by Derek Murphy

About: Derek Murphy

Recent Posts by Derek Murphy

Jesus Envy: World’s Largest Jesus Statues in Poland, Peru and Brazil still don’t measure up

Monday, June 20, 2011 1 Articles, Modern Culture , , , , Permalink

Apparently Peru's outgoing president Alan García has decided to leave Peru with a parting gift: a "new" world's tallest statue of Jesus, which is basically a carbon copy of Rio's Christ the Redeemer statue. Although García claims it will "bless Peru and protect Lima" others have been more critical. One prominent architect, Augusto Ortiz de Zevallos, called it an "excessive and authoritarian gesture" lacking in "aesthetic, historic or symbolic" significance. But at a planned 37 metres tall, will it ...

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The History of Christmas: Pagan Yule-Tide, Tree Worship and the Real Birthday of Jesus Christ.

Thursday, December 9, 2010 3 Theology No tags Permalink

Christmas is coming! And as the air turn cold and the familiar music starts to play incessantly, everybody is preparing to worship the birth of Jesus. Aren't they? In fact if you're at all literate, and especially if you're a good Christian, you probably know that December 25th is NOT the day that Jesus was born. But you may not know how we got from Jesus to Christmas, why we bring in Christmas trees, light ...

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Recipe for Disaster: Thanksgiving, Passover and the history of racial genocide in the name of God.

Thursday, November 25, 2010 0 Modern Culture No tags Permalink

You might have found this post looking for Tasty Thanksgiving Recipes. At least I hope you did. And while I've got nothing against great food, there's a cultural paradox and continuing violence to history being perpetrated by this Fall Family Holiday. I wrote another post about the real history of thanksgiving recently; but there's a much longer history to the story than what happened after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. As I noted, their ...

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Jesus Proof! 5 Arguments in Favor of the Historical Jesus Christ (and 4 against)

Friday, November 19, 2010 6 Christ Myth Theory, Theology No tags Permalink

Arguments in Favor of the Historical Jesus The claim that Jesus was mythological, or not historical, as we have seen has a long history. It has ‘been refuted’ time and again by Christian apologists, who are often exasperated to learn that there are still some people who won’t let it go. The majority of scholars, as well as the general public – whether religious or secular – believe that Jesus Christ was historical (that there was ...

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I’ll be back: Jesus’ Virgin Birth, Easter Eggs and the Terminator

Friday, November 12, 2010 2 Pagan Christs No tags Permalink

Jesus' Virgin Birth, Chicken and Egg The birth of Jesus from Mary the Virgin is a riddle, a mystery. Either God came down like Zeus as the Holy Spirit (God comes as a dove, Zeus as a swan) or Celsus was right claiming Jesus was fathered by a Roman soldier. It's just a miracle, to be accepted on Faith. But when you look into other mythologies, the virgin birth becomes clear, understandable - even necessary. This is ...

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Mary’s Vulva: Jesus Christ, Vesica Pisces and the Christian Fish Symbol

Friday, November 12, 2010 9 Christ Myth Theory, Did Jesus exist?, Theology No tags Permalink

Many of the stories in the biblical gospel stories have mathematical significance, like the name of Jesus, and use numbers to convey sacred geometrics. Jesus often says things like, “Let those who have ears, hear!” or “Let those who have eyes, see!” alluding to the need to seek a deeper interpretation for his parables. He also chastises his apostles frequently for not understanding the actual significance behind his stories. One example is the appearance of Jesus ...

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St. Paul’s Mysteries abolish the Law: Was Paul’s Jesus a Pagan God?

Thursday, November 11, 2010 7 Did Jesus exist? , Permalink

The Jewish mystery cult, a greater spiritual synthesis than even the mighty and popular Sarapis, was immediately popular. It was fueled by both the desires and needs of the Jewish people in the diaspora, and the lust for a greater and more powerful magical name. It also allowed Jews to integrate more fully into their cosmopolitan pagan environment. The Galatians received him “as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus” (Gal 4:14). At the same time, ...

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In the name of God: Jesus, Christianity and ritual incantation of magical words with secret power

Wednesday, November 10, 2010 0 Did Jesus exist? , Permalink

Another trend that is necessary to understand in the formation of Christianity is the widespread use of magic – most exceptionally divination. “I see no race of men,” wrote Cicero, “however polished and educated, however brutal and barbarous, which does not believe that warnings of future events are given and may be understood and announced by certain persons.” (qtd. Glover 16) Famous oracles such those at Delphi were esteemed and consulted by Emperors and the ...

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The Egyptian Face of Jesus: How the politically created cult of Sarapis reveals Jesus Christ as constructed religious synthesis

Wednesday, November 10, 2010 1 Did Jesus exist? No tags Permalink

If Jesus Christ wasn’t a historical person, where did he come from? Who created him? How does one go about ‘creating’ a god anyway; and who would worship a fiction? To begin with, keep in mind that every figure from mythology, and even many pseudo-historical figures, had to be created by someone. For example, think about the classical Roman gods of Olympus; their complicated stories, romances, and personalities. Were they real? Are they based on a ...

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Jesus and Mithras Revisited: Shared Symbolism between Mithraism and the Higher Christian Mysteries

Wednesday, November 10, 2010 0 Did Jesus exist?, Pagan Christs Permalink

Part of the problem in comparing Christianity to other mysteries is that it retains a very ancient text, while corresponding texts for other traditions were lost (often purposefully destroyed by Christians). And the gospels chosen for the Bible were chosen because they portray a human Jesus, rather than reveal mystery truths (which were not meant to be written down, anyway). In contrast, although a trove of Gnostic gospels was discovered in 1978, much of the ...

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Mad Max and Old Testament: A Shattered Vision of historical greatness

Monday, November 8, 2010 0 Bible Blasphemy No tags Permalink

Mel Gibson’s classic post-apocalyptic movie Mad Max (1979) is a good model for understanding the situation which gave rise to the Old Testament. According to the Bible (if we had no other historical records) all of history was the formation of the covenant between Israel and God. All other cultures were backwards, pagan, demonic, idol worshipers. They were dirty. They had cooties. God came to the Jews and gave them laws, guidance, victories in battle ...

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Jesus Christ and the Deathly Hallows: Christian Symbolism in Harry Potter 7 Movie

Saturday, November 6, 2010 9 Modern Culture , Permalink

While you may be familiar with the more popular public debate between Christians and J.K. Rowling's 'satanic' franchise of books starring a young wizard, Harry Potter (who zealous parents accuse is promoting the use of witchcraft and devil worship to children), the less vocal conversation about Christian symbolism in Harry Potter may have gone under your radar. But if you're a fan of Harry Potter and have paid attention, you can probably guess how the ...

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