The Internet has no shortage of informative videos and documentaries on any subject imaginable. The problem with so much of this information, is the rhetoric, poured forth from various opposing ideologies. You have to swim through an ocean of deceit to find a nugget of truth. In this post, I'm going to try to swim for a while in this ocean and see if we can find a nugget of truth.
Our search is going to be around a video posted on YouTube a few weeks ago. The channel describes itself as a place to find truth, stating, “we go beyond blind belief and emotional narratives to investigate the truth using critical thinking, historical context, and philosophical insight.” After looking at their content, it is obvious they don't investigate or us critical thinking, nor historical context, but are either blinded by their hatred of Christianity or live in the bubble of their critical circles.
They begin their video stating, “The virgin birth, the miracles, the 12 disciples, the resurrection was not original, not even close, but a near carbon copy of a god worshiped in Ancient Egypt over 3,000 years before the New Testament was even written. Because that is exactly what the evidence suggests. When you examine the myth of Horus, the falcon-headed deity whose life narrative mirrors that of Jesus so precisely, it forces you to wonder, is Christianity founded on truth or plagiarism?” That statement is made as objective truth, it is not. It says the myth of Horus narrative mirrors that of Jesus precisely, so precisely that when examined you are forced to entertain the idea that the Gospel is a plagiarism. It does not, that is the simple truth.
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While elements of both stories resonate with common archetypes found in mythologies worldwide, the suggestion that the story of Jesus emerged directly from the story of Horus lacks substantial scholarly support. Each narrative is rich and complex within its own cultural setting, and understanding them requires appreciating their unique historical, theological, and societal contexts.” Now that we understand that A.I. knows nothing of their supposed precise narrative and direct connections, let's do some research and critical thinking for ourselves.
Our truth tellers boldly states, “Horus. . .was said to have been born of a virgin mother. His birth was heralded by a star in the east, and he was visited by three kings. At 12, he began teaching in temples, astonishing the elders with his wisdom. At 30, he was baptized in a river by a figure named Anoot the Baptizer.” Britannica mentions nothing concerning any of the features they listed in their entire description, the only phase that could remotely be a biblical phrase was, “Horus, an ancient Egyptian religion, a god in the form of a falcon whose right eye was the sun or morning star, representing power and quintessence, and whose left eye was the moon or evening star, representing healing.” — Britannica. Horus's right eye was call the morning star, and his left eye the moon. But that is hardly a precise comparison of the biblical morning star and moon.
World History Encyclopedia has an enormous amount of information on Horus. None of which supports the statements made by the video produces above.
Historian Jimmy Dunn suggests, “Horus is the most important of the avian deities” who takes on so many forms and is depicted so differently in various inscriptions that “it is nearly impossible to distinguish the 'true' Horus.”
The Cult of Isis became so popular that worship of the goddess traveled through trade to Greece and then to Rome where it became the greatest challenge to the new religion of Christianity in the 3rd-5th centuries CE. It would be difficult for Christianity to emerge from this cultish religion when it didn't even come into contact with Christianity till more than 300 years after Christ.
According to World History Encyclopedia, “The book The Pagan Christ by Tom Harpur (2004) makes this very claim, however, and has given rise to the so-called Horus-Jesus Controversy also known as the Son of God Controversy. Harpur claims that Christianity was invented wholly from Egyptian mythology, and that Jesus Christ is simply Horus re-imagined. To support his claim, Harpur cites `experts' on the subject such as Godfrey Higgins, Gerald Massey, and Alvin Boyd Kuhn, all writers from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, none of whom were biblical scholars or Egyptologists. Higgins was an English magistrate who believed all religions came from the Lost City of Atlantis; Massey, a self-styled Egyptologist, was an English spiritualist who studied available inscriptions at the British Museum; Kuhn was a self-published author whose primary focus was promoting his Christ Myth Theory which was essentially just a re-write of the work done by Higgins and Massey.
