Too Many Resurrections

I was reading a book on Ancient mythology the other day, and I noticed something: there are a lot of ancient myths from the Near/Middle East that involve the death and resurrection of a god, usually celebrated in early spring (sound familiar?).

I have heard of some of these before, such as Baal, Adonis, Osiris, Mithras, Hercules, but I found that the list goes on and on (Wikipedia listed about 30!). It would appear on first glance that Jesus is just one in a long line of myths with a recycled story line and a different nationality.

But wait...not quite...

Interestingly, all the ancient myths before Jesus, involve a PAIR of deities, usually a consort. Baal is rescued by Asherah, Osiris by Isis, Persephone has several rescuers and lovers, and every myth is riddled with countless variations of characters, actions, and timeframes. But, generally speaking, a deity dies, the lover mourns/prays/searches, and the dead deity is reborn.

Jesus doesn't fit this pattern, not surprisingly, because of the lack of consort deities in a monotheistic system. I find it fascinating that Mary Magdelene becomes the consort/rescuer, in a sense, of later Jesus myth traditions put forth by Gnostics and other groups who stole Jesus to make up their own stories. Looks like those guys are the ones who are guilty of several counts of plagiarism...

My point in all this meandering is that despite what comparative religion professors may claim, Jesus is not just one of many dying and rising gods. His story doesn't fit any of the details of the other stories, except for coming back from the dead. Some may claim a parallel with Hercules's three day trip to Hades, but guess what, Jesus never went to Hell...it ain't in the Bible!

Hope this helps somebody.