WHAT WAS IN THAT PARAGRAPH?

For those of you late to the party and unfamiliar with the paragraph in question, you can get caught up on the whole series by reading the linked posts below:

TWO WEEKS AGO TODAY: FRIDAY
TWO WEEKS AGO TODAY: SATURDAY
TWO WEEKS AGO TODAY: SUNDAY
TWO WEEKS AGO TODAY: MONDAY
TWO WEEKS AGO TODAY: TUESDAY
TWO WEEKS AGO TODAY: WEDNESDAY
TWO WEEKS AGO TODAY: WEDNESDAY Pt.2

I've received a handful of e-mails (send mail here) after the TWO WEEKS AGO TODAY series asking questions. I'll try to get to them all but for now I'll answer the most popular query: What was in that paragraph?

That paragraph was in a book called "Knights Templar Revelations", a book espousing many of the same ideas as the popular book and forthcoming movie starring Tom Hanks "The Da Vinci Code." The one paragraph I read referred heavily to author Acharya S's theories/beliefs penned in her books "Suns of God: Krishna, Buddha and Christ Unveiled" and "The Christ Conspiracy." In her work Acharya S (no known last name) lists the similarities and connections between the ancient god Mithra (as well as other related deities) and the Jesus of Christianity:

Mithra was born of a virgin on December 25th in a cave, and his birth was attended by shepherds.

He was considered a great traveling teacher and master.

He had 12 companions or disciples.

Mithra's followers were promised immortality.

He performed miracles.

As the "great bull of the Sun," Mithra sacrificed himself for world peace.

He was buried in a tomb and after three days rose again.

His resurrection was celebrated every year.

He was called "the Good Shepherd" and identified with both the Lamb and the Lion.

He was considered the "Way, the Truth and the Light," and the "Logos," "Redeemer," "Savior" and "Messiah."

His sacred day was Sunday, the "Lord's Day," hundreds of years before the appearance of Christ.

Mithra had his principal festival of what was later to become Easter.

His religion had a eucharist or "Lord's Supper," at which Mithra said, "He who shall not eat of my body nor drink of my blood so that he may be one with me and I with him, shall not be saved."

"His annual sacrifice is the passover of the Magi, a symbolical atonement or pledge of moral and physical regeneration."

Shmuel Golding is quoted as saying that 1 Cor. 10:4 is "identical words to those found in the Mithraic scriptures, except that the name Mithra is used instead of Christ."

The Catholic Encyclopedia is quoted as saying that Mithraic services were conduced by "fathers" and that the "chief of the fathers, a sort of pope, who always lived at Rome, was called 'Pater Patratus.'"

Acharya S's theory then is what's known as the "pagan copycat" scenario in which Christianity is a rip off of religions predating Jesus (if he existed all), and she is not it's originator. Beginning, from what I can find, in the 19th Century, interest in and support of this form of attack on Christianity has ebbed and flowed over the years - flowing at the moment.

When the blinders of depression and fatigue were removed, when I left Spooky Friend's office, I not only didn't doubt the reality of an historic Jesus of Nazareth but I believed wholeheartedly in the faith which sprang from his life, teachings, death and resurrection. And I had no desire, no urgency about refuting the claims against Christianity made by any source, including the pagan copycat contingency. I was certain I had experienced proof of Christ. However, that refutation soon found me. I'll share it with you here this week.

One warning. This investigation is not for the faint. I was reluctant - very reluctant - to lead others to the materials that could cause them to doubt their faith. But in the end, because Christianity is true and God's teaching Spirit is present in us we have nothing to fear - if we stay and pray and learn together. Apart we are easily fooled.

I believe, having now researched not only the pagan-copycat claims against Christianity but also the claimers, that this movement is primarily joined for personal profit and publicity and is supported, if not lead, by admitted Wiccans, Satanists and Atheists hiding behind pseudonyms and half truths and funneling their theories through publishers, blogs and other outlets also openly supportive of Wicca, Satanism and Atheism and such nonsensical fringe topics as phychics, astrology, tarot card reading, alien abduction, the lost city of Atlantis and ghosts. This is not, in other words, a movement as credible as it is well spoken and prolific. But it is powerful, so be careful, pray and learn in community - never alone.