the “Son of Man,” the “Good Shepherd,” the “Lamb of God,” the “Word made flesh,” the “Word of Truth,” etc.
• Horus’s personal epithet was “Iusa,” the “ever-becoming son” of the Father. He was called “Holy Child,” as well as “the Anointed One,” while Osiris was the KRST.
• Horus battled with the “evil one,” Set/Seth.
• Horus was to reign for one thousand years.

"... Again, one does not find the Horus myth as above outlined in an ancient Egyptian encyclopedia, such that the creators of the Jesus story merely scratched out the Egyptian names and inserted the Christian ones. Those who have been attempting to explain the creation of the Christ myth have been compelled to back-engineer the story in order to analyze its components and concepts. In other words, in explaining the various mythical motifs used in the gospel story, some have recounted the tale utilizing the original god or gods, in a gospel-like manner in order to express those components."

- Christ in Egypt, "Horus, Sun of God" Chapter, page 43-45

"...Osiris is doubly resurrected as his son Horus, too, and he, too, is eventually raised from the dead by Isis. He is pictured as spanning the dome of heaven, his arms stretched out in a cruciform pattern. As such, he seems to represent the common Platonic astronomical symbol of the sun’s path crossing the earth’s ecliptic. Likewise, the Acts of John remembers that the real cross of Jesus is not some piece of wood, as fools think, but rather the celestial “Cross of Light.” Acharya S. ventures that “the creators of the Christ myth did not simply take an already formed story, scratch out the name Osiris or Horus, and replace it with Jesus” (p. 25). But I am pretty much ready to go the whole way and suggest that Jesus is simply Osiris going under a new name, Jesus,” Savior,” hitherto an epithet, but made into a name on Jewish soil. Are there allied mythemes (details, really) that look borrowed from the cults of Attis, Dionysus, etc.? Sure; remember we are talking about a heavily syncretistic context. Hadian remarked on how Jewish and Christian leaders in Egypt mixed their worship with that of Sarapis (=Osiris)."

- Christ in Egypt, Reviewed by Dr. Robert Price, a biblical scholar with two Ph.D's

Also see, The "Son" of God is the "Sun" of God