Hercules. Now let's see ...
• born from a god (Zeus) and a mortal virgin mother (Alcmene).
• while still an infant,
a jealous goddess, Hera, tried to kill him. •
performed miraculous deeds.
• descended into Hades.
• died in agony.
• rose
again as a god. Should
we believe in an historical Hercules? He's mentioned by Tacitus, Josephus
and others.
In short, we have as
much (that is, as little) evidence for an historical Hercules as
an historical
Jesus.
Hercules carries his "cross"
12th Labour
Hercules at the tree of
Hesperides, with apples and a snake. Sound a tad familiar? 
(British Museum)
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Christians
today, who affect such certainty over what their godman
said and did, might be well served to pause and reflect
that Christians who lived within a generation or two of
their supposed saviour had no such certainty, that they
speculated wildly, disagreed with each other to the point
of violence, and organised rival churches.
For
more than two hundred and fifty years the enthusiasts
of Christ concocted astonishing fairy tales drawn from
Pagan and Jewish antecedents and their own imagination.
Let's
consider a few thorns in the crown of the godman.
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Sun God
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1. Precisely when did
this story spread?
Bizarre
Beginnings – The
Assortment of Early Christian Belief
Inconvenient fact: many cardinal "Christian" beliefs,
including belief in a sacrificial godman, had been widespread
for centuries before the Christians appeared. The evidence
shows clearly that the Christians took over pre-existing
beliefs and sacraments rather than introduced new ones. |
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Abraxas
Jesus
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2. Precisely what story
got off the ground? Nice
Gnostics – Christian
'Mystics of Knowledge'
Inconvenient
fact: early Christianity was characterized by wildly
variable beliefs about their hero. The earliest Christian
theorists denied a physical incarnation of their Lord
and knew nothing of the Bethlehem saga. |
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Zodiac Jesus
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3. Precisely where did this story spread?
Making an Apology
Inconvenient fact: The middle
decades of the 2nd century were the most prosperous age of
the Roman Empire. With the
catastrophic defeat of the Jews in 135 everything Jewish
was treated with opprobrium. Christian writers in the great
cities of the empire scrambled to use Greek logic and the
style of the sophists
to defend
Christianity. The Jewishness of the faith was purged
but the apologists had little to say about a human
Jesus. They took comfort in noting similarities between their
own ideas and pagan myths. |
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4. A mass following?
Orthodoxy and the Early Church
Inconvenient
fact: evidence of early Christian communities is scanty.
The Christians remained a minority
until well after one particular faction formed a political alliance
with the State.
The orthodox creed was unpopular for centuries; persecution
was necessary to impose its will. |
Pagans
campaigned to restore the Altar of Victory to the Senate
House as late as the early 5th century. |
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Helping
JesusNeverExisted to exist:
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Copyright © 2005
by Kenneth Humphreys.
Copying is freely permitted, provided credit is given to the author and no
material herein is sold for profit.
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