| CAUTION: This article and the information it contains is | | | | pick out Christianity as fundamentally different from |
| not for Christians who simply believe and look forward | | | | other ancient Pagan religions. Christianity is an ancient |
| to enjoying a peaceful Easter, which is such a beautiful, | | | | Pagan religion." |
| spiritual holiday. If this is you, please stop reading now. | | | | POCM explains below the reasoning behind the claim |
| If you are still here, this article is for Christians and | | | | that Christianity borrowed ideas from the Pagan |
| non-Christians alike who may be open-mindedly looking | | | | culture around it: |
| for simple facts about the origin of Christianity, and | | | | "When Osiris is said to bring his believers eternal life in |
| want to understand for themselves how Christianity | | | | Egyptian Heaven, contemplating the unutterable, |
| may have come about, and maybe what Jesus was | | | | indescribable glory of God, we understand that as a |
| really trying to tell us, beyond the myths and legends of | | | | myth. |
| the Christian institution, and what that institution has | | | | When the sacred rites of Demeter at Eleusis are |
| become. | | | | described as bringing believers happiness in their |
| In addition, this is for the parents of Christian children | | | | eternal life, we understand that as a myth. |
| who want to be relatively certain that their children are | | | | In fact, when ancient writers tell us that in general |
| getting the straight story, because if they aren't, they | | | | ancient people believed in eternal life, with the good |
| will certainly be disillusioned when they become teens | | | | going to the Elysian Fields and the not so good going |
| and learn differently from all the various sources that | | | | to Hades, we understand that as a myth. |
| are out there now. The following are the opinions of | | | | When Vespatian's spittle healed a blind man, we |
| POCM, so information in this article should be checked | | | | understand that as a myth. |
| out further for yourself before making any concrete | | | | When Apollonius of Tyana raised a girl from death, we |
| conclusions. | | | | understand that as a myth. |
| POCM claims "ancient Pagans (prior to Jesus) believed | | | | When the Pythia, the priestess at the Oracle at Delphi, |
| in various levels of divinity, with miraculous powers, | | | | in Greece, prophesied, and over and over again for a |
| coming down and going up to its home in the sky. | | | | thousand years, the prophecies came true, we |
| Divine beings cared about people, listened to and | | | | understand that as a myth. |
| answered their prayers. Gave them the power to | | | | When Dionysus turned water into wine, we understand |
| prophesy. Even gave them a better deal in the eternal | | | | that as a myth. |
| life that comes after death." | | | | When Dionysus believers are filled with atay, the Spirit |
| POCM references ancient sources and invites people | | | | of God, we understand that as a myth. |
| to decide for themselves if the Christian godman story | | | | When Romulus is described as the Son of God, born |
| is similar to Pagan godman stories. In other words, | | | | of a virgin, we understand that as a myth. |
| POCM suggests that the original Christian Church | | | | When Alexander the Great is described as the Son of |
| fathers collected all the current myths and spiritual | | | | God, born of a mortal woman, we understand that as |
| ideas of the time and created a Christ myth. POCM | | | | a myth. |
| says, "The ideas came first. The facts came later. The | | | | When Augustus is described as the Son of God, born |
| facts were made up to fit the ideas.... although we | | | | of a mortal, we understand that as a myth. |
| imagine that the meaning of Jesus comes from the | | | | When Dionysus is described as the Son of God, born |
| facts about Jesus, the truth has to be the other way | | | | of a mortal woman, we understand that as a myth. |
| around. Back at the very beginning, the facts about | | | | When Scipio Africanus (Scipio Africanus, for Christ's |
| Jesus were adjusted to fit with the meaning of Jesus." | | | | sake) is described as the Son of God, born of a mortal |
| In other words, Jesus was not the only one who | | | | woman, we understand that as a myth. |
| professed to be the son of God in those days. This | | | | So (why) when Jesus is described as the Son of God, |
| has relevance because the main sticking point of | | | | born of a mortal woman, according to prophecy, |
| Christianity, and one that makes Christianity so divisive | | | | turning water into wine, raising girls from the dead, and |
| regarding other religions, is their belief that Jesus is truly | | | | healing blind men with his spittle and setting it up so His |
| the son of God, and therefore no other religion has | | | | believers got eternal life in Heaven contemplating the |
| relevance. But what if Jesus was not the son of God? | | | | unutterable, indescribable glory of God, and off to |
| Then Christians may pay more attention to what he | | | | Hades for the bad folks, (why is that) not a myth? |
| taught about compassion and caring, rather than His | | | | And (why), in a culture with all those Sons of God, |
| authority of being a divine. This would make a big | | | | where miracles were science, where Heaven and Hell |
| difference in Christian attitudes and foster an | | | | and God and eternal life and salvation were in the |
| openness, rather than judgmentalism, toward other | | | | temples, in the philosophies, in the books, were dancing |
| religions. It would be a peaceful thing, and Christians | | | | and howling in street festivals, (why do) we imagine |
| could truly become Peacemakers, as Jesus suggested | | | | Jesus and the stories about him developed all on their |
| in His Sermon on the Mount. | | | | own, all by themselves, without picking up any |
| POCM goes on to say "real Pagan-Christian similarities | | | | (material) from the culture they sprang from, the |
| are not details of the myths. Each ancient religion had | | | | culture full of the same sort of (material)? |
| its own myths. No other Pagan godman was born on | | | | POCM answers these questions by looking at what |
| December 25th, in a manger, with a virgin mother | | | | ancient people wrote about ancient religion. What the |
| named Mary, and shepherds outside singing. What | | | | ancient evidence will show you is that ancient western |
| Pagan religions shared with each other and with | | | | culture had conventional ideas about Gods and their |
| Christianity was not myths but religious ideas-basic | | | | powers and place in the universe. Christianity adopted |
| notions about the shape of the universe, the human | | | | those ideas. |
| soul and its eternal destiny, and about Gods and their | | | | According to POCM, "Christianity is a product of its |
| powers and place in the universe. The Christian and | | | | time and place. Christianity is an ancient Pagan religion." |
| Pagan myths are similar because they were made up | | | | But what about Jesus the man, aside from Christianity |
| to fit religious ideas that are similar. There is no | | | | the institution. What was Jesus trying to teach us? |
| consistent, reasoned analysis of the evidence that can | | | | |