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ZEITGEIST REFUTED
RESPONSE TO ZEITGEIST PART ONE: "THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD"
[THE TRANSCRIPT]
by
Elliott Nesch
INTRODUCTION
Zeitgeist the movie is a documentary film released online and on DVD in 2007. For a time the film reached the top of the chart of "most viewed" videos available through Google video. The sequel Zeitgeist Addendum was released in 2008 and a third Zeitgeist film is expected in 2010. The films have generated a popular movement being viewed by 50 million people worldwide ("Zeitgeist, the Movie." March 31, 2009. available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeitgeist_The_Movie#cite_note-IMDBprof-0).
The movie Zeitgeist has three parts which present Christianity, the September 11 attacks and the US Federal Reserve Bank as being instruments for social control and world dominion. However, these three topics are not equally valid as this film will show.
JESUS MYTHERS EXPOSED
FROM ZEITGEIST THE MOVIE:
The early civilizations did not just follow the sun and stars, they personified them with elaborate myths involving their movements and relationships. [S5] [M] The sun, with its life-giving and -saving qualities was personified as a representative of the unseen creator or god...[M]"God's Sun,"[M] the light of the world, the savior of human kind.[S6] Likewise, the 12 constellations represented places of travel for God's Sun and were identified by names, usually representing elements of nature that happened during that period of time. For example, Aquarius, the water bearer, who brings the Spring rains.[S7] [M] [D]
It is true that ancient civilizations always venerated the sun. The chief god in most pantheons is the sun god. However, Zeitgeist implies here that Jesus, the only begotten Son of God is an outgrowth of God's sun (S-U-N). God's Son (S-O-N) and Sun (S-U-N) are homophones but his point cannot be made in other languages so the point is invalid.
HORUS
They bring up Horus. First of all, there are no original citations from Egyptian records pre-dating the New Testament to support these ideas listed in books by authors including Albert Churchwood, Acharya S, Gerald Massey, and Thomas Doane. Secondly, this is a far too simplistic representation of the myths surrounding Horus. In reality, there are many versions. There were originally several different gods known by the name Horus (Miller, Glenn. "Good Question. . . Was Jesus Christ just a Copy Cat Savior Myth?" available: www.christian-thinktank.com/copycat.html). It seems Zeitgeist is trying to make a parallel between Set or Seth and Satan. Besides both of these figures being evil and staring with the letter "s" in English, there is no parallel.
December 25th
The birth on December 25th can be immediately dismissed as irrelevant because nowhere in the Bible do we find any reference to the birth of Jesus being on December 25th. Nor do we find the birth of Horus on December 25th but in the month of khoiak or July 15th. ("Pagan Daily Calendar." available: http://people.tribe.net/jdoggiedogg/blog/f783a916-8c2f-481e-81a9-ace884ff22e4).
Obviously Jesus was not born in December or any time in the winter, for that matter, because we read in the Gospel of Luke chapter 2:7,8 that there were shepherds watching over their flocks at night. Jesus was most likely born in late spring or early autumn as most scholars agree.
This date of December 25th was chosen about 300 years after the origins of Christianity in AD 354 by Roman Bishop Liberius of the Roman Catholic church based on pagan thought and coinciding with the pagan sun-god worship observance of the Winter Solstice (Sheifler, Michael. "Pagan Sun Worship and Catholicism." These Times. May, 1982. available: http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/xmas.htm) and the Roman tradition of Saturnalia rather than on biblical truth (McCollister, John C. "The Christian Book of Why."Middle Village, NY: Jonathan David Publishers, 1983.). Regardless of how many professing Christians celebrate it, December 25th has absolutely nothing to do with Jesus. This is why many Christians do not celebrate Christmas because it is irrelevant to the Bible and rooted in pagan practice.
Born of the Virgin Isis-Meri
Regarding Isis being known as Isis-Meri, there is no scholarly information to substantiate this claim.
There is also no evidence that Isis was a virgin in the myth. Seth dismembered Osiris and Isis put his dead body back together and had intercourse with it. Translated from the Hymn of Osiris, the myth distinctly says Isis, "drew from him his essence" (http://www.studiosession.net/db1430/osiris-isis.html). Various Egyptian Scholars state very clearly that Isis was not a virgin when she gave birth to Horus as Mary was when she gave birth to Jesus. For example, Francoise Dunand states,
"After having sexual intercourse, in the form of a bird, with the dead god she restored to life, she gave birth to a posthumous son, Horus" (Dunand, Francoise / Zivie-Coche. Gods and Men in Egypt, p. 39. available: http://www.bringyou.to/apologetics/HORUS.htm).
Richard Wilkinson, author of Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt, states,
"Through her magic Isis . . . became pregnant by him [Osiris], eventually giving birth to their child, Horus." (Wilkinson, Richard. Complete gods and goddesses of Ancient Egypt, p. 146. available: http://www.bringyou.to/apologetics/HORUS.htm).
Star in the East
As for the "star in the east" claim, there is no such myth in the Horus story. There is no evidence in Egyptian astrotheology that they assigned the alignment of Sirius, the star in the east, to signify the birth of Horus (Frazer, J.G. Adonis, Attis, Osiris. 1961. Also: http://www.tektonics.org/copycat/osy.html).
3 Kings
Neither is there mention of any kings of any number (Frazer, J.G. Adonis, Attis, Osiris. 1961. Also: http://www.tektonics.org/copycat/osy.html). Even if Zeitgeist was right about this claim, it is irrelevant because the Bible does not number the men that came to Jesus' birth, nor were they kings.
The Bible simply states,
"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem . . . And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh," (Matthew 2:1,11).
These were not kings as Zeitgeist claims, but the men were "magi" or wise men. Nowhere does it say in the Bible that the wise men were three in number, this is purely tradition which is just as poorly researched as the same misinformed idea that appears on Christmas cards.
Teacher at Age 12
Horus becoming a teacher at age 12 is nowhere to be found in the accounts of Horus. There is a form known as "Horus the Child" but he wasn't a prodigal teacher. He was kept hidden away in the papyrus marshes by his mother, until he was ready to be ruler of Egypt (http://www.bringyou.to/apologetics/HORUS.htm).
Baptized at Age 30 by Anup
In addition, no bibliographic material suggests Horus had a "ministry," much less at the age of 30. Nor was he baptized by Anup. The character Anup (also known as Anubis or Anpu) means Royal Child and is usually depicted as a jackal-headed or a wild dog-headed man. Anubis was the lord of embalming, and through this is connected with incense and perfumery, but not baptism (http://www.bringyou.to/apologetics/HORUS.htm).
12 Disciples
Neither are there any statements to the effect that Horus had 12 disciples. Mention of Horus' followers are in the translation of the Liturgy of Funeral Offerings, the fourth ceremony (http://www.sacred-texts.com/egy/lfo/lfo009.htm). Acutally, Horus had four followers called Heru Shemsu (http://www.kingdavid8.com/Copycat/JesusHorus.html). There is another reference to a group of 16 followers of Horus known as Mesnui or blacksmiths (http://athousandtongues.wordpress.com/). While 16 minus 4 is 12, this cannot be the intention of Zeitgeist. The total number of followers here is 20, not 12.
Performed Miracles such as Healing Sick and Walking on Water
In regard to performing miracles, there was some magic associated with Horus, but this is with Horus the Child, not with Horus the Elder or his adult forms. From the Routledge Dictionary on page 79 and following, we find that Horus-the-child acted as an amuletic force warding off dangerous creatures such as crocodiles, serpents, and other beasts. "Horus-on-the-Crocodiles" was a common manifestation of the importance of Horus in healing ritual. The power of this healing seems to come from his mother, Isis, who was indeed the "goddess of immense magical power." (http://www.bringyou.to/apologetics/HORUS.htm). It is not unusual to find reference to miracles in reading any ancient or modern-day literature. Nevertheless, we do not find one miracle that Jesus did in the Horus story. Horus did not walk on water as the narrator claims, but was thrown into the water (Holding, J.P. "Walk Like an Egyptian." available: http://www.tektonics.org/copycat/osy.html).
Known as the Truth, the Light, God's Anointed Son, the Good Shepherd, the Lamb of God
There is no evidence for these names of Horus in the mythical accounts. He was known as other titles, however: Horus the Child was known by magical titles such as "Horus-on-the-Crocodiles"; Horus as son of Isis and Osiris was known as "pillar of his mother"; "savior of his father"; and Horus as a sun-god was also known as "lord of the sky"; god "of the east"; Horus of "the horizon"; and later associated with Re (http://www.bringyou.to/apologetics/HORUS.htm).
In the fourth dynasty, the king, the living god, may have been one of the greatest gods as well, but by the fifth dynasty the supremacy of the cult of Re, the sun god, was accepted even by the kings. The Horus-king was now also "son of Re" not the Son of God (Miller, Glenn. "Good Question. . . Was Jesus Christ just a Copy Cat Savior Myth?" available: www.christian-thinktank.com/copycat.html). None of the titles for Horus listed in Zeitgeist are recognized by any Egyptologist.
Crucified, Buried for 3 Days and Resurrected
Horus was not crucified, buried for three days or resurrected for that matter. In some versions, Horus had one or both of his eyes injured, but he was not killed, and it was his father Osiris who was killed, dismembered, reconstituted, and revived by Isis, his magical mother (http://www.bringyou.to/apologetics/HORUS.htm). Furthermore, death by crucifixion was not invented until long after the origins of the myths of Horus.
From the earliest times, the god was depicted as a bird or falcon whose eyes are the sun and the moon and whose breath is the cooling north wind manifested in different birds and species (Frankfort). Does this look like Jesus?
Again, there are no primary Egyptian records prior to the New Testament to support the resemblances of Jesus and Horus.
ATTIS
Born of a Virgin on December 25th
Next is Attis. Again, December 25th is irrelevant.
Concerning the "virgin birth" claim, the Olympian gods, or Zeus, cut off the male organ and cast it away. There grew up from it an almond-tree, and when its fruit was ripe, Nana picked an almond and laid it in her bosom. The almond disappeared, and she became pregnant. Nana abandoned the baby Attis. ("Attis." available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attis). This is hardly a parallel to the biblical account, but a desperate exaggeration.
Crucified
After Attis was tended by a he-goat, Attis fell in love and was not crucified but castrated himself under a pine tree which in no sense can be seen as death by crucifixion on a tree or cross (http://www.bringyou.to/apologetics/JesusEvidenceCrucifiedSaviors.htm#Attis). Another version also confirms that Attis was not placed in a tomb and resurrected but was reborn as an evergreen pine tree ("Attis." available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attis).
Placed in a Tomb and Resurrected after 3 Days
Then Cybele restored Attis to life. Many critics refer to this as the "resurrection of Attis" though there is no mention of a tomb or a three day period.
Additionally, apologetics author Charlie Campbell states,
"The alleged resurrection of Attis isn't even mentioned until after 150 A.D., long after the time of Jesus." ("Zeitgeist: Analysis and Response." available: http://www.alwaysbeready.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=124&Itemid=107)
Furthermore, Dr. Walter Burkert, a Greek religion scholar and author stated,
"There is no evidence for a resurrected Attis, even Osiris remains with the dead (Burkert, Walter. "Ancient Mystery Cults." (Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London: Harvard University Press, 1987), 75.)."
As the Princeton theologian J. Gresham Machan points out,
“The myth contains no account of a resurrection; all that Cybele [the Great Mother goddess] is able to obtain is that the body of Attis should be preserved, that his hair should continue to grow, and that his little finger should move.” (http://www.answertheskeptic.com/index.php/the-zeitgeist-fraud/2008/10/16).
Dr. Ronald Nash adds,
"It was only during the later Roman celebrations (after A.D. 300) of the spring festival that anything remotely connected with a "resurrection" appears." (Nash, Ronald. Was the New Testament Influenced by Pagan Religions. available: http://www.confidentchristians.org/resources_tqra/Was%20the%20New%20Testament%20Influenced%20by%20Pagan%20Religions%20and%20myths.pdf).
KRISHNA
Born of a Virgin Devaki on December 25th
Concerning Krishna, in Joseph Campbell's book Occidental Mythology, page 342, he stated,
"Krishna, whose terrible uncle, Kansa, was . . . the tyrant-king. The savior's mother, Devaki, was of royal lineage, the tyrant's niece, and at the time when she was married the wicked monarch heard a voice, mysteriously, which let him know that her eighth child would be his slayer. He therefore confined both her and her husband. . . in a closely guarded prison, where he murdered their first six infants as they came.”
According to this story, the mother Devaki had seven children before Krishna was born. This would not make Devaki a virgin (Miller, Glenn. "Good Question. . . Was Jesus Christ just a Copy Cat Savior Myth?" available: www.christian-thinktank.com/copycat.html).
Distinguished professor of Hinduism in India, Vasudha Narayanan, PhD University of Bombay, said,
"I've never heard of Krishna being born of a virgin either through Sanskrit or vernacular texts, or even folklore. And born on December 25th? Wow. The texts say explicitly he was born on the eighth day of the waning moon in the month that now comes between approximately August 15th and September 14th. . . I can't imagine why people would sit back and cook up all these conspiracies." (Thompson, Keith. "Zeitgeist Part One Exposed," film available on Youtube. 2008).
Star in the East Signaling Coming
The only mention of stars in Krishna's birth within Hindu literature is in the Bhagavata Purana chapter 10.3.1-5,
"Then there was the supreme hour all-auspicious and most suitable with the constellation of Rohinî rising and all the stars and planets in a favorable position. Everywhere was peace, the multitude of stars twinkled in the sky and the cities, towns, pasturing grounds and mines were at their best. . . . The minds of the saintly, oppressed as they had been by the asura [Kamsa and his men], turned perfectly contented when in that situation the kettledrums together resounded with the Unborn One to be born." (http://www.bharatadesam.com/spiritual/bhagavatam/bhagavatam_10a.php)
Twinkling stars in the sky are far from the biblical account of a star in the east signaling Jesus' birth.
Performed Miracles
In the film Zeitgeist, author Edward Carpenter is cited for providing this information on Krishna's supposed miracles and resurrection. Carpenter, in his book Pagan and Christian Creeds, stated,
"To go into the parallelism of the careers of Krishna, the Indian Sungod, and Jesus would take too long; because indeed the correspondence is so extraordinarily elaborate." (Carpenter, 51).
He then cites Robertson's Christianity and Mythology as a reference.
Then Robertson transcribes the outline of the well-known Krishna saga as follows:
"The son of . . . Devaki. . . The two brothers grew up in the midst of the shepherds, slaying monsters . . . Arrived at adolescence, the two brothers put to death Kamsa . . . and Krishna became king. . . He continued to clear the land of monsters. . . After having been present at the death of his brother . . . he himself perished, wounded in the heel . . . by the arrow of a hunter." (Robertson, John Mackinnon. Christianity and Mythology. 1900, p. 141).
Thus, we read in the well-known Krishna saga that there is no virgin birth, no star, and no miracles. The comparisons are not so "extraordinarily elaborate" after all.
Robertson also stated,
"the case in favour of the assumption of Christian priority has been in a general way strengthened by the precise investigation of Hindu literature, which has gone to show that much of it, as it stands, is of far later redaction than had once been supposed." (Robertson, John Mackinnon. Christianity and Mythology. 1900. p. 135).
Thus, Zeitgeist cites Carpenter and Carpenter cites Robertson who admits that Hindu literature is of much later publication then previously assumed and, therefore, any similarities between Christianity and Hinduism were borrowed by the Hindus and not vice versa.
Resurrection
In the long Indian epic poem the Mahabharata book 16, there is an account of the death of Krishna, it reads,
"Having restrained all his senses, speech, and mind, Krishna laid himself down in high Yoga. A fierce hunter of the name of Jara then came there, desirous of deer. The hunter, mistaking Keshava [Keshava and Keshav are alternate names for Krishna from within Hindu tradition] . . . for a deer, pierced him at the heel with a shaft and quickly came to that spot for capturing his prey. Coming up, Jara beheld a man dressed in yellow robes, rapt in Yoga and endued with many arms. Regarding himself an offender, and filled with fear, he touched the feet of Keshava. The high-souled one comforted him and then ascended upwards, filling the entire welkin with splendour" (http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m16/m16004.htm)
Krishna died and ascended, but there is still no resurrection as claims Zeitgeist. It's hard to imagine how this blue indian man with many arms could be mistaken for Jesus, or a deer for that matter.
