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For years people who desperately want to discredit the Bible have claimed that Christianity is modeled from different religions from around the world. This is simply not the case, but if there are similarities what does it prove?

Take for example the similarities of two of the Presidents of the United States; Lincoln and Kennedy: 1

Both were elected to congress in 46’ and became president in 60’. Lincoln in 1846 & 60,

Kennedy in 1946 & 60.

Both had a lazy eye which wandered.

Both had a child die while living in the white house.

Both were shot on a Friday before a major holiday. Lincoln before Easter and Kennedy

before Thanksgiving.

Both were shot from behind in the head. Both of their wives cradled their husband’s head

afterward.

John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln from inside a theater and ran into a warehouse. Lee

Harvey Oswald shot Kennedy from inside a warehouse and into a theater.

Lincoln was shot in the Ford Theater, in box seven. Kennedy was shot in a Ford car,

in car seven in the motorcade.

Both murderers were killed before going to trial.

According the information above, Bible skeptics would have to conclude that President Kennedy is a fictional character based on President Lincoln. This is the logic that they use to “prove” that Christianity is a copy cat religion.

Even if some of the information above were to be false, it still wouldn’t matter to the skeptics in the case of Christianity. The two presidents may have some things in common, but they led completely different lives. Similarity is by no means evidence of forgery.

When the research is done one finds that these so called “similarities” between Christianity and other religions are not even that similar. The accusers go to great lengths to form commonalities from pagan and mystery religions. For example, the skeptics charge that the virgin birth was borrowed from other stories. Upon researching these mythologies one will discover that they portray the gods having sexual intercourse to procreate. And such is the case with many of the other so called similarities.

Your life may be quite similar to a number people all across the world. You may have had experienced a similar childhood, circumstances, lifestyle, life events. You may have made coincidental personal decisions, but does this make you a myth or copied from someone else?

What about the Egyptian god Osiris? This guy was killed and later given new life but he

was not necessarily resurrected. He was cut up into fourteen pieces and they were scattered

all around the earth. The goddess Isis puts the pieces back together, he then received new

life and from then on he remained in the underworld. But this does not imply that he rose

from the dead.

For a time afterward, Egyptians identified kings with Osiris at death and lived in an

afterlife. The Encyclopedia Britannica states:

“The process of becoming Osiris, however, did not imply resurrection, for even Osiris did

not rise from the dead. Instead, it was the assumption of immortality, both in the next world and

through one’s descendants on Earth.” 2

Some religions incorporate the belief of reincarnation which involves some type of rebirth in a new body which could be human, an animal, or an insect. This idea is totally different from Christianity where as Christ is resurrected in the same immortal body.

What we know about earlier pagan myths are that they are just that: myths. There is no evidence that supports these mythological events took place. There are no eyewitnesses or historical figures or documents involved in the stories. On the contrary, the New Testament is filled with eyewitness testimony and historical people which is supported by non-Christian sources.

C.S. Lewis, a myth writer, asserts that the New Testament is not the stuff of legends. He writes,

“All I am in private life is a literary critic and historian, that’s my job,”…”And I’m prepared to say on that basis if anyone thinks the Gospels are either legends or novels, then that person is simply showing his incompetence as a literary critic. I’ve read a great many novels and I know a fair amount about the legends that grew up among early people, and I know perfectly well the Gospels are not that kind of stuff.” 3

Non-Christian testimony and the empty tomb of Jesus cannot be explained by the “copy cat” theory. Nor does it explain why a small band of Jewish men who traveled far and wide, and claimed they saw a risen Christ, had themselves killed for what they believed to be true. Would you die for what you knew was a myth?

What about Mithraism? It is often alleged by skeptics that the story of Jesus is taken

from the myth of Mithras, the god of sunlight. This Persian religion dates roughly back to

1400 B.C., yet there are different versions of this story. The Persian version of Mithras is

depicted as being born from a rock, while wearing a Phrygian cap and carrying a torch

and knife.

He later kills a white bull as a sacrifice and which became the ground of life for the

human race.4 Mithras himself was not the sacrifice and the bull’s death wasn’t for the

atonement of anything, it provided sustenance for vegetation on the earth.

There is a religious meal involved in the Mithras story; after he kills the bull he enjoys

a celebratory feast with the sun god. This is compared to Jesus’ “last supper”, however

Mithras’ meals takes place after he kills the bull.

Jesus’ meal was before His crucifixion. There is no basis for comparison because it is only logical that if someone is going to die, he or she will eventually have a last meal at one point in time before death. This is an example of how such commonalities are formed.

Mithras later resurfaced in the Roman version as the central figure of what was primarily a military cult which was followed by Roman soldiers. There is no reference of twelve disciples in the Persian version. It is a fact that Mithras is said to have done miracles before Jesus. However, this argument holds no weight because miracles are mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures which were done by Moses.

Any similarity between Jesus and Mithras came after Christianity which is written in Roman texts. Christianity has influenced first century Mithrasim and not vice versa.

Christianity is actually the fulfillment of Judaism and its prophecies which describes the details of the Jewish Messia. Erwin W. Lutzer writes,

“We can confidently say that Christianity did not borrow its teachings about Jesus from the legends of Mithras that were popular in ancient Rome. For one thing, the Old Testament predicted the life, death and resurrection of Jesus hundreds of years before the superstitions of Mithras surfaced. In the book of Isaiah, written about seven centuries before Christ, we find prophecies about Jesus’ virgin birth (7:14), his beatings (52:14), and his crucifixion (53:1-11). In the Psalms we have a preview of his resurrection (16:10)… Remarkably, the Old Testament and the New Testament fit together like a hand and glove.” 5

There are many other myths that Christianity is compared to, but just like in the case of Osiris and Mithras, these stories don't have the historical evidence supporting them. Christianity is based on logic, eyewitness testimony, historical evidence, and an empty tomb.

What about Christmas and Easter? Click here for more information.