A blog by request

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One of my regular readers (yes, pray for him), asked me to blog on this subject: Egyptian god Horus and the similarities to Jesus.

He provided these links:

Horus

http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_jcpa5.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horus

http://www.egyptartsite.com/hormyth.html

He suggested I look into some additional information.

I start my commentary with these thoughts:

1) Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

2) Humans have a very well-defined ability to take a simple story and twist it into something has no bearing on the original story.

3) Corollary: Humans screw stuff up.

4) Ancient Hebrew is a language no one alive today completely understands. Our translations are educated guesswork and some words remain undefined. Further, translations are always inexact.

When a lesser evil just won't do.

So, are there similarities between Horus and Jesus? Of course there are. At least there are similarities in what we are able to understand through the ancient records we have of both.

For that matter, the Judeo-Christian religion has a WHOLE LOTTA similarities with other ancient religions from the same time period and earlier. My very close friend and atheist Merle can wax poetic on this subject for hours.

Many Christians will deny these similarities. They are welcome to be self-deluded. Me? I prefer reality no matter how uncomfortable it may be.

I think the similarities come because we are all human and we all start with the same basic reference point: A human outlook. I forget which S.F. writer said it, but he said if an alien race came to Earth and viewed all the major religions, the alien wouldn’t see enough difference in them to matter.

To get and understand that, you REALLY have to step outside a comfort zone and have a mind so wide open it has practically has no borders.

It’s also true. All religions of, by and for humans are based around one fundamental and inescapable fact. We are humans. It all starts there.

Of course there are gonna be similarities.

The question at the heart of this discussion is: Was Jesus real and was He really the son of the being who created the universe? Was Horus real and everything the ancient Egyptians said he was?

I remind you of this oxymoronic fact: You can’t prove a negative. A strict application of the scientific method states a fact is something which fits the available evidence. When new evidence comes along, that fact must be re-evaluated.

With that in mind, no one has absolute proof that God exists nor proof He does not.

It is all guesswork, albeit sometime educated guesswork and sometime hide-bound guesswork. You pick which group to assign the opposition to.

I have some great friends who are atheist. They cannot prove Jesus is not real. They cannot prove the God I believe in is not real. At the same time, I cannot offer them absolute empirical evidence that God and Jesus exist.

Neither can I prove Horus is a myth.

You can’t either.

I can only tell you what I believe and that it works for me. That too is true for all humans. Anyone who tells you they have absolute proof should be viewed with skepticism, preferably at a great distance. My Bible even supports this notion when it states: Faith is a belief in the unseen.

So, for my reader who requested this blog, yep, there sure are similarities between Jesus and Horus and a whole bunch of other historical figures to whom divine powers are ascribed. The religion I have shares tenets of faith with a whole lotta other religions extant and extinct. Does it bother me? Nope.

I have read the Koran, the Book of Mormon, the Apocrypha and would like to read works of other religions. None  of these other books I have read have harmed me. Rather, they have taught me and by learning, I grow as a human.

As for my beliefs, I’m secure in who I am and what I believe. Because I cannot prove them to anyone else’s satisfaction makes them no less valid for me. I can tell you how my beliefs have changed me, hopefully made me a better person, and invite you to journey with me.