Published by Dionysus is the Greek pagan god of ancient Greece of wine and beer. Latest research has shown that there are many parallels between the lives of Dionysus and Jesus Christ of Christianity. Where the Vatican now stands in Rome, Italy there once stood a pagan temple and now where the Pope says mass there were pagan rituals where pagan priests would practice pagan ceremonies. There are many parallels and connections between paganism and Christianity. But here is a list of parallels between Dionysus and Jesus that are the most shocking:
- Dionysus comes down to earth as god made flesh as a savior and is the son of God.
- His Father is a god and his mother is a mortal virgin.
- His born in a humble stable on December 25 before three shepherds.
- He dies at Easter time for the sins of the world.
- After he dies he descends into hell and rises again on the third day.
- He preaches about a Holy communion of his sacred body and blood for the forgiveness of sins.
This is just a tip of the iceberg of the parallels between Christianity and paganism. I will talk about many more in other articles soon to come. But for right now just think about it. The main question that arises, Was Jesus a real man who really existed and was really the Son of God or was he just a simple fictional character who was a rewritten story of Greek and Roman Mythology.
I’ll take door #2, the legend.
Yes, I have to agree. I’ve been studying alot about Zeus and drawing parallels between him and the Christian god that they worship.
There may be a darker connection than simple borrowing. In a speech from Cadmus in Euripides’ Bacchae (a popular play from a time preceeding the Christian movement), it is asserted about Dionysus that “E’en though he be no god, as thou assertest, still say he is; be guilty of a splendid fraud, declaring him the son of Semele, that she may be thought the mother of a god, and we and all our race gain honour.” The Christian movement may have been a deliberately created fraud.
Look up the word hagiography in your nearest dictionary. Humans are remarkably consistent, cross-culturally, in the way they describe the lives of their divine and sacred figures.
But it shure makes a great musical dho…
god is remarkably consistant and if he promised the return of the messiah you would all do well to get right for the time is at hand repent ye sinners
I like a good story as much as the next person, but aren’t we as humans getting too old for fairy tales and hocus pocus?
we didnt very well create ourselves, did we think about it
You all should watch Zeitgeist The Movie. Google it and watch from minutes 16:00 to 40:00. It talks about all of teh pre-historic Messiahs.
Zeitgeist is part of the problem. There IS an argument for pagan roots in the Jesus story, but he butchers it. Now, thanks to people who can’t do research, most people say Jesus is related to Mithras, which there is virtually no proof for, making the whole argument look stupid when we should be citing Dionysus, and the Orphic mysteries. Osiris works as well- but all Mithras has in common with Jesus is rebirth. Surprise! He’s a sun god.
open your eyes and you will see that Jesus,horus,dionysus,mithras and many more are the just different ages
1. Dionysus comes down to earth as god made flesh as a savior and is the son of God.
(This isn’t an accurate telling of the Dionysus myth.)
2. His Father is a god and his mother is a mortal virgin.
(Depends on what version of the myth you accept. In one tale his mother is Persephone, a married goddess. In another version his mother is the mortal Semele.)
3. His born in a humble stable on December 25 before three shepherds.
(Absolutely false. This claim is repeated over and over again but nobody has been able to produce any source suggesting that his cultists believed Dionysus was born on December 25th. Dionysus was definitely not born in a stable, either. There were no shepherds attending his birth as well. The Brumalia is a festival of Dionysus on December 25, which also celebrates the Winter Solstice, however this was the celebration of an aspect of wine-making and not of the birthday of Dionysus.)
4. He dies at Easter time for the sins of the world.
After he dies he descends into hell and rises again on the third day.
(Absolutely false. Again, this is a frequent claim but no one has produced any sources that state this.)
5. He preaches about a Holy communion of his sacred body and blood for the forgiveness of sins.
(True. He also was said to have personaly spread his cult around the world. He performed miracles, but nothing similar to the miracles in the bible. For example, Dionysus never turned water into wine. Instead some of Dionysus’ miracles include: turning sailors into dolphins, turning a woman named Menthe into a plant (mint), and rescueing his mother from the underworld.)
So you see, I’m all for discussion and debate, but the facts must be correct.
How could Dionysus have been born with three shepards surrounding him, if he was born from the thigh of Zeus? Just think about it, Zeus is a God, and after reading Plato’s Republic human beings are viewed as not being perfect, and therefore have no right to reside in the Heavens with the Gods, which is why human beings according to ancient myths, were all sent to the land of the dead(hence The Odyssey) and not to the Heavens.
