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Was Jesus Christ a fictional character based largely on Apollonius of Tyana?

As I quickly discovered, this isn’t an easy question to answer, so lets take a step back and consider this question; What sort of ‘Jesus’ are we looking for? I can find Three Options; 1. First there is the supernatural ‘Jesus’ who was the Son of God, Yahweh. If we accept this first option based on unquestioning acceptance of the Gospels, it’s end of story lets go home, ……………except the Gospels are not historical documents. Though the New Testament is a rather small book by ancient standards, it contains over a thousand passages with so many early variants that historians cannot confidently identify the original readings. For example there are 19 such variant passages in 1 Timothy alone, a letter 134 verses long, meaning 14% of the letter is uncertain. Many of these conflicting readings cannot be explained as mere scribal errors, as they appear ideological in nature. 2. The second option is that ‘Jesus’ was a real person, but essentially unimportant and unnoticed during his lifetime, who underwent euhemerization at some later date into the Christian mythology. The term Euhemerization is attributed to the philosopher Euhemerus (300BCE) who held that many mythological tales could be attributed to historical persons and events, the accounts of which have become altered and exaggerated over time. A modern day example is the Roswell Incident. In just 30 years, following discovery of bits of a Radiosond, a thriving belief had establish around the existence of an entire spacecraft, complete with alien occupants, and subsequent government cover up. It would seem that the less evidence the better, and the lack of evidence for ‘Jesus’ is impressive. For many other famous men from ancient times, we know at least the titles of books that were written by and about them, whilst they were still alive or very shortly after their deaths. Philosophers like Socrates, Epicurus, Chrysippus, or Musonius Rufus. Leaders like Pericles, Ptolemy, Augustus, Herod the Great, even holy men like Empedocles or Apollonius, all had things written about them in their own day, and wrote things themselves, even the obscure itinerant philosopher Demonax had his biography written by Lucian in his own lifetime. Historians Josephus and Tacitus wrote on Judaean affairs in the early 1st century, none mentioned ‘Jesus’. Certainly, had anyone done so, the passages would in all probability have been lovingly preserved by 2nd century Christians, or else inspired angry rebuttals. For instance, the

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attacks of Celsus, Hierocles, and Porphyry, though destroyed by Christians and thus no longer extant, nevertheless remain attested to in the defenses written by Origen, Eusebius, and Macerius Magnes. There is no mention of Christians in Plutarch’s (46 – 120 CE) attack on Superstition. (Plutarch's essay on Superstition is an attempt to demonstrate that superstition is worse than atheism) nor in Seneca’s (4 BCE – 65CE) rebuttal, a lost work attested to in book 10 of Augustine’s ‘City of God’ (500CE). Though Seneca wrote extensively on many subjects and people, it appears that nothing relating to ‘Jesus’ ever caught his attention, nor does he show any awareness of Christian persecution, supposedly punished by Nero for the fire that ravaged Rome in 64 AD. (Nero 37 – 68CE is alleged to have had Christians captured to burn in his garden at night as a source of light). All of this suggests a troubling dichotomy for believers: either ‘Jesus’ was a no-body or he did not exist. Within this second option is the possibility that the ‘Jesus’ myth developed from an existing euhemerization, as an ‘our god is better than your god’ competition. There are a number of contenders for this position. Apollonius, Peregrinus, and Alexander are three rather interesting religious founders of whom we know significantly more than we do ‘Jesus’. The most likely contender, Apollonius of Tyana, is often called the "pagan Christ" since he also lived during the first century. He is attributed with performing a similar ministry of miracle-working, preaching his own brand of ascetic Pythagoreanism, was viewed as the son of a god, resurrected the dead, ascended to heaven, performed various miracles, and criticized the authorities with pithy wisdom. (It is possible that Paul met Apollonius and it has even been suggested that they were the same person.) His story grew more and more fantastic, and legendary over time, until in the largest surviving work on him ‘The Life of Apollonius of Tyana’, written by Philostratus around 220 CE, he is reported as an even more impressive miracle-worker than ‘Jesus’. Was this an incentive by Christians to embellish the Jesus myth? ‘The Life of Apollonius of Tyana’ is available today in two volumes as part of the Loeb Classical Library, published by Harvard University Press, a set that also includes the surviving fragments of Apollonius' own writings. The Treatise against him by the Christian historian Eusebius (260 – 340CE) does not question his existence, or the reality of many of his miracles, but attributes them to trickery or demons. We also know that the cult that grew up around Apollonius survived for many centuries after his death. An inscription from as late as the 3rd

