About Janko Expertise I am a qualified minister of Jehovah`s Witnesses and fully capable of answering any or all questions on our faith as well as others too, and the correct understanding of the Bible,which is God`s Word.
Experience My experience with our faith is quite substantial and was introduced to it in the 1960's as a child.
Question Hi there,
What is your answer to the accusation that Jesus Christ is purely a remodelling of the Egyptian God Horus?
An examination of Horus life, according to the Egyptian book of the dead, tells us:
Horus was born of a virgin
His mother was a woman called Meri
His father was called Jo-Sep
His father was of royal descent
His birth was heralded by a star
His birth was witnessed by Shepherds
King Herut tried to have him killed
He was 30 when baptised
His baptiser went on to be beheaded
He was followed by 12 disciples
He walked on water and healed the sick
He gave a 'sermon on the mount'
He was crucified
...between 2 thieves
He was buried in a tomb
He was ressurected after 3 days
In the future, he was said to reign for 1000 years
Now early Church father Tertullian wrote in the early third century:
"The devil, whose business it is to pervert the truth, mimics the exact circumstances of the Divine Sacraments in the Mysteries of Mithras. He himself baptizes some, that is to say, his believers and followers; he promises forgiveness of sins from the Sacred Fount and thereby initiates them into the religion of Mithras; … he brings in the symbol of the Resurrection, and wins the crown with the sword.”
So Christendom reverts to a 'diabolical mimicry' argument, reasoning that the Devil knew what was going to happen in advance, so he threw believers off the scent by sending Horus first.
What I want to know from you, since no Jehovah's Witness has ever returned to answer my question, is do you side with Christendom on this one? Or do you have your own explanation?
Many thanks in advance.
Answer Hello Jon,
Thank you for your question.Honestly I never heard of this ridiculous accusation.Here is the only thing I can give you as an answer from this article:
Egyptian Deities. The gods and goddesses worshiped by the Egyptians give evidence of an underlying Babylonian heritage. There were triads of deities and even triple triads, or “enneads.” One of the popular triads consisted of Osiris, his consort Isis, and their son Horus.—PICTURE, Vol. 2, p. 529.
Osiris was the most popular of the Egyptian gods and was regarded as the son of the earth-god Geb and the sky-goddess Nut. It was said that Osiris became the husband of Isis and reigned as king over Egypt. The mythological accounts tell of Osiris’ being murdered by his brother Set and then being restored to life, becoming the judge and king of the dead. The relationship of Osiris and Isis and their respective characteristics strikingly correspond to the relationship and characteristics of the Babylonian Tammuz and Ishtar. Hence, numerous scholars consider them to be identical.
Mother-and-son worship was also very popular in Egypt. Isis is often portrayed with the infant Horus on her knees. This representation is so much like that of the Madonna and child that certain ones in Christendom have at times venerated it in ignorance. (PICTURE, Vol. 2, p. 529) With respect to the god Horus, there is evidence of the distortion of the Edenic promise concerning the seed that would bruise the serpent in the head. (Ge 3:15) At times Horus is depicted as trampling crocodiles and grasping snakes and scorpions. According to one account, when Horus proceeded to avenge the death of his father Osiris, Set, who had murdered Osiris, changed himself into a serpent.
On Egyptian sculptures and paintings the sacred symbol, the crux ansata, occurs very frequently. This so-called sign of life looks like the letter “T” with an oval handle on top and probably represented the male and female organs of reproduction combined. The Egyptian deities are often depicted as holding the crux ansata.—PICTURE, Vol. 2, p. 530.
Many were the creatures venerated as sacred by the Egyptians. These included the bull, the cat, the cow, the crocodile, the falcon, the frog, the hippopotamus, the ibis, the jackal, the lion, the ram, the scarab, the scorpion, the serpent, the vulture, and the wolf. However, some of these were sacred in one part of Egypt and not in another, this, at times, even resulting in the outbreak of civil wars. Not only were animals sacred to certain gods, but some of them were even viewed as incarnations of a god or goddess. The Apis bull, for instance, was regarded as the very incarnation of the god Osiris and also an emanation of the god Ptah.
