Who are these 6 dying/rising saviour demigods before Jesus in Persian and Hellenistic myths?
You and others certainly have some weird conspiracy theory going about Jesus and the writing of the New Testament.
conspiracy theory? WTF? This is basic history? You think just because apologetics doesn't tell you something than it's a "conspiracy"? Vigrin born world saviors who come to save humanity and Revelations are Persian myths from
`~1600 BC. Hellenism influenced most of the religions in this region from 300-1AD which morphed them into what is now called mystery religions. Christianity was the last of the mystery religions.
Some easy to understand elements are written in the Britannica entry on Hellenistic religion.
Hellenistic religion - Beliefs, practices, and institutions
-
-the seasonal drama was homologized to a
soteriology (salvation concept) concerning the destiny, fortune, and salvation of the individual after death.
-his led to a change from concern for a religion of national prosperity to one for individual
salvation, from focus on a particular
ethnic group to concern for every human. The prophet or
saviour replaced the priest and king as the chief religious figure.
-his process was carried further through the identification of the experiences of the soul that was to be saved with the
vicissitudes of a divine but fallen soul, which had to be redeemed by cultic activity and divine intervention. This view is illustrated in the concept of the paradoxical figure of the saved saviour,
salvator salvandus.
-Other deities, who had previously been associated with national destiny (
e.g., Zeus, Yahweh, and Isis), were raised to the status of
transcendent, supreme (Yahweh goes from national God of Israel to supreme God)
cosmopolitan ideology - all races allowed
-The temples and cult institutions of the various Hellenistic religions were repositories of the knowledge and techniques necessary for
salvation and were the agents of the public worship of a particular deity. In addition, they served an important sociological role. In the new,
cosmopolitan ideology that followed Alexander’s conquests, the old nationalistic and ethnic boundaries had broken down and the problem of religious and social identity had become
acute.
-Most of these groups had regular meetings for a communal meal that served the dual role of
sacramental participation (referring to the use of material elements believed to convey spiritual benefits among the members and with their deity)
-Hellenistic philosophy (Stoicism,
Cynicism, Neo-Aristotelianism, Neo-Pythagoreanism, and Neoplatonism) provided key formulations for
Jewish,
Christian, and
Muslim philosophy,
theology, and
mysticism through the 18th century
- The basic forms of worship of both the Jewish and Christian
communities were heavily influenced in their formative period by Hellenistic practices, and this remains fundamentally unchanged to the present time. Finally, the central religious literature of both traditions—the Jewish
Talmud (an
authoritative compendium of law, lore, and interpretation), the
New Testament, and the later
patristic literature of the early Church Fathers—are characteristic Hellenistic documents both in form and content.
-Other traditions even more radically reinterpreted the ancient figures. The cosmic or seasonal drama was interiorized to refer to the divine
soul within man that must be liberated.
-Each persisted in its native land with little perceptible change save for its becoming linked to
nationalistic or
messianic movements (centring on a deliverer figure)
-and
apocalyptic traditions (referring to a belief in the dramatic intervention of a god in human and natural events)
- Particularly noticeable was the success of a variety of prophets, magicians, and healers—
e.g., John the Baptist, Jesus,
Simon Magus,
Apollonius of Tyana,
Alexander the Paphlagonian, and the cult of the healer Asclepius—whose preaching corresponded to the activities of various Greek and Roman philosophic missionaries
Petra Pakken has a book on this called the Hellenization of Early Religion. Notice ALL OF THESE CHANGES are exactly how Judaism changed to Christianity.
Who are these 6 dying/rising saviour demigods before Jesus in Persian and Hellenistic myths?
Carrier details them with sources in his Jesus historicity book. It's on his blog as well:
Dying-and-Rising Gods: It's Pagan, Guys. Get Over It. • Richard Carrier
This is not a CONSPIRACY THEORY? It's from a peer-reviewed 700pg Jesus historicity book by historian Dr Carrier? Scholar Mary Boyce will again be quoted from pg 29 of her book.
Later I will explain that early apologists like Justin M came up with an apologetic that said Jesus was like so many other saviors because Satan prefigured(went back in time) and made those myths look like him. Yes, this is actually real. Modern apologists have desperately tried to stay away from this.
The conspiracy theory is apologetics making you think Christianity is unique which scholarship has long been cringing to behind your backs.
Jesus existed and people knew He existed and that He had been crucified. Even the Jews knew that.
If you want to claim otherwise then where is your evidence?
https://www.amazon.com/Historicity-Jesus-Might-Reason-Doubt/dp/1909697494
There are about 20 sitting historian PhD who are in the mythicist camp now. This doesn't matter. The point is that the gospel narratives are myth. If a real human Rabbi existed who they were based on that doesn't change anything?
The evidence for the supernatural stuff is zero. The historicity is being debated but even that is a bit weak.
Can Krishna even be placed anywhere in history?
In the Bhagavad Gita, which is as reliable as the Gospels in terms of myth. Both are clearly myth.
