Ostensible Parallels:

• Born on Dec. 25th

The date of Adonis' birth does not seem to be known. If there is anyone with actual citation and would like to argue this, email us at sagertios@gmail.com.

Ostensible Parallels:

• Born on Dec. 25th

December was a long way from Budda's birth. Buddha's birthday is celebrated on the 8th day of the 4th lunar month. As it is based on the lunar calendar, it can change from any time between April and May.

Work Cited:

Kim, Hwansoo. "A Buddhist Christmas: The Buddha's Birthday Festival in Colonial Korea (1928-1945)." Journal of Korean Religions 2, no. 2 (2011): 47-82.

Ostensible Parallels:

• Born on Dec. 25th

One common claim cited as an adaption from paganism was the date of Dionysus' birth, this being claimed to be on December 25th. This, however, is completely false with no sources predating Jesus saying such, this being contrary to the commonly cited claim. Even if this idea was true, that he was, it wouldn't matter as it was not Jesus' birthday. This was a simple calculation done by early Christians in the second century.

Ostensible Parallels:

• Born on Dec. 25th

This is probably the most absurd claim on this page for one specific reason. He was actually born on the fourth as it was his sacred number. As the Encyclopedia of Britannica notes, "The sacred number of Hermes was four, and the fourth day of the month was his birthday," (Encyclopedia of Britannica, Hermes). He was not born on the 25th but on the 4th, a very large difference.

Work Cited:

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Hermes". Encyclopedia Britannica, 3 Oct. 2022, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hermes-Greek-mythology. Accessed 27 November 2022.

Ostensible Parallels:

• Born of a virgin on Dec. 25th

• An eastern star announced his birth, three wise men then visited him

• He had a human father named Seb, translated as Joseph

• He was baptized by a man named Anup the Baptizer

• He had 12 disciples

• He performed miracles, including walking on water,

• Was crucified between 2 thieves

• Was buried for 3 days, then was resurrected

These are some scary claims, but are they true? Well, no, most aren't even close to the actual truth of the matter. First of all, Isis wasn't a virgin. Isis, in her bird form, had intercourse with Osiris. For those who aren't aware, Osiris is an Egyptian god who rules over their version of Hell. He is the brother of Isis. It should also be noted that in the story there seems to be no evidence that a star in the east brought three wise men to Horus. The three wise men weren't even mentioned. Even if the three wise men did exist in the story, the Bible doesn't even mention the number of wise men that came to Jesus. There also isn't evidence that Jesus or Horus was even born on December 25th! Some claim Horus was born around November while others claim he was born during the winter solstice, but nowhere is December 25th ever mentioned. 

It should also be noted that, as said previously, Seb(Joseph) wasn't his father! It was Osiris. There isn't even a language comparison for Seb and Joseph. Horus never had twelve disciples(Horus had four) and never was baptized(Anup didn't even exist, he was invented by a man named Gerald Massey!). These claims were just made up with no evidence to stand behind them. 

Horus did, according to Eygptian scripture, perform miracles. Yet, this doesn't prove anything. That's because they believed he was a god, gods do miracles. This isn't a claim that is new to anyone. This very claim is idiotic.

Not surprisingly, Horus never was resurrected. There are some writings that point towards Osiris being resurrected, but the whole three days and buried claim is utter nonsense.

Ostensible Parallels:

• Born of a virgin on Dec. 25th

• His birth was revealed by a star in the east

• Worked miracles

• Called Hindu priests hypocrites

• Had a disciple named Arjuna, translated as John

• He was killed at thirty, rose from the dead then ascended to heaven

• Was crucified between two thieves

First of all, Krishna wasn't born on December 25th. He wasn't even born in December interestingly enough. He was born somewhere between August and September. Even if they were, Jesus wasn't born in December either. There is no evidence to support this claim except for some calculations done in the 2nd century. Krishna also wasn't born of a virgin. Her mother, Devaki(Considered the god of childbirth), had seven children before him. There also wasn't a star that revealed his birth, but there were some celestial beings who attended the ceremony. 