According to Herodotus (II, 65-67), a person killing a sacred animal deliberately was put to death; if the killing of the animal was by accident, the priests stipulated a fine. However, one killing an ibis or a hawk, whether intentionally or not, was put to death, usually at the hands of an enraged mob. When a cat died, all in the household shaved their eyebrows, whereas at the death of a dog they shaved their entire body. Sacred animals were mummified and given elaborate burials. Among the mummified animals that have been found are the bull, the cat, the crocodile, and the falcon, to mention but a few.
The mythological accounts portray the Egyptian deities as having human weaknesses and imperfections. They were said to have experienced anguish and fright and repeatedly found themselves in peril. The god Osiris was slain. Horus, in childhood, was said to have suffered from internal pains, headaches, and dysentery and to have died from a scorpion’s sting, but then was said to have been restored to life. Isis was believed to have suffered from abscess of the breast. With advancing years, it was taught, the strength of the sun-god Ra waned and saliva dripped from his mouth. His very life was in jeopardy after being bitten by a magical serpent formed by Isis, although he recovered as a result of Isis’ words of magic. Sekhmet, a goddess representing the destructive power of the sun, was depicted as being bloodthirsty. She took such delight in killing men that Ra was said to have feared for the future of the human race. To save humankind from extermination, Ra distributed 7,000 jugs of a beer and pomegranate mixture over the battlefield. Thinking it to be human blood, Sekhmet drank it ardently until too intoxicated to continue her slaughter. Nephthys was said to have got her brother Osiris, the husband of her sister Isis, drunk and then had relations with him. The sun-gods Tem and Horus were portrayed as masturbators.
Interestingly, when Pharaoh constituted Joseph second ruler of the land of Egypt, Joseph was thus elevated over the worshipers of Egypt’s false gods.—Ge 41:37-44.
The Ten Plagues. By means of the plagues he visited upon the Egyptians, Jehovah humiliated and executed judgment upon their gods. (Ex 12:12; Nu 33:4; PICTURES, Vol. 2, p. 530) The first plague, the turning of the Nile and all the waters of Egypt into blood, brought disgrace to the Nile-god Hapi. The death of the fish in the Nile was also a blow to Egypt’s religion, for certain kinds of fish were actually venerated and even mummified. (Ex 7:19-21) The frog, regarded as a symbol of fertility and the Egyptian concept of resurrection, was considered sacred to the frog-goddess Heqt. Hence, the plague of frogs brought disgrace to this goddess. (Ex 8:5-14) The third plague saw the magic-practicing priests acknowledging defeat when they proved to be unable by means of their secret arts to turn dust into gnats. (Ex 8:16-19) The god Thoth was credited with the invention of magic or secret arts, but even this god could not help the magic-practicing priests to duplicate the third plague.
The line of demarcation between the Egyptians and the worshipers of the true God came to be sharply drawn from the fourth plague onward. While swarms of gadflies invaded the homes of the Egyptians, the Israelites in the land of Goshen were not affected. (Ex 8:23, 24) The next plague, the pestilence upon the livestock, humiliated such deities as the cow-goddess Hathor, Apis, and the sky-goddess Nut, who was conceived of as a cow having the stars affixed to her belly. (Ex 9:1-6) The plague of boils brought disgrace to the gods and goddesses regarded as possessing healing abilities, such as Thoth, Isis, and Ptah. (Ex 9:8-11) The severe hailstorm put to shame the gods who were considered to have control of the natural elements; for example, Reshpu, who, it appears, was believed to control lightning, and Thoth, who was said to have power over the rain and thunder. (Ex 9:22-26) The locust plague spelled defeat for the gods thought to ensure a bountiful harvest, one of these being the fertility god Min, who was viewed as a protector of the crops. (Ex 10:12-15) Among the deities disgraced by the plague of darkness were sun-gods, such as Ra and Horus, and also Thoth the god of the moon and believed to be the systematizer of sun, moon, and stars.—Ex 10:21-23.
The death of the firstborn resulted in the greatest humiliation for the Egyptian gods and goddesses. (Ex 12:12) The rulers of Egypt actually styled themselves as gods, the sons of Ra, or Amon-Ra. It was claimed that Ra, or Amon-Ra, had intercourse with the queen. The son born was, therefore, viewed as a god incarnate and was dedicated to Ra, or Amon-Ra, at his temple. Hence, the death of Pharaoh’s firstborn, in effect, actually meant the death of a god. (Ex 12:29) This in itself would have been a severe blow to Egypt’s religion, and the complete impotence of all the deities was manifested in their being unable to save the firstborn of the Egyptians from death. Janko