The only similarity we have here is an ascension which is not even mentioned in Zeitgeist. Even if you do want to take Zeitgeist's premise that the ascension account might have been borrowed, then who borrowed from who? The earliest testimony for the complete text of the Mahabharata dates to the first century AD by the Greek sophist Dion Chrysostom (http://www.gloriousindia.org/mahabharata.php).
DIONYSUS
Born of a Virgin December 25th
Not only is December 25th irrelevant to Jesus' birth, there is also no reference to Dionysus being born on December 25th in any scholarly literature. Even some of Zeitgeist's sources, Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy note that Dionysus' birth was celebrated on January 6th by some in Alexandria, which makes it of no relevance for copycat claims (Holding, J.P. "Dealing Down Dionysus." available: http://www.tektonics.org/copycat/dionysus.html).
Also, the available accounts of Dionysus' birth indicate that Dionysus was not born of a virgin. In the best known myth, Dionysus was born through an affair between Zeus and a princess (Powell, Barry. "Classical Myth." (3rd ed) (Prentice Hall: 2001), 250). In another version Zeus mated with his daughter Persephone and she bore Dionysus (Morford, Mark and Robert Lenardon. "Classical Mythology." (6th ed) (Longman, 1999), 223).
Dr. Edwin Yamauchi, professor of history at Miami University confirms,
"There's no evidence of a virgin birth for Dionysus. As the story goes, Zeus, disguised as a human, fell in love with the princess Semele, the daughter of Cadmus, and she became pregnant. Hera, who was Zeus's queen, arranged to have her burned to a crisp, but Zeus rescued the fetus and sewed him into his own thigh until Dionysus was born. So this is not a virgin birth in any sense." (Strobel, Lee. The Case for the Real Jesus. p. 180).
Traveling Teacher
Indeed, Dionysus was a traveling teacher. At any rate, this is a vague similarity that could be found in most ancient and modern literature concerning any figure with a message to share with others. But there are differences as well. Dionysus wandered the world accompanied with wild women, flush with wine, shoulders draped with a fawn skin whereas Jesus traveled the limited area surrounding Jerusalem providing moral teachings.
Performed Miracles such as Turning Water into Wine
Though there are accounts of Dionysus filling empty vessels with wine, there is no reference to Dionysus turning water into wine as Zeitgeist claimed and it is not surprising that Dionysus performed miracles involving wine since he was the god of wine. One historical study explained,
"the ancient literature . . . says that there was a spring . . . with clear, sparkling, wine-colored, very pleasant-tasting water in which the newly born Dionysus was bathed. Also . . . a spring in the temple . . . flowed with wine. . . [A]t Elis the priests of Dionysus placed three large empty cauldrons in a sealed room to find them filled with wine when they returned the next day. . . However, from these references it is obvious that there are significant differences between the Dionysus legend and the story in John 2: the spring . . . flowed with water, and the one at Andros flowed with wine, not wine that had once been water; and the empty cauldrons in the Elis temple were filled with wine rather than water subsequently changed into wine, key elements in John's story. These differences have convinced most scholars that John or his tradition is not dependent on the Dionysus legend for this story" (Twelftree, Graham H. "Jesus the Miracle Worker: A Historical and Theological Study." (IVP:1999), 192.).
Research professor Dr. Donald A Carson wrote,
"Older attempts to interpret this sign as a Christianized version of the Dionysus myth or of related stories have largely been abandoned in the light of evidence that the alleged parallels are wholly inadequate." (D. A. Carson. The Gospel According to John, 1991. p. 167).
"King of Kings," "God's Only Begotten Son," "The Alpha and Omega"
Zeitgeist's source for these titles of Dionysus, Acharya S, only says, "He was considered the 'Only Begotten Son . . . Alpha and Omega", etc., not that he actually was known by these titles (Acharya S. The Christ Conspiracy. p.112. available: http://books.google.com/books?id=KnIYRi3upbEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=acharya+s&ei=HRjVSaOcPJusMta4rO8C#PPA112,M1). Even then, she has no primary source material for who considered Dionysus by these titles. She has absolutely no source for the title "King of Kings," which is a generic term, in the first place, and secondly, does not even suit Dionysus since Zeus was the head god according to mythology. Nor does the title "Only Begotten Son" suit Dionysus since Zeus had several offspring including Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Persephone, Dionysus, Perseus, Heracles, Helen, Minos and the Muses ("Zeus." available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeus).
Resurrection
In one version Dionysus was saved as a fetus in the underworld and in another version his heart was saved; both the heart and the fetus were brought to Zeus, and Dionysus was born a second time by Zeus making him the twice-born god (Powell, Barry. "Classical Myth." (3rd ed) (Prentice Hall: 2001), 250. Morford, Mark and Robert Lenardon. "Classical Mythology." (6th ed) (Longman, 1999), 223).
James Frazer, author of The Golden Bough, is cited in Zeitgeist for this claim of the resurrection. In terms of rising from the dead, there have been a multitude of ideas: one, a single inscription from Thasos that describes Dionysus as "a god who renews himself and returns every year rejuvenated" but we have no context with which to refer it.
Another idea is that Dionysus went into Hades and came back. There is also a story that Dionysus was chased and persecuted by Lycurgus and descended to the land of the dead, also the heart-rejuvenation above, which in another version has the heart placed in a body made of gypsum. Some have tried to piece together a resurrection story by appealing to a version of the Titan story in which Apollo reeassembled the pieces and buried them. James Frazer goes on to say that
"the resurrection of the slain god is not mentioned, but in other versions of the myth it is variously related" (Frazer, James. The Golden Bough. p. 323).
Yet, Frazer does not mention how it is related. In one version, which has Dionysus as son of Demeter, his pieces are reassembled to make Dionysus young again (which Frazer calls "an eccentric minority variant"). In other versions, "it is simply said that shortly after his burial he rose from the dead and ascended up to heaven; or that Zeus raised him up as he lay mortally wounded; or that Zeus swallowed the heart of Dionysus and then begat him afresh by Semele...[or] the heart was pounded up and given in a potion to Semele, who thereby conceived him." With such an array of options, it may be no surprise that at least one variation bears a superficial resemblance to what happened to Jesus. Still, this vague description does not match with the Jewish concept of resurrection. (Holding, J.P. "Dealing Down Dionysus" available: http://www.tektonics.org/copycat/dionysus.html).
Even Tim Callahan, the skeptic you just saw defending Dionysus, admits there is no crucifixion. Even the skeptic Tim Callahan critiques the movie Zeitgeist saying,
"Perhaps the worst aspect of Part I of Peter Joseph’s Internet film, Zeitgeist, is that some of what it asserts is true. Unfortunately, this material is liberally — and sloppily — mixed with material that is only partially true and much that is plainly and simply bogus. . . . The evidence for Jesus as a real, historical personage, though meager, is solid" ("Tim Callahan's Critique of the Movie Zeitgeist." available: http://debunkingchristianity.blogspot.com/2009/02/tim-callahans-critique-of-movie.html).
MITHRA
Born of a Virgin on December 25th
Mithra is the only one of these pagan gods mentioned that could have conceivably come in contact with Christianity. This was an early Persian religion as early as fourth century BC and later adopted in the Roman Empire in the same general region in which the disciples preached ("Mitra". available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitra#Etymology).
For the last time, December 25th is irrelevant to origins.
As the late Dr. Ronald Nash puts it,
"Mithra was supposedly born when he emerged from a rock." (Nash, Ronald. The Gospel and the Greeks. p. 144).
Unless this rock was a virgin, there is no virgin birth for Mithra.
12 Disciples
The claim of Mithra having 12 disciples comes from Zeitgeist's sources Acharya S, Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy, yet there is no documentation for this claim in their books. Researcher Keith Thompson emailed Acharya S about her claim of a scene of Mithra with 12 disciples, to which she did not respond (Thompson, Keith. "Zeitgeist Part One Exposed," film available on Youtube. 2008.).
In a J.P. Holding article on Mithra, it turns out that his readers also wrote to Acharya asking for specific documentation for this and, again, she did not reply even though she had replied to a prior message a short time before (Holding, J.P. "Texts Outside the Bible." available: http://www.tektonics.org/copycat/mithra.html).
Acharya S, Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy now acknowledge they got this idea of 12 disciples from a scene where Mithra is framed by two vertical rows of six pictures of what seem to be human figures and Mithra in the middle (http://www.well.com/%7Edavidu/marino2005final2_30.jpg) Holding writes,
"they go as far as saying that during the Mirthaic initiation ceremony, Mithraic disciples dressed up as the signs of the zodiac and formed a circle around the initiate. Where they (or rather, their source) get this information about the methods of Mithraic initiation, one can only guess: No Mithraic scholar seems aware of it, and their source, Godwin, is a specialist in "Western esoteric teaching" -- not a Mithraist . . . this carving is (yet again!) significantly post-Christian (so that any borrowing would have had to be the other way)." (Holding, J.P. "Texts Outside the Bible." available: http://www.tektonics.org/copycat/mithra.html).
The reliefs come from the second century AD. Even if these reliefs were dated prior to Christianity, the Iranian Mithras had a single companion, and the Roman Mithra had two helpers which were tiny torch-bearing likenesses of Mithra himself. Mithra also had a number of animal companions: a snake, a dog, a lion, a scorpion -- but not 12 of them. (Holding, J.P. "Texts Outside the Bible." available: http://www.tektonics.org/copycat/mithra.html).
Performed Miracles
Buried for 3 Days and Resurrected
In his book Image and Value in the Greco-Roman World, Richard Gordon writes that there is "no death of Mithras," and thus there is no resurrection of Mithra, nor is there a three day burial.
Zeitgeist sources Freke and Gandy claim that the Mithraic initiates "enacted a similar resurrection scene", (Freke, Timothy. Gandy, Peter. The Jesus Mysteries. p. 56) but their only reference is Tertullian's Prescription Against Heretics, chapter 40 which is also quoted in the Zeitgeist Addendum:
FROM ZEITGEIST ADDENDUM:
Early Church figures, such as Tertullian, went to great lengths to break these associations; even claiming that the devil caused the similarities to occur… stating in 2nd century:
"The devil, whose business is to pervert the truth, mimics the exact circumstance of the Divine Sacraments. He baptizes his believers and promises forgiveness of sins…he celebrates the oblation of bread, and brings in the symbol of the resurrection. Let us therefore acknowledge the craftiness of the devil, who copied certain things of those that be Divine." Tertullian, (155 - 222 AD , CHAP. XL.- THE PRESCRIPTION AGAINST HERETICS. )
Again, this is the source cited by Freke and Gandy who Zeitgeist cites to suggest a resurrection for Mithra. (Freke, Timothy. Gandy, Peter. The Jesus Mysteries. p. 56).
In context, this in no way proves Zeitgiest's point because Tertullian was explaining how Mithraic practices (which were introduced into Roman culture after Christianity) copied Christianity, not that the devil "had the foresight to come before Christ, and create these characteristics in the Pagan world." Mithraic practices were not even in existence in the first century when Christianity began, but they were beginning to emerge in Tertullian's time and, apparently, copying Christian and Jewish beliefs.
The complete passage reads,
"the devil, of course, to whom pertain those wiles which pervert the truth, and who, by the mystic rites of his idols, vies even with the essential portions of the sacraments of God. He, too, baptizes some--that is, his own believers and faithful followers; he promises the putting away of sins by a layer (of his own); and if my memory still serves me, Mithra there, (in the kingdom of Satan,) sets his marks on the foreheads of his soldiers; celebrates also the oblation of bread, and introduces an image of a resurrection." (Tertullian. Prescription Against Heresies. chapter 40. available: http://www.thedyinggod.com/chaldeanmagi/sources/tertullian.html).
Thus, Mithra celebrates and introduces an image of a resurrection which can hardly be seen as a resurrection of Mithra or for initiates. Additionally, Tertullian's writing is significantly after New Testament times!
Dr. Ronald Nash affirms,
"No claim can be made that Mithras was a dying and rising god. The tide of scholarly opinion has turned dramatically against attempts to make early Christianity dependent on the so-called dying and rising gods of Hellenistic paganism. Any unbiased examination of the evidence shows that such claims must be rejected" (Nash, Ronald. "Was the New Testament Influenced by Pagan Religions." available: http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/cri/cri-jrnl/web/crj0169a.html).
"The Truth," and "The Light"
Yet again, Zeitgeist cites Acharya S for the source of these titles being attributed to Mithra, yet she cites no primary documentation for her claim. Researcher J.P. Holding responded to her claims saying,
"I searched through the works of Mithraic scholars, I found none of these applied to Mithra, other than the role of mediator (not, though, in the sense of a mediator between God and man because of sin, but as a mediator between Zoroaster's good and evil gods; we have seen the "sun" identification, but never that title) -- not even the new ones were ever listed by the Mithraic scholars." (Holding, J.P. "Texts Outside the Bible." available: http://www.tektonics.org/copycat/mithra.html).
Sunday Worship
Sunday worship only appears in Roman Mithraism (Cumont, Franz. The Mysteries of Mithra. pp. 190-191), and Acharya S is apparently assuming that what held true for Roman Mithraism also held true for the Iranian Mithraism, but there is no evidence for this idea. It is therefore unlikely that borrowing occurred, but if there was borrowing, it was the other way around (Holding, J.P. "Texts Outside the Bible." available: http://www.tektonics.org/copycat/mithra.html).
Mithraism could not have influenced the Gospel writers because it was not even known to the Roman world at the time of early Christianity. The Encyclopedia Britannica states,
“There is little notice of the Persian god [Mithra] in the Roman world until the beginning of the 2nd century, but, from the year A.D. 136 onward, there are hundreds of dedicatory inscriptions to Mithra. This renewal of interest is not easily explained. The most plausible hypothesis seems to be that Roman Mithraism was practically a new creation, wrought by a religious genius who may have lived as late as c. A.D. 100 and who gave the old traditional Persian ceremonies a new Platonic interpretation that enabled Mithraism to become acceptable to the Roman world” (Article entry: Mithraism 2004 edition).
Though the Bible teaches that Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday and early Christians considered this the Lord's Day, they not only worshipped him on this day of the week but every other day as well as we read in Acts 2:46-47. And the Jews, such as Jesus, worshipped on the Sabbath or Saturday. In the early fourth century, it was Constantine of the Roman Catholic Church who paganized the meaning of this day. His Sunday law of March 7, A.D. 321 read, "On the venerable Day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed." (Codex Justinianus, 1. iii., Tit. 12, 3, trans. in Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, 5th ed. (New York, 1902), Vol. III, p. 380, note 1.).
FROM ZEITGEIST THE MOVIE:
The fact of the matter is there are numerous saviors, from different periods, from all over the world, which subscribe to these general characteristics. The question remains: why these attributes, why the virgin birth on December 25th, why dead for three days and the inevitable resurrection, why 12 disciples or followers? [M]
We must assume that the pagan gods which Zeitgeist gives examples for are the ones for which they have the best documentation. As the viewer has seen, the examples given by Zeitgeist are not impressive.
Conclusions
Taken together with all the debunked information, the parallels Zeitgeist presented in no way explains causation for Christianity. Before AD 100, all of the mystery religions were still mostly confined to localities but after AD 100, they gradually began to attain popularity throughout the Roman Empire. Many writers use the late source material produced in this period (after A.D. 150) to form reconstructions of what they think the cults must have been earlier to their spread in the Roman Empire (Nash, Ronald. "Was the New Testament Influenced by Pagan Religions." Christian Research Journal, Winter 1994, page 8. available: http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/cri/cri-jrnl/web/crj0169a.html).
