Zeitgeist: Analyzed and Exposed
Zeitgeist
Zeitgeist
Claims of Zeitgeist
1. Christianity Borrowed from
Astrological Zodiac
2. Jesus Never Existed
3. Life of Christ Borrowed from
Pagan Religions
Christianity Borrowed from
Astrological Zodiac
“December 25 Birth Date”
-Zeitgeist claims that the New Testament
writers place the birth date of Jesus at
Dec. 25 because of the winter solstice
-This makes one wonder if the producer of Zeitgeist
even read the New Testament. Nowhere in the Bible do
we read any date associated with the birth of Jesus.
-The December 25 date being associated with the birth of
Jesus originated long after the Gospels were written. It was
not until about 336 AD that Dec. 25 became the official date
to ‘celebrate’ Jesus’ birth.
-Ben Witherington III, of Asbury Theological Seminary, states
that, “most scholars think it was in the spring due to the
description of the shepherds being in their fields with their
sheep.
Christianity Borrowed from
Astrological Zodiac
“Three Kings”
-Zeitgeist also claims that Christianity got the ideas of three
kings for the nativity story from the three brightest stars of
Orion’s Belt pointing the star of the East (Sirius) indicating the
rising of the sun on Dec 25.
-Again the creators of Zeitgeist are revealing their biblical
ignorance. While the idea of three kings are found on some
Christmas cards or a churches nativity portrayal then New
Testament states in Mt 2:1 “Now after Jesus was born in
Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold,
magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem.”
-Magi were known as wise men, not kings.
During the Middle Ages legend did
develop the idea that the magi were kings
and 3 in number, but this is not found in
scripture.
Christianity Borrowed from
Astrological Zodiac
“12 Disciples”
-“Probably the most obvious of all the astrological symbolism
around Jesus regards the 12 disciples which are the 12
constellations of the Zodiac.” – Zeitgeist, the Movie
-What makes it obvious?
The number 12 of course!
-The producers of Zeitgeist again fail to do their research. The 12
disciples did represent the 12 tribes of Israel. Why?
Because Jesus was trying to reform Israel the 12 disciples
represented the 12 tribes of Israel. Jesus was fulfilling the Old
Covenant and was instituting a New Covenant. He was choosing
the “New” twelve tribes.
-The 12 tribes go back to Jacob and his
12 sons. This is not an astrological story
but an explanation of a historical origins
of a people.
Christianity Borrowed from
Astrological Zodiac
“Symbol of the Cross”
-Zeitgeist claims that the cross was
derived from the cross in the Zodiac
imposed on the circle of the 12 signs of
the Zodiac
-Problem: the most basic Zodiac symbols we have from the
ancient world has no cross in them.
Zodiac symbol in
floor at synagogue in
Sepphoris
-The origin of the symbol of
the cross derives from the
Roman practice of
crucifixion. Jesus died in
30 AD on a cross outside of
Jerusalem, even as the
Romans admitted.
From a book by
Barocius, 1585.
Jesus Never Existed
“Jesus was a Myth”
-Zeitgeist claims that Jesus is an “astrotheological literary
hybrid” and is not a historical figure.
-Besides the 27 New Testament sources all written in the first
century (the century Christ lived) that verify that Jesus existed,
how many non-Christian sources are there that mention Jesus?
-Ten. There are ten known non-Christian writers who mention
Jesus within 150 years of his life.
-By contrast, over the same 150 years, there are nine nonChristian sources who mention Tiberius Caesar, the Roman
emperor at the time of Jesus.
-Jesus is actually mentioned in non-Christian
sources more than a Roman emperor. If you include
the Christian sources, authors mentioning Jesus
outnumber those mentioning Tiberius 43 to 10
Life of Christ Borrowed from Pagan Religions
“Pagan Religious Figures”
-Zeitgeist claims that the events of Jesus life were stolen
borrowed from earlier religious figures:
Mithra
Krishna
Attis
Horus
-It goes on to claim that the lives of theses pagan religious
figures provided the framework in which to construct the story
of Jesus: virgin birth, born on Dec. 25, 12 disciples, performed
miracles, dead for three days, and resurrected.
Life of Christ Borrowed from Pagan Religions
“Analysis and Critique”
-Here the claim of Zeitgeist, as well as others such as Brain
Flemming’s documentary The God Who Wasn’t There, Robert Price’s
Deconstructing Jesus, T. Freke and P. Gandy’s The Jesus Mysteries,
Tom Harpur The Pagan Christ, etc., is that Christianity’s Beliefs
about Jesus were copied from pagan religions.
