Dawkins tweets Jesus mythicism
On April 10, biologist and atheist writer Dr. Richard Dawkins tweeted about comparisons among Jesus, Dionysus, Horus and Krishna, posting an image from the film “Zeitgeist” that included Attis and Mithra. He asks:
Comparisons often made of Jesus with Horus, Dionysus, Krishna etc. Any real scholars out there confirm each one?
I responded, naturally, with the following links, which include real scholarship, using primary sources and the works of credentialed authorities in relevant fields. It’s good to see that Dawkins is taking an interest in the subject. It should be noted that his questions indicate he does not know the data, obviously, which is fine, since he is not a comparative religion scholar. This field is vast and requires a great deal of study over a period of decades.
The information does exist, however, and I have spent countless hours putting it together in books, articles, forum threads, videos, radio programs and lectures. In this endeavor, I have scrutinized ancient texts in their original languages, including Egyptian, Sumerian, Babylonian, Canaanite, Hebrew, Vedic, Sanskrit, Greek, Latin and “modern” languages such as German, French, Italian and so on.
If one wishes to know where this information comes from, one need only do a search on this website, FreethoughtNation.com, for articles, blogs and forum posts. One can also read my books and ebooks, as well as watch my videos and listen to my radio programs.
Further Reading
The Horus-Jesus Connection
Dionysus: Born of a Virgin on December 25th, Killed and Resurrected after Three Days
Attis: Born of a Virgin on December 25th, Crucified and Resurrected after Three Days
Mithra: The Pagan Christ
Anahita, virgin mother of Mithra
Was Krishna’s Mother a Virgin?
The ZEITGEIST Sourcebook
Rebuttal to Chris Forbes on Zeitgeist, Part 1
Richard Dawkins on Christmas
Political Correctness and Comparative Religion
Zeitgeist, Part 1, and the Supportive Evidence
Religion and the PhD: The Brief History
Why I am A Mythicist
(As concerns Krishna, it should be noted that I did advise Peter Joseph of “Zeitgeist” to use the word “chaste,” rather than “virgin,” knowing the debate about this motif, which is an utter waste of time. He chose to go with his own statements there.)
13 thoughts on “Dawkins tweets Jesus mythicism”
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The quote below comes from this thread entitled, Zeitgeist Part 1 & the Supportive Evidence ([url]http://www.freethoughtnation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=2997[/url]):
[quote]”Zeitgeist: The Movie, Part 1 on religion (2007), is only around 25 minutes long, was never created to serve as a scholarly documentary and is merely a basic introduction into the world of comparative mythology and religion. Zeitgeist has been translated into nearly 3 dozen languages and has received over 300 million online views worldwide.
Zeitgeist: The Movie won the top award, “Best Feature,” at the Artivist Film Festival in 2007 and are currently up to 30 awards.
HOW DID “ZEITGEIST: THE MOVIE” COME TO BE?:
“The original Zeitgeist was actually not a “film”, but a performance piece, which consisted of a vaudevillian style multi-media event using recorded music, live instruments and video. The event was given over a 6-night period in New York City and then, without any interest to professionally release or produce the work, was “tossed” up on the Internet arbitrarily. The work was never designed as a film or even a documentary in a traditional sense – it was designed as a creative, provoking, emotionally driven expression, full of artistic extremity and heavily stylized gestures.
However, once online, an unexpected flood of interest began to generate. Within 6 months over 50 Million views were recorded on Google Video counters (before they were reset for some reason). The current combined estimates put the number of Internet views at over 100 million as of 2009. Suddenly “Zeitgeist” the event, became “Zeitgeist: The Movie”.” (The current combined estimates put the number of Internet views at over 300 million as of 2013.)
– Peter Joseph
“The religion section is the strongest of the whole work”
– Peter Joseph[/quote]
Holy moly, batman, “over 300 million” views worldwide? I was unaware of that. I’m surprised it hasn’t gotten more attention. Nothing else has spread mythicism so far and wide.
It would be great if reputable scholars would have the integrity to come forward and just admit that, while Zeitgeist part 1 is just a basic introduction to comparative religion and mythology, it is correct for the most part. I think too many scholars these days are spineless cowards fearful of rocking the status-quo boat and I say shame on them … grow a pair!
Here’s another interesting read: Acharya’s Work Complements Sam Harris’s Philosophy ([url]http://freethoughtnation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3588[/url])
I’m surprised people like Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris et al, haven’t studied Acharya’s work on this subject. They stand to learn so much about the origins and evolution of religious concepts that originate from natural phenomena. One would think they’d be fascinated. They’re the worlds most famous atheists and they know absolutely nothing about it and its a monumental disappointment.
Here’s the forum thread on this topic: Dawkins tweets Jesus mythicism, Zeitgeist ([url]http://www.freethoughtnation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=19&p=27768#p27768[/url])
Hey, that link about “Richard Dawkins on Christmas” above in the further reading is interesting. It is sort of weird that he’s the worlds most famous atheist yet, he knows so very little about the mythology behind Zeitgeist part 1.
“It’s very frustrating and disappointing especially when this guy is held up as the world’s most famous atheist, supposedly on our side!!! There are simply far too many atheists oblivious to the substance behind these myths and it’s precisely what’s missing from the discussion.”
http://www.freethoughtnation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=21425#p21425
Krishna
Krishna is not born of a virgin. Both his parents were in a prison when he born.
Those who make those claims have no idea what they’re talking about:
Indian Hindu scholars themselves cite primary sources like the Mahabharata, Bahvricha Upanishad & Srimad Bhagavatam ([url]http://freethoughtnation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=7979#p7979[/url]) proving the case backing up ZG1.
