Heretical musings on religion and culture from a literary scholar
One of the literary threads I hope to investigate in the future is the tie between vampirism and the ancient tradition of linking death and marriage together; many religions deal with death as an intimate reunion or marriage with a god of the underworld such as Hades or Dionysus. Much of this symbolism was later preserved in Christianity. The following is a paper I wrote recently for a PhD course on Antigone (by Sophocles) Death, Marriage ...
Did Jesus Christ really resurrect from the grave after three days? Probably not, it turns out. In 2008 archaeologists found a stone tablet that tells of a Jewish rebel hero who died and came back to life after three days. Jesus? No! His name was Simon, and he lived decades before Jesus. What we learn from this is that the Jews already had a template of the messiah that they expected, and they began applying ...
Recently in an online discussion of the historical Jesus and my book Jesus Potter Harry Christ, Hans Andréa from Harry Potter for Seekers responded to a question about Jesus' existence with an insightful commentary. Since I agree with Hans' conclusions regarding how and to what extent Jesus Christ existed or continues to exist, and since I couldn't find his post on Google (does Google index Yahoo group discussions?) I'm reposting it with some comments of ...
The Deathly Hallows Part 2 movie (Harry Potter Eight) is coming out soon. There's been talk that Harry Potter is a Christ Figure. They've got it backwards: Jesus Christ is a Harry Potter Figure. Harry Potter Refutes Historical Jesus? John Lennon once said The Beatles were more popular than Jesus, a claim that ignited a public relations firestorm. These days, one could easily claim that Harry Potter is also more popular than ...
Much of the material on this website concerns my continuing research into Christian traditions and the historical Jesus Christ: who was Jesus, really? Is there any evidence for his existence? What started the Christian movement? Although the debate continues, and it is impossible to "prove" that Jesus never existed, it is fair to say that the vast majority of both Christians and non-believers alike have a picture of Christian beginnings which has no basis in ...
From Faith to History "Before God and before Christ Jesus who is to be judge of the living and the dead, I charge you, in the name of his appearing and of his kingdom: proclaim the message and, welcome or unwelcome, insist on it." 2 Timothy 4 Believing that Jesus Christ was a radically new kind of savior, Christians were excited to spread the word. Obeying the scriptures and the commands of the church fathers, many gave ...
"Many were led astray by reading the allegorical contents of the scriptures literally in the method of the Pharisees and Sadducees" Eusebius, Ecclestical History I believed in Santa Claus until I was nearly thirteen years old. Like my friends, I'd been brought up to think of him as a real person, who made his rounds on a sled pulled by magic reindeer. One day in my parent's kitchen, my best friend told me the truth. His ...
Finally we get to the crucial question: if Jesus was mythological, how and why did people ever start to imagine that he was a historical person? The answer is accidentally preserved in the biblical "Acts of the Apostles" and in the letters of Paul. The New Testament is arranged to appear chronological: the four gospels present the story of Jesus' ministry, Acts of the Apostles narrates the adventures of the disciples, and the letters of Paul ...
A lot of the articles I've provided so far have been background information, which is indispensable for first becoming aware of the possibility of the mythological Jesus, and then developing the ability to recognize him within the available evidence. I recognize that the material I've provided so far, while educational and fascinating, may still be dismissed as conjecture or fabrication by those who refuse to believe in the mythological Jesus Christ. However, as we approach the ...
In the last article we discovered how many creations myths include the icon of a serpent which divided the polarities - an idea inspired by the constellation Draco spinning over the north pole. In this article, I want to focus on the philosophy of expansion and retraction - how religious traditions portrayed the "fall" with holy icons and symbols, and how they developed theories of salvation as a means to return to the original unity. This ...
In the last section we examined how the basic biographical details of Jesus Christ can be traced to an ancient story about the sun. For many Christians, however, the biography of Jesus is not the important part anyway - it is his role as mediator, his divine sonship, and his sacrifice for our sins that sum up the real purpose and message of Christ's ministry. These are powerful spiritual ideas which cannot be removed even ...
Before King Herod tried to find and kill the infant Christ, who was smuggled safely into Egypt, a Pharaoh tried to kill the infant Moses, who also survived. Both returned to triumph over their adversaries. Before either of them came Horus and many others, all based on the sun myth. In the most recent adaptation of this story, the infant Harry Potter survived an attack from his enemy Voldemort, went into hiding, and likewise came ...
If you're interested in religious mythology, astrological symbolism, or supernatural folklore, grab my book Gods of Myth and Man. You can go buy it on Amazon.
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