Life of Christ Borrowed from Pagan Religions
“Background”
-In the academic world, these comparisons of Jesus to pagan
religious figures were promoted by a group of scholars called
the Religionsgeschichtliche schule or the so-called “History of
Religions School.”
-The “History of Religions School” flourished at the end of the
nineteenth and into the early twentieth century.
-It included scholars such as Richard Reitzenstein, Sir James
Frazer, and Albert Schweitzer.
-The “History of Religions School” claimed that primitive
Christianity had been influenced by Platonism, Stoicism, the
pagan mystery religions, and other Greco-Roman movements.
-By the mid-20th century
this school of thought has
been abandoned by the
academic community.
Life of Christ Borrowed from Pagan Religions
“Background”
-Today some current textbooks, as well as some of the more
popular publications (previously mentioned) are recirculation this
idea. Hence, the rise of Zeitgeist.
-The “History of Religions School” flourished at the end of the
nineteenth and into the early twentieth century.
-Ronald Nash (Ph.D. Syraycuse), author of The Gospel and the
Greeks, states, “efforts to undermine the uniqueness of the Christian
revelation via claims of a pagan religious influence collapse quickly
once a full account of the information is available.”
Life of Christ Borrowed from Pagan Religions
“Timing of Mithras and Christianity”
-Why did the “History of Religions School” abandon the claim
that Christianity borrowed from pagan religions?
-For example, Mithras was a Persian
god who was attested as early as
the fourteenth century BC.
TIMING
-The problem is there is no evidence
of Mithraism in the sense of a mystery religion in the West
until very late. The vast majority of texts about Mithra date
after AD 140, to late to influence Christianity.
-Manfred Clauss, professor of ancient history at Free Univ. of Berlin
claimed in The Roman Cult of Mithras that it doesn’t make sense to
interpret the Mithraic mysteries “as a fore-runner of Christianity.” L.
Patterson, in his book Mithraism and Christianity (Cambridge Univ.
Press) concludes there is “no direct connection between the two
religions either in origin or development.”
Life of Christ Borrowed from Pagan Religions
“Its All About Timing”
The chronology is all wrong. While some of the mystery religions
pre-dated Christianity, there is near universal agreement that there
are no stories of dying and rising gods until after Christianity
Since the supposed parallels between Christianity and the pagan
religions arose only after the origin of the church, the pagan
religions could not have influenced Christian beliefs.
T. N. D. Mettinger – a senior Swedish scholar, professor at Lund
Univeristy, and a member of the Royal Academy of Letters,
History, and Antiquities of Stockholm – wrote
one of the most recent academic treatments of
dying and rising gods in antiquity:
The Riddle of the Resurrection
“There is, as far as I am aware, no prima facie
evidence that the death and resurrection of Jesus is
a mythological construct, drawing on the myths and
rites of the dying and rising gods of the surrounding
world.” (Mettinger, 221)
Life of Christ Borrowed from Pagan Religions
“Supposed Parallels Between Mithras & Christianity”
“Virgin Birth”
-Mithras was born out of a rock
“December 25 Birth Date”
-we don’t know date Jesus was born
“12 Disciples and a Teacher”
-Mithras was a god, not a teacher
“Sacrificed Himself”
-Mithras didn’t kill himself, he killed a bull
“Died for Three days and Resurrection”
-we don’t know anything about the death of Mithras
Richard Gordon in Image and Value in the Greco-Roman World declared that “there is no
death of Mithras.” No death, no resurrection
Life of Christ Borrowed from Pagan Religions
“Other Parallels”
“Krishna”
-Krishna was not born of a virgin, but of mother who already had seven previous sons, as even
his followers readily concede.
“Buddha ”
-Sources for the life of Buddha do not appear in written form until 500 years after his death,
thus not reliable history. In addition, his mother dreamed that he (Buddha) entered her in the
form of a white elephant – fully formed. She had been married for many years prior to so she
wasn’t a virgin.
“Horus”
-The claim that Horus was born on 12/25, of a virgin, worshipped by kings and a teacher by 12 as
early as 3000 BC is impossible. Why? Because we don’t have any Egyptian texts that go back that
far on the matter. Zeitgeist doesn’t even get Egyptology right much less Christianity.
Life of Christ Borrowed from Pagan Religions
“Resurrection”
Of all the alleged “borrowed” beliefs, the resurrection is the perennial belief of Christianity. It
stands or falls with the truth of the resurrection. Did Christianity borrow its belief of the
resurrection from the pagan religions?
“Attis”
-Zeitgeist claims that Attis (a Roman god) was crucified, dead for three days and
resurrected.