Krishna did perform miracles, but this act doesn't prove anything. That is just something gods do. He also did indeed argue with Hindu priests, but once again, this doesn't prove anything. Since when is finding fault with someone's actions original?

Arjuna doesn't translate to John, it simply translates to, “shining” or “silver." This claim is just a flat-out lie. The resurrection/crucifixion is also entirely fake. Krishna was killed by a hunter who had mistaken him to be a deer at the age of 125. When he did die, he simply went to heaven, he never resurrected. The crucifixion claim doesn't even make sense since, as mentioned previously, he died by a hunter, not crucifixion. 

Ostensible Parallels:

• Born of a virgin on Dec. 25th

• Mithra was a traveling teacher & performed miracles

• He had 12 disciples

• He sacrificed himself for world peace

• He was buried in a tomb and came back three days later on Easter.

• His followers were promised immortality

There are many tales of Mithra, but all of these teach Mithra wasn't born of a virgin. Some stories say he was born out of a rock while others teach he was born fully developed by the god Ahura Mazada(The God of Zoroastrianism).

There isn't any evidence Jesus or Mithra was born on December 25th. Some Christians in the 2nd century made assumptions Jesus was, but there is nothing for Mithra. Some have assumed that mythists actually made a mistake as the cult of Mithra worshipers did indeed celebrate Mithra on this date(just a feast). However, the celebration on this date dates to the fourth century AD so if anything the cult copied off of Christians. 

Now Mithra did travel and perform miracles, but so did every other diety claimed to exist. This isn't original in any way and is far too general.

Mithra didn't have 12 disciples either. Some stories say he had 1 and others say 2, and some say none at all.

There is no information available on Mithra coming back three days later on Easter.

They were promised immortality, but once again this is normal. Heaven exists, or at least in forms, in many religions.

Works Cited:

Carly Silver, “Bull-Killer, Sun Lord”, Archaeology Magazine (Aug 24th 2010).

David Ulansey, The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries: Cosmology and Salvation in the Ancient World (1989).

Franz Cumont, The Mysteries of Mithra, (1910).

Manfred Clauss, “Mithras und Christus”, Historische Zeitschrift, 243:2 (1986), pp. 265-285.

Manfred Clauss, The Roman Cult of Mithras: The God and His Mysteries (2001).

M.J. Vermaseren, “The miraculous birth of Mithra”, Mnemosyne, 4:3/4 (1951), pp. 285-301.

Ramsay MacMullen, Christianity and Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries (1997).

Roger Beck, “Merkelbach’s Mithras”, Phoenix, 41:3 (1987), pp. 296-316.

Roger Beck, “Ritual, myth, doctrine, and initiation in the Mysteries of Mithras: new evidence from a cult vessel”, The Journal of Roman Studies, 90 (2000), pp. 145-180.

Ostensible Parallels:

• His birth was proclaimed by three wise men

• His flesh was eaten, represented as cakes, in a ritual silmlar to comunion

• He is called the "Good Shepherd"

• The Lord's prayer was adopted from a prayer to Osiris that says, "O Amen, O Amen, who are in Heaven"

• Osiris was called "The God of The Vine"

• He was called, "King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the Resurrection, and the Life"

• He was resurrected

• He was born on December 25th

Firstly, nowhere in the Bible is the number of wise men mentioned. Some scholars do claim Osiris was shown by Orion's belt[2], but the Bible merely says it was a star.

There is no evidence for this communion-like ritual or Osiris being called "Good Shepherd." Osiris sometimes holds a shepherd's hook to be fair, but this was symbolic of leadership. This is why you sometimes see Pharaohs holding one.

The prayer is too general. Amen just means let it be so, and most deities are in Heaven so it means nothing. 

Jesus was never called "The God of The Vine."

Being called "Kings of Kings" and "Lords of Lords" is way too general. By this logic, one could say Zeus is a copy of Osiris because he is the king of a pantheon. Osiris was resurrected in a way, but not the same as Jesus. He instead began to dwell in the underworld as a king. This is not anything like what happened to Jesus.

