I've been an agnostic for over a year, and two weeks ago I realized that I was an atheist and proud of it. Ever since then, I've had christian (mostly evangelical) people who I thought were friends of mine barrade me with statements of how im going to burn in hell, how god wills that I follow him purely and without question. I find it so hard to believe that Scientific and historical fact doesn't even begin to put a dent in their minds. This is something that I pieced together that is based on the fact that Christianity has stolen from pagan religions, I've posted this on facebook just today and have already gotten several rebutals ranging from "its just not true" "satan did it to mislead everyone" "god did it to inform everyone of his holyness" "They stole from christianity" and even "this information was planted by anti-christians" I want to know what all the atheists think of the logical, intelligent information that i have gathered on other religions and how they compare to chrisiantiy and the life of Jesus.

Did you know that your Christianity is based very much so on pagan beliefs, rituals, characters, and dates? Jesus has been widely related to several god-men like him throughout history Aion, Attis, Antiochus, Osiris, Horus, Dionysus, Asclepius, Adonis, Bacchus, Mithras, and more; all have many similarities and are seen in their respective religions and cultures as heroic saviors. There were also two self proclaimed god-men who are known to have lived: Pythagoras and Empedocles. What sets Jesus apart from them? Nothing, they are all in the same situation, Jesus is simply a counterpart of a different religion, he is also the most recent to surface.

Early Christians celebrated Jesus’ birthday on January 6, Armenian Christians still do, a date also once celebrated as the Birthday of Aion. Today most Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25, as many pagans celebrated the births of their respective god-men. Jesus is believed to have died on March 23, and resurrected on March 25, dates that match precisely to the death and resurrection of Attis. Mary is believed to have only been pregnant for 7 months (according to the gospel of Hebrews, one of several books not accepted into the official bible) this matches the story of Dionysus as his mother was also pregnant for only 7 months. Other god-men such as Asclepius, Mithra, were also said to have preformed healings, taught spiritual truths, among other miricals. Jesus is said to have preformed a mirical that allowed Simon Peter to catch 153 fish, a number believed to be sacred by Pythagoras, its ratio to 265 was referred by Archimedes as the measure of the fish. Both Jesus and Dionysus held a last supper that was attended by 12 apostles and were said to bring new religion into the world. Jesus’ body was also wrapped in linens and covered in Aloe and Myrrh, as was the body of Osiris.

Jesus is also believed to be linked to the Hindu god Krishna, there are many similarities to all of these points in Jesus’ life: his virgin birth, incarnation, sinless life, crucifixion, descent into Hell, resurrection, ascension to heaven, criteria for salvation, belief in the Trinity, and the inerrancy of the Bible. In fact these are the only things that would be left if all that were removed from the bible: Human, Jewish, rabbi-healer, teacher who followed the ideals of one rabbi Hillel (a rabbi of the 1^st century BC), and having a special relationship with god.

Here are some other facts that also link Jesus to Osiris and Dionysus: At a marriage ceremony he performed the miracle of converting water into wine. His followers were born-again through baptism in water. He rode triumphantly into a city on a donkey. Tradition records that the inhabitants waved palm leaves. He had 12 disciples. He was accused of licentious behavior. He was killed near the time of the Vernal Equinox, about MAR-21. He died "as a sacrifice for the sins of the world." He was hung on a tree, stake, or cross.  After death, he descended into hell. On the third day after his death, he returned to life. The cave where he was laid was visited by three of his female followers. He later ascended to heaven. He will return in time to come and judge the human race.

Mithra, the Roman sun god perhaps has the most similarities, he was said to have been born amongst animals and shepherds in a cave or manger on December 25, the same story goes for Osiris and Dionysus. Their births were all also prophesized. by a star his followers were baptized between March and April as is common in early Christian tradition and were baptized in the nude were promptly draped in white robes and a crown atop their head, as were Christians. Jesus was said to have been crucified between 2 theives, one going to heaven and the other to hell, this same image can be found in the Mithra mysteries, where he is flanked by a guard on either side, each bearing a torch, one pointed up and the other down, showing the descent to heaven or hell. Mithrisim even had seven sacraments, as does the Catholic Church. Mithra’s followers were also said to have drunken wine and eaten bread, believing to be received his body and blood.

Does this quote sound familiar to anyone? "He who will not eat of my body and drink of my blood, so that he will be made on with me and I with him, the same shall not know salvation." If you guessed Jesus to have said this, you’d be wrong! Mithra said it first.

"...Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day." -John 6:53-54

Stories and myths of Aeneas, Arthur, Buddha, David, Gilgamesh, Heracles, Lohengrin, Moses, Odysseus, Oedipus, Perseus, Romulus, Siegfried, and more have been analized and compared with the Story of Jesus, most points match near exactly to one or more of the  characters that had been examined.

1. child of a virgin
2. Child of a king (the Christian god is sometimes referred to as king of kings)
3. Unusual conception
4. Attempt to kill the hero as a child
5. the child was hidden
6. Raised by a foster parent far away from the child’s home (Jesus is raised in Egypt, Joseph isn’t his true father
7. little information about the life of the child (little information is given about Jesus’ life as a child and teenager)
8. goes to a future kingdom (Jesus is named king of Israel/ Jerusalem by the public before his final Passover
9. Victorious over a king/ruler (Jesus rose from the dead after Pilate ordered his crucifixion, proving that Jesus had been victorious)
10. Marries a princess (although no true match is set here, lost gospels and theologians suggest that he was married, Gospels of Peter and Mary Magdalene suggest that Jesus had in fact been married to May Magdalene who was of a royal blood line.
11. becomes a king (named king of Israel/ Jerusalem by the Public)
12. Reigns for a time (Jesus did not have reigning power, he did hold court in jewish temples and his people took his teachings with legality
13. looses favor with his subjects
14. Forced out of throne and city
15. Has a mysterious death (sun stops shining, earthquakes)
16. Dies atop a hill
17. Children (if he had them) do not succeed him
18. Body is not buried but rather placed in a cave
19. Holy places built over the place of death

Early Christians believed that he was a Jewish reformer, prophet, teacher, among other things, but was not under any circumstances divine, others say that he was simply a spirit who appeared in the flesh. Many gospels have also been found that were rejected as being part of the bible, this is due to contradiction within them. At least 40 gospels and hundreds of epistles thought to be in existence, only 21 epistles and 4 gospels were included in the bible.

To me this is fact that Christianity is nothing more than a large lie, made to sway the masses of old religions by copying their beliefs.

I look forward to hearing about what everyone thinks.