Is Jesus' Resurrection a Copy-Cat?

There have been many claims that Jesus is just a copy-cat of another religion. He falls in line with many "stories" of dying and rising gods. Therefore, Jesus resurrection is just the latest of mystical resurrection myths. In order to address this objection to Jesus' resurrection we will briefly look at two things: 1) Christianity versus other pagan mystical religions and 2) Why Christianity couldn't be a copy-cat [1]

Background of Objection

This claim to Christianity being a "copy-cat" was prominent from 1890-1940. However, it has made a comeback in popular culture through movies such as the Da Vinci Code and Zeitgeist. One might hear the comparison today between Jesus and mythical figures such as Horus and Osiris, stating that they virtually are the same story just repackaged for another audience. Though it has become popular in the public arena, Sean McDowell states,

"The mythicist position is almost entirely rejected in academic circles."

In order to best understand this let us compare ancient pagan religions with Christianity and examine the similarities, if any. [1]

Mystery Religions Versus Christianity

It is important to first note that these "mystery" religions have limited information. In other words there is very little actually known about what they believed. There are three main aspects that Joshua and Sean McDowell state make up mystery religions. [1]

1) They had secret ceremonies. Meaning everything they did was kept really secret and not made known to public knowledge. Christianity on the other hand, was very public with what they believed (Acts 2:22-24). [1]

2) Doctrine was not important. They focused on the practices and emotions of the participants. Christianity on the other hand held that right Doctrine was central (Titus 1:9). In fact Paul warns the church in Colossians to not be taken captive by false belief (Colossians 2:8). This shows the importance of right doctrine.[1]

3) Cyclical View of History. History was seen as repetitive and the "dying and rising" gods were directly connected to the seasons.[1] N.T. Wright concludes that the death and resurrections of these "gods" were metaphorical, reflecting the changing of seasons. It was not based upon historical events.[2] While Christianity was based on one historical event. The foundation of Christianity is on the historical life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.[1]

I mention these first because it is important to see that Christianity and mystery religions are not similar in nature.[1]

Why Christianity is not a Copy-Cat

Gary Habermas, in a lecture on the Resurrection stated that, "There are no cases of crucified and risen savior figures before Jesus, mystical or otherwise." [3] T.N.D Mettinger also stated [4]:

There is, as far as I am aware, no prima facie evidence that the death and resurrection of Jesus is a mythological construct.

1) The sources that we have for these mystery religions post-date Christianity, making the argument that Christianity stole from them difficult if not impossible to uphold. In fact, many scholars believe rather than Christianity being influenced, it instead influenced these mystery religions.[1]

2) The event of Jesus resurrection is based on a historical event and a historical person. The story of Osiris or Horus are not based on historical people and when the details are examined the parallels are weak at best.[1] As J Warner Wallace states [5]:

"The gods of mythology were not born of a virgin as Jesus was born to Mary, they did not live a life that was similar to Jesus in detail, they did not hold the titles attributed to Jesus, and they were not resurrected in a manner remotely similar to the resurrection of Christ."

Let me give one example. Mithra, one mythical character often compared with Jesus, is stated to have been born of a virgin, had 12 disciples, did miracles, died, and resurrected 3 days later. However, these "facts" are not true, for there are three different versions of Mithra all of them fragmented. In one Mithra is came about from a rock and in another he is made as an adult. He did not have 12 disciples and in no version did he resurrect. [6] When a true comparison is made there is no correlation.

3) New Christians (the disciples) would not have borrowed from a pagan religion in an attempt to convince their Jewish friends Jesus was risen.[5] The early disciples were Jewish in heritage and Jews completely rejected pagan religions. In fact, McDowell states, "Jews intensely resisted pagan ideas". Therefore, the claim that the early disciples borrowed from pagan ideas is hard to support historically.[1]

4) Jesus death was unique. Jesus' death was sacrificial, voluntary, for sins, only once and historically based. In fact, Jesus death did not end in defeat but rather victory, for he rose three days later. No other mystery religion reflects this. [1]

In conclusion, Jesus' life and death is not a copy-cat of ancient mystery religions. Christianity is based on the historical event of a historical person being crucified and raised again. Jesus does not stand in a long line of dying and rising gods but rather he stands alone.

[1] Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict: Life Changing Truth For a Skeptical World (Nashville, HarperCollins, 2017) 303-315

[2] N.T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God (Minneapolis, Fortress Press, 2003) 80.

[3] Gary Habermas, "The Resurrection Jesus: Naturalistic Theory 5: The Copycat Theory", Lecture 2014.

[4] Tryggve N.D. Mettinger, The Riddle of Resurrection: Dying and Rising Gods in the Ancient Near East (Winona Lake, IN, Eisenbrauns, 2013) 221 as Quoted by Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict: Life Changing Truth For a Skeptical World (Nashville, HarperCollins, 2017) 312.

[5] J Warner Wallace, "How to Respond to the claim Jesus is a Copy-Cat" Cold Case Christianity, Article 2016, https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/how-to-respond-to-claims-jesus-is-a-copycat-savior-free-bible-insert/

[6] Sheri Bell, "Is Christianity Unique, or a Copycat Religion". Josh McDowell Ministry, Article 2018. https://www.josh.org/copycat-religion-christianity/.