Like all these deities for some reason, people claim he was born on December 25th. Once again, no evidence does back such an idea. I found some sources claiming it was sometime during the winter solstice or in November, but none had actual sources to back up these claims.

Works Cited: 

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Osiris". Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 Aug. 2022, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Osiris-Egyptian-god. Accessed 26 November 2022. 

"Dying and Rising Gods ." Encyclopedia of Religion. . Encyclopedia.com. 25 Aug. 2022 <https://www.encyclopedia.com>.

Griffiths, John Gwyn. The Origins of Osiris and His Cult. Germany, E. J. Brill, 1980.

Ostensible Parallels:

• He was born on December 25th

Like all these deities for some reason, people claim he was born on December 25th. Once again, no evidence does back such an idea. 

Ostensible Parallels:

• Born by a virgin

• Taught subjects like there being Hell, Heaven, Final Judgement, Salvation, and the End Times

• Was baptized

• He was tempted by the Devil in the wilderness

• Claimed he'd come back

• Cast out demons and restored sight to a blind man

• Used a sacred cup and had a Eucharist(Communion)

• He was born on Decemeber 25th

It is indeed true that Zoraster was born before Christ(About 630 years before). However, the actual holy book of Zoroastrianism, the Avesta, was actually created far after the resurrection of Jesus. An article from Britannica states, "The present Avesta was assembled from remnants and standardized under the Sāsānian kings (3rd–7th century AD)" (Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Avesta". Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 Nov. 2019, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Avesta-Zoroastrian-scripture. Accessed 15 October 2021). In contrast, the Bible was completely finished in the late first century. A large difference to say the least. This means that the Avesta was finished around 928 to 1348 years after Zoraster. It seems, at the very least, that Zoroastrianism if anything borrowed from Christianity.

Most of these claims are flat-out incorrect as most of the others have been. For example, Zoraster was never said to of been born of a virgin. He had a human father named Pourushasp(His parents were married). There is also no mention of him being baptized, however, he did receive a revelation at a bank of a river(the name of the river wasn't mentioned) which he then crossed.

Zoraster did speak of Hell, Heaven, Final Judgement, Salvation, and the End Times, yet, this really doesn't mean anything; the concept of Heaven and  Hell, as well as salvation and The End Times, are concepts that most religions hold so this argument has no ground to stand on. It should also be noted that even these subjects in the religion are different. For example, Zorastrinsim teaches work-based salvation while Christianity teaches faith-based salvation.

It is indeed true Zoraster was tempted in the wilderness, although, the situation was very different compared to the incident with Jesus. First of all, the Devil wasn't the one who tempted Zoraster, it was a sub-demon called Aka Manah, meaning evil mind. There is no evidence that Zoraster was tempted in the wilderness; the event also happened ten years after he did "visionary experiences," while Jesus was tempted after forty days of fasting.

There isn't any evidence of Zoraster having a sacred cup or even a Eucharist. This was once again made up. Zoroastrianism does have communal meals, but so do most religions. There are also ceremonies called Yasna or Veneration which require the use of bread that contains butter, but this tradition was created far after Christianity so it doesn't prove anything except Zoroastrians like to copy(or they also like good bread). 

There are certain books that do claim Zoraster casted out demons/gave sight to a blind man; however, all of these books came out around the tenth century AD making them extremely unreliable.

Some have claimed that he was born on December 25th, the only problem is that Zoroastrians are not even sure of the date themselves. From the year to month is widely debated, but the most common consensus on the year is 389 BC, 538 BC, or 637 BC. [1,2]. For the month, March and June seem to be the most popular guesses which is far from December.

Works Cited:

Allen's Indian Mail, and Register of Intelligence for British and Foreign India, China, and All Parts of the East, vol. 9 (1851) (P.37)

Carol A Bromberg, Bulletin of the Asia Institute 17, Wayne State University Press (2003), p. 20.