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However, even the most cursory study of ancient civilizations and religions will disclose that belief in a resurrected savior god was almost universal in the ancient world. Each of the early civilizations had their own similar traditions and myths. One of the reasons Christianity was able to gain control of Western Civilization was that it was able to incorporate so many of these stories as part of its own mythos. Virtually every one of the stories told about Jesus of Nazareth in the Old Testament was already centuries old at the time they appeared, and could bed found in the holy writings of other religious systems and traditions.

Hinduism is a religion that serves as a striking illustration of this point. The early literary traditions of this religion show that when Christianity came on the scene, they borrowed many of the ideas that devout Hindus had believed for centuries. Hinduism, like Christianity, has its own trinity, resurrected savior, immaculate conception, and countless other related dogmas. The difference is that it predates Christianity by several centuries. Let us examine some of these interesting ideological connections.

Gods descending from heaven and taking human form were a common occurrence in antiquity. The Mahabharata, an epic poem of India, tells us of the birth of Krishna, whose mother was a chaste virgin. This theme is a recurring one, for it is also related in the stories of Buddha, Horus of Egypt, Zoroaster of Persia, Mercury, and even Alexander the Great, all of whom were alleged to have had a god for a father and an earthly mother.
The book of Matthew in the New Testament tells of the star that is supposed to have heralded the birth of Jesus. It is referred to as "his" star. This is significan't, as it illustrates how important astrology was to the ancients; each person was supposed to have been born under a star, and this star became "their" star. When Krishna was born, his star was to be seen in the heavens as well.

The book of Luke in the New Testament tells us that shepherds came to worship the Christ child. Likewise, Krishna is related as having been cradled by shepherds, one of whom recognized him as the Savior, as promised in scripture.

Like Jesus, Krishna is said to have been of royal descent, and born in humble circumstances. Again, this theme is found in other cultures as well, including the stories of Buddha, Horus, and Hercules.

Another story common to both Krishna and Jesus is the "slaughter of the innocents", which is adapted to fit the particular circumstances of time and place of each. The Jesus story refers to King Herod, and is clearly no more than a myth. No contemporary historian or writer refers to it, including Tacitus and Josephus. Josephus in particular, who chronicled virtually every imaginable crime committed by Herod, fails to mention this crucially important incident. Once again, this tale is told of the Buddha, of Abraham, of Zoroaster, and of Cyrus the Great of Persia. Any tale this fantastic said to have happened so many times to so many people must be viewed with the greatest skepticism.

Krishna, like Jesus, is said to have spent his life performing miracles and preaching. Both men are said to have humbled themselves by washing the feet of their disciples. Belief in miracles was virtually universal in the ancient world, and most of the surviving histories incorporate miraculous events as part and parcel of everyday life. The stories told of Jesus in the New Testament are also core components of Hindu mythology: Raising the dead, healing the sick, casting out demons, restoring sight to the blind, etc. Once again, these miracles are also attributed to many other savior gods, including Osiris and Horus, Marduk, and Bacchus.

Miracles are also attributed to actual historical persons, including the Roman emperor Vespasian. Vespasian, who is believed by many modern historians to be the biblical "antichrist" spoken about in Revelation, was said by Tacitus to have cured a blind man and to have healed another who was lame.

Here we see an actual contemporary historian referring to miraculous events and performances by a known historical figure. Should we believe him? If not, then on what grounds can it be claimed that we should believe the miracles attributed to Jesus.

Faith surely is nothing more than wishful thinking.

To accept the absurd tales of any religion is to turn ones back on reason. The early church fathers recognized this, and were strongly anti-reason in their writings. For example, St. Tertullian in the second century CE said "I maintain that the son of god died: Well, that is wholly credible because it is monstrously absurd. I maintain that after having been buried, he rose again: And that I take to be absolutely true, because it was manifestly impossible."

One of the first miracles allegedly performed by Jesus was the curing of a leper. The same story was told, centuries before, of Krishna.

Both Krishna and Jesus were said to have been crucified, resurrected, and to have told their followers that they would one day return to save humanity. The idea of making amends by sacrificing a god was an ancient one, which predated both Hinduism and Christianity. The Rig-Veda, which is the earliest of Hindu texts, speaks of the sacrifice of Purusha, the primeval male. The idea the humankind can be redeemed from sin through the sufferings of a primeval god is the culmination of primitive humanitys belief that gods demand some kind of sacrifice or appeasement, either to atone for some imagined sin, or else to appease the god to ensure that no calamity will befall the tribe. The manifest irrationality of this idea was not lost on some of the ancient writers, notably the Roman poet Ovid, who wrote "what folly it is to expect salvation from the death of another."

Some of the early depictions of Krishna depict him with holes in his hands and feet, and even with a gash in his side.

Both Matthew and Luke inform us that, at the time of Jesus death, the earth turned dark. Likewise, the same thing was said about Krishna. Once again, this story is found in other religious mythologies, and it was even said of Alexander the Great.

Finally, the crowning touch to all these ancient stories finds the crucified savior rising miraculously from the dead. This too is a recurring theme, as we find it in the myths told of Krishna, Jesus, Tammuz, Zoroaster, and Quetzalcoatl. Both the Christian and Hindu savior is believed to return as a warrior riding a white horse, according to their respective religions holy book..

Faced with these facts, Christian apologists have come up with a number of rationalizations. One of the most amusing is the idea that the devil created Krishna (and the other resurrected savior gods that preceeded Jesus) in order to confuse people. Another rationalization is that these earlier saviors were "pre-figures" of Christ, a sort of dress-rehearsal for the real thing. If nothing else, these rationalizations illustrate the ridiculous lengths Christians will go to in order to "prove" their faith.

When one studies these mythologies, and observes their striking parallels, the actions of the early Christian church, once it came to a position of dominance, become quite clear. Suppression, book burnings, the elevation of blind faith over reason, and intolerance for any kind of dissent, became its defining characteristics. The Church ruled Europe with an iron fist for centuries. We call this period "The Dark Ages." It should now be obvious why.

REFERENCES:
1) Bible Myths and Their Parallels in Other Religions by T.W. Doane. Copyright 1882, re-printed by Health Research, Mokelumne Hill, CA 1985.
2) The Worlds Sixteen Crucified Savior Gods by Kersey Graves. Copyright 1875, re-printed by the Truth Seeker Company, 1960.
3) A Guide to the Gods, by Richard Carlyon. Published by Quill, New York, 1981.

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