There are much greater coincidences within lives of modern historical figures such as Jonh F Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln then there are in the similarities Zeitgeist mentions with the historical Jesus and other mythical deities. For example, Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846. John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946. Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860. John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960. Both Presidents were shot in the head on a Friday. Lincoln 's secretary was named Kennedy. Kennedy's Secretary was named Lincoln. Both were assassinated by Southerners and succeeded by Southerners named Johnson. Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808. Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908. Lincoln was shot at the theater named 'Ford.' Kennedy was shot in a car called ' Lincoln ' made by 'Ford.' Lincoln was shot in a theater and his assassin ran and hid in a warehouse. Kennedy was shot from a warehouse and his assassin ran and hid in a theater. Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials. A week before Lincoln was shot, he was in Monroe, Maryland. A week before Kennedy was shot, he was with Marilyn Monroe. Though these similarities between Lincoln and Kennedy are much greater coincidence than any of the similarities Zeitgeist has alleged concerning Jesus and other mythical gods, we do not assert that Kennedy or Lincoln did not exist, as Zeitgeist makes the same kind of argument, but with invalid information.
All of the sources and authors cited for these claims in the film Zeitgeist are not original primary sources, nor do they cite such primary or original material in their bibliographies.
Even the majority of atheists and non-Christian scholars have rejected the idea that Christianity has been borrowed from ancient myths including the well respected Sir Edward Evans Pritchard who wrote,
"The evidence for this theory . . . is negligible." (Ankerberg, John; Weldon, John. "Christianity, the Resurrection of Christ, and the Mystery Religion." available: http://www.johnankerberg.org/Articles/theological-dictionary/TD0304W4.htm, Weldon).
ASTROTHEOLOGY DEBUNKED
FROM ZEITGEIST THE MOVIE:
First of all, the birth sequence is completely astrological. The star in the east is Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, which, on December 24th, aligns with the 3 brightest stars in Orion's Belt. [S60] [M] These 3 bright stars are called today what they were called in ancient times: The Three Kings.[S61] [S62] The Three Kings and the brightest star, Sirius, all point to the place of the sunrise on December 25th.[S63] [M] This is why the Three Kings "follow" the star in the east, in order to locate the sunrise -- the birth of the sun.[S64] [M]
This entire astrological premise is problematic. Not only does Sirius align with the three stars in Orion's belt 365 days a year and not only in December, but they are more or less aligned to the sun for almost all of the winter months. There is nothing at all special about December 25th. In fact, it is by December 25th that Orion is almost totally below the horizon. It would be much more accurate of Zeitgeist if this event was said to happen a month or so earlier.
Again, even if you were to label the three stars in Orion's belt the "three kings," it would be irrelevant to the Bible as is December 25th irrelevant. Though the "magi", not kings, presented three gifts, nowhere do the Bible writers make an issue of there being three of them. Apparently, it was insignificant to the Gospel writers and so it is to us as well.
The Virgin Mary is the constellation Virgo, [S65] also known as Virgo the Virgin. Virgo in Latin means virgin. Virgo is also referred to as the House of Bread [S69] [S70], and the representation of Virgo is a virgin holding a sheaf of wheat. This House of Bread and its symbol of wheat represents August and September, the time of harvest. [D] In turn, Bethlehem, in fact, literally translates to "house of bread". [M] [S71] Bethlehem is thus a reference to the constellation Virgo , a place in the sky, not on Earth.[M] [S72]
Bethlehem indeed means "house of bread." Nevertheless, there is no basis for concluding that Bethlehem was a fictitious place which was fabricated based upon the constellation Virgo in the sky.
The existence of Bethlehem is attested by Biblical and extra-biblical sources. First, the Old Testament authors prior to the first century mention Bethlehem (Ruth 1:1; 1 Samuel 16:4; Micah 5:2).
Also, the Jewish historian Falvius Josephus mentions Bethlehem as the location where King David was anointed to be future king of Israel (Antiquities 8.1).
J.B. Hennessy reports of the archaeological evidence demonstrating that Bethlehem was inhabited during the Iron Age and in the first century. He recorded,
“Perhaps most important has been the isolation, in 1969, of the Iron Age tell. The limits of the Iron Age occupation, while not entirely clear, appear to be on the flat surface and the slopes immediately eath the basilica and to the E. The work was carried out by the Israel Archaeological Society. Bethlehem appears to have been a major area of occupation from the Paleolithic period.” (The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, Supplementary Volume, ed. Keith Crim, Lloyd Richard Bailey, Sr., Victor Paul Furnish, and Emory Stevens Bucke (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1962), 97.).
Former astrologer and author of Spellbound: The Paranormal Seduction of Today's Kids, Marcia Montenegro wrote, "You can't just make a story out of names like Virgo, Leo, Taurus, etc. And why doesn't the story begin with Aries? If it did, then Leo comes before Virgo, yet Leo is supposedly Jesus, the Lion of Judah. It seems it would come after Virgo, not before, in a story." ("Zeitgeist Online Movie: Part One Refuted." available: http://www.preventingtruthdecay.org/nonsolar.shtml).
FROM ZEITGEIST THE MOVIE:
There is another very interesting phenomenon that occurs around December 25th, or the winter solstice. From the summer solstice to the winter solstice, the days become shorter and colder. From the perspective of the northern hemisphere, the sun appears to move south and get smaller and more scarce. The shortening of the days and the expiration of the crops when approaching the winter solstice symbolized the process of death to the ancients. It was the death of the Sun. [S73] By December 22nd, the Sun's demise was fully realized, for the Sun, having moved south continually for 6 months, makes it to it's lowest point in the sky. Here a curious thing occurs: the Sun stops moving south, at least perceivably, for 3 days.[S74] [M] During this 3 day pause, the Sun resides in the vicinity of the Southern Cross, or Crux, constellation.[S75] [S76] [M] And after this time on December 25th, the Sun moves 1 degree, this time north, foreshadowing longer days, warmth, and Spring.[S77]
Anybody with a simple astrology program can confirm for themselves that during the lifetime of Jesus, or in any other time for that matter that when the sun rises it is nowhere near the southern cross. The idea that the sun rises in the southern cross constellation is ridiculous.
Dr. Noel Swerdlow is professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics and the University of Chicago, who also specialized in the study of the practice of astronomy in antiquity through the 17th century, states,
"That Crux, the Southern Cross, was not recognized as a separate constellation in antiquity . . . because, as seen from the Mediterranean, it is low on the southern horizon and is surrounded on three sides by stars of Centaurus, which is a large, prominent constellation, and the four bright stars of Crux are included as stars of Centaurus in Ptolemy's star catalogue. It is only when you go farther to the south, so that Crux is higher in the southern sky, that it becomes prominent as a group of stars by itself, so its recognition had to wait until the southern voyages of the sixteenth century." ("Zeitgeist Online Movie: Part One Refuted." available: http://www.preventingtruthdecay.org/nonsolar.shtml).
Thus, the Southern Cross was not even discovered or recognized until the sixteenth century, long after the first century writers of the New Testament.
And thus it was said: the Sun died on the cross, [D] was dead for 3 days, only to be resurrected or born again.[S78] [S79]This is why Jesus and numerous other Sun Gods share the crucifixion, 3-day death, and resurrection concept. [S80] [M] It is the Sun's transition period before it shifts its direction back into the Northern Hemisphere, bringing Spring, and thus salvation.[S81] [S82] [M]
Christians have never said anything like this that the sun (S-U-N) died on the cross. Maybe Peter Joseph wants us to think ancient religions said this but they did not either and there is likewise no reference or source for such a saying.
Now, probably the most obvious of all the astrological symbolism around Jesus regards the 12 disciples. They are simply the 12 constellations of the Zodiac, which Jesus, being the Sun, travels about with. [S84] [S85] [S86] [S87] [M]
The source for this claim is author and skeptic Acharya S who alleges, "The sun's 'followers' or 'disciples' are the 12 signs of the zodiac, through which the sun must pass." (Acharya S, The Christ Conspiracy. pp. 166-183).
But Jesus did not pass through His 12 disciples in any fashion similar to the Zodiac. If the Bible was based off the Zodiac, we would expect to see the similar movement of Jesus through the disciples.
Furthermore, the 12 disciples were most certainly assigned by Jesus because of the 12 tribes of Israel, which Zeitgeist also alleges is symbolic of the Zodiac. But Genesis was written approximately in 1,000 BC and contains the story of the 12 tribes of Israel which would have occurred even earlier. The division into the 12 zodiacal signs did not occur until the Babylonians made the divisions in the fifth century BC.
Therefore, reading astrology into the 12 tribes (upon which the apostles of Jesus were based) is impossible because the 12 tribes existed long before the division of the 12 signs of the Zodiac. Astronomer Jay Pasachoff confirms,
"The Babylonians divided the zodiac into 12 constellations in the 5th century BC." (Licona, Mike. "A Refutation of Acharya S' book, The Christ Conspiracy." Available: http://www.answeringinfidels.com/answering-skeptics/answering-acharya-s/a-refutation-of-archary-ss-book-the-christ-conspiracy-pt-1.html).
So, the only evidence that remains for this claim is the number 12. If we want to accept their allegations on this, we also need to acccept that Dunkin Doughnuts is owned by an astrologer since you get a discount when you buy a dozen doughnuts. Grocery stores are also owned by astrologers since they sell you eggs by the dozen. Even our legal system must be influenced by astrology since there are 12 jurors.
Unlike fictitious myths and legends associated with astrology, we have much historical evidence that the 12 apostles were indeed real historical people. For example, in 95 AD, Clement wrote,
"Peter, through unrighteous envy, endured not one or two, but numerous labors and when he had at length suffered martyrdom, departed to the place of glory due to him." (The First Letter of Clement to the Corinthians. Available: www.jhu.edu/gcf/lessons/1Clement01.pdf).
FROM ZEITGEIST THE MOVIE:
In fact, the number 12 is replete throughout the Bible. [M] This text has more to do with astrology than anything else.
First of all, Zeitgeist stacks the list of 12's by repetitions to make it look more impressive than it actually is. The 12 tribes of Israel, the 12 sons of Jacob and the 12 great patriarchs are all the same 12, there is no difference. There are 12 judges of Israel (if one was to count) but the Bible never makes any issue or significance out of them. There are actually 17 Old Testament prophets, not 12; Zeitgeist missed this figure by five. One can only wonder where they got the idea of there being 12 kings of Israel. If referring to the northern kingdom of Israel, there were 19 kings and there were 19 kings in the southern kingdom plus one queen, this is not including the three kings of Israel before the kingdom was divided. If you add these numbers together you do not get 12. If you subtract, multiply or divide these numbers you cannot get twelve. And no mention or reference is made in the Bible to 12 princes. If the kings' sons are in view here, then Zeitgeist is way off for many of the 41 kings had numerous sons like King Ahab, for example had 70 sons (2 Kings 10:1).
FROM ZEITGEIST THE MOVIE:
Coming back to the cross of the Zodiac, the figurative life of the Sun, this was not just an artistic expression or tool to track the Sun's movements. It was also a Pagan spiritual symbol, [S88] the shorthand of which looked like this. [S89] This is not a symbol of Christianity. [M] It is a Pagan adaptation of the cross of the Zodiac. [S90] [S91]
What Zeitgeist refers to as the "cross of the Zodiac" is actually the wheel of the Zodiac which has no relationship to a Roman crucifixion, the way in which Jesus was killed. To extrapolate two perpendicular lines from the Zodiac wheel and conclude that Romans used this as their motivation to crucify criminals is preposterous.
Besides, it was not until Christianity became paganized that the cross image came to be thought of as a Christian symbol. Crosses in churches were introduced in AD 431 and the uses of crosses in steeples came about in AD 586. (Woodrow, Ralph. "Babylon Mystery Religion." 1966. Out of print.).
FROM ZEITGEIST THE MOVIE:
Now, the Bible reflects, broadly speaking, a symbolic movement through 3 ages, while foreshadowing a 4th.
Rather than going into Zeitgeist's long explanation of how the Bible "broadly speaking", symbolically reflects 4 ages, we will sum it up.
Taurus the Bull
The first age, they say, is Taurus the Bull. In Exodus chapter 32, we read that Aaron and the Israelites made an idol of a golden calf and worshiped it after which Moses shattered the two tablets of the Ten Commandments after seeing the Israelites' idolatry. Moses then took the calf and burnt it in the fire.
The Christ conspirators will suggest that the golden calf is the age of Taurus the Bull. Where is the documentation for this supposed "reality" besides page 146 of Acharya S' book? The New Testament, written long after the age of Taurus the Bull in Jesus' generation, also mentions calves (Luke 15:23; 15:27; 15:30; Acts 7:41; Revelation 4:7) but this is not convenient for their argument.
Aries the Ram
Second, they say Moses represents the proceeding age of Aries the Ram. They say that Moses represents the ram and that this is the reason Jews blow the ram's horn. However, Moses is never recorded blowing a ram's horn. Additionally, Moses cannot be identified as a ram by any interpretation within Scripture and does not fit this picture.
Even Zeitgeist's own source for this claim, Leopold Wagner, says no such thing. On the page cited of Wagner's book, we read,
"The first and second days of Tishri constitute the Festival of the New Year; or, as it is properly expressed in the Hebrew tongue, The Head of the Year. It has also three other names: The Day of Memorial, . . . The Day of Judgment, . . . The Day of Sounding the Horn, on account of the ram's horn being sounded several times during the service in the synagogues as a solemn warning that the Day of Atonement is drawing near. The use of the ram's horn at this season is appropriate, since, according to tradition, it was on the first day of Tishri that a ram was offered up instead of Isaac on Mount Moriah." (Wagner, Leopold. Manners, Customs and Observances. p. 228).
Thus, even Zeitgeist's source states the obvious reality as to why Jews blow the ram's horn today and says nothing of the Age of Aries. The most memorable text in the Bible mentioning a ram is that previously mentioned in Zeitgeist's own source, where God provided the sacrifice of a ram for Abraham instead of Isaac, his son. However, this event was generations prior to Moses and would not fit chronologically into Zeitgeist's twisted interpretation of the Bible.
Pisces the Two Fish
The third symbolic age, allegedly, is the age of Pisces the Two Fish. They claim that because Jesus fed 5,000 people with bread and two fish and because Jesus befriended two fisherman who followed him that this must be symbolic of the Age of Pisces. Actually, four of Jesus disciples were fisherman, not two. Though four disciples were fishermen, what about other followers of Jesus? Matthew was a tax collector, Simon was a zealot, Luke was a physician and historian, Paul was a Pharisee and a tent maker. What is their significance to astrology?
FROM ZEITGEIST THE MOVIE:
And I think we've all seen the Jesus-fish on the backs of people's cars. Little do they know what it actually means. It is a Pagan astrological symbolism for the Sun's Kingdom during the Age of Pisces.[S118] [M]
Actually, the fish symbol was an identifying symbol for Christ which early persecuted Christians used, and it has nothing to do with the age of Pisces. The Greek word "Ichthus" for fish is an acrostic based on the initials of "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior".
Indeed, Jesus fed 5,000 people with two fishes and five loaves of bread (Matthew 14:14-21; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-14). But He later fed 4,000 people with a few fish (more fish than two fish), and seven loaves of bread (Matthew 15:32-39; Mark 8:1-9). Obviously, Zeitgeist does not quote this event. According to Zeitgeist's hermeneutic, it could just as easily be called the "Age of Bread" but there is no such thing. Jesus also healed people, gave sight to the blind, raised the dead, walked on water, and cast demons out of people but there is no astrological ages accompanying these miracles.
Besides, fish and fishermen are also mentioned in the Old Testament which pre-dated Jesus and was prior to the age of Piesces (Genesis 9:2; 1 Kings 4:33; Job 12:8; Ecclesiastes 9:12; Ezekiel 38:20; Hosea 4:3; Habakkuk 1:14; Zephaniah 1:3; Isaiah 19:8; Jeremiah 16:16; Ezekiel 47:10). New Testament stories also refer to a rooster, doves, donkeys, birds, camels, sheep and goats yet none of these animals would normally fall under the age of Pisces like fish.