Acutually I do I have one more thing to state. I do not think Zeitgeist is the problem…There are some topics that are open for debate but it is true that the christian story was derived from pagans. The only difference I see is that monotheistic and polytheistic belifes. Another thing I have to say is that There was a man in the old testement named Josph and the story that Zeitgeist states about him is actually accurate with the story of Jesus….Plagarism anyone?
Well I’ve done a bit of researching myself on this issue, but have only found a few minor similarities between any pagan god or godess so far! I would like to also point out that there are thousands of pagan gods out there, and all of them have multiple myths about them, so even if these similarities do exist the point is mute. Oh and by the way no where in the bible is the claim that Jesus was born on dec. 25 or died on easter so these similarities if they are legitimate don’t mean much iether. So I’m sorry all antitheists out there you’ll have to find some other way to make christians look like idiotic, irrational hypocrites.
I have been doing research also and have came to realize that christinaty too has also have differnt interpetations about the bible and the word of god. The only version of our contemporary bible that is close to the orginal text is the King James version of the bible which was actually written in Hebrew. The Bible has just recently been translated into English(late 70’s earl 80’s)…and all these different religions(catholicism, christianity, muslim, etc), all praise the same exact god but yet everyone one of them have differnt beliefs, values, morals, interpetations of the same story….how awful..
wow i cant believe u guys took the time to lk write all this down. lol but i appreciate it i need it for school
Who said that the three sheapards were humans in the first place? They could of been three Gods….The sheapards could of been three gods appointed by zeus..
The word “Sheapard” seems to have little influcence on how prominate the three sheaprds were. If the three sheapards were deemed as being gods then why use such a subordnaite word to discribe how powerful they were.
your wrong
JesusLover:
It’s ok, I know the truth hurts
This is not worth arguing over because it will only be settled when we are dead. Could be a rude awakening for both sides!
RJ:
You pose a good point RJ but Its really irritating when people try to sit on both sides of the fence because they cannot come up with an answer and is afraid of the truth. This does pose another question thou. After we are gone, will we even have knowledge of what is even going on? If not then their will not even be a rude awakining to begin with.
BTW, Debating is all fun and games
I have been reading about these similarities for years. A good reference is a book entitled The Jesus Mysteries. It explains the mythology of Osiris-Dionysus and compares that myth with the story of Jesus Christ.
As far as I recall, Dionysus was born of Semele who was impregnated by a bolt of lightning from Zeus. He was born in a cave, not a stable. December 25 is a shift of the calendar. Boyinthemachine had it correct in that both were born during the winter solstice. Over the years that date has shifted from around January 23 to December 25.
The myth of Osiris-Dionysus, if memory serves, existed roughly 6000 years before that of Jesus. There is evidence on walls in Egypt of this myth and it’s hard to deny the similarities between the two and not think that the story of Jesus was even slightly based off of a pagan myth. As a friend of mine says, “The Bible is the greatest work of fiction ever written.” True, there has been scientific proof of events in the Bible. However, did you ever read a book that didn’t have something that is historically accurate in it? Whether it be a street, name of a store, hotel, or newspaper. Writers use things that do exist then fill in the gaps with fiction. Why would the Bible be any different?
AJ poses an excellent point and I like what his friend said about “The bible is the greatest work of fiction ever written.” Just to add somthing, nothing in history is ever accurate. Unless you were that person or unless you were actually their then we will never know the truth. Historians and I guess ordinary people too just come up with their own concepts of what happend during those ancient times. Just about every human being want to have some sort of fairy tale ending to happen and the bible does a great job of providing that but the only problem is that people are fearful in the sense that we do know know what is going to happen and therefore people decided to believe in things that aren’t real or unexplainable.
The myth of Jesus is copied from various different myths throughout history.
Christianity has been merged several times, when it was adopted as the religion of the Roman Empire they had to change it to incorporate the previous beliefs of the Empire so that people could adapt (hence the link to Mithra, and Mithra was ofcourse recycled from previous Gods).
Christianity also adapted to many pagan beliefs (most notably the spring fertility celebration of Easter – Eggs, Rabbits, Death and New life etc etc)
If Rome had not accepted Christianity (and therefore spread it around Europe, eventually leading it to spread accross the globe via the vast European Empires – Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Dutch etc etc) then we would all be worshipping, and arguing the existance over some other man-made God.
Im sure Jesus was a great man, who alot of people admired, over a 100 years or so he went from Man to Legend and eventually to God, its happened before, it still happens today (see Sai Baba of Shirdi, and his apparant reincarnation Sathya Sai Baba )and it will almost certainly happen again.
The important thing is not to bicker over who copied who and why; but to realise that Jesus, like all other Myths and Gods, is fake and to let people see the facts and realise the truth.
Those who still worship a false God are only kidding themselves.
