Bogus Parallels Versus Christianity: Don't Be the Next Naive Victim
by Jeff Lindsay
Recent
posts here have explored how parallels between the Book of Mormon and
a modern book have led to some foolishly proclaiming to have exposed
the Book of Mormon as a fraud.
Creatively
molding parallels into seemingly convincing but bogus evidence for
fraud isn't just a hobby for anti-Mormons, but has also been a tool
of some seeking to undermine Christianity in general.
Daniel
Peterson laments a recent victim
of these tactics who abandoned not just her LDS faith but her belief
in Christ after reading a book explaining how Christianity is a fraud
that has simply been lifted from other ancient religions that all had
the very same concepts, including a son of God who came to earth and
was crucified ―
yes, many pagan gods came to earth and were crucified, just like
Jesus Christ, so it is said ―,
then resurrected and ascended to heaven, just like Christ. Pretty
impressive, right?
In an article for the Deseret News,
"Defending
the Faith: 'Parallels' of prophets not parallel,"
explains that this assembly of parallels, now found in many sources
in print and on the web, ultimately derives from a single source:
"The
World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors: Christianity Before Christ,"
an 1875 book by an American atheist named Kersey Graves.
With
no references cited, Graves simply declares that extensive parallels
exist between the details of Jesus Christ and numerous other ancient
deities, showing, he claims, that Christianity was simply made up,
swiping concepts already out there.
The
virgin birth, His status as Son of God, the miracles, the teachings,
the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, etc., all are allegedly
plagiarized from Mithra, Osiris, Baal, etc. And it's all nonsense,
Peterson explains. In many cases Graves is simply making stuff up,
creating parallels that aren't really there. Sad that some have lost
their faith over such stuff.
Yes, there are interesting
parallels between religions, and as Latter-day Saints, we understand
that many ancients including Book of Mormon writers had teachings
about the future Messiah who would come as Son of God, be slain, and
rise again.
The
theme of ascending to God is an important one in the ancient world,
and we should not be surprised to find scattered parallels between
our faith and many other faiths. See, for example, The
Sacred and the Profane by
Mircea Eliade.
Properly
understood, the parallels that actually do exist can be meaningful
and can help us better appreciate other faiths and the possibility of
some common ancient roots. But when it comes to the extreme parallels
that are used to declare Christianity a fraud, the real basis for
fraud is in the fabrications from Kersey Graves. His undocumented
allegations are not to be trusted at all.
Don't be the
next victim of bogus parallels undermining Christianity, including
LDS Christianity. Parallels, like scientific data, can be meaningful
when the right questions are asked and the right tools are applied.
But when the data are simply fabricated or twisted beyond
recognition, look out.
Jeff Lindsay has been defending the Church on the Internet since 1994, when he launched his
LDSFAQ website under JeffLindsay.com. He has also long been blogging about LDS matters on
the blog Mormanity (mormanity.blogspot.com). Jeff is a longtime resident of Appleton,
Wisconsin, who recently moved to Shanghai, China, with his wife, Kendra.
He works for an Asian corporation as head of intellectual property. Jeff and Kendra are the parents of 4 boys, 3 married and the the youngest on a mission.
He is a former innovation and IP consultant, a former professor, and former Corporate Patent
Strategist and Senior Research Fellow for a multinational corporation.
Jeff Lindsay, Cheryl Perkins and Mukund Karanjikar are authors of the book Conquering
Innovation Fatigue (John Wiley & Sons, 2009).
Jeff has a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Brigham Young University and is a registered US
patent agent. He has more than 100 granted US patents and is author of numerous publications.
Jeff's hobbies include photography, amateur magic, writing, and Mandarin Chinese.