Age of Aquarius
In Luke chapter 22:10, Jesus tells His disciples to enter into the city where they will meet a man bearing a pitcher of water. Acharya S and Zeitgeist claim this is a symbolic foreshadowing of the age of Aquarius, or the Water-bearer (Acharya S. The Christ Conspiracy. pp. 146-147). How the text conveys foreshadowing, one cannot say except for Acharya S.
Acharya goes farther than Zeitgeist claiming Jesus was "baptized in Aquarius, the Water-bearer," hinting that Jesus will bring in the age of Aquarius (Acharya S. The Christ Conspiracy. p. 161). But Age of Aquarius begins around AD 2150 so how exactly was Jesus baptized in Aquarius?
Acharya S then claims that "Jesus became the Good Shepherd and the Lamb in Aries, the Ram." (Acharya S. The Christ Conspiracy. p. 161). Aries, from about 2150 BC to AD 1, which has already been attributed to Moses is now attributed to Jesus but has nothing to do with Jesus. A lamb is not a ram and has nothing to do with shepherding sheep; the only parallel is that they are animals. This is a wild generalization.
She goes on to state that, "Jesus told the parables of the sowing and tilling in the fields in Taurus, the Bull." (Acharya. The Christ Conspiracy. p. 161). Acharya has now attributed all four of these ages to Jesus somehow. Which one is it?
To these critics, any mention of bulls is automatically accredited to the age of Taurus, any mention of animals to the age of Aries, any reference to fish to the age of Pisces, and any reference of water to the age of Aquarius. You would think that there would be much less broad and cryptic references if this were the reality. Jesus told parables in several agricultural metaphors including fig trees, wheat and tares, sheep and goats, seeds, and many others. But there is no supposed symbolic "age" for these parables?
Obviously, Bible stories abound with fish because fish were the most common source of protein near the Sea of Galilee.
FROM ZEITGEIST THE MOVIE:
Now, we have all heard about the end times and the end of the world. Apart from the cartoonish depictions in the Book of Revelation, the main source of this idea comes from Matthew 28:20, where Jesus says "I will be with you even to the end of the world." [S121] However, in King James Version, "world" is a mistranslation, among many mistranslations. The actual word being used is "aeon", which means "age." "I will be with you even to the end of the age." Which is true, as Jesus' Solar Piscean personification will end when the Sun enters the Age of Aquarius. [S122] The entire concept of end times and the end of the world is a misinterpreted astrological allegory.[S123] [S124] [S125] [S126] [S127] [M] Let's tell that to the approximately 100 million people in America who believe the end of the world is coming.
Peter Joseph alleges that the main source for the Christian idea of the end of the world comes from Matthew 28:20. But this passage has nothing to do with Christian views of the end of the world. Rather, a complete thematic treatment of the passages concerning the end of the world make up most Christian views which, for the most part, agree that Jesus will return as a thief in the night in flaming fire taking vengeance on those that don't know God (2 Thessalonians 1:8,9) and the earth will be burned up (2 Peter 3:10).
Indeed, the word "world" in the King James Bible is translated to "aeon" in the Greek or "age." This word means forever, an unbroken age, perpetuity of time or eternity (Blue Letter Bible). Jesus was not referring to any astrological age like Aquarius or Pisces, He was referring to the end of the world or the end of of time as we know it.
The Greek word aeon was used again by Jesus in reference to the end of the world when He said, "the harvest is the end of the world (or aeon) and the reapers are the angels." (Matthew 13:39) In Luke 1:70, Jesus refers to God's holy prophets which have been since the world (or aeon) began. God's prophets such as Moses did not live in the astrological age of Pisces as Jesus, yet Jesus includes them in this passage. It is obvious Jesus is not referring to an astrological age.
Paul stated in Romans 12:2, "Do not be conformed to this world (or aeon); but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Again, he is referring to time since the world began until it ends. The Bible also says, "the world (or aeon) passes away, and the lust thereof; but he that does the will of God abides forever." (1 John 2:17).
FROM ZEITGEIST THE MOVIE:
The amount of time that it takes for the precession to go through all 12 signs is roughly 25,765 years. [S102] This is also called the "Great Year," [S103] and ancient societies were very aware of this.
The narrator Peter Joseph makes sure to say that "ancient societies were very aware of this," because Zeitgeist's whole premise and theory is dependent upon the ancients acknowledging the astronomical concept to which they refer. However, modern astrological beliefs are not identical to the ancient astrological beliefs and Zeitgeist's argument regarding the various astrological Ages is irrelevant.
Historian of science and winner of the Genius Award from the MacArthur Foundation, Dr. Noel Swerdlow's response to Acharya's claims in Zeitgeist is as follows,
"In antiquity, constellations were just groups of stars, and there were no borders separating the region of one from the region of another. . . The modern ideas about the Age of Pisces or the Age of Aquarius are based upon the location of the vernal equinox in the regions of the stars of those constellations. But the regions, the borders between, those constellations are a completely modern convention of the International Astronomical Union for the purpose of mapping . . . and never had any astrological significance. I hope this is helpful although in truth what this woman is claiming is so wacky that it is hardly worth answering. So when this woman says that the Christian fish was a symbol of the 'coming age of Pisces', she is saying something that no one would have thought of in antiquity because in which constellation of the fixed stars the vernal equinox was located, was of no significance and is entirely an idea of modern, I believe twentieth-century, astrology. . . the borders of constellations, between, say, Aries, Pisces, and Aquarius, are modern conventions of the International Astronomical Union, and there is nothing ancient about them." ("Did a Mythical Jesus Usher in the age of Pisces?" available: http://www.preventingtruthdecay.org/jesusandpisces.shtml).
FROM ZEITGEIST THE MOVIE:
The Bible is nothing more than an astro-theological literary fold hybrid, just like nearly all religious myths before it. [S170] [S171] [S172] [S173] [S174]
Anybody with basic Bible knowledge would immediately see the fallacies and contradictions in these arguments. For example, the Bible and Jesus are clearly not hidden allegorical prescriptions for sun and star worship because in Genesis chapter 1, God created the sun, moon and stars. A further distinction is in Deuteronomy chapter 4 where God specifically forbids the Israelites to worship the sun and stars as the Egyptians did (Deuteronomy 4:15,19; Deuteronomy 17:2-5). Through the prophet Isaiah, God mockingly asked if the stargazers could actually protect those who follow them from the real Power and Maker of the universe (Isaiah 47:13-14). In the book of the prophet Ezekiel, God showed to Ezekiel in a vision 25 men of Judah in the inner court of the temple worshipping the sun rather than God (Ezekiel 8:16,17). God considered this an abomination. Additionally, in 2 Kings 23:5, the priests who burned incense to the sun, to the moon and to the planets were called idolatrous priests.
It is therefore absurd to assume that either the writers of the Old Testament or the New Testament based their writings on astrology since the foundations of God's commandments spoke of such as an abomination.
Not one of these Scriptures are referenced in Zeitgeist because it would destroy their argument distinguishing clearly between the celestial bodies and the Creator of the universe. The origin of Christianity arose out of Judaism which denounced these practices all throughout the Old Testament.
In fact, the aspect of transference, of one character's attributes to a new character, can be found within the book itself. In the Old Testament there's the story of Joseph. Joseph was a prototype for Jesus. Joseph was born of a miracle birth, [S175] Jesus was born of a miracle birth. [S176] Joseph was of 12 brothers, [S177] Jesus had 12 disciples. [S178] Joseph was sold for 20 pieces of silver, [S179]Jesus was sold for 30 pieces of silver. [S180] Brother "Judah" suggests the sale of Joseph, [S181] disciple "Judas" suggests the sale of Jesus. [S182] Joseph began his work at the age of 30, [S183]Jesus began his work at the age of 30. [S184] The parallels go on and on.
Zeitgeist's case is very misleading. Though God opened Rachel's womb (Genesis 30:22), it's difficult to consider the birth of Joseph a miracle birth like that of Jesus who was divine and born of a virgin. Indeed, Jesus had twelve disciples, but Joseph had 11 brothers; there is no parallel. Though Judah suggested the sale of Jospeh, it was Midianite merchantmen that sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites as a slave (Genesis 37:28). Jesus, on the other hand was not sold but betrayed by Judas who was paid thirty pieces of silver by the Jews. Jesus did begin His ministry at age thirty but Joseph began his prophetic ministry receiving dreams from God at age seventeen (Genesis 37:2). The age thirty for Joseph is mentioned in Genesis but the Bible simply says,
"Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt." (Genesis 41:46).
Aside from Zeitgeist's parallels being inaccurate, the simple fact that there are parallels between Jesus and other people in the Bible like Joseph, does not make either of them fictional. Again, the parallels between Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy do not necessitate borrowing or fictionalization.
ORIGINS OF THE BIBLE
Luxor Temple Inscription
FROM ZEITGEIST THE MOVIE:
Furthermore, the character of Jesus, a literary and astrological hybrid, is most explicitly a plagiarization of the Egyptian Sun-god Horus.[S128] [S129] [S130] [S131]For example, inscribed about 3500 years, on the walls of the Temple of Luxor in Egypt are images of the enunciation, the immaculate conception, the birth, and the adoration of Horus. [S132] The images begin with Thaw announcing to the virgin Isis that she will conceive Horus, then Nef the holy ghost impregnating the virgin, and then the virgin birth and the adoration.[S133] [S134] [M] This is exactly the story of Jesus' miracle conception.
This is taken directly out of the pages of The Christ Conspiracy by Acharya S. She wrote,
"Inscribed about 3,500 years ago on the walls of the Temple at Luxor were images of the Annunciation, Immaculate Conception, Birth and Adoration of Horus; with Kneph, the "Holy Ghost," impregnating the virgin; and with the infant being attended by three kings."
However, Richard C. Carrier responded, "Since I am an atheist . . . and since I have formal experience in ancient history (B.A., M.A., and M. Phil.), the following should hold some authority with skeptics. . . The Luxor inscription does not depict impregnation by a spirit, but involves very real sex . . . and the woman involved is the mythical Queen of Egypt in a archetypal sense, not Isis per se. . . Several things are very clear from the written narrative . . . the adoration scene only involves important state officials . . . not kings or magi. . . Understanding their background and cultural and historical context is helpful, and necessary, but it doesn't lead to any plagiaristic scandal of the sort Acharya S wants there to be" (Carrier, Richard. "Brunner's Gottkoenigs & the Nativity of Jesus: A Brief Communication." 2004. available: http://www.frontline-apologetics.com/carrier_luxor_inscription.html).
In regard to the inscription and Zeitgeist's interpretation, researcher Keith Thompson contacted John Baines, Professor of Egyptology at Oxford University stated,
"The reliefs you mentioned show the conception and birth of the future kings after the creator god. Amon-Re, has taken on the form of the existing king to impregnate the queen. There are links but they are very far apart. Your source is a very long way off that, and several of the statements it makes are wrong." (Thompson, Keith. "Zeitgeist Part One Exposed," film available on Youtube. 2008).
Dr. Janet Johnson, Professor of Egyptology at the University of Chicago stated,
"The scene showing the god Amun visiting the queen mother to impregnate her with the future ruler, in this case Queen Hatshepsut. A Christian interpretation just doesn't work." (Thompson, Keith. "Zeitgeist Part One Exposed," film available on Youtube. 2008).
When contacted about the film Zeitgeist, Victor Blunden of Universities of Manchester and Liverpool and of Ancient Egypt Magazine, said,
"I have heard mention of this film before, and though I haven't seen it myself, I understand that it contains many misinterpretations and distortions of the actual Egyptian textual and relief material - to get its message across. Egyptian kings were believed to be semi-divine beings, the son of an Egyptian god - by a human mother. Thus the relief refers to the King Amenophis III - and not to Horus. Though kings could sometimes be said to be the 'incarnation of the gods' (due to another Egyptian myth). This is where the confusion may have come in. The reliefs actually refer to 'The conception of the king' - showing he was born of a human mother (the Queen of Egypt) by the god Amun. It was NOT seen as an 'Immaculate Conception' - as the Queen was impregnated by the god Amun. This is not the virgin Isis' but the queen of Egypt depicted (& by this time she was not a virgin - as she had sex). The second scene clearly shows a pregnant Queen Mutemwiya standing between the two Egyptian gods. The scene generally show the baby infant being presented to the other Egyptian gods and finally being presented to the god Amun - who acknowledges that 'the child is his true son. Thus, the interpretation of this scene by the film 'Zeitgeist' appears totally wrong as it imposes Christian values / interpretations on a typical scene showing the divine conception of an Egyptian King. The god Horus is NOT mentioned here. Isis is NOT depicted, as far as I can see. There are NO 'three kings, or magi, bearing gifts' - which is total fabrication, and quite out of context in the Egyptian myth." (Thompson, Keith. "Zeitgeist Part One Exposed," film available on Youtube. 2008)
Dr. Randa Baligh PhD from Yale University stated,
"In the scene he [Amon] impregnates the queen who was a married lady, not the goddess Isis. To conclude, the woman impregnated was neither the goddess Isis or a virgin, but the queen who had been married to the king for a while. The scene shows a divine birth with the aid of the seven Hathors (cows). that were the hippo goddess, and the Meshkhenet, the frog goddess." (Thompson, Keith. "Zeitgeist Part One Exposed," film available on Youtube. 2008).
Scholars disagree with Zeitgeist, which, in this case, quotes Gerald Massey as their source, a self-taught Egyptologist and practicing Druid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Massey).
FROM ZEITGEIST THE MOVIE:
In fact, the literary similarities between the Egyptian religion and the Christian religion are staggering. [M] [S135]
Zeitgiest flashes a long list of "staggering" claims faster than the viewer can even read them all.
If the movie is slowed down, however, we notice that many of these claims were mentioned earlier and thoroughly refuted in the Horus section. Not only are most of these similarities wild conjectures, many of them are not even in the Bible.
Actually, the list appears exactly as seen in Zeitgeist with no sources whatsoever in the appendix of Gerald Massey's book Ancient Egypt, the Light of the World.
For example, they say, "The two mothers of Child-Horus, who were two sisters" equals "The two mothers of Child-Jesus, who were sisters." Nowhere does the Bible even allege that Jesus has two mothers. Joseph, Mary and Jesus are said to be the Christian holy trinity but the Bible very clearly speaks of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as the trinity. Satan and Jesus are given as twin opponents, nowhere does the Bible speak of Jesus and Satan being twins or related in any way. There is also references completely foreign to the Bible such as a scribe named Hermas, "Jesus as the bearded Sophia, Charis the female Christ", and "Jesus speaking brutally to his mother." They say there are seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, actually there are more than seven in the Bible. Then they mention the seven doves of the Holy Spirit which is also completely alien to the Bible. Not only are these Egyptian/Christian parallels far-fetched but many of them are not even found in the Bible.
Epic of Gilgamesh
FROM ZEITGEIST THE MOVIE:
And the plagiarism is continuous. The story of Noah and Noah's Ark is taken directly from tradition. The concept of a Great Flood is ubiquitous throughout the ancient world, with over 200 different cited claims in different periods and times. [S136] [S137] [M] However, one need look no further for a pre-Christian source than the Epic of Gilgamesh,[S138] [S139] written in 2600 b.c. This story talks of a Great Flood commanded by God, an Ark with saved animals upon it, and even the release and return of a dove, all held in common with the biblical story, among many other similarities.[S140] [M]
The many similarities between the flood account in the Epic of Gilgamesh and the biblical account in Genesis point to a common source, but there are also significant differences.
While Moses lived long after the flood and wrote Genesis around 1450-1410 BC, he was acting as the editor of much older sources (Sarfati, Jonathan. "Noah's Flood and the Gilgamesh Epic." March 29, 2004. available: http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2004/0329gilgamesh.asp). Unlike the Epic of Gilgamesh, God gave Noah specific instructions mentioning real historical landmarks in Genesis 10:19.
Many cultures throughout history have repeated the concept of a great flood. In the Genesis account, God gives Noah specific dimensions for the building of the Ark:
"And this is the fashion which thou shall make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits." (Genesis 6:15).