Sadley however, all Gods are false and all who worship them are convinced otherwise, brainwashed to a cult-like mentality.
There is no difference in watching a Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddist, Mormon, Scientoligist, Amish or Jungle tiki worshipping tribe explain why their religion is the one true religion and why their God(s) is(are) the only true God(s).
(Buddism being slightly different as their religion technically has no God as such)
Same applies for the ancient civillisations who worshipped Thor, Zeus, Jupiter, Ra and all the other Gods man has come up with.
To quote Richard Dawkins “We are all Athiests, I just belive in one less God than you”
and Super Intendant Chalmers from The Simpsons (that beacon of knowledge!) “Prayer has no place in a public school, like facts have no place within organised religion”
God Is Fake:
I totally agree with you. You are right in the sense that if rome did not accpet christianity then other people would not even think twice about the existance of Jesus and God. I believe that we only have christian in the United States because of the reformation/expansion/whatever you like to call it of the English(hence Mayflower or Jamestown). And Richard Dawkins is cool.
Let me take another sip of wine on all the above. Haven’t read /The God Delusion/ yet. Personally, I think the more recent the so-called information we review, the less its chances of being true. I agree with the guy far above who brought up Euripides’s /Bacchae/. Euripides lived and wrote about four centuries before your Christ was born, and if you consider the fact that the Bible was not writ in a vacuum, but read it instead alongside classical texts from the same era, you’ll feel disorientation and realize (I’m agreeing, but in a different way) that the whole shebang is fiction, including the existence of Jesus Christ as a historical figure. Then again, maybe Socrates (another martyr) never existed, either.
The edition of /Bacchae/ I recommend is the David Kovacs (Loeb Classical Library, Harvard) one. Contains two other unrelated plays. Short of that, just pick up Edith Hamilton’s /Mythology/ and skip to the chapter about the earth gods Demeter and Dionysus.
PS. I’m “old school.”
Idiot Servant:
I’ll get back to you on that one…good response
It is just logical that no man ever existed who was born from a virgin, whose father was God, who died and rose again. But so what? Lots of characters have been created by authors and yet we can learn from them, like Romeo and Juliette. Are we not focussing too much on whether the story is true or false? What does it matter whether learning comes through a fictional character in a book or from a real-life person? My experience is that if we work daily towards following the principles lived by Jesus, we will become more content individuals. These principles are: Deeply caring for your family and friends, being really humble to the extent that you are not materialistic, and being in complete submission to the basic rules of life and the creation around us. If you think you don’t know what those rules are, just search for them in your own heart. You will find them.
i am trying to compare the similarites of jesus christ and the greek god dionysus using raglans scale i can see how christ can score 19 but not dionysus does anyone have any insight how he scored 19? i can see 2., 4., 5., 8., 9., 16., 18., 21.,= 8
This pattern is based upon The Hero: A study in Tradition, Myth and Dreams by Lord Raglan
Incidents which occur with regularity in hero-myths of all cultures:
1. Hero’s mother is a royal virgin;
2. His father is a king, and
3. Often a near relative of his mother, but
4. The circumstances of his conception are unusual, and
5. He is also reputed to be the son of a god.
6. At birth an attempt is made, usually by his father or his maternal grand father to kill him, but
7. he is spirited away, and
8. Reared by foster -parents in a far country.
9. We are told nothing of his childhood, but
10. On reaching manhood he returns or goes to his future Kingdom.
11. After a victory over the king and/or a giant, dragon, or wild beast,
12. He marries a princess, often the daughter of his predecessor and
13. And becomes king.
14. For a time he reigns uneventfully and
15. Prescribes laws, but
16. Later he loses favor with the gods and/or his subjects, and
17. Is driven from the throne and city, after which
18. He meets with a mysterious death,
19. Often at the top of a hill,
20. His children, if any do not succeed him.
21. His body is not buried, but nevertheless
22. He has one or more holy sepulchres.
Click on the name to see the pattern applied to the life of :
i can’t believe how people believe everything they hear without any proof or any basis.
just because someone stated something without proving it, it doesn’t mean it is true.
Read some of the greek legends and see if there is something like what is stated in this article.
these kind of stuff are just lies and so many people believe it.
…common you’re not kids… judge before accepting something…that’s why you have a brain and not a pumpkin
These claims are mostly false I believe. The problem is the source is either getting his information second-hand or the information is outdated.
I personally like to hear both sides of the story with these things so I looked at the apologetics view also and made my judgement from that.
A good apologetics site about it, that also has first hand information from a classical scholar.
http://www.tektonics.org/copycat/dionysus.html
Read that and make your own decision on whether it’s accurate or not.
