Some Thoughts on Zeitgeist the Movie

Have you wondered about the claims Zeitgeist: The Movie makes regarding Christianity? If so, this post is for you.

More and more people are swept up by the whole Zeitgeist-movement, spurred on by the controversial Zeitgeist documentary movies. “Zeitgeist” is a German term literally meaning “time-ghost”, i.e. the spirit of the time. The time we are living in at present is called Postmodernism. Postmodernism is known for its subversion of grand narratives; in other words, Postmodernism questions and rebels against claims of authority and grand truths. For instance conventional science, conventional governmental regimes and major religious systems are all grand narratives that are challenged and undermined. Therefore, the name “Zeitgeist”, and its implied reference to the postmodern-zeitgeist in particular, is a very apt name for these films as the main function of these films are to question just such grand narratives: religion and government. The first Zeitgeist-film is divided into three parts. The first part, named “The Greatest Story Ever Told”, questions the legitimacy of all major world religions and continues to argue that all major religions are basically based on pagan sun-worship – Christianity included. The second part, called “All the World’s a Stage”, shows how the 9/11 catastrophe was actually an inside job masterminded not by terrorists outside of America, but by key players within the American governmental and economical institutions. The last section is called “Don’t Mind the Men Behind the Curtain” and proposes that all the major wars since the 20th century were actually instigated by “international bankers” who benefited tremendously from these wars. It also shows how these power-mongering “international bankers” created the Great Depression and by implication this includes this latest Global Economic Collapse we are facing at present as well.

Let me start by saying that these documentaries are very well crafted, and uses extremely persuasive cinematographic and rhetoric techniques. I will also concur that much of these conspiracy theories are grounded in fact. I agree that a great deal of what we understand to be modern Christianity is heavily blighted with pagan influences; that the 9/11 incident—specifically at Ground Zero—is very questionable, since the engineers that build the Twin Towers actually designed them to withstand being hit by airplanes and the buildings collapsed in practically the exact fashion that a controlled demolition would occur; and lastly, that the banks are really intend more on making profit than caring for the wellbeing of their customers, as any one that works in the banking industry can attest. However, I would like to consider for a moment the first part, regarding Christianity, and point out some obvious flaws in their argument, mostly due to really bad scholarship. Nevertheless, my argument will not be to try and redeem orthodox Christianity, since I believe that the maker of Zeitgeist does have a point. Christianity as it is practiced today is indeed heavily influenced with pagan ideas, including sun-worship ideologies.

A Summary of Part I: The Greatest Story Ever Told

In short, “Part I: The Greatest Story Ever Told” argues that most religious are based on pagan and sun-worship cults derived from astronomical facts and astrological mythologies. These are all basically telling the same narrative—the same “Greatest Story”. The aim of Part I is to prove that Christianity is essentially a conglomeration of pagan myths weaved into a Jewish-turned-Roman narrative. The following quotation by Thomas Paine is presented in the Zeitgeist movie: “The Christian religion is a parody on the Worship of the sun, in which they put a man called Christ in the place of the sun, and give him the adoration originally payed to the sun.” To prove their hypothesis they present an interpretive reading of the Christian story from an astrological perspective and also point out similarities between Jesus Christ and other sun-god myths, for instance Horus, Krishna, Dionysus and Mithra. Similarities identified are the Virgin Birth, 25 December as the birth date, three kings or magi bringing tribute to the god-infant, the child-teacher, twelve disciples, death by crucifixion, a three day burial—descend into hell—and eventual resurrection, and the performing of miracles. These elements are explained as myths that describe astrological events; for instance, the twelve disciples depict the twelve months or zodiac signs; the Virgin Birth and birth date is basically the Winter Solstice at December 25 when the sun rises in the area of Virgo (the Virgin); the three Magi are the “Three Kings”, the three starts in Orion’s Belt, and so on.

These similarities are, indeed, quite clear. Orthodox Christianity does teach that Jesus was born from a virgin on December 25th, that there were three Kings or Magi that brought Him tribute, that he had twelve disciples, that He died by Crucifixion, that He descended into hell, and that He was raised from the dead after three days.