According to David Collins, a naval architect, not even a 210-knot wind (three times hurricane force) could overcome this structure which God commanded Noah to build (Sarfati, Jonathan. "Noah's Flood and the Gilgamesh Epic." March 29, 2004. available: http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2004/0329gilgamesh.asp; Collins, D.H., Was Noah’s Ark stable? Creation Research Society quarterly 14(2):83–87, September 1977.). Contrast this to the boat in the Epic of Gilgamesh which was a huge cube. The Epic of Gilgamesh reads:
"Ten dozen cubits the height of each of her walls,
Ten dozen cubits each edge of the square deck.
I laid out the shape of her sides and joined her together.
I provided her with six decks,
Dividing her (thus) into seven parts" (The Epic of Gilgamesh).
It's difficult to imagine of a more ridiculous design for a ship. When examined with greater scrutiny, the worldwide flood legends such as the Epic of Gilgamesh do not compare to the historical Genesis account.
Far from disproving the biblical account of the flood, the parallels between the Epic of Gilgamesh and the flood account in Genesis, along with many other flood stories throughout history, lend credibility to the fact that a massive flood occurred just as the Bible describes and other cultures have preserved the fact that there was indeed a great flood as the Bible says.
Sargon of Akkad
FROM ZEITGEIST THE MOVIE:
And then there is the plagiarized story of Moses. Upon Moses' birth, it is said that he was placed in a reed basket and set adrift in a river in order to avoid infanticide. He was later rescued by a daughter of royalty and raised by her as a Prince.[S141] This baby in a basket story was lifted directly from the myth of Sargon of Akkad of around 2250 b.c. Sargon was born, placed in a reed basket in order to avoid infanticide, and set adrift in a river. He was in turn rescued and raised by Akki, a royal mid-wife.[S142] [S143] [M]
There are some similarities here, but dating is the major factor. First of all, the time of Moses and his five books including the book of Exodus have been dated around 1400 BC. The initial date range of The Sargon Legend is anywhere between 2039 and 627 BC, not 2250 BC as Zeitgeist claims.
Brian Lewis' The Sargon Legend published from the American Schools of Oriental Research said that the Sargon story,
"lacks any obvious grammatical, lexicographical, or philological feature that would allow a precise dating." (p. 97)
Lewis offers the suggestion that the story was written in the reign of Sargon II, a much later king who was possibly a usurper, to legitimate his own rule. In favor of a late date of the Sargon story are Neo-Assyrian orthographic forms, idiomatic expressions attested only in a later period, and the mention of cutting roads with bronze or copper picks. In any event, there is no satisfactory reason to propose borrowing or fictionalization, in either direction. (Holding, J.P. "Have No Fear - Sargon is Here." available: http://www.tektonics.org/copycat/sargon.html)
The 10 Commandments
FROM ZEITGEIST THE MOIVE:
Moses is known as the Law Giver, the giver of the Ten Commandments,[S144] the Mosaic Law. However, the idea of a Law being passed from God to a prophet on a mountain is also a very old motif. Moses is just a law giver in a long line of law givers in mythological history. [S145] In India, Manou was the great law giver. [S146] In Crete, Minos ascended Mount Dicta, where Zeus gave him the sacred laws. [S147] While in Egypt there was Mises, [S148] who carried stone tablets and upon them the laws of god were written.
Acharya S is the source that notes the similarities between Moses, Manou, Minos, and Mises (Acharya S. The Christ Conspiracy. p. 241). As usual, these claims cannot be supported by credible or primary sources. Acharya's source is Deceptions and Myths of the Bible by Lloyd Graham published in 1991. This book is also a terrible reference which has no original source material. Even skeptic author Michael Ledo who originally used Graham's book agrees,
"Graham's Deceptions and Myths of the Bible I will concede is a terrible source. Once I discovered how bad the source was I had to edit the book prior to publishing.” (Zeitgeist Online Movie: Part One Refuted." available: http://www.preventingtruthdecay.org/3ms.shtml).
Regarding the Mises and Moses connection, the skeptic author Michael Ledo says,
"I will not argue the Mises story. I do not like it myself.” (Zeitgeist Online Movie: Part One Refuted." available: http://www.preventingtruthdecay.org/3ms.shtml).
FROM ZEITGEIST THE MOVIE:
And as far as the Ten Commandments, they are taken outright from Spell 125 of the Egyptian Book of the Dead. [S149] What the Book of the Dead phrased "I have not stolen" became "Thou shall not steal," "I have not killed" became "Thou shall not kill," "I have not told lies" became "Thou shall not bear false witness" and so forth. [S150] In fact, the Egyptian religion is likely the primary foundational basis for the Judeo-Christian theology. [M] Baptism, [S151] afterlife,[S152] final judgment, [S153] virgin birth [S154] and resurrection, [S155] crucifixion, [S156] the ark of the covenant, [S157]circumcision, [S158] [S159] saviors,[S160] holy communion, [S161] the great flood, [S162] Easter, [S163] Christmas [S164] [S165] , Passover, [S166] and many many more, are all attributes of Egyptian ideas, long predating Christianity and Judaism.
Concerning Spell 125, the earliest collection dates from 1580–1350 BC (Encyclopedia. available: http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Spell+125). It is therefore reasonable to suggest that the 10 commandments pre-date Spell 125 given that the Pentateuch has been dated to belong to approximately 1400 BC. However, plagiarism cannot be proven in either direction.
Perhaps it is more relevant to note the major differences between the two. The Ten Commandments represent a concise, positive instruction from God to man and the life he should lead. Spell 125 represents a countless disarray of negative protests by the already dead.
Throughout history, ancient civilizations have defined right and wrong, good and evil. Nevertheless, all modern and ancient societies have maintained some standard of law or code of which there is much overlap and similarities between variations throughout history. As the apostle Paul wrote,
"For when the Gentiles, which do not have the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves: Which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another." (Romasn 2:14-15).
In other words, all humans have a common and universal concept of what is morally right and morally wrong such as murder, stealing, lying, and committing adultery.
Early Church Fathers
FROM ZEITGEIST THE MOVIE:
Justin Martyr, one of the first Christian historians and defenders, wrote: "When we say that he, Jesus Christ, our teacher, was produced without sexual union, was crucified and died, and rose again, and ascended into Heaven, we propound nothing different from what you believe regarding those who you esteem Sons of Jupiter." [S167] In a different writing, Justin Martyr said "He was born of a virgin, accept this in common with what you believe of Perseus." [S168] It's obvious that Justin and other early Christians knew how similar Christianity was to the Pagan religions. However, Justin had a solution. As far as he was concerned, the Devil did it. The Devil had the foresight to come before Christ, and create these characteristics in the Pagan world. [S169]
Justin Martyr, the early Christian defender, was raised in a pagan home and was familiar with Greek philosophy (Komoszewski, J. Ed; Sawyer, James M.; Wallace, Daniel B. "Reinventing Jesus: What the DA VINCI CODE and Other Novel Speculations Don’t Tell You." pp. 229-230). All these passages suggest that Justin Martyr is simply attempting to convince skeptical pagan audiences by parallels that would be familiar and communicable to them. He was also attempting to convince the Roman emperor that Christian teachings and claims were not that different from other religions that enjoyed Rome's protection while Christians were being persecuted and killed for their beliefs.
J. Gresham Machen, a New Testament Professor at Princeton Theological Seminary, stated, "When Justin [Martyr] . . . refers to the birth of Perseus as a birth from (or through) a virgin, he is going beyond what the pagan sources contained. There seems to be no clear evidence that pagan sources used the word ‘virgin’ as referring to mothers of heroes, mythical or historical, who were represented as being begotten by the gods.” (Machen, J. Gresham. "The Virgin Birth of Christ." (Grand Rapids, Michigan L Baker, 1965, pp. 330, 336, quoted in Lee Strobel, The Case for the Real Jesus: A Journalist Investigates Current Attacks on the Identity of Christ. p. 181.).
The following quote that Zeitgeist left out while concluding "the Devil did it", Justin Martyr also wrote,
“From what has been already said, you can understand how the devils, in imitation of what was said by Moses, asserted that Proserpine was the daughter of Jupiter, and instigated the people to set up an image of her under the name of Kore. . . For, as we wrote above, Moses said, 'In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form and unfurnished: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.' In imitation, therefore, of what is here said of the Spirit of God moving on the waters, they said that Proserpine [or Coral] was the daughter of Jupiter. And in like manner also they craftily feigned that Minerva was the daughter of Jupiter, not by sexual union, but, knowing that God conceived and made the world by the Word, they say that Minerva is the first conception; which we consider to be very absurd, bringing forward the form of the conception in a female shape. And in like manner the actions of those others who are called sons of Jupiter sufficiently condemn them.” (First Apology. chapters 32,33. available: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf01.toc.html).
Hence, Justin did not argue that demons or the devil copied Christian beliefs beforehand as Zeitgeist claims. Rather, they copied the older Jewish beliefs and prophecies about Jesus found in the Old Testament. Zeitgeist's claim that "the Devil had the foresight to come before Christ, and create these characteristics in the Pagan world" is yet another obvious misinterpretation of the text. In another place, Justin says,
"And these things were said both among the Greeks and among all nations where they [the demons] heard the prophets foretelling that Christ would specially be believed in; but that in hearing what was said by the prophets they did not accurately understand it, but imitated what was said of our Christ, like men who are in error, we will make plain." (First Apology, chapter 54. available: http://www.bringyou.to/apologetics/JesusEvidence4.htm)
If Zeitgeist wants to cite Justin Martyr as an historical reference, it cannot be denied that Justin knew these parallels were hardly parallels at all because he affirms that the greatest distinction of Jesus, His crucifixion, was not copied by the pagan myths as Zeitgeist aleges. He said,
"But in no instance, not even in any of those called sons of Jupiter [Zeus], did they imitate the being crucified; for it was not understood by them, all the things said of it having been put symbolically." (First Apology, chapter 55. available: http://www.bringyou.to/apologetics/JesusEvidence4.htm).
Justin also notes that no "proof" is offered for the Greek gods because they were mythical but Jesus was a historical person. He says,
"But those who hand down the myths which the poets have made, adduce no proof to the youths who learn them; and we proceed to demonstrate that they have been uttered by the influence of the wicked demons, to deceive and lead astray the human race." (Origin of Heathen Mythology, chapter 54. available: http://www.bringyou.to/apologetics/JesusEvidence4.htm)
HISTORICITY OF JESUS
FROM ZEITGEIST THE MOVIE:
Furthermore, is there any non-Biblical historical evidence of any person, living with the name Jesus, the Son of Mary, who traveled about with 12 followers, healing people and the like? There are numerous historians who lived in and around the Mediterranean either during or soon after the assumed life of Jesus.[S185] How many of these historians document this figure? Not one. [S186] However, to be fair, that doesn't mean defenders of the Historical Jesus haven't claimed the contrary. Four historians are typically referenced to justify Jesus's existence. Pliny the younger, Suetonius, Tacitus and the first three. [M] [S187]
Unlike these mythological deities, the documentation for a historical Jesus is actually much more compelling than the documentation for other ancient figures like Confucius and Buddha. Peter Joseph makes several false statements here. First of all, none of these historians mentioned were defenders of the historical Jesus, they were secular or non-Christian sources.
In consideration of the lack of attention paid by the ancient Greco-Roman world to the humble beginnings of Christianity and Jesus, being a Jewish figure in an remote location on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire (and was therefore of little interest to Roman historians writing Roman literature), there is a considerable amount of historical evidence that confirms his existence.
There are not only four historical sources for Jesus' existence as Zeitgeist boldly alleges, but, in fact, 42 authors mention Jesus within 150 years of His life: Nine traditional authors of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Author of Hebrews, James, Peter, Jude), 20 early Christian writers outside the New Testament (Clement of Rome, 2 Clement, Ignatius, Polycarp, Martyrdom of Polycarp, Didache, Barnabas, Shepherd of Hermas, Fragments of Papias, Justin Martyr, Aristides, Athenagoras, Theophilus of Antioch Quadratus, Aristo of Pella, Melito of Sardis, Diognetus, Gospel of Peter, Apocalypse of Peter, Epistula Apostolorum), four heretical writings (Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Truth, Apocryphon of John, Treatise on Resurrection), and nine secular or non-Christian sources (Josephus, Tacitus, Pliny the Younger, Phlegon, Lucian, Celsus, Mara Bar-Serapion, Seutonius, Thallus).
On the contrary, only ten authors mention Tiberius Caesar, the Roman emperor during Jesus' ministry within 150 years of his life. The ratio is 42:10, yet we do not doubt the existence of the emperor Tiberius Caesar (Habermas, Gary R., Licona, Michael. "The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus." Grand Rapids MI : Kregel Publications, 2004, p. 233).
If liberal scholars applied the same arbitrary standard of rejection of historical evidence to other ancient historical personages besides Jesus, such as Julius Caesar or Alexander the Great, they would be forced to reject all history as myth. It is for this reason the brilliant historian F.F. Bruce wrote,
"The historicity of Christ is as axiomatic for an unbiased historian as the historicity of Julius Caesar." (Bruce, F.F. The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?).
Tacitus was governor of Asia in A.D. 112 and was known as the "greatest historian of ancient Rome" (Habermas, Habermas, Gary. "Ancient Non-Christian Sources for the Life of Christ." Chapter 9. available: http://www.garyhabermas.com/books/historicaljesus/historicaljesus.htm#ch9).
In his Annals of Imperial Rome, Tacitus wrote about Emperor Nero's persecution of the Christians. He says:
"To suppress therefore the common rumour, Nero procured others to be accused, and inflicted exquisite punishments upon those people, who were in abhorrence for their crimes, and were commonly known as Christians. They had their denomination from Christus [Christ], who in the reign of Tiberius was put to death as a criminal by the procurator Pontius Pilate. This pernicious superstition, though checked for a while, broke out again, and spread, not only over Judea, the source of this evil, but reached the city [Rome] also." (Annals of Imperial Rome, XV 44).
FROM ZEITGEIST THE MOVIE:
Each one of their entries consists of only a few sentences at best and only refer to the Christus or the Christ, which in fact is not name but a title. It means the "Anointed one" [S188]
Zeitgeist disregards Tacitus' reference to Jesus based on the title "Christus". But how many Christs were there who were crucified under Pontius Pilate? This witness directly corresponds to the Gospel record of Jesus. "Christus" was Greek for Christ. They do not only refer to Christ, as Zeitgeist alleges, but give us much more information which also concludes that Christus must be Jesus. For example, such historical documents confirm that Jesus was executed as a criminal under the authority of Pontius Pilate, who ruled Judea under the reign of Emperor Tiberius. History provides proof that the Christians who began in Judea spread through the Roman empire and suffered great persecution for their faith, and that these Christians derived their worship and religion from the person known as Christ or "the Messiah." All of these details parallel the Gospel accounts validating that Jesus is in view here.
Suetonius was the official historian during the reign of both Emperor Trajan and Adrian. Speaking of the Emperor Claudius who ruled from A.D. 41 to 54, he wrote:
"He banished the Jews from Rome, who were continually making disturbances, Chrestus being their leader." (Life of Claudius, 25.4).
The name Chrestus is another spelling for the name Christ or Christus. This statement from Suetonius also confirms the passage in the Bible within the book of Acts chapter 18 about the exiling of Jews from Rome during the reign of Claudius.
Suetonius also recounts that:
"punishment by Nero was inflicted on the Christians, a class of men given to a new mischievous superstition." (Life of the Caesars, 26.2).
Seutonius confirms that Christians were suffering and dying for their conviction that Jesus had lived, died, and risen from the dead, a "mischievous superstition" as he called it, not being a Christian.
Pliny the Younger was governor of the Roman provinces of Pontus and Bithynia in A.D. 101 to 110. In a letter to the emperor, Pliny the Younger requested specific instructions about the interrogations of Christians whom he was persecuting. He said he "made them curse Christ, which a genuine Christian cannot be induced to do."
He continued,
"They affirmed, however, that the whole of their guilt, or their error, was that they were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in alternate verse a hymn to Christ as to a god, and bound themselves to a solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud, theft, adultery, never to falsify their word, not to deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up." (Epistles X.96).
Are we to believe that within two generations, fake characters were now being treated as historical people?
