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Chapter 17 : Christianity - By Stealth and Steel

Part Two: The Composite Origins of Christianity

Christianity is a composite religion, consisting of mixtures poached and drawn from a number of different cults, sub-cults and philosophical ideas which in most cases had been around for far longer than the Bible itself. Some of the true origins of these major strands which are often thought of as being purely Christian are:

- The Biblical story of Noah and the flood is a copy of the fictional story of a flood in the Sumerian novel, the Epic of Gilgamesh, which dates from 2000 BC.

'Madonna and Child' - Stolen from Pagan Religions
The 'Madonna and Child' theme thought of as exclusively Christian, was in fact stolen from earlier White religions, notably the much older Egyptian cult of Isis and Horus (see chapter 8). Above left, an Ancient Egyptian statue from the 19th Dynasty(1295-1186 BC), predating Christianity by well over 1000 years, showing the 'Madonna and Child' theme with Isis and Horus. Center, this Classical Greek mosaic, predating the advent of Christianity, shows the Greek mythological character, Dionysus, as a holy child. This theme was taken up into Christianity, as per the 'Madonna and Child' portrait, above right.

- Many of the Old Testament laws, in particular the "eye for an eye" law were taken from the Sumerian Code of Hammurabi (1750 BC). The "eye for an eye" law was lifted word for word from Hammurabi's Code.

- The concept of monotheism - one god as opposed to many gods - was originally created by the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaton (1350 - 1334 BC) who was the first to declare that there was only one god, the Sun God. It is beyond dispute that this concept formed the basis of the Jews' monotheism, and from thence absorbed by Christianity.

- The concept of an afterlife and resurrection were derived from the Egyptian cult of Osiris, which was the first resurrection based religion in the world. The belief in an afterlife and resurrection formed the basis of the Egyptian practice of mummification.

- The concepts of heaven and hell and of a galactic battle between the forces of good and evil were originally conceived by the Indo-European religion created by the prophet Zarathustra. It is of significance to note that Heaven and Hell do not feature in the Christian Old Testament, being purely New Testament concepts. The very word Hell was taken from the Indo-European goddess of the underworld, Hel.

- Christmas and Easter were originally White pagan festivities marking, respectively, the longest night of winter, and the start of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Hence the symbolism of Easter (named after the goddess of fertility, Eoster) has to this day remained the egg and the rabbit (symbolizing fertility and spring). The symbolism associated with Christmas - the pine tree and the log fire - are also clearly of Northern Hemisphere origin.

CHRISTIANITY DREW HEAVILY ON MITHRAISM

The main body of Christian belief is in fact not originally Christian at all, and a surprisingly large part of it was drawn from the Persian cult of Mithras, which originated around 2000 BC. Known throughout Europe and Asia by the names Mithra, Mitra, Meitros, Mihr, Mehr, and Meher, the cult spread east through India to China, and reached all parts of the Roman Empire,  from Scotland to the Sahara Desert, and from Spain to the Black Sea. The remains of Mithraic temples can be found  in Britain, Italy, Romania, Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey, Persia, Armenia, Syria, Israel, and North Africa.

The similarities between this pre-Christian religion and Christianity itself are too obvious to ignore:

- Mithras was born of a virgin given the title 'Mother of God'”;

- The Mithraic cult believed in a celestial heaven and a hell;

- The Mithraic cult taught that its followers would have immortality and eternal salvation;

- The Mithraic cult taught that there would be a final day of judgment in which the dead would resurrect, and a final conflict between good and evil that would destroy the existing order;

- The Mithraic cult required its followers to be baptized;

- The Mithraic cult had a ceremony in which followers drank wine and ate bread to symbolize the body and blood of Mithras;

- The Mithraic cult held Sundays as a sacred day;

- The Mithraic cult celebrated the birthday of their god annually on December the 25th;

- The Mithraic cult taught that after their god's earthly mission had been accomplished, he took part in a Last Supper with his companions before ascending to heaven, to forever protect the faithful from above.

(Sources:  Cumont, Franz. Les Mystères de Mithra. Dover Publications, Inc. New York, 1956; Cumont, Franz. The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism. Dover Publications, Inc. New York, 1956.)

OTHER RESURRECTION CULTS

The list of pre-Christian resurrection cults is long: Osiris; Tammuz; Adonis; Balder; Attis; and Dionysus - all of these gods were said to have died and been resurrected. Many classical heroic figures, such as Hercules, Perseus, and Theseus, were said to have been born through the union of a virgin mother and divine father.

It is thus apparent that almost all pagan religions, feasts or practices, which Christianity could not suppress, were simply incorporated into Christianity.

Chapter 18

Main Contents Page

All material (c) copyright Ostara Publications, 1999.

Re-use for commercial purposes strictly forbidden.

Dear Reader: This complete book has been hosted free-of-charge to all users on the Internet since 1999, at private expense, with never any charge being asked. As a result, the hit rate on this site has steadily grown, to the point where it now routinely has more than 1,5 million hits per month. The bandwidth usage costs have now become enormous, but are all still borne privately.

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