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Originally Posted by (dave654,) Jesus' crusifixion was a minor event at the time. The records of the crux. wer destroyed in a fire so that's why no historian from the time mentions it. The "Jesus" type story is common in ancient religions, ever since man became agricultural there are references to individuals dying and being reborn. Jesus was aware of these stories, and especially aware of stories predicting a messiah. He tried to position himself as this messiah fullfiling prophecies. Much of the Gospels, and other relevant writings also portray Jesus as this promised messiah. <hr size="1" /></blockquote><span class='postcolor'>
The story that the crux records were destroyed in a fire is a new one for me.
Do you have a source for this story? My understanding is that there were so many crucifictins that records were not always kept or reliable especially for common criminals and common crimes like that of Jesus.
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Originally Posted by Mary has assumed much of the mother goddess mythology. Female goddesses were very important throughout man's history. Not until Christian times did the female diety start taking such a back seat to the males. Much of the mythology surrounding Mary is "borrowed" directly from Artemis, the dominant female deity in the ancient world. Artemis was also supposedly a virgin and assumed into heaven bodily from the exact same town Mary was. Hmmmm coincidence? <hr size="1" /></blockquote><span class='postcolor'>
Interesting connection, most religions of the world have the goddess in one form or another.
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Originally Posted by I don't know about Jesus appearing on the cross til the 9th century, that seems a bit late to me, but the cross was almost immediately used as a Christian symbol. <hr size="1" /></blockquote><span class='postcolor'>
I thought the fish was an earlier symbol. When did the cross first appear?
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Originally Posted by Jesus and Mary were definitely not Myths, but the stories were certainly cooked in order to support prophecy and the generation of an organized religion. Jesus' original message was that we don't need a church or cadre of priest to access the deity. This is further supported by the legend that Jesus travelled and studied in the East possibly India, where the Brahman period of Hinduism was prevelant. Brahman Hinduism is very much about finding the deity within, the Atman, and connecting with the deity without, the Brahman. Saint Issa, is still mentioned by Muslims and is considered to have been Jesus.<hr size="1" /></blockquote><span class='postcolor'>
I agree that Jesus and Mary were real persons, but not all detractors of Biblical history may not agree, because of the lack of records. Zorastrian and Mithra traditions are also intimately connected to Jesus. Most Mithrites became Christians in the early history of the church and Mithrism disappeared.