FROM ZEITGEIST THE MOVIE:
The fourth source is Josephus and this source has been proven to be a forgery for hundreds of years.[S189] Sadly, it is still cited as truth.
Flavius Josephus, the Jewish historian, is known for historical works such as Jewish Antiquities finished in AD 93 or 94. One passage reads:
"Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ, and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him: for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians so named from him are not extinct at this day." (Antiquities, XVIII, 33, italics added).
This is the passage that has raised heated debate among scholars because Josephus, a non-Christian Jew, makes statements about Jesus that an orthodox Jew would not normally affirm. While some Christian additions may have been obviously foreign to the text, it still contains a great deal of historical truth that Josephus could have easily documented (McDowell, Josh. Evidence for Christianity. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc, 1990. p. 178).
In fact, the vast majority of scholars do not dismiss the account as a forgery, as Zeitgeist alleges, but believe that Josephus did mention Jesus in this passage, but later insertions were made by a Christian scribe; hence, the statements about Jesus that a non-Christian like Josephus wouldn't have made. But the style of Josephus is authentic. The term "wise man" is typical for Josephus' writings.
Zeitgeist's accusation that this text is a forgery is an exaggeration. Moreover, there is another reference to Jesus in Josephus' work that is not disputed by scholars, proving that Jesus was an historical figure. He says,
"But the younger Ananus, who, as we said, received the high priesthood, was of a bold disposition and exceptionally daring; he followed the party of the Sadducees, who are severe in judgment above all the Jews, as we have already shown. As therefore Ananus was of such a disposition, he thought he had now a good opportunity, as Festus was now dead, and Albinus was still on the road; so he assembled a council of judges, and brought before it the brother of Jesus the so-called Christ, whose name was James, together with some others, and having accused them as law-breakers, he delivered them over to be stoned." (Antiquities, XX, 9.1).
So, this great first-century non-biblical historian Josephus, writing just a little more than fifty years after Jesus' life and crucifixion, attests that Jesus had a brother named James and was a real historical figure. Origen even quoted Flavius Josephus in AD 245. He said,
"Flavius Josephus, who wrote the "Antiquities of the Jews" in twenty books, when wishing to exhibit the cause why the people suffered so great misfortunes that even the temple was razed to the ground, said, that these things happened to them in accordance with the wrath of God in consequence of the things which they had dared to do against James the brother of Jesus who is called Christ. And the wonderful thing is, that, though he did not accept Jesus as Christ, he yet gave testimony that the righteousness of James was so great; and he says that the people thought that they had suffered these things because of James." (Origen. "On the Gospel of Matthew." Book X:15.)
Like the Zeitgeist film, Lucian of Samosata, a Greek satirist of the latter half of the second century spoke scornfully of Christians and Jesus, but never assumed or argued that Jesus was not a real person:
"You see, these misguided creatures start with the general conviction that they are immortal for all time, which explains the contempt of death and voluntary self-devotion which are so common among them; and then it was impressed on them by their original lawgiver that they are all brothers, from the moment that they were converted, and deny the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his laws. All this they take quite on faith, with the result that they despise all worldly goods alike, regarding them merely as common property." (The Death of Peregrine, 11-13).
There are also a number of Jewish references to the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth as well.
We read in the Talmud of the crucifixion of Jesus or "Yeshu" in Greek:
"It has been taught: On the eve of Passover they hanged Yeshu. . . But, not having found anything in his favor, they hanged him on the eve of Passover." (Sanhedrin 43a; cf. t. Sanh. 10:11; y. Sanh. 7:12; Tg. Esther 7:9).
Another version of this text says, "Yeshu the Nazarene," making the link to Jesus much stronger. The word "hanged" is another way of referring to the crucifixion (Luke 23:39; Galatians 3:13). The reference that the crucifixion occurred "on the eve of Passover" agrees with the account in John 19:14.
FROM ZEITGEIST THE MOVIE:
You would think that a guy who rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven for all eyes to see and performed the wealth of miracles acclaimed to him would have made it into the historical record. It didn't because once the evidence is weighed, there are very high odds that the figure known as Jesus, did not even exist.[S190] [S191] [S192] [S193]
Again, there are not only four historical sources for Jesus' existence as Zeitgeist boldly claims, but, 42 authors mention Jesus within 150 years of His life. We don't not have time to quote them all. Expert on world religions, ancient Christianity and church history, Robert E. Van Voorst says,
"The theory of Jesus' nonexistence remains effectively dead as a scholarly question." (Leslie, James. Jesus in History, Thought and Culture. p. 660).
Zeitgeist misrepresents the Bible saying Jesus ascended into heaven for all eyes to see. The Book of Acts chapter one describes Jesus' ascension in front of a a very small group of people.
To disregard or disbelieve His miracles and resurrection is one thing, but to claim that he never existed in the face of all the evidence is a premise rejected by even non-Christian historians and scholars. Noted scholar Mike Licona responds,
"There are as many non-Christian sources who mention Jesus within 150 years of his life as there are who mention the Roman emperor contemporary with Jesus' ministry within 150 years of his life. Those who propose that Jesus never existed must reasonably account for these sources. While those who try to believe their arguments are reasonable, they have not convinced many. In fact, I am not aware of a single widely-respected scholar in the world who holds the position that Jesus never existed" (Thompson, Keith. "Zeitgeist Part One Exposed," film available on Youtube. 2008).
Richard Burridge and Graham Gould state that the questioning of Jesus' existence is not accepted by mainstream critical scholarship (Burridge, Richard. Gould, Graham. Jesus Now and Then. p. 34).
Robert E. Van Voorst has stated,
"The nonhistoricity thesis has always been controversial, and it has consistently failed to convince scholars of many disciplines and religious creeds... Biblical scholars and classical historians now regard it as effectively refuted." (Van Voorst, Robert E. Jesus Outside the New Testament. p. 16)
FROM ZEITGEIST THE MOVIE:
It was the political establishment that sought to historize the Jesus figure for social control. By 325 a.d. in Rome, emperor Constantine convened the Council of Nicea. [S197] It was during this meeting that the politically motivated Christian Doctrines were established and thus began a long history of Christian bloodshed and spiritual fraud. And for the next 1600 years, the Vatican maintained a political stranglehold on all of Europe, leading to such joyous periods as the Dark Ages, along with enlightening events such as the Crusades, and the Inquisition.
Regarding Constantine, Dr. Ben Witherington III writes,
"What then did Emperor Constantine have to do with all of this process? Constantine ruled as Roman Emperor from about A.D. 313 to 337. The truth of the matter is that he didn’t take full control of the empire before 324, or very shortly before the Council of Nicea. This fact alone should make evident that most theological issues, including those about Christ’s nature, had taken a rather definite shape and trajectory before Constantine had anything to do with them…At the Council of Nicea, Constantine seems to have favored Christ’s true divinity, but he was no theologian, and it certainly wasn’t he who wrote the Creed of Nicea. Nor can it be said that he determined the canon. Constantine mainly pronounced the benediction on the deliberations that had already been formulated.” (Ben Witherington III, The Gospel Code: Novel Claims About Jesus, Mary Magdalene and Da Vinci (Downer’s Grove, Ill: InterVarsity Press, 2004), 63-64.)
Zeitgeist is correct about the Roman Catholic church's long history of bloodshed throughout the Dark Ages, the Crusades and the Inquisition. However, these facts do not negate the credibility of Christianity but rather demonstrate the sinfulness of man. Regardless of how later professing Christians behaved, Jesus taught His followers to love all people including their enemies (Matthew 5:44) and to remain peaceful with all people at all costs (Hebrews 12:4). Violence, bloodshed and spiritual fraud in the name of Jesus does not come from the Bible nor does the New Testament condone such events. Anybody who reads the New Testament for themselves will see that violent Christians live contrary to what the Bible teaches and are therefore not followers of Jesus at all.
This is not to say that the Bible has not been perverted and taken out of context by the political elite for social control throughout history and even today. In the secret FEMA plan to use pastors as pacifiers in preparation for martial law ("Pastoral Crisis Intervention." May 15, 2006. available: http://www.infowars.com/images2/ps/pastor_fema_docs.pdf).
The debriefing tells pastors to help implement FEMA and Homeland Security directives. FEMA directors told pastors to preach specific passages to their congregations like Romans 13, the Bible passage often taken out of context by dictators like Hitler to hoodwink Christians into supporting him (Watson, Paul Joseph. "Secret FEMA Plan to Use Pastors as Pacifiers in Preparation For Martial Law." May 24, 2006. PrisonPlanet.com. Available: http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/may2006/240506femaplan.htm).
While the Bible teaches in Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 that God has given law enforcement officials of worldly governments the right to enforce penalties of crimes and to go to war against other nations, this is not a Christian duty. The Bible does not teach Christians blind submission to authority, but, in many cases, to resist the ordained powers in order to obey what God has commanded. If the state's orders are in conflict to Jesus' teachings (including murder, war, idolatry, etc.), then resistance to those powers is obedience to God.
There are several examples of civil disobedience in the Bible. In fact the Bible documents and encourages acts of civil disobedience if the authorities are demanding disobedience to God. For example, Daniel chapter 3 documents a few of the Hebrews unwillingness to compromise the commandments of God in submission to the Babylonian empire. Exodus chapter 1 speaks of the Hebrews midwives who refused to obey the Egyptian empire's commands to kill male babies, and Joshua chapter 2 documents the harlot Rehab who housed the Hebrew spies and hid them from the authorities. The book of Acts is full of examples of the apostles of the early Christian church disobeying the Jewish authorities in order to preach the gospel. Peter taught to "obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29).
ZEITGEIST SOURCES DISCREDITED
Peter Joseph
The types of arguments in Zeitgeist manifest the ignorance of Peter Jospeh and the sources of Zeitgeist. Peter Joseph claims to be an authority of the Bible, as well as ancient mythology and astrology for that matter, yet the majority of his information is completely false in all of these areas. If all of his arguments clearly demonstrate an unawareness of the Bible, one of the most accessible books in the United States, then how should we expect him to present the facts about mythical mystery religions, which are not as accessible. It's obvious that the narrator Peter Joseph is being misinformed. He continues to rely upon the Zeitgeist sources to shape his world view without researching and confirming the information himself.
French Enlightenment Thinkers
Though the "Christ Myth Theory", also known as the "Jesus Myth", is not original, it is very recent, historically speaking. The antecedents of the theory can be traced directly back to French Enlightenment thinkers Constantin-Francois Volney and Charles Francois Dupius in the 1790's.
Proponents and authors cited in the Zeitgeist transcript such as Earl Doherty (author of The Jesus Puzzle), George Albert Wells (author of Who was Jesus?), Acharya S (author of The Christ Conspiracy), John Allegro (author of The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross), Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy (authors of The Jesus Mysteries) have recently re-popularized the theory.
The questioning of Jesus' existence is not accepted by mainstream scholarship as stated by Richard Burridge and Graham Gould in their book Jesus Now and Then page 34. Michael Grant states on page 199 of his book Jesus: An Historian's Review of the Gospels that the "Jesus Myth" thesis fails to satisfy modern critical methodology, and is rejected by all but a few scholars.
Graham N. Stanton writes,
"Today nearly all historians, whether Christians or not, accept that Jesus existed and that the gospels contain plenty of valuable evidence which has to be weighed and assessed critically. There is general agreement that, with the possible exception of Paul, we know far more about Jesus of Nazareth than about any first- or second century Jewish or pagan religious teacher." (Stanton, Graham (2002). The Gospels and Jesus (2nd ed.) p. 145).
James Charlesworth sum it up,
"No reputable scholar today questions that a Jew named Jesus son of Joseph lived; most readily admit that we know a considerable amount about his actions and basic teachings." (Charlesworth, James H. Jesus and Archaeology. p. xxiii).
Jonathan Z Smith, who contributed to the entry "Dying and Rising Gods" for The Encyclopedia of Religion said,
"The category of dying and rising gods, once a major topic of scholarly investigation, must now be understood to have been largely a misnomer based on imaginative reconstructions and exceedingly late or highly ambiguous texts. . . the category of dying and rising deities is exceedingly dubious. It has been based largely on Christian interest and tenuous evidence. As such, the category is of more interest to the history of scholarship than to the history of religions." (available: http://beholdaphoenix.blogspot.com/2007/08/comment-on-richard-abanes.html).
Even liberal scholar Thomas Boslooper acknowledges,
"Contemporary writers invariably use only secondary sources to verify such claims. The scholars whose judgment they accept rarely produced or quoted the primary sources."
Notice, this concept is rejected by the large majority of honest historians and scholars in the fields of anthropology and comparative religion, both Christians and non-Christian. Yet, Zeitgeist and its sources continue to propagate this theory in spite of all the evidence ("Christ Myth Theory." available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_myth_hypothesis).
Transcript
In Part 1 of the film Zeitgeist, nearly 200 sources are cited in the transcript. Yet, many of these sources are used more than once and none of them pre-date Christianity. For example, D.M. Murdock who also goes by the pen name Acharya S is cited 29 times and Gerald Massey is cited 30 times. The Bible is cited 22 times, almost always with erroneous conclusions.
In fact, when the transcript for this film is examined in further detail, we see that less than 25% of these sources are original.
James Frazer
Like the French Enlightenment thinkers, Sir James Frazer, cited 4 times in Zeitgeist, wrote The Golden Bough in 1890 when these mystery religions were still mysteries. It is from his work and others that Gerald Massey and Acharya S get much of their information. However, Frazer's pioneering work has come under criticism by more recent scholars ("James George Frzer" available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Frazer). When the newly accumulated archaeological and textual evidence is consulted, his ideas are no longer valid (Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt. pp. 137-138).
Professor of History at Miami University Dr. Edwin Yamauchi stated,
"On the popular level, Sir James Frazer gathered a mass of parallels in his multivolume work called The Golden Bough, which was published in 1906. He discussed Osiris of Egypt, Adonis of Syria, Attis of Asia Minor, and Tammuz of Mesopotamia, and concluded there was a common rising and dying fertility god. Unfortunately, much of his work was based on a misreading of evidence" (Strobel, Lee. The Case for the Real Jesus. p. 166).
John Allegro
In 1970, John Allegro, another of Zeitgeist's sources, wrote a book entitled The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross. He proposes that the earliest Christians were actually a secret cult group that used hallucinogenic mushrooms and utilized the name "Jesus" as a code word to avoid letting outsiders know about their secret activities. Allegro was criticized immediately by almost every major historical scholar. The Times newspaper of London printed a letter signed by fifteen scholars in the Semitic languages who dismissed his conclusion stating that it was "not based on any philological or other evidence that they can regard as scholarly." (Jeffrey, HEAJ). His book was denounced as “an essay in Fantasy rather than philology.” ("Jesus as Mushroom." Time. June 8, 1970. available: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,909327,00.html).
Freke and Gandy
What about this amulet of Dionysus as a crucified figure pictured and dated 500 BC in Zeitgeist. Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy, cited 7 times in the film, feature a picture of the amulet on the cover of their book The Jesus Mysteries. The Zeitgeist claim that this amulet dates back to 500 BC is a lie. Actually, the amulet dates centuries after the first century AD, after the establishment of Christianity.
One researcher James Hannam documented,
"Although it features on the cover of The Jesus Mysteries, Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy are actually quite circumspect about the amulet in the text. I emailed them to ask in which book they had found it. Peter Gandy kindly replied that it was in second edition of Guthrie’s Orpheus and the Greek Religion as well as R Eisler’s Orpheus the Fisher, first published in 1920. Oddly enough, it isn’t in the appendix of either of these books. On my next visit to London, I looked both these books up at the Warburg Institute and found the note in Guthrie’s work that the amulet was believed to be a fake. . . In subsequent email correspondence through an intermediary, Peter Gandy eventually came clean. I will quote in full" (Hannam, James. "The Orpheus Amulet from the Cover of The Jesus Mysteries." available: http://www.bede.org.uk/orpheus.htm).
To which Peter Gandy, author of the The Jesus Mysteries responded,
"I have to admit that James Hannam is correct. Kern's comment is indeed in Guthrie's book!" (Hannam, James. "The Orpheus Amulet from the Cover of The Jesus Mysteries." available: http://www.bede.org.uk/orpheus.htm).
