Scholars agree that all religions were influenced by other ones and exchanged dogmas, rites, supplications, symbols and even deities. Hebrew-Christianity, isn’t an exception, on the contrary, it is entirely based on ancient religions and philosophical dogmas, as the early “fathers” admitted to and recent studies undeniably proved it.
Although the subject is vast and it is impossible to reveal all historical sources within the restrained pages of a post, I have chosen some of them to show how Hebrew-Christianity and even Islam were shaped and emerged through ancient beliefs and literature.
I will start with the myth of Moses who was rescued in a basket from the Nile, or according to one version of the the Hebrew literature, from the Red Sea. Moses was thrown into the Nile in a basket made of bulrushes and was rescued by the servants of the daughter of Pharaoh and his mother became his nurse. The same myth in the like manner Demeter after Aidoneus had ravished her daughter, went in pursuit, reached Eleusis and became nurse of his son.
In the Greek mythology we read that babe Perseus was also closed into a chest and by order of the king Acricius of Argos, was thrown into the sea and rescued by Dictys. Infant Bacchus was confined in a chest and by order of Cadmus, king of Thebes was thrown into the Nile and he like Moses had two mothers. Osiris was also confined into a chest and thrown into the Nile, where he was rescued in Phoenicia by Adonis.
Mesopotamian cylinder seal found in Hazor showing a hero fighting a seven-headed monster, reminds us of Yahweh killing Leviathan, just like Hercules killing Lernaean Hydra and of the Book of Revelation’s the seven-headed serpents proving that all of them share common themes with various ancient cultures, particularly of Mesopotamia and are allegories on kings and empires that oppressed and persecuted the God’s people.
The Sacrifice of Isaac by his father Abraham finds its antipode in the sacrifice of Iphigenia by her father the king Agamemnon and in both cases, the children were rescued by divine interference. The wedding at Cana, is literally copied from the equivalent wedding of Dionysus with Ariadne.
In the Book of the Watchers, or the Fallen Angels who mated with the earthly women with the motif of metallurgical and other “secret, or forbidden” knowledge, there are reminiscences of the Greek myth of the Titans, especially in view of the fallen angels being bound in fetters in the underworld, just like the Titans, among them Prometheus who was bound in the Caucasus, similar to how the angel Asael is bound in the wilderness. Actually, as we read in the Book of Enoch (1:10.12), the Watchers were bound “in the valleys of the earth” and to the chaos of fire” after the judgement of the “eon of eons.”
Many Christian writers, including Lactantius, Augustine, Giordano Bruno, Marsilio Ficino, Campanella, and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, considered Hermes Trismegistus to be a, Egyptian king and wise prophet who foresaw the coming of Christianity. Besides, in the Nag Hammadi collection, texts of Hermes Trismegistus were also found among the other manuscripts, revealing that they enjoyed a high repute by the early fathers and authors.
Many scholars believe in a “Prisca Theologia”, the doctrine that a single true theology exists, which threads through all religions. and passed through a series of prophets, including Buddha, Zoroaster, Thoth Hermes and Plato. Besides, as Philo said, Christianity, is a misunderstood Platonism and it existed long before the appearance of Yeshua. Comparing Platonism and the Hermetic theology with Christianity, it is more than obvious, that Christians appropriated both teachings to compile their theology.
Encyclopedia Britanica, the chapter “Medieval philosophy”, reveals that “Christian thinkers such as St. Ambrose (339–397), St. Victorinus (died c. 304), and St. Augustine (354–430) began to assimilate Neoplatonism into Christian doctrine in order to give a rational interpretation of Christian faith. Thus, medieval philosophy was born of the confluence of Greek (and to a lesser extent of Roman) philosophy and Christianity. […] Medieval philosophy continued to be characterized by this religious orientation. Its methods were at first those of Plotinus and later those of Aristotle. But it developed within faith as a means of throwing light on the truths and mysteries of faith. Thus, religion and philosophy fruitfully cooperated in the Middle Ages. Philosophy, as the handmaiden of theology, made possible a rational understanding of faith”. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Western-philosophy/Medieval-philosophy
We further read in the article: The Egyptian god Thoth, Greek god Hermes, Roman god Mercury http://www.theoryoflivevolution.com/files/IV_1ThothHermesMercury.pdf
“The Roman Catholic ‘religion’ is nothing more than the re-packaged ‘mythology’ of Ancient Egypt passed through Greece and the Roman Empire. Around 325 AD they combined mythology with the true Christianity of the martyrs who they had been feeding to lions and burning alive for 300 years and called it Catholicism. The most glaring example of this is Mary, Queen of Heaven (Isis) combined with her ‘son’ Jesus (really the Egyptian god Horus). So as not to venture too far off subject suffice it to say most of the criticism of ‘Christianity’ stems from these fools calling themselves ‘Christian’ while the reality is much different”.
Jewish Encyclopedia History: http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/2286-babylonia
The earliest accounts of the Jews exiled to Babylonia are furnished only by the scanty details of the Bible; certain not quite reliable sources seek to supply this deficiency from the realms of legend and tradition.
I can mention hundreds of such excerpts from various undisputable sources proving that in fact, Christianity is based and converted into “paganism” and not the contrary.
Hence, dear Christians, why do you call the other religions “pagan” since you have adopted them and they form the core of your beliefs?
Δεσμώτης
Article URL : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Testament