Sure, Ben, when you put it that way, it seems silly.
So what is the bottom line here? A myth taken as literal?
It seems the overriding theme is a fear of death. I was recently writing about this topic and it's quite interesting, because there are so many ways that people find to cope with this great unknown. Religion provides a ready-made one-size-fits-all solution. All you have to do is believe and it works for you. But it's astonishing how convoluted and insane the story is that underlies the reason to believe.
This article was part of my series on the Christ myth theory. I wrote a summary article that provides the "bottom line" for me, called "Should You Believe Jesus Was Historical?" which is on Substack. The point of this article on Egyptian myth is that the basic idea of the dying and rising godman likely derives from Egypt. Christianity Judaized and Hellenized that mythos. Whether a charismatic rabbi named Jesus existed and was crucified or not, his legend was influenced by the Egyptian myth. This is the humanist, historical understanding that contrasts with the religious, faith-based one that posits divine revelation. Instead of such a revelation, there's human muddling.
Sure, Ben, when you put it that way, it seems silly.
So what is the bottom line here? A myth taken as literal?
It seems the overriding theme is a fear of death. I was recently writing about this topic and it's quite interesting, because there are so many ways that people find to cope with this great unknown. Religion provides a ready-made one-size-fits-all solution. All you have to do is believe and it works for you. But it's astonishing how convoluted and insane the story is that underlies the reason to believe.
This article was part of my series on the Christ myth theory. I wrote a summary article that provides the "bottom line" for me, called "Should You Believe Jesus Was Historical?" which is on Substack. The point of this article on Egyptian myth is that the basic idea of the dying and rising godman likely derives from Egypt. Christianity Judaized and Hellenized that mythos. Whether a charismatic rabbi named Jesus existed and was crucified or not, his legend was influenced by the Egyptian myth. This is the humanist, historical understanding that contrasts with the religious, faith-based one that posits divine revelation. Instead of such a revelation, there's human muddling.
Yes, I see that. Your stamina with this topic is amazing to me.