Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Latter-day Saint
These supposed “parallels” are quite bogus

These supposed “parallels” are quite bogus

Last updated on: September 26, 2019 at 11:09 pm by Dan Peterson

These supposed “parallels” are quite bogus 2019-09-26T23:09:06-06:00 Dan Peterson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Ani kneeling before enthroned Osiris (facsimile of original dating to roughly 1300 BC)
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image )

I published the following column in the Deseret News back on 17 May 2012:

From time to time, some triumphant atheist or other challenges me with a list of supposed parallels between the biblical depiction of Jesus and the stories of other important religious figures (mythical or historical), such as Krishna, Tammuz, the Buddha, Muhammad, Mithra, Cadmus, Osiris and Baal.

The biographies of these characters are said to resemble each other right down to minute details: They commonly if not always came into the world via a virgin’s immaculate conception; were born on Dec. 25; were adored as infants by angels, shepherds and visiting sages; performed miracles; taught New Testament doctrines; were regarded as divine; were crucified; atoned for human sin; descended into hell; rose again from the dead; and ascended into heaven.

The point of the list, of course, is to suggest that the story of Jesus is merely fictional, probably derived from myths about the death of vegetation in the winter and its miraculous rebirth in the spring.

It’s a very impressive catalog of parallels.

It’s also utterly bogus.

The ultimate source for the list seems to be an 1875 book by an American atheist writer named Kersey Graves, titled “The World’s Sixteen Crucified Saviors: Christianity Before Christ.” And I’m being accurate when I describe the Graves book as the “ultimate source” for these ideas, since Graves supplies no references from ancient documents to back up his assertions. He simply announces them and then moves on as if he’s proved them true. But they’re nonsense.

Space permits only a hasty comparative analysis, and, since I’m the author of a biography of the founder of Islam, who is one of the figures identified by Graves as an exact parallel to Christ, perhaps I can be forgiven for focusing on Muhammad.

As a preliminary note, though, I need to say that the versions of this list that I’ve seen often confuse the Immaculate Conception — traditionally, Mary’s coming into the world as the daughter of Joachim and Anna (according to the second century “Protoevangelium of James”) without the taint of “Original Sin” — with the Virgin Birth, which is Mary’s conception of Jesus without an earthly father.

But now on to business:

No Islamic text of which I’m aware claims that Muhammad’s mother was a virgin at his birth. Muhammad’s father is known in Muslim sources as ‘Abd Allah, and he, in turn, was the son of ‘Abd al-Mutallib.

Muhammad wasn’t born on Dec. 25, but most likely near the end of April. Some relatively late legends surround his birth with miraculous events and have him working mighty wonders, but these folkloric tales probably arose out of competition with Christians, and neither the Qur’an nor the earliest, most reputable Islamic historical materials say anything about them. Muhammad himself explained that the reception of the Qur’an, the holy book of Islam, was his only (though sufficient) miracle.

Many of Muhammad’s doctrines are comparable to those of the New Testament. But this is scarcely surprising, since he claimed to be a prophet in the tradition of Abraham, Moses and Jesus. Still, many of his doctrines are quite distinctive.

Islam has never taught that Muhammad was divine, nor even a son of God. “God does not beget,” says Qur’an 112:3, “nor is he begotten.” To suggest otherwise, Muslims believe, is “shirk” or polytheism, the worst possible theological error.

Muhammad was most definitely not crucified, atones for nobody’s sins and did not rise from the dead.

Early stories exist of Muhammad ascending into heaven, and, on that same journey, seeing some of the sufferings of the damned in hell. But these stories don’t appear clearly in the Qur’an, they’re always placed years before Muhammad’s death, and they play no role in his life or in Islamic theology that’s even remotely comparable to the function that the “harrowing of hell” and Christ’s post-resurrection ascent have served in Christian lore and thought.

It’s simply false to say that Muhammad’s life precisely parallels that of Jesus. The differences are fundamental and far too numerous to be listed here. (Read my biography!) And when the same claim is actually examined with regard to Baal, Osiris, Krishna and the like, it fares no better.

If you’re ever confronted with Graves’ list or something like it, demand to see supporting references.

Or, if you’re pressed for time, just go ahead and laugh. It’s not to be taken seriously.

Previous Post

September 26, 2019

Two new temples

Next Post

September 27, 2019 The subject that cannot be discussed

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 March 2014 August 2013 February 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Thrown into a muddy cistern for prophesying doom, I sank into the mire until rescued. What was my crime?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Treason False prophecy Prophesying Jerusalem's fall Blasphemy