S
Sophia
Guest
29
http://www.askwhy.co.uk/christianity/0310SunGod.html#top
Suffering Saviours</span>
These myths arose before the time of Christ,
but their exact date cannot be fixed,
because the history of ancient mythology is not known
and probably cannot ever be known,
and not least because chronology before the time
of Alexander the Great (330 BC) gets increasingly uncertain.
Some, like Alcestis, can be dated to before the life of the author
of a work in which they appear.
The dating of icons, especially from distant or isolated cultures
is also uncertain.
Even mainstream studies of the ancient Near East
are involved in controversy over dates,
Peter James, for example, claiming in a well argued cas
e
that several centuries have been mistakenly inserted into near Eastern chronologies.
Nevertheless, these instances show
that the belief
in the punishment of gods was prevalent long before
the crucifixion of Christ.
These crucifixions and atoning deaths
are not vouchsafed as actual occurrences.
They are mythical not real events.
To establish the atoning punishment of divine saviours preceding Christ
is an easier task than showing that some were crucified,
but six will prove it as well as the sixteen given by Graves.
Indeed, one case is sufficient. The reader is left to decide.
Tammuz was a god of Assyria, Babylonia and Sumeria
where he was known as Dumuzi.
He is commemorated in the name of the month of June, Du'uzu,
the fourth month of a year which begins at the spring equinox.
The fullest history extant of this saviour is probably that of Ctesias (400 BC), author of Persika.
The poet has perpetuated his memory in rhyme.
Trust, ye saints, your Lord restored,
Trust ye in your risen Lord;
For the pains which Tammuz endured
Our salvation have procured.
Tammuz was crucified as an at
onement offering:
Trust ye in God, for out of his loins salvation has come unto us.
Julius Firmicus speaks of this God rising from the dead
for the salvation of the world.
This saviour which long preceded the advent of Christ,
filled the same role in sacred history.
Even the Catholic Encyclopedia notes:
<span style=\'color:blue\'>Nature Worship generally, and Agrarian in particular,
were responsible for the Tammuz cult of Babylon,
with which the worships of Adonis and Attis,
and even of Dionysus, are so unmistakably allied.
Much might have been hoped from these religions
with their yearly festival of the dying and rising god,
and his sorrowful sister or spouse.
The cross of Christ, as experts seem to agree,
was actually a bar placed across th
e top of an upright,
so it was not a cross at all.
It was a Tee (T), called Taw in Hebrew and Tau in Greek.
So the cross that the victim was suspended from was actually a crossbar,
and perhaps in those days this was called the cross.
The Taw sign was the symbol of the dying and rising god,
Tammuz, and Taw was the sign that was made
on the heads of those marked for salvation by the god.
So, crucifixion images might not be as conventional
as the ones based on the Catholic crucifix.
Speaking of this crucified Messiah, the Anacalypsis informs us
that several histories are given of him,
but all concur in representing him
as having been an atoning offering for sin.
And the Latin phrase suspensus lingo, found in his history,
indicates the manner of his death.
He was suspended on a tree, crucified, buried and rose again.
Attis is the Phrygian version of Tammuz,
and Adonis and Jesus could equally well be include
d here
as other versions of the same god.
http://www.askwhy.co.uk/christianity/0310SunGod.html#top
Suffering Saviours</span>
These myths arose before the time of Christ,
but their exact date cannot be fixed,
because the history of ancient mythology is not known
and probably cannot ever be known,
and not least because chronology before the time
of Alexander the Great (330 BC) gets increasingly uncertain.
Some, like Alcestis, can be dated to before the life of the author
of a work in which they appear.
The dating of icons, especially from distant or isolated cultures
is also uncertain.
Even mainstream studies of the ancient Near East
are involved in controversy over dates,
Peter James, for example, claiming in a well argued cas
e
that several centuries have been mistakenly inserted into near Eastern chronologies.
Nevertheless, these instances show
that the belief
in the punishment of gods was prevalent long before
the crucifixion of Christ.
These crucifixions and atoning deaths
are not vouchsafed as actual occurrences.
They are mythical not real events.
To establish the atoning punishment of divine saviours preceding Christ
is an easier task than showing that some were crucified,
but six will prove it as well as the sixteen given by Graves.
Indeed, one case is sufficient. The reader is left to decide.
Tammuz was a god of Assyria, Babylonia and Sumeria
where he was known as Dumuzi.
He is commemorated in the name of the month of June, Du'uzu,
the fourth month of a year which begins at the spring equinox.
The fullest history extant of this saviour is probably that of Ctesias (400 BC), author of Persika.
The poet has perpetuated his memory in rhyme.
Trust, ye saints, your Lord restored,
Trust ye in your risen Lord;
For the pains which Tammuz endured
Our salvation have procured.
Tammuz was crucified as an at
onement offering:
Trust ye in God, for out of his loins salvation has come unto us.
Julius Firmicus speaks of this God rising from the dead
for the salvation of the world.
This saviour which long preceded the advent of Christ,
filled the same role in sacred history.
Even the Catholic Encyclopedia notes:
<span style=\'color:blue\'>Nature Worship generally, and Agrarian in particular,
were responsible for the Tammuz cult of Babylon,
with which the worships of Adonis and Attis,
and even of Dionysus, are so unmistakably allied.
Much might have been hoped from these religions
with their yearly festival of the dying and rising god,
and his sorrowful sister or spouse.
The cross of Christ, as experts seem to agree,
was actually a bar placed across th
e top of an upright,
so it was not a cross at all.
It was a Tee (T), called Taw in Hebrew and Tau in Greek.
So the cross that the victim was suspended from was actually a crossbar,
and perhaps in those days this was called the cross.
The Taw sign was the symbol of the dying and rising god,
Tammuz, and Taw was the sign that was made
on the heads of those marked for salvation by the god.
So, crucifixion images might not be as conventional
as the ones based on the Catholic crucifix.
Speaking of this crucified Messiah, the Anacalypsis informs us
that several histories are given of him,
but all concur in representing him
as having been an atoning offering for sin.
And the Latin phrase suspensus lingo, found in his history,
indicates the manner of his death.
He was suspended on a tree, crucified, buried and rose again.
Attis is the Phrygian version of Tammuz,
and Adonis and Jesus could equally well be include
d here
as other versions of the same god.