Born-Again Virginity in the Mahabharata ([url]http://freethoughtnation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=11238#p11238[/url])
Cuing In On What’s Been Hidden.
Child psychologists might know if it’s harmful for a child to be read fantasyland stories at bedtime by the parent.
Psychologists might know if it has been harmful for children and adults to have been threatened into believing the Fantasyland Story of Jesus by Church Authoritarians.
Psychologists might know if it has been harmful for nations and the world to have been threatened and coerced into believing the Story of Jesus.
The Story of Jesus has affected – directly or indirectly – almost every child born during the last 2000 years; and almost every adult over the last 2000 years; and almost every nation over the last 2000 years.
How can it be that only a handful of scholars during the last 2000 years have questioned the legitimacy of the Story of Jesus?
How can it be? Fear injected into minds works wonders. For 2000 years fear has worked wonders. Almost every child, adult, and nation. That’s alot.
Since the enactment of the Bill of Rights in 1791, Americans have had the right to discuss just about anything. But only a handful of scholars since that time have questioned the historicity of the Story of Jesus. Fear works wonders.
People who disregard the fantasticity of the Jesus Story perplex and bewilder me more than the Story itself. Fear works wonders.
Matter, mythology, religion, all that exists that can’t be seen, and even all thoughts have an effect on evolution. Matter is not the only thing that affects, and is affected by, evolution. Invisible thoughts are produced by the material brain. If, someday, people are able to transpose thoughts from one brain to another brain, thoughts may then be defined as matter.
Mythology and religion – perceptions of Gods – are invisible thoughts.
Perception also evolves. The evolution of mental perceptions of all that humans attempt to percieve is another wondrous and essential venture. The invisible thoughts of mythology and religion have been essential ingredients in human evolution; but one, in particular, has been avoided. Fear works wonders.
Mr. Dawkins, your Tweet on the Jesus-Mythology issue made me cue in with the hope that more on the issue will come from you.
Mr. Dawkins, the thought of you sitting in a room with Acharya S D. M. Murdock, Dr. Robert M. Price, Earl Doherty, Kenneth Humphreys, Barbara Walker and others would be an introduction to eachother and to the world; I’d love to hear all of you volleying thoughts. Not to come to any conclusions. Not to criticize. Just to politely introduce and verbalize your invisible thoughts on something that’s been hidden. Please??!!!
I really hope Dr. Richard Dawkins actually takes times to research the mythicist position because it’s literally compared to young earth creationism when it’s actually the complete opposite. Even as an atheist I get the mythicist position because it’s freaking obvious if you appreciate ancient mythology and it’s astrotheological (nature worship) origins.
The mythicist position …
I spent years commenting on articles on Dawkins’ site, many times referring referring to you, Fraser and Campbell when appropriate. Maybe some of it finally sink in. I mean, it’s SO obvious that it’s almost frightening.
Richard Dawkins claims Jesus existed!
Richard Dawkins Admits Jesus Existed ([url]http://www.freethoughtnation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=27930#p27930[/url])
Lets keep in mind that Dawkins is a biologist not a theologian and he’s quite terribly misinformed as there exists no credible evidence for a historical Jesus. Dawkins relies on other biblical scholars who tell him a historical Jesus must have existed and I address that here: Religion and the Ph.D.: A Brief History ([url]http://www.freethoughtnation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3110[/url])
If Dawkins thinks there was a historical Jesus, then, he needs to provide the evidence and since he just made the positive claim that “[i]Jesus existed[/i],” therefore, the ‘burden of proof’ is now his responsibility to substantiate the claim.
Richard Dawkins on Zeitgeist Part 1 ([url]http://www.freethoughtnation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=21425#p21425[/url])
Acharya’s Work Complements Sam Harris’s Philosophy ([url]http://freethoughtnation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3588[/url])
Unfortunately, Dawkins is not an expert on the subject of Jesus mythicism. Hence, he should not be making pronouncements about it, anymore than I should be writing pretentious screeds about biology.
I have made repeated overtures to Dr. Dawkins with links to back up all my contentions, as well as appeals to him to respond to me, since in some of his remarks (e.g., re Zeitgeist) he is commenting basically upon my work.
If he is receiving my emails and seeing my tweets, he is ignoring me assiduously and plowing right ahead with this erroneous assertions.
It is too bad when a professional scientist does not want actually to examine the evidence. I hope he will come around at some point.
Is Richard Dawkins Really the World’s Leading Intellectual? ([url]http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-david-wolpe/is-richard-dawkins-really-the-worlds-leading-intellectual_b_3226638.html[/url])
From what I’ve read here in this blog and the related forum thread Dawkins tweets Jesus mythicism, Zeitgeist ([url]http://www.freethoughtnation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=19&p=27768[/url]), It’s fair to point out that Richard Dawkins appears to be quite [b]intellectually DIS-honest[/b].
But, it’s very odd, one would think that Dawkins, Hitchens, Sam Harris etc., would all be interested in Acharya’s work since she makes the very best argument by demonstrating the origin and evolution of these religious myths turn out to be based in natural phenomena – an Occams razor argument. it’s bizarre that they continue to ignore her against their own best interests.
One would think those guys would appreciate the mythicist position:
Evemerist vs. Mythicist Position ([url]http://www.freethoughtnation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=2160[/url])
Why I am A Mythicist ([url]http://www.freethoughtnation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4344[/url])
Mythicist Position video ([url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63BNKhGAVRQ[/url])
Acharya’s Work Complements Sam Harris’s Philosophy ([url]http://freethoughtnation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3588[/url])
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