-Unfortunately, for Zeitgeist, Attis was unfaithful to his goddess lover and in a jealous
rage she made him insane. Attis castrated himself and fled into the forest, bleeding to
death. They myth contains no resurrection. All that Cybele, the mother of Attis, can do
is preserve the dead body of Attis and that the hair should still grow and his little finger
should move.
-On top of this, this “resurrection” of Attis isn’t even mentioned until after 150 AD, long
after the time of Jesus
Life of Christ Borrowed from Pagan Religions
“Resurrection”
“Osiris”
-Zeitgeist claims the Egyptian god Osiris was
resurrected.
-Truth is Osiris is cut into 14 pieces, scattered
around Egypt, then the goddess Isis rescues all but
one of his body parts, reassembles them, and
brings him back to life.
-However, Osiris does not actually come back to
physical life but becomes ruler of a shadowy
underworld and is it is not clear it is a resurrection
account since Osiris was never fully reconstituted.
-Not only that, but poor Osiris really wasn’t brought
back to ‘life’ because his resuscitated ruler ship
remains in the realm of the dead. This isn’t
resurrection but zombification!
Life of Christ Borrowed from Pagan Religions
“Resurrection”
-In short, the first real parallel of a dying and rising god does not appear until AD 150, more than
a hundred years after the origin of Christianity.
-If there is an influence it is the influence of the New Testament report of the resurrection of
Jesus on mythology, not the reverse.
-Even if there are myths about dying a rising gods prior to Christianity, that doesn’t mean the
NT writers copied them.
-For example, the fictional TV show Star Trek preceded the US Space Shuttle program,
but that doesn’t mean
that newspaper reports
of space shuttle missions
are influenced by Star
Trek episodes.
Life of Christ Borrowed from Pagan Religions
“Resurrection”
-If prior similarity means it is the source and is not historical then we cannot believe that JFK is
historical. Look at the similarities between Lincoln and JFK:
Lincoln
Kennedy
Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846
Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946
He was elected President in 1860
He was elected President in 1960
His wife lost a child while living in the White House
His wife lost a child while living in the White House
He was directly concerned with Civil Rights
He was directly concerned with Civil Rights
Lincoln was shot in the back of the head in the
presence of his wife
Kennedy was shot in the back of the head in the
presence of his wife
Lincoln shot in the Ford Theatre
Kennedy shot in a Lincoln, made by Ford
He was shot on a Friday
He was shot on a Friday
The assassin, John Wilkes Booth, was known by three
names, comprised of fifteen letters
The assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was known by
three names, comprised of fifteen letters
Booth shot Lincoln in a theater and fled to a
warehouse
Oswald shot Kennedy from a warehouse and fled to a
theater
Booth was killed before being brought to trial
Oswald was killed before being brought to trial
There were theories that Booth was part of a greater
conspiracy
There were theories that Oswald was part of a
greater conspiracy
Lincoln's successor was Andrew Johnson, born in
1808
Kennedy's successor was Lyndon Johnson, born in
1908
Life of Christ Borrowed from Pagan Religions
“Resurrection”
-If prior similarity means it is not historical then we cannot believe that the Titanic was an
actual ship that sank in the Atlantic by striking an iceberg:
1. British ocean liner
2. Could carry 3,000 passengers
3. Made of steel with 3 propellers and 2 masts
4. Top cruising speed of 24 knots
5. Had an inadequate number of lifeboats
6. Traveling between New York and England
7. Hit an iceberg and sank in Atlantic Ocean on a late April night
Sounds like the Titanic, but this this is actually describing the Titan, a
fictional ship described in Morgan Robertson’s book The Wreck of the
Titan. Written 14 years before the sinking of the Titanic. While the
similarities are striking, they do not undermine the historical evidence of
the Titanic
Parallels prove nothing
Life of Christ Borrowed from Pagan Religions
-Ronald Nash in The Gospel and the Greeks: Did the New Testament Borrow from Pagan
Thought? summarizes the eight weaknesses in the critics’ claim that Christianity was derived
from the pagan religions:
1) Similarity does not prove dependence
2) The alleged similarities are greatly exaggerated or invented
3) The chronology is all wrong: Christianity was in existence in the
first century, while the full development of the pagan mystery
religions did not appear until the second century
4) Paul as a devout Jew wouldn’t borrow from pagan religions
5) As a monotheistic religion, Christianity could hardly borrow from a polytheistic
religion
6) First century Christianity was an exclusivistic faith, not a
syncretistic on, which it would have become if it was borrowing
7) Christianity is demonstrably grounded in actual events of history
8) If borrowing did occur, it was the other way around