Harpur presents these `experts' as though they had uncovered something miraculous and unheard of when, in reality, their observations are often inaccurate re-treads of earlier works (such as those of Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius) or wildly speculative theories presented as though they are brilliant insights. The Dying and Reviving God motif had existed for thousands of years before the apostle Paul began his evangelical efforts c. 42-62 CE, and the concept of eternal life through personal dedication to a god was equally well established. Harpur's book presents a number of very serious problems to any reader acquainted with the Bible, Christianity, and Egyptian Mythology and history, but his most serious offense is the claim that Horus and Jesus share “remarkable similarities”.
This claim, which is quite obviously false to anyone who knows the stories of the two figures, has become the best known of the book. Unfortunately, many readers who do not know the original stories take Harpur's claims as legitimate scholarship when they are not. To cite only a few examples, Harpur asserts that both Horus and Jesus were born in a cave: this is false, Horus was born in the Delta swamps and Jesus in a stable; both births were announced by an angel: also false, as the concept of the angel, a messenger of God, is absent from Egyptian beliefs; Horus and Jesus were both baptized: this to is false, baptism was not practiced by Egyptians; both Horus and Jesus were tempted in the wilderness: also false, Horus battled Set in many regions, including the arid desert while the gospel stories make clear that Jesus was tempted in the desert or the wilderness; Horus and Jesus were both visited by Three Wise Men: also false, Horus is never visited by wise men and, even more damaging to Harpur's 'scholarship', there are not 'three wise men' mentioned in the Bible which only references `wise men' who bring three kinds of gifts; Horus and Jesus both raised the dead back to life: again false, Horus had nothing to do with raising Osiris or anyone else from the dead.”
I cannot judge the intent of the producers of this video, they certainly are not friendly to Christianity. Their entire channel is dedicated to its destruction. However, they may sincerely believe the information they are presenting, but it is obvious if they are ignorant of the truth, and are purposely researching within their own bubble or circles of affiliates. It was not difficult for me to find information on Horus and the other myths, as they are well documented. It appears they were only repeating the false information stated in the book “Pagan Christs”.
I also researched World History Edu which affirms nothing that is stated in the promoted video. I examined Ancient Egypt online which states, “Critics of the history of Jesus say that the parallels between the ideology of Horus and that of the story of Jesus indicates that they are the same story, just different time periods. However, this idea fails to take into account that the belief in Horus is one that spans thousands of years and many versions. Each era of belief in Horus would have believed in different versions of the god, none of which match up with the accounts of Jesus.”
I further researched Anthropology Review and the information they had on Horus to find no support for the video production. I have already addressed this issue myself back in 2022. You can read that review also at Theology Confused which is also written in response to a video sent by this same friend. I presented the accurate research then as I have now, but he simply ignored it or didn't read it and has sent it out again.
They are not content in their own unbelief, but are determined to deprive those of faith from their hope. They make productions of obscure passages where they corner well-meaning but not very knowledgeable Christians and mock and make fun of them in their ignorance. Most of Christianity consist of very kind people who do not know a lot about theology, but their faith is precious to them.
These podcast take these precious people who are bold enough or foolish enough to call into their programs and they try to destroy their faith. Perhaps they think, after having their faith destroyed, they will have the freedom they themselves boast of in their unbelief. They don't consider the damage that can occur to a person who has hope of seeing a loved one again, and the comfort that can bring to their grief. Yet they would rip that hope and comfort from them in the name of what they perceive as their truth. And to be fair, it's not just Atheist podcast that spread false information, I have recently seen a video in my YouTube feed promoting evidence that researchers have found Pharaoh's Chariots in the bottom of the sea. It was presented as absolute proof the Bible is true. This is a false narritive that has been making circles online for several years and keeps getting promoted.
The internet is a swamp of false information, unless you are reading or listening to a source that has in the past proven itself truthful, one has to be skeptical about anything they read or hear. Even if the source is trust worthly, it still warrens investigation before you embrace it as truth. The Scriptures continuedly warn not to be deceived, even if you do not believe the Scriptures, that is well advised.
For those who are convicted because of their past, live with a feeling of guilt, the Gospel is there for you. You don't have to pay pentance, or work you way to a free concience. Christ came and stood in you place, he took your guilt and bore it on the cross. He was raised again from the dead as evidence his sacrifice was acceptable and divine justice had been met. If you can believe that and find hope and peace with God, don't let anyone rob you of your faith.
David
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