In sum, not only is the amulet shown in the film Zeitgeist and on the cover of The Jesus Mysteries a fake, but at least one author of the book knew it was a fake and kept quiet about it until now. This displays the dishonesty of Zeitgeist's Freke and Gandy discrediting their researching abilities.
Edward Carpenter
Edward Carpenter is cited 8 times, but is hardly a qualified expert in our current inquiry but was a socialist poet, philosopher and early gay activist in the late 1800's. ("Edward Carpenter." available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Carpenter).
Thomas Daone
Thomas Doane cited 19 times in Zeitgeist for his work Bible Myths and Parallels in other Religions. One researcher responded,
"I made a special effort to research the religions of India (Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism) some years ago when I took a leave of absence from Inter Varsity and went to Benares (Varanasi to the Indians, Kashi to the ancients) and studied Indian Philosophy and Religion at Benares Hindu University. So it interests me that a book over a century old like T.W. Doane's 1882 publication, "Bible Myths: Parallels In Other Religions," would have such meaning and impact on a student today. . . In chapter 28 (page 282) of Doane's book he asserts the things you mention about the parallels between Jesus and Krishna or "Chrishna" as he spells it. He gives the appearance of documenting his assertions about Krishna being crucified and resurrected, for example, in extensive footnotes. But when you check out the footnotes, each one refers NOT to an original document for its basis, but to another chapter in this same book! In the case of the critical (for Christian's) assertion, the resurrection (chapter 23), he then documents his statement about Krishna on (page 215) in yet another footnote, this time again, NOT to original documents of any kind, but to other scholar's books: Higgins: "Anacalypsis" vol. i pg. 131, and "Asiatic Researches" vol.i, pp. 466 & 473. I was able to find the Asiatic Researches, and could only find one sentence there in which the author (unknown) simply referred, almost as a passing thought, to Krishna having died and "returned to his heavenly seat." What kind of argument, much less evidence or proof, is THAT?! Clearly, Doane is making wild and imaginative assertions here." ("Response to Some Claims in the Book by Doane." available: http://www.answering-islam.org/Pagan/doane.html).
ACHARYA S RESPONDS
Acharya S, author of The Christ Conspiracy, was the consultant for Zeitgeist and was cited 29 times in the film. However, when one examines Acharya's bibliographical material, it is proven to be a rip off from the material from earlier authors cited in the Zeitgeist transcript such as Gerald Massey, James Frazer, E.A. Wallace Budge, John Allegro, Thomas Doane, H.P. Blavatsky, Godfrey Higgins, Albert Churchwood and Manly P. Hall.
Some of Acharya's most cited material comes from The Worlds Sixteen Crucified Saviors by Kersey Graves. Any allegations of 16 other saviors who all resemble the same characteristics of Jesus is most likely based on this book, The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors by Graves. However, this book is an unreliable source of which Acharya bases much of her information.
Even atheist Richard Carrier criticized,
"The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors is unreliable, but no comprehensive critique exists. Most scholars immediately recognize many of his findings as unsupported and dismiss Graves as useless. After all, a scholar who rarely cites a source isn't useful to have as a reference even if he is right" (Carrier, Richard. "Kersey Graves and the World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors." 2003. available: www.infidels.org/library/modern/richard_carrier/graves.html).
Acharya does not have any primary sources for her claims, the majority of which can all be dated within the last 200 years.
In response to the lengthy and detailed refutations of Zeitgeist, Acharya S has recently responded in a short 10-minute internet commercial for her books. We will analyze some of her ideas which have not been previously discussed in this film.
FROM ACHARYA'S COMMERCIAL:
Hello friends. I'm D.M. Murdock, also known as Acharya S, author of The Christ Conspiracy, Suns of God and Who Was Jesus? My work was one of the sources for the internet movie Zeitgeist which has gone viral online with at least fifteen million views so far. . . . Over the past few months, there have been several claims in websites, in forums and videos all over the internet that the first part of Zeitgeist has been refuted or debunked. Contrary to the claims, the facts continue to demonstrate otherwise.
Apparently Acharya wants us to take her word that these "facts" demonstrate otherwise, yet she makes excuses all throughout her commercial as to why she can't present these "facts."
FROM ACHARYA'S COMMERCIAL:
It should be kept in mind that in this short video I cannot cover everything but I have already written extensively on these subjects and I have specifically addressed several important issues in my Companion Guide to Part One available online right now. Why is the information in Zeitgeist not widely known?
This is Acharya's first excuse not for having any evidence for her "facts". Yet, Acharya does not even present any evidence for her excuse of not having any evidence.
FROM ACHARYA'S COMMERCIAL:
Also, much of this information can't be found in English but it appears in other languages like Greek, Latin, German, French, Sanskrit, Hebrew and Egyptian. Unless someone can speak in other languages, he or she may never encounter these facts.
Now, Acharya says the reason you can't validate the things she says is because she got them from other languages and since we can't understand those languages, she is going to avoid referencing them altogether.
FROM ACHARYA'S COMMERCIAL:
Many of these parallels between Christ and other gods and goddesses cannot be found in encyclopedia entries and these seem to be where most of the debunkers are getting their information from. . . . In other words, you won't find this information in encyclopedias, it requires much deeper research than that.
Now, she claims the facts cannot be found in encyclopedias and dictionary entries, yet she cites them. Notice the contradiction here: Acharya is citing the very sources which she claims cannot be used to validate her claims. By her own admission, she is not an expert.
FROM ACHARYA'S COMMERCIAL:
And reading encyclopedia entries does not make an expert out of anyone.
Within 49 pages, she cites 14 different works by Wallace Budge, who is also cited 5 times in the Zeitgeist transcript (http://www.stellarhousepublishing.com/zgcgbibliography.html). But the unreliability of Budge's work is even recognized by Acharya in a footnote in the text, she says,
"I am aware of the debate concerning Dr. Budge's work, a controversy that some have suggested represents a form of rivalry not uncommon in the academic world or in the world at large. I personally have found nothing egregious about his discussion of the Egyptian religion in English, although I cannot vouch for everything in his hieroglyphic dictionaries, for instance, which are considered "outdated" in their system of transliterations but which nevertheless appear to be sound overall."
FROM ACHARYA'S COMMERCIAL:
In addition, these days many scholars are so specialized they don't cover the broad array of subjects involved in this particular field of research. Scholars in past eras were less specialized. And they did in fact make these connections within comparative religion as my research demonstrates.
In reality, Acharya's research does not demonstrate or validate these connections. Even critical non-Christian scholars have rejected Acharya S' research, among whom is Dr. Bob Price who said,
"She is quick to state as bald fact what turns out to be, once one chases down her sources, either wild speculation or complex inference from a chain of complicated data open to many interpretations. One of the most intriguing claims made repeatedly in these books is that among the mythical predecessors of Jesus as a crucified god were the Buddha, the blue-skinned Krishna and Dionysus. Is there any basis to these claims, which Murdock just drops like a ton of bricks? Again, she does not explain where they come from, much less why no available book on Buddha, Krishna, or Dionysus contains a crucifixion account. When Murdock speaks of the Christ Conspiracy, she means it. She really believes that people got together and cooked up early Christianity like a network sitcom" (Thompson, Keith. "Zeitgeist Part One Exposed," film available on Youtube. 2008).
FROM ACHARYA'S COMMERCIAL:
Furthermore, some of these parallels between Jesus and the other gods are mysteries to the ancient world which were not to be divulged to the masses. In fact, people were killed for revealing these secrets, such that these mysteries were not readily recorded.
Her next excuse for not having any evidence for these facts is because they were mysteries and not recorded. If these mysteries were not written down, then there is no evidence. But somehow Acharya has made a case despite the lack of evidence.
FROM ACHARYA'S COMMERCIAL:
In my investigation for the Horus/Jesus parallels for my companion guide, I incorporate many pre-Christian primary sources as well as the work of scholars highly credentialed in the appropriate fields.
Actually, none of these sources pre-date Christianity.
For example, the parallels between Christ and the god Attis (who was brought up in Zeitgeist) are discussed by Dr. Andrew T. Fear, a professor of classics and ancient history at the University of Manchester in England. In his article, "Cybele and Christ", Dr. Fear tells us that Attis was killed and then raised from the dead three days later during a celebration that depicted him raising out of a tomb basically at Easter time as was said of Christ.
Even Dr. A.T. Fear, Acharya's source, says that the resurrection of Attis did not appear until the beginning of the fourth century inspired by Christianity, not vice versa,
"Attis too with his strong emphasis on resurrection seems to be a late-comer to the cult, the stress on the Halaria as celebrating the resurrection of Attis also appears to increase at the beginning of the Fourth century AD. . . it is important to remember that here we are discussing a period of centuries not merely years, they do seem to have been provoked by a need to respond to the challenge of Christianity." (Fear, A.T. "Cybele, Attis and Related Cults." pp. 41, 42)
Obviously, this is one of Acharya's strongest claims in support of her facts since it made the cut into her 10-minute commercial. But her own source, Dr. Fear embarrassingly admits that these similarities between Attis and Jesus were borrowed from Christianity and not the other way around as she alleges.
FROM ACHARYA'S COMMERCIAL:
Also, the idea the Indian god Krishna's mother being a virgin is not widely known and is therefore said to be wrong.
It is actually said to be wrong because, as demonstrated earlier, the Indian literature says just the opposite that Devaki had seven children before Krishna was born. It is very widely known that she was not a virgin. The Bhagavad Gita is shown which is misleading because there is no record in the Bhagavad Gita or Mahabharata of a virgin birth for Devaki.
FROM ACHARYA'S COMMERCIAL:
In my books The Christ Conspiracy and Suns of God, I also discuss in detail the gods Dionysus and Mithra who are likewise brought up in Zeitgeist part one.
We have already refuted these claims on Dionysus and Mithra. Other refutations are available free of charge online that give a more thorough treatment to Acharya's books.
FROM ACHARYA'S COMMERCIAL:
We should keep in mind that shouts for primary sources serve to remind us that Christians went on a rampage to sensor and obliterate everything outside of their faith. In fact these sensors destroyed a huge amount of the type of evidence that we're discussing here.
Again, she makes excuses for not having any evidence or proof for her thesis and warns against those who would ask for such evidence. Without any evidence, the "Jesus Myth" and Astrotheology concepts are negligible.
FROM ACHARYA'S COMMERCIAL:
One strawman argument considered by debunkers is the December 25th birth date of various gods which apologists dismiss by claiming Jesus wasn't really born at that time. However, since the fourth century, when this winter solstice celebration was designated as Christ's birthday, hundreds of millions of people have been taught that December 25th is the date of Christ's birth and hundreds of millions continue to celebrate that date every year.
Once again, the date of December 25th was chosen by the Catholic church centuries after the origin of Christianity based on pagan thought. This is the very reason several Christians do not celebrate Christmas. Since when does a majority belief make something true and factual. Despite the fact that many professing Christians, pastors and teachers celebrate Christmas, this celebration is found nowhere in the Bible which is the foundation for the Christian faith.
FROM ACHARYA'S COMMERCIAL:
Furthermore, in 2007, the United States House of Representatives passed H.R. 847, officially declaring December 25th to be thee birthday of Jesus Christ.
She now points us to U.S. House of Representatives as a Christian authority. This argument is most likely disregarded by most people based on the fact that worldly governments, much like the Roman Catholic Church, are full of corruption and lies.
FROM ACHARYA'S COMMERCIAL:
Another fallacy concerns the three kings comparison which is dismissed by apologists because nowhere in the New Testament does it mention a number for the wise men who brought gifts to the Christ Child. While it is true that the wise man, magi or kings are not numbered in the New Testament, their gifts are numbered as three at Matthew 2:11: gold, frankincense and myrth.
She has just admitted that the Bible does not number the wise men. Nor does the Bible call them kings. The only problem here is that the number of gifts does not determine how many magi there were. For example, in 2 Chronicles 21:3, there were also three gifts of "silver, gold and precious things" presented to the sons of King Jehoshaphat, yet there was not three contributers but one. There could have been numerous Magi. The Bible does not specify how many Magi there was becuase it is not an issue like Acharya S makes it out to be. Since the December 25th birth date and three kings are so crucial to her thesis, she is going to try anything she can to make it fit. Later, she quotes a Christmas song to prove her point which is not valid just like other traditions that have been associated with Christianity but have more to do with pagan customs such as the Easter Bunny and colored Easter eggs which symbolize the Babylonian fertility goddess and have nothing to do with Jesus. There is also no early Christian reference to the three stars in Orion's belt being known as the Magi as she also alleges.
FROM ACHARYA'S COMMERCIAL:
It shouldn't be necessary for me to address such silliness but I can assure you I am not a Freemason, Illuminati, CIA agent or Mossad agent. Nor do I belong to any satanic or occult organization of any kind.
For the record, this work of refutation has made no such conclusions about Acharya S, but many of the sources which Acharya quotes and cites in her books, whether she is ignorant of it or not, are Freemasons, Luciferians and members of occult organizations.
THEOSOPHY, FREEMASONRY, AND NEW AGE INFLUENCE ON ZEITGEIST
In one of her online articles entitled "The Gospel According to Acharya S", she states:
"In light of the fact that so-called holy scriptures record one barbarous, murderous act after another attributed to "God," it is not surprising that the "Devil" was once considered divine! Perhaps the Devil brings peace, and not a sword, to humanity. Considering how many people have been killed in the name of God and not the Devil, maybe the world is worshipping the wrong entity. Perhaps the Indians and the Greeks were right in the first place. Think about it: No army has ever marched off to war in the name of the Devil." (http://www.truthbeknown.com/devil.htm. also available: http://www.stitech.net/usm334420.html?t=Debate).
She also wrote,
"The devil is divine." (http://www.truthbeknown.com/devil.htm. also available: http://www.stitech.net/usm334420.html?t=Debate)
Next, we will demonstrate how the modern proponents of the "Jesus Myth" theory and sources behind Zeitgeist and Acharya S' work are typically advocates of Freemasonry, Theosophy and the New Age, which are all very similar belief systems whose goal, like that of the Zeitgeist movement, is a the elimination of Christianity and a utopian society or "paradise" as presented in the Zeitgeist Addendum film.
FREEMASONRY
Godfrey Higgins, Albert Churchwood, Manly P. Hall, Albert Pike
Also cited in Zeitgeist are Godfrey Higgins, Albert Churchwood (cited six times), and Manly P. Hall (cited five times) were all members of the Freemasons' secret society. Manly P. Hall, a 33rd degree Mason, wrote on page 48 of his book Lost Keys of Freemasonry:
"When a Mason learns that the key is the proper application of the dynamo of living power, the seething energies of Lucifer are in his hands." (Hall, Manly P. Lost Keys of Freemasonry. p. 48).
Lucifer is a name frequently given to Satan in Christian belief. The usage as reference to a fallen angel stems from a particular passage in the Bible, Isaiah chapter 14, that speaks of someone who is given the name of "Day Star" or "Morning Star" as fallen from heaven. In Latin, the word "Lucifer" is the name for the "Morning Star" (the planet Venus in its dawn appearance)(Wikipedia. "Lucifer.").
Though Acharya S ignorantly and lightly poses the hypothetical of worshiping the devil and the devil bringing peace to humanity, her sources such as Manly P. Hall, H.P. Blavatsky and Albert Pike are much more bold in their allegiance to the devil, Satan or Lucifer. They not only believed in the devil but committed their work to the fallen angel Satan and his lies. Another Freemason quoted frequently by Acharya S in The Christ Conspiracy is Albert Pike who was considered one of the best interpreters of all masonic ritual. He held the highest office in Scottish Rite Masonry and rewrote all Scottish Rite rituals, which are practiced today. Pike is best known for his work Morals and Dogma which is found in the bibliography of Acharya's book. He said,
"The Masonic religion should be, by all of us initiates of the high degrees, maintained in the purity of the Luciferian doctrine. If Lucifer were not God, would Adonay (the God of the Christians) . . . and his priests calumniate him? Yes, Lucifer is God and unfortunately Adonay is also God. . . the true and pure philosophic religion is the belief in lucifer, the equal Adonay; but lucifer, god of light and god of gods, is struggling for humanity against Adonay, the God of Darkness and Evil." (Harris, Jack. Freemasonry. p. 30).
