A common claim I have heard on the streets, and which is frequently thrown around, particularly during the Christmas and Easter holidays by the Media and militant atheists, is the idea that the Gospel stories are simply copies of ideas from earlier pagan mystery religions. This is another example of something thought to be common knowledge that ends up being common ignorance. The facts and history simply do not hold up. In fact, this is an idea that was first put forward in the early part of the last century and was thoroughly debunked then. However, since the rise of the internet in particular, many people are more apt to grasp at cleverly presented ideas that fit their agendas than to actually follow the facts back to their sources (assuming there are any) to see if they are true. This is very much the case with the Jesus and Pagan Gods stories.
When my friend Brenton Powers (Dwell of Truth Radio) were guests on the Flight 1080 Show on the 1080AM Santa Cruz just before Christmas (we were on December 23rd and December 27th last month), this is a subject that I hoped to touch on, so I spent some time reading and finding good sources I could share. Some of the better ones are below. I hope they are an encouragement to you.
Jesus and Mithras Myth Short Video with Lee Strobel
Zeitgeist Debunked: Jesus Is Not A Copy Of Pagan Gods – Video from Steven Bancarz
Jesus Wasn’t a Pagan God: Debunking Zeitgeist and Religulous – Video from Mike Winger
A Scholarly Response to Zeitgeist the Movie – Long Video from Douglas Hamp
Copycat copout: Jesus was not made up from pagan myths – Article from Creation.Com
Mithra Vs. Jesus – Article from Tekton Apologetics
The Zeitgeist of the ‘Zeitgeist Movie’– Long Article from Ben Witherington
Analysis and Response to Zeitgeist – Long Article from Always Be Ready.com
Is Christmas a Pagan Holiday? – Article from GotQuestions.com
Is Christmas a Pagan Holiday? – Article From Answers in Genesis.com
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