| Osiris, Dionysus, Mithra, Attis, Adonis, Tammuz, and Baal---the dying and rising saviors of the Mediterranean world---became formidable rivals of Christianity during the second century AD. In reality, however, savior gods from different cultures seldom had much in common with the Christian Savior, Jesus Christ. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the origin of individual savior archetypes using primary source materials, and through the analyses of historians, archaeologists, linguists, philosophers, and biblical scholars, demonstrate that no consistent parallels exist between Jesus, as portrayed in the New Testament Book of John, and the ancient savior myths. |
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