Orthodox Christianity versus Untainted Christianity

Unfortunately the reasoning of Peter Joseph (Zeitgeist’s writer, director, editor and producer) is flawed because he fails to make the distinction between Orthodox Christianity and Untainted Christianity. Allow me to explain the distinction. With “Orthodox Christianity” I mean Christianity as it has been practiced at large since the early Roman Church, including its various modern manifestations in most present day denominations, counting the Orthodox or Catholic Churches, as well as the protestant evangelical and charismatic movements. Orthodox Christianity is blighted with pagan ideas, rightly noted by the Zeitgeist creator. On the other hand, Untainted Christianity is not derived from pagan traditions and any similarities are purely coincidental, based on mythical universals (archetypes). With “Untainted Christianity” I mean Christianity as was manifested by the “Early” or “Apostolic Church”, in other words the type of Christianity that started directly after Jesus’ earthly ministry and developed under the leadership of His original followers. I call this type of Christianity “untainted” because it was not yet influenced by any outside pagan influences, as was the case with Christianity under the Roman rule. Pure Christianity is characterized by “Sola Scriptura”; i.e. solely Scripture, or the Bible alone. Some pockets of this type of Christianity have survived, or have been revived, but they are not common. Unfortunately, by far the greater majority of Christianity today is not Untainted Christianity. Many Orthodox Christian churches believe themselves to be based on Sola Scriptura, the Bible alone, but we know for a fact that they are not and this is something that the Zeitgeist movie reveals clearly. In this, the Roman Catholic Church is one of the few denominations that are honest about her hybrid character. The Roman Catholic Church makes it clear that she does not base her dogmas on Sola Scriptura, but instead, Catholic beliefs are a combination of Scripture and Tradition.

Much of what is believed to be Christian is actually pagan and not based on Scripture at all. Here are some examples: The Bible never states that Jesus was born on December 25th. We do not know from Scripture when Jesus was born. What we do know is that it would not have been during December (high winter in the northern hemisphere), because the story tells of shepherds with their sheep sleeping outside in the hills. During the winter months the shepherds and their flocks took shelter and would not have been outside, open to the elements. The Zeitgeist-producer is completely correct in saying that December 25 is a pagan holy-day and that it is the birth date of many of the sun deities. When Orthodox Christianity celebrates Christmas as a holy-day, they are doing so based on the traditions of paganism.

Let’s look at some other examples. Tradition has it that three Magi brought tribute to the baby Jesus. The Bible is completely silent about the number of Magi; for all we know they could have been 56 in number! Orthodox Christianity teaches that after Jesus’ death, He descended into Hell. This idea is also foreign to the Bible; it’s a completely pagan idea – indeed, part of a sun-deity myth where the sun-god descends into the Underworld to fight off the god of death or the god of winter, depending on the variation, and then rises again to bring light (or summer) back to the world. Another example would be the weekly worship on Sunday, named after the sun because this is the day whereupon sun-worshippers venerated the Sun-god. Christians that really follow the Bible should worship on the Sabbath, i.e. Saturday, as have been done by the Jews to this day and was the custom and example of Jesus.

(When people ask me what my religion is, or if I am a Christian, I sometimes find it quite difficult to answer them; their idea of “Christianity” and my idea of “Christianity” are worlds apart. I have not celebrated Christmas as a holy-day for many years now. I also worship the Creator-God on the seventh day Sabbath, instead of the typical pagan Sunday. Therefore, my religious or spiritual practices are quite foreign from what people would usually consider to be typical Christian practise; and they would be correct, I am not an Orthodox Christian. Nevertheless, I do consider myself to be a Christian as I believe that Jesus Christ is God-Incarnate, i.e. God in human form, and I do try to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ in their pure Sola Scriptura rendition, rather than as taught through church traditions derived from pagan religions. I also use sound philosophical reasoning, based on Biblical premises – for instance that God is Love, or God is the source of Life. Strangely, my attempt to practise a purer version of Christianity is considered sectarian, cultic of fanatical by mainstream Christianity.)

Similarity Claims and Terrible Scholarship

Having made this distinction between Orthodox and Untainted Christianity let’s continue to see why I say that the Peter Joseph made use of terrible scholarship.

Most of the similarities listed between Jesus and these other sun-god deities are just plain false. My conclusion has to be that Peter Joseph did not read the myths he assert are the basis for the “Jesus Myth”, conversely he did not read the Bible that recounts the story of Jesus. As mentioned earlier, it is claimed that the story of Jesus and these other deities share some of the following: Born on December 25th, from a virgin, three kings or magi venerated him, he was a child-teacher, was baptised at age 30, had twelve disciples, performed miracles, died by crucifixion, descended into hell, was resurrected on the third day, and ascended into heaven.