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century names him as a sort of pagan "absolver of sins," sent from heaven (Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3rd ed., 1996). The emperor Caracalla erected a shrine to Apollonius in Tyana around 215 A.D. According to one account, the ghost of Apollonius appeared to the emperor Aurelian to convince him to stop his siege of Tyana, whereupon he also erected a shrine to him around 274 CE. Arabic sources even discuss the fame and potency of certain relics, associated with Apollonius, which remained in use well into the sixth and seventh centuries, the last of them apparently destroyed by crusaders in 1204 CE. So popular was the belief in the power of these "talismans" that the Church was forced to accept their use, even while condemning Apollonius and his shrines as demonic. The following table compares the attributes of Apollonius and ‘Jesus’;

Apollonius ‘Jesus’ Born 4 BCE Born 4 BCE Birth miraculously announced by a supernatural being

Birth miraculously announced by a supernatural being

Was the son of a god and a mortal woman

Was the son of a god and a mortal woman.

Raised in Tarsus Religiously precocious as a child Religiously precocious as a child Asserted to be a native speaker of Aramaic

Asserted to be a native speaker of Aramaic

Associated with wise men or magi Associated with wise men or magi Had a disciple named Damis from Asia Minor

Had a disciple named Thomas; blessed a robber on the cross named Demas

Had an associate named Titus Associated with a Demetrius Associated with a Stephanus Influenced by Plato Reflected Platonism Renounced wealth Denounced wealth Followed abstinence and asceticism Followed abstinence and asceticism Wore long hair and robes Wore long hair and robes Discussed eunuchs for the kingdom of Babylon

Discussed eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven

Was unmarried and childless Was unmarried and childless Was anointed with oil Was anointed with oil Went to Jerusalem Went to Jerusalem Spent much time at Antioch Made missionary journeys around Mediterranean

Traveled to the East for three years, where he was taught by sages

Wrote epistles instructing followers in spirituality

Spoke in metaphors Spoke in parables

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Fought wild beasts at Ephesus Saw and predicted the future Saw and predicted the future Performed miracles Performed miracles Healed the sick Healed the sick Cast out evil spirits Drove out demons Raised the daughter of a Roman official from the dead

Raised the daughter of a Jewish official from the dead

Famed far and wide Famed far and wide

Religious reformer Religious reformer

Spoke authoritatively to temple priests Spoke authoritatively to temple priests Spoke as a "law-giver" Spoke as a "law-giver" Founded a religious community at Corinth

Was on a mission to bring Greek culture to the "barbarians"

Was on a mission to bring Jewish culture to the "nations"

Converted "unrefined" people to himself Converted "unsaved" people to himself Believed to be a "savior" from heaven Believed to be a "savior" from heaven Worshipped as a god Worshipped as a god Accused of being a magician Accused of being a magician Had his life threatened Had his life threatened Brought before a king, whose righteousness he challenged

Brought before a king, whose righteousness he challenged

Was accused of killing a boy Was accused of killing a boy (Infancy Gospel of Thomas)

Condemned by Roman emperor Condemned by Roman authorities Imprisoned at Rome Imprisoned at Jerusalem Miraculously escaped prison Was shipwrecked Descended into the underworld Descended into the underworld Was assumed into heaven Ascended into heaven Appeared posthumously to a detractor as a brilliant light

Appeared posthumously to a detractor as a brilliant light

Said to be in two places at once Said to be in many places at once Had his image revered in temples Had his image revered in churches 3. And lastly the most interesting third option; From Petra Pakkanen “Interpolating Early Hellenistic Religion” Four popular trends have been observed in religion during the Hellenic period; 1. Syncretism; combining a foreign cult deity with Hellenistic elements. 2. A trend from Polytheism to Monotheism via henotheism (the belief in and worship of a single god, whilst accepting the possibility of worshiping other