THEOSOPHY
Gerald Massey
Besides Acharya S, who quotes Gerald Massey in her work, Massey is the main source for Zeitgeist being cited 30 times in the film. Though Acharya S relies upon Massey's work to support much of her ideas and conclusions, Massey was not a trained Egyptologist and his work was never recognized in the field of Egyptology. His ideas, like Acharya's, are fringe theories that lack critical support ("Gerald Massey." available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Massey).
Gerald Massey is known for his work such as The Historical and Mythical Christ. He was also a practicing Druid and Theosophist who wrote for the Theosophical magazine entitled Lucifer published by H.P. Blavatsky.
H.P. Blavatsky
H.P. Blavatsky, another source cited by Zeitgeist and Acharya S was an occultist and mystic. She is the author of The Secret Doctrine and the founder of the Theosophical Society, a blend of Eastern religion, occult speculation and Gnostic interpretation of Christianity.
In the words of J.H. Russell, part of its teachings are,
"All life being fundamentally one with the life of the Supreme Existence" (Russell J.H. Theosophy. 11:407).
The Pasadina, California office of the Theosophy Society explains,
"A primary idea is the essential oneness of all beings. Life is everywhere throughout the cosmos because all originates from the same unknowable divine source." ("Some Basic Concepts of Theosophy." Pasadena, California. available: www.theosophical.org).
These ideas are repeated in the Zeitgeist.
FROM THE ZEITGEIST MOVEMENT VIDEO:
We see the world as one organism, the human species as a singular family. . . The Zeitgeist movement is in fact the activist arm for the Venus Project, an organization that constitutes the lifelong work of industrial designer and social engineer Jaques Fresco.
The solution to the faltering global economy offered by Zeitgeist Addendum is the Venus Project. Venus, also known as the morning star, is also synonymous with Lucifer.
In The Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky wrote,
"In antiquity and reality, Lucifer or Luciferus, is the name of the angelic Entity presiding over the light of truth as over the light of the day. . . Lucifer is divine and terrestrial light, the "Holy Ghost" and "Satan" at one and the same time. (Blavatsky, H.P The Secret Doctrine. pp. 512, 513)"
She also wrote,
"And now it stands proven that Satan, or the Red Fiery Dragon, the "Lord of Phosphorus" . . . and Lucifer or "Light Bearer," is in us . . . it is our mind . . . [our] Redeemer, our intelligent liberator and Saviour from pure animalism. (p. 513)"
The Nazi movement was founded on Theosophy and H.P. Blavatsky's writing. Blavatsky's book The Secret Doctrine, which is cited by Acharya S and the film Zeitgeist, was known to be an inspiration to Adolf Hitler, specifically towards his ideas about superior and inferior races. (Spielvogel, Jackson; Redles, David. "Hitler's Racial Ideology: Content and Occult Sources." Simon Wiesenthal Center Annual 3, chapter 9. 1986).
In Section 3 of Blavatsky's book, The Key of Theosophy, she wrote of the three objects of Theosophy:
"(1.) To form the nucleus of a Universal Brotherhood of Humanity without distinction of race, colour, or creed. (2.) To promote the study of Aryan and other Scriptures, of the World's religion and sciences, and to vindicate the importance of old Asiatic literature, namely, of the Brahmanical, Buddhist, and Zoroastrian philosophies. (3.) To investigate the hidden mysteries of Nature under every aspect possible, and the psychic and spiritual powers latent in man especially. These are, broadly stated, the three chief objects of the Theosophical Society." (Blavatsky, H.P. "The Key to Theosophy." available: http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/key/key-3.htm)
She also writes,
"The Theosophical Society is not, then, a political organization?. . . . Certainly not. It is international in the highest sense in
that its members comprise men and women of all races, creeds, and forms of thought, who work together for one object, the improvement of humanity; but as a society it takes absolutely no part in any national or party politics." (available: http://www.archive.org/stream/keytotheosophybe00blavuoft/keytotheosophybe00blavuoft_djvu.txt).
Notice the similarity in the objects of the Zeitgeist Movement stated by Peter Joseph.
NEW AGE
Today, the modern New Age revival can be traced back to H.P. Blavatsky and the founding of the Theosophical Society. Blavatsky's prize pupil, Alice Bailey, developed Blavatsky's teachings into an organized system and coined the term New Age. Bailey taught that humanity must achieve enlightenment by realizing its divinity. Bailey's teachings are kept alive today by the Lucis Trust (previously known as Lucifer Trust), and its political lobby, World Goodwill. Lucis Trust, an organization incorporated in New York, was created in 1920 by Alice Bailey, to manage the publishing her 25 esoteric books. The organization was originally called the "Lucifer Publishing Company", according to a statement on their website, because Bailey considered Lucifer, the fallen angel, a positive principle – as did H.P. Blavatsky whom they cite as "a great teacher." (http://www.lucistrust.org/en/arcane_school/talks_and_articles/the_esoteric_meaning_of_lucifer). Lucis Trust is a member of the UN Economic and Social Council. In part because of this presence of Lucis Trust in the United Nations, along with explicit reference by former Assistant Secretary General Robert Muller in his writings to Bailey's philosophy, some have accused the UN of having a New Age ideology and agenda. ("Lucis Trust". available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucis_Trust#cite_note-6).
Acharya S
Though Acharya S is not a practicing Theosophist, Freemason or Druid like her sources, she does demonstrate loyalty to the New Age movement which is no different. On page 416 of The Christ Conspiracy she says,
"Despite the vilification of the so-called New Age movement, the fact is that we are entering into a new age. "I am with you always to the close of the age"--so ends the Gospel of Matthew. What does this mysterious statement mean, why was this all-important book ended with it? The age referred to in the gospel tale is that of Pisces, and, through contrivance and duplicity, coercion and slaughter, the fish-god "Jesus" the Piscean Solar Avatar, has indeed been with us, but now it is the close of the age, and his time is over. As Hancock says, "We live today in the astrological no man's land at the end of of the 'Age of Pisces ,' on the threshold of the 'New Age'."
Jordan Maxwell
The Zeitgeist movie opens with a quote from Jordan Maxwell's Inner World of the Occult which criticizes religious institutions, governments, and banking cartels who are alleged to, "have misled [the people] away from the true and divine presence in the universe." Maxwell was also heavily influenced by H.P. Blavatsky and Theosophy
This main authority behind Zeitgeist and proponent of the New Age, Jordan Maxwell, believes he was put here by aliens to start his own religion. He is also one of Acharya's sources for The Christ Conspiracy.
FROM ZEITGEIST ADDENDUM:
But, in the end, the most relevant change must occur first inside of you. The real revolution is the Revolution of Consciousness and each one of us first needs to eliminate the divisionary, materialistic noise, we have been conditioned to think is true…while discovering, amplifying and aligning with the signal coming from our true, empirical oneness. It's up to you.
[J. Krishnamurti]
"But that depend on you and not somebody else. Because in this there is no teacher; no pupil…there is no leader.
There is no guru. There is no master, no savior...You yourself are the teacher and the pupil; you are the master, you are the guru, you are the leader. You are everything!
And… to understand is to transform what is.
Freemasonry, Theosophy, the New Age and Zeitgeist movements all represent a relentless quest toward self-deification and the integration of all knowledge and spirituality in order to create a utopian society where all is one.
However, the Bible as well as history reveals humankind's demonstrably depraved nature and renders this Utopian concept an absurd theological farce. The Bible is also in a head-on collision with this movement because, in contrast, it teaches that all is not one (Psalm 148), all is not God (Colossians 1:15-17), and human beings are not God (Deuteronomy 32:29; Isaiah 45:5-6).
The Zeitgeist movement and Venus Project utopia theoretically eliminates this problem of sin and human depravity saying, essentially, that sin, evil and crime is a not caused by the free will of individuals but is a product of society, circumstantial experiences, and money.
FROM THE ZEITGEIST MOVEMENT VIDEO:
There is no such thing as a criminal. As previously expressed, the monetary system generates corruption by its very construct. . . . Socially offensive behavior is directly related to the socio-economic circumstances. The great majority of people in prisons come from deprived socio-economic positions. . . As far as society today, the most fundamental condition for offensive behavior is derived form the monetary system.
In contrast, the Bible teaches that humanity's crises stems from the evil and sin of humankind (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Matthew 5:19). The Zeitgeist movement blames money for "offensive behavior", whereas the Bible teaches "the love of money is the root of all evil" (1 Timothy 6:10), bringing the cause of sin back to the individual's free will and choice.
The Zeigeist movement, along with the New Age, Freemasonry and Theosophy encounter a great problem when confronted with Christianity's exclusivity of Jesus Christ being the only way to God by His grace through faith in His death, resurrection and atonement for sins. The doctrines of these movements forever removes any possible fellowship with Christians.
The only obvious solution to this problem is the eradication of Christianity as Acharya S reveals on page 416 of her book quoting Zeitgeist source Edward Carpenter,
"As for Christianity's role in this "New Age," Carpenter states: "Christianity therefore, as I say, must either now come frankly forward and, acknowledging its parentage from the great Order of the past, seek to rehabilitate that and carry mankind one step forward in the path of evolution--or else it must perish. There is no alternative."
THE RESURRECTION
1 Corinthians 15
The Apostle Paul cites the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and its subsequent effect upon all mankind as the proof that God exists, that Jesus is His Son, and that the redemption of all those who obey God and His word is assured by His personal triumph over the grave. Obviously the Zeitgeist movement will label the resurrection another myth as they do with Jesus' historical existence.
FROM ZEITGEIST ADDENDUM:
A cursory glance at the suppressed history of religion reveals that even the foundational myths themselves are emergent culminations, developed through influence, over time.
For example, a cardinal doctrine of the Christian faith is the death and resurrection of Christ. This notion is so important, that the Bible itself states: "And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain"(1 Cor 15:14).
It is easy to take the previous verse from Paul's letter to the Corinthians out of context when it is not quoted in its entirety. Paul was making a point in rebuking those who said there was no resurrection, even though Jesus was resurrected. Paul said,
"Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept" (1 Corinthians 15:12-20).
Yet, it is very difficult to take this account literally for, not only is there no primary source denoting this supernatural event in secular history, awareness of the enormous number of pre-Christian saviors who also died and were resurrected, immediately puts the story in mythological territory by association.
Though it is very difficult for some to take the resurrection account literally, that does not make it false. Also, claiming that there is "no primary source denoting this supernatural event in secular history" is inaccurate.
Eyewitness Sources
Unlike Zeitgeist's claims about the "Jesus Myth", the New Testament uses primary sources. The writers of the New Testament wrote as eyewitnesses from firsthand information. In addition to the non-biblical sources, the four gospels are primary and authentic sources for the life of Jesus.
Richard Bauckham, Professor of the New Testament at University of St. Andrews, Scotland wrote in his book Jesus and the Eyewitnesses,
"The Gospels were written within living memory of the events they recount. Mark's Gospel was written well within the lifetime of many eyewitnesses, while the other three canonical Gospels were written in the period when the living eyewitnesses were becoming scarce, exactly at the point in time when their testimony would perish with them were it not put in writing. This is a highly significant fact, entailed not by unusually early datings of the Gospels but by the generally accepted ones . . . We imagine the traditions passing through many minds and mouths before they reached the writers of the Gospels. But the period in question is actually that of a relatively (for the period) long lifetime" (2006, p. 7).
CHURCH DIVISION
FROM ZEITGEIST ADDENDUM:
Religious belief has caused more fragmentation and conflict than any other ideology…Christianity alone has 34,000 different sub groups (Source: World Christian Encyclopedia)
Again the sub-groups, divisions and sins within Christianity does not invalidate Christianity. The Bible teaches Christians to be unified in love regardless of how many professing Christians today behave contrary. Concerning church sub groups, the Apostle Paul spoke against the Corinthian church creating divisions and strife saying it was carnal (1 Corinthians 3:3-11).
ACHARYA S' CONCLUSION
FROM ACHARYA'S COMMERCIAL:
The point raised by Zeitgeist about the book of Revelation and the end times is important for the reason that this constant talk by Christian evangelicals may actually bring about Armageddon by setting up Christians to do battle and I firmly believe we must not let that happen.
Anybody who professes to be a Christian and "does battle", as Acharya put it, is a wolf in sheep's clothing, a false prophet which is known by their fruits according to Jesus and the Bible (Matthew 7:16). Jesus disarmed every Christian by his words to Peter when He said, "Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword" (Matthew 26:52).
Though many wars have been fought in the name of Christianity, these wars were in direct disobedience to Jesus' commandments. Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God" (Matthew 5:9). Jesus taught to bless them that persecute and curse you and love your enemies (Matthew 5:38-46). The Bible says that God hates people who love violence (Psalm 11:5). John the Baptist said to "do violence to no man" (Luke 3:14). Thus, the Bible leaves no exceptions for a Christian to "do battle" if they are to obey its teachings.
Commonly, people misunderstand the difference between the Old Covenant and New Covenant. The New Covenant is God's revelation to all mankind through Jesus His Son. The Old Covenant had symbols and shadows for the Jewish people of the New Covenant. Circumcision was a symbol of spiritual circumcision of the heart, Solomon's temple was a symbol of the spiritual temple of the church, the Old Covenant had its laws written upon tablets of stone while the New has Jesus' commandments written upon His people's hearts, and the physical battles in the Old Testament were a symbol of the spiritual warfare against sinful flesh which does not involve physical weapons of warfare.
Contrary to Achrya's interpretation, the Book of Revelation is clear in that the Beast or evil world empire is given power over all nations to make war with Christians and overcome them (Revelation 13:4-7). Jesus authoritatively told Pilate,
"If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight" (John 18:36), implying that His kingdom is not of this world and this is why the true servants of Jesus do not fight. Jesus also said,
"From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force" (Matthew 11:12).
The only way to recognize a true Christian, according to the Bible, is by their love as says John 13:34,35 because God is love as says 1 John 4:16. Regardless of whether or not somebody calls themself a Christian, Jesus said,
"the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day" (John 12:48).
THE ZEITGEIST FRAUD
FROM ZEITGEIST THE MOVIE:
Christianity, along with all other theistic belief systems, is the fraud of the age. It serves to detach the species from the natural world, and likewise, each other. It supports blind submission to authority. It reduces human responsibility to the effect that "God" controls everything, and in turn awful crimes can be justified in the name of Divine Pursuit. And most importantly, it empowers those who know the truth but use the myth to manipulate and control societies. The religious myth is the most powerful device ever created, and serves as the psychological soil upon which other myths can flourish.
On the contrary, part one of the movie Zeitgeist is in every respect a fraud. This film professes to present the authoritative truth on what Christianity and pagan religions teach, yet genuine academic research and scholarship blatantly refutes the vast majority of these claims and strongly supports historic Christianity (as is evidenced in this film). In terms of Peter Joseph's ludicrous astrological and historical assertions, there is truly nothing new under the sun.
THE GOSPEL
The King James Bible is mentioned 27 times in the film Zeitgeist, almost always taken out of context or blatantly misinterpreted. Jesus, however, is very specific. He says:
"I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me." (John 14:6).
"He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathers not with me scatters abroad." (Matthew 12:30).
"My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." (John 7:17).
"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3).
The Bible says,
"Many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist." (2 John 7).
"Who is a liar but he that denies that Jesus is the Messiah? He is antichrist, that denies the Father and the Son." (1 John 2:22).
"We are not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus because it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes." (Romans 1:16).
God is light (1 John 1:5). God is a spirit (John 4:24) God is holy and separate (Psalm 99:9). Jesus died for our sins and was raised for our justification (Romans 4:25).
"By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:8-10).
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believes on him is not condemned: but he that does not believe is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that does truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that does not believe the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him." (John 3:16-21, 36).
"In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?" (1 John 4:9-5:5).