Let’s start by the similarity-claim between Jesus and Horus.

It is claimed that Horus was born on December 25 (not that this matters since Jesus was not born on that date), that he was born from a virgin by “immaculate conception”, that there was a star in the East signalling his birth, that he was adorned by three kings, that he was a teacher at 12, baptised at 30 and had 12 disciples.

Horus’s mother is Isis and his father is Osiris; however, before Osiris could father the child he is killed. Isis finds his body and with a magic spell brings him back to life just long enough to impregnate her and then he dies again. Another version has it that Osiris is chopped into pieces by his brother Set. Isis retrieves the pieces and puts Osiris back together again, but his penis is missing (it was eaten by fish), so she makes an artificial phallus, puts it on the mummy and has sex with it and Horus is the result. Peter Joseph says in Zeitgeist that Horus’s “immaculate conception” is “exactly like the story of Jesus’ miracle conception”. Well, you be the judge, not to mention that the phrase “immaculate conception” is wrongly used, as it used in Roman Catholicism to refer to Mary’s conception, not Jesus’ conception. Also, it is not Horus that is resurrected, as claimed by Peter Joseph, but Osiris. However, Osiris is resurrected as ruler of the Underworld. In other worlds, he is alive in the Realm of Death; meaning that he was never physically resurrected. This is nothing like the Resurrection account of Jesus.

As for Krishna, Peter Joseph says that he is born of a virgin, there was a star in the east, he performed miracles and he was resurrected.

Krishna was the eighth child of his mother Devaki and his father Vasudeva. Clearly not a virgin birth. Some accounts have it that Vasudeva impregnated his wife psychically, in which case there was no sexual contact. Still, Devaki was not a virgin. Interestingly, Krishna was born in July, which is probably closer to Jesus’ real birth date than December 25th. That Krishna performed miracles ought not to be thought significant as that is what one would expect of a deity. He was a child-teacher, true. I don’t know about the Star in the East.

Another supposed parallel to Jesus listed is Dionysus (or Bacchus). Supposedly he is also born of a virgin on December 25th, performed miracles, is called “King of Kings” and “Alpha and Omega” and is resurrected.

Dionysus was not born of a virgin. His mother Semele was impregnated by Zeus, one of many mortals with whom Zeus had intercourse. Neither was Dionysus resurrected – although he was “twice born”. When Zeus’s wife, Hera, found out of her husband’s infidelity she devised a plan to get Semele killed. Zeus rescued the foetus of Dionysus by implanting it into his thigh. Dionysus is later “born again” from his father’s thigh, full grown. This can hardly be called a resurrection as Dionysus never actually died. I can find no authentic appellation accounts of Dionysys as either “King of Kings” or “Alpha and Omega”. He was known among other things as “Ruler”, “twice born”, “the thunderer” and “liberator”. The latter refers to his ability to free his devotees from by making them go into ecstasy or go mad, or through the over consumption of wine. This is quite contrary to Jesus who actually made madmen sane.

Another supposed parallel is Mithra, the Persian sun-god and deity of Zoroastrianism. According to Joseph Peter Mithra was born of a virgin on December 25th, he had 12 disciples, performed miracles, was resurrected, is worshipped on Sunday and is known as the “Truth” and the “Light”. Mithra might have been born on December 25th, but that has no bearing on the real Jesus. Mithra was not born of a virgin. Actually, he was born of no one. He came fully grown out of a solid rock. Unless Joseph Peter’s consider the rock to be the “virgin”, this is clearly not a virgin-birth. There is no account of him having twelve disciples, apart from a depiction of him standing in the centre with six people at either side of him. This depiction dates well after Christianity developed, which may well indicate that the artist plagiarised Christianity, rather than Christianity copying from Mithraism. Also, there is no pre-Christian account of Mithra’s resurrection. As mentioned before, Sunday-worship is not authentically Christian and while it does incriminate Sunday observance by the majority of Christians today, it does not weaken the authenticity of Christianity in its Sola Scriptura form.