The debate should not be about the facts or non-facts of the past that has led us to the place we at with this discussion.
The discussion should be about the acknowledgement that there are things beyond our understanding, a force in nature, and in our lives, which compels us to continue to try to create and organize religions and explain our existence.
I think we all feel that a purely fact based scientific view of our existence just doesn’t cut it, any more than it feels right to follow some religion 1000’s of years old based on stories and myths.
This is a useless debate. No man knows the truth, only our spiritual evolution will bring answers to the mysteries of existence and human consciousness. Could it all just be in our minds? I’m open to that. However, why does feel like we are all on a course and direction?, towards something?, something great and beyond our current ability to comprehend?
Let it go, waiting is your only option, be the best person you can be, stop being selfish and worldly, take care of the other species on this planet, raise your children to be kind, and let go of the mental and physical waste that gives you such a strong and false sense of security and belonging in this day and age.
The truth is we just do not know the answers we seek.
I think I have a different take on ALL of this:
The message Jesus came preaching to the Jews was about his father, “The Father in Heaven” and “eternal life” as opposed to an earthly god and of death. Right? The title “Father in Heaven” was owned during that time and many hundreds of years prior to that by non other than Zeus himself. Let me explain. To the ears of a Greek, Roman, or anybody who had half an education in the 1st century, “The Father in Heaven” meant only one thing. Zeus. It was his title and had been for a very long time. There would be no mistaking whom Jesus was speaking about when he used that title on multiple occasions among the audience he had.
What is interesting to note is that he contrasted “The Father in Heaven” with another god, whom he claimed the Judaic religious leaders of his time belonged to. “The god of this world”, “the father of lies”,”the devil”(the deceiver),”satan”(the adversary). Notice, he never uses the actual name of that god but instead prefers to use titles that describe him. Again, from a Greek perspective, that was non other than Hades himself, the brother of Zeus -The God of the Underworld. Why? The ancient Greeks likewise never used his name out of fear and respect; prefering to call him “plouton (rich one, material wealth from the earth,which he ruled. Even the name Hades(Aides) is only a title meaning “unseen one”. He was known to be a liar and a thief. ie Persephone. I believe that Hesiod even calls him “lord of hosts”. Somebody correct me if I’m wrong. If that is the case, the seemingly wicked god of the old testament who is obsessed with death and killing, “the lord of hosts”, whom Jews fear the pronouncing of his name, are perhaps one and the same.
To put it simply, Jesus, as a messanger of Zeus was sent to the Jews to pronounce, unveil, educate them on the true attributes of the true god as opposed to the god they unwittingly worshipped the deceiver…Hades.
In my opinion, the evidence points to this. From line one in the old testament, where it states: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” to the actual creation of man himself, the word translated GOD is actually in the PLURAL! Hello! Plural means GODS. Not one but many. From Jesus hand picking TWELVE disciples to his disciples asking him about what the Father looks like and him responding, you see me, you see the Father. Tell me that icons of Jesus or the representation on the Shroud of Turin has no resemblance whatsoever to Zeus himself who is always depicted young and bearded with longish hair. Even Zeus’ other sons, Hercules and Dionysus look like him.
Is Jesus in fact, Dionysus? Son of Zeus. A hybrid human-God. Born of a woman. Associated with wine and resurrection? Bearded and disheveled looking. Who traveled the world and taught men? Is this the real reason why there are so many parallel myths about Jesus througout the world? Osiris. Buddha. Dionysus. Quezcatal(?)Mormon myth. Is the Son of God appearing to ALL mankind and slowly teaching us the moral principles of the Father; hospitality, loving our neighbor, sacrifice, generosity, etc.? Or is it really likely that God chose only one race, one people, at one time in history, and ordered them to indescriminately kill everyone else like the Hebrew God seemingly does?
I believe in Jesus. I believe he is the Son of God. I believe what he said(at least in Matthew and Mark). But this phrase taken from the old testament and repeated by Jesus in the new..”YOU ARE GODS”..leaves me in utter awe.
hi guy’s i’m back!.
It’s really cute how you all back up fictional stories. Not only are these stories completely irrelevant to Jesus, but they were made after. Maybe if instead of reading your facts off the internet and did some actual research you could see that Christianity is the most historically acurate relgion of all.
And why choose a belief with no hope? Thats just depressing, why would you want to believe that after you die nothing happens. I feel bad that you can’t have someone to talk to and pray to because its very comforting. Hopefully I opened your eyes but if not it’s your choice, and God gave it to you.
Read an encyclopedia. Do some research. Look at what scholars have spent their lives researching and when you write an article leave some links to the research you have done. Prove your point and don’t just say things.