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deities. Evidenced in the Ten Commandments as ‘You shall have no other gods before me’). 3. Individualism; A move away from community based, agricultural salvation/fertility cults into personal salvation cults. 4. Cosmopolitanism; Hellenistic religions promoted fictive ‘brothers and sisters’, an idea still prevalent in religions today. We see numerous historical examples of these trends; Eleusinian & Dionysian Mysteries, from Phoenician mythology in Western Syria. Attis and Cybele, from Phrygian mythology of Northern Turkey. Jupiter Dolichenus, from Anatolian mythology of Western Turkey. Mithraic Mysteries, from Persian Mitra mythology of Iran. Isis and Osiris, from Egyptian mythology of Egypt. And finally Christianity, from the Jewish mythology of Israel and Palestine. Christianity is not unique as a Dying and Rising God cult. Others include; The Roman Romulus The Egyptian Osiris offering eternal life The Thracian Zalmoxis offering eternal life Dying and Rising God cults have these things in common; They are all saviour gods. They are sons or daughters of gods. They underwent a passion/suffering. They achieved victory over death, which is shared with their followers. They have stories about them set in human history on earth. In all probability, none of these gods actually existed! A Son of God was foretold in early Jewish mythology, as written by Philo of Alexandria 20 BCE – c. 50 CE ‘I have also heard of one of the companions of Moses having uttered such a speech as this: “Behold, a man whose name is the East!” A very novel appellation indeed, if you consider it as spoken of a man who is compounded of body and soul; but if you look upon it as applied to that incorporeal being who in no respect differs from the divine image, you will then agree that the name of the east has been given to him with great felicity. For the Father of the universe has caused him to spring up as the eldest son, whom, in another passage, he calls the firstborn; and he who is thus born, imitating the ways of his father, has formed such and such species, looking to his archetypal patterns’

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There was a pre-Christian Jewish belief in; The firstborn son of god The celestial image of god And god’s agent of creation Not only did the early historians not mention an earthly ‘Jesus’, the earliest extant of Christian documents, the Epistles of Paul and Hebrews, make no reference to an earthly ‘Jesus’, continuing the Jewish mythology referencing ‘Jesus’ as a purely celestial entity. The Epistles of Paul and Hebrews were written from direct revelation (vision/hallucination) and as Paul emphasizes in the following, not from any eyewitness or anecdotal accounts; Galatians 1 15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, 16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately [notice] I conferred not with flesh and blood. Galatians 1:11-24 11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. 12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of ‘Jesus’ Christ. Paul makes no mention of the political earthly proceedings around the Lords Supper as told in the Gospels, nor does he say that it occurred on earth. 1 Corinthians 11 23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord ‘Jesus’ the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: 24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. Paul, indicates that Jesus existed as a celestial being and was made in the likeness of men, again makes no mention of an earthly virgin birth. Philippians 2; 5-7 5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ ‘Jesus’: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

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7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: The crucifixion was also a pre-existing Jewish idea from the Prophet Isaiah (800BCE) The Descent of the Son In the Ascension of Isaiah we can find corroboration for the picture of a divine Son who descends into the lower reaches of the heavens (somewhere just below the moon) to be crucified by the demon spirits; 14 And the god of that world (Satan) will stretch out [his hand against the Son], and they will lay their hands upon him and hang him upon a tree, not knowing who he is. 15 And thus his descent, as you will see, will be concealed even from the heavens so that it will not be known who he is. 16 And when he has plundered the angel of death, he will rise on the third day and will remain in that world for five hundred and forty-five days. 1 Corinthians 2:6-10 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. In the vision of Isaiah, it is through the celestial death, at the hand of Satan, and subsequent resurrection that ‘Jesus’ achieves power over the angel of death. Had Satan been aware of who ‘Jesus’ was, he would not have killed him. So it would appear that the first century Christian writers and the early historians made no mention of ‘Jesus’ appearing on earth. It should be noted that in Jewish mythology Heaven was the original and Earth was the copy, so there were trees in the second Heaven on which the Son was hung. I am unable to draw any conclusions from this brief excursion into Life of Jesus. Accepting or rejecting any or all of the above is entirely at your own discretion. Hellenistic and Roman society was filled with an assortment of remarkably similar mythological beliefs. That one of these mythologies should have gained greater acceptance than any other, is most probably an accident of political history (Constantine?), and not the result of any superior epistemology. References and suggested reading; Earl Doherty “The Jesus Puzzle” and “Jesus: Neither God nor Man.

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Dr Richard Carrier “Proving History: Bayes's Theorem and the Quest for the Historical Jesus” Dr Randel Helms, “Gospel Fictions” Dr Robert Price “The Christ Myth Theory and its Problems” Dr Stephen Law “Evidence Miracles and the Existence of Jesus” Dr Petra Pakkanen “Interpolating Early Hellenistic Religion” Philostratus “The Life of Apollonius of Tyana” http://betterexplained.com/articles/an-intuitive-and-short-explanation-of-bayes-theorem/