Asserting that the Judeo-Christian religious ideas are just plagiarized renditions from earlier pagan ideas are either proof of ignorance or of wilful deceit. The Judeo-Christian ideas about God are in essence nothing like any of the other religions of antiquity. For one, all the other religions involved pantheisms or polytheisms. The monotheistic idea of a single God, outside of creation, that created everything ex nihilo (out of nothing), is completely foreign to anything typically conceivable to early man. The monotheistic paradigm, which started within the Hebrew nation (Israelites), is a complete mystery when compared to any of the other ancient cultures from Judeo-Christian thought was supposed to have sprung. As I said, claiming that the Judeo-Christian religion is a spoof of earlier pagan ideas reveals either ignorance or deceitfulness. Either those claiming it have not done proper research, or they are wilfully lying to their audience.

The "Jesus Myth"

Peter Joseph clearly does not understand mythology and has probably never properly read ancient myths and compared them to the “Jesus Myth”. Take a typical mythological version of a virgin-birth, death and resurrection as an example:

The “virgin-birth” story of Attis goes something like this: Zeus (or Jupiter) dropped semen on Mount Agdistis, which then began to grow male and female attributes, including a phallus. The other Olympian gods were disgusted with Agdistis and cuts off its phallus and throws it away. There where the phallus landed an almond-tree grew and bore fruit. One day, Nana, the daughter of Sangarios River, passes by, picks an almond and lays it in her lap. The almond assimilates into her; the impregnation results in the birth of Attis. Abandoned by his mother, Attis is raised by a he-goat. Later in life, Attis is to mary the daughter of King Pessions. Agdistis (who is in effect Attis’ mother) in the form of Cybelle (the Mountain-Mother Goddess, or Earth Goddess, known as Gaia in Greek) wedding-crashes the ceremony. She has fallen in love with her offspring and is jealous of his relation with his bride-to-be. This causes Attis to go insane and cut off his genitals, or go into ecstasy and cut of his genitals – depending on the version. For some reason King Pessinons also castrates himself. Attis dies from his wounds, but Agdistis ensures his rebirth (resurrection?) in the form of an evergreen Pine Tree.

Compare this story with the Virgin-Birth, Death and Resurrection of Jesus and decide for yourself how striking the similarities are. Clearly, when reading the Jesus-story it lacks practically all mythological elements. Compared with the other myths, be it Egyptian or Greek, the Jesus-story is just plain too boring, lacks adequate archetypal imagery and is void of typical mythical elements to even come close to anything one would expect of proper mythology. Saying that the Jesus-story is a copycat of older myths or even saying that the Jesus-story is a mythological narrative screams of ignorance regarding mythological narratives.

Conclusion

Basically none of the similarity-claims made by Joseph resembles anything like the Jesus story. There are no real virgin-births and no real resurrections. The claim that most of these other sun-deities were crucified is also bogus. Besides, crucifixion as a means of execution was a Roman invention.

Peter Joseph continues to try and debunk the authenticity of Christianity (as a fairytale invented for political reasons) and of Jesus, but does so with very selective quotations and over all bad scholarship. Frankly, I have to wonder whether Peter Joseph did any proper research at all. The numerous sources listed at the end of the movie are dubious at best. Among them are Acharya S and D. M. Murdock (they are the same person), a controversial author of many “Jesus Myth”-books. Also Gerald Massey, a 19th century spiritualist poet (similar to William Blake). Another 19th century reference is John E. Rembsburg, who disbelieved the existence of Jesus as a historical figure, something that is doubted by very few scholars today. Most scholars of history believe that Jesus was a real historic figure, hence all the books about the “Historic Jesus”. They may not believe in his divinity, but they do not question his historicity.

As I said before, Peter Joseph is either ignorant or guilty of really bad scholarship. Alternatively, he is wilfully deceiving his audience.

There is so much more I can write about Part I of this film, but it hardly feels worth the effort. A superficial scratching at the surface of this section of the documentary, as I have done, reveals such uncomplimentary mistakes, and plain lies, that it is hard to take it serious at all.

I do, however, believe that some good can come out of Joseph’s faulty film. It will give those nominal Christians that do not really want to be part of their faith an excuse to leave it. Conversely, it will force the other Christians to re-examine what they believe and hopefully get rid of the pagan influences that have blighted Christianity for so long. Hopefully Zeitgeist will cause a revival for Sola Scriptura Untainted Christianity.