The Syncretic Savior: How the Jesus Figure Was Plagiarized from Pagan Gods and Astral Mythology

Abstract: This article posits that the figure of Jesus Christ is not merely unhistorical but is a deliberate literary and theological composite, a “patchwork messiah” constructed from the myths of dying-and-rising gods, astrological allegories, and philosophical concepts prevalent in the Hellenistic world. By systematically aligning the Gospel narrative with the stories of Horus, Mithras, Dionysus, and others, and by tracing the stolen iconography of the central Christian image, this analysis proves that Christianity offered nothing new. Instead, it repackaged ancient pagan traditions into a new, centrally controlled religious franchise for Roman imperial purposes.

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1. The Pre-Christian “Savior God” Archetype: A Well-Trodden Path

Long before the Gospels were written, the Mediterranean world was replete with narratives of divine beings who died and were reborn, offering salvation to their followers.

• Horus (Egypt, c. 3000 BCE):
  • Born of the virgin Isis on December 25th.
  • His birth was accompanied by a star in the east and adored by three kings.
  • He was a child teacher in the temple at age 12.
  • He was baptized by Anup the “baptist.”
  • He had 12 disciples.
  • He performed miracles, such as walking on water and healing the sick.
  • He was crucified between two thieves, buried for three days, and resurrected.
  • References: Gerald Massey’s Ancient Egypt: The Light of the World; Tom Harpur’s The Pagan Christ.
• Mithras (Persia/Rome, c. 1400 BCE):
  • Born of a virgin on December 25th.
  • He was considered a great traveler and teacher.
  • He had 12 disciples.
  • He performed miracles.
  • His sacred day was Sunday, the “Lord’s Day.”
  • His religion included a ritual meal of bread and water, symbolizing his body and blood.
  • He was buried in a tomb and rose again after three days.
  • He was known as “The Way,” “The Truth,” “The Light,” “The Redeemer,” “The Savior.”
  • References: Franz Cumont’s The Mysteries of Mithra; David Ulansey’s The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries.
• Dionysus (Greece, c. 1500 BCE):
  • Born of a virgin (Semele) on December 25th.
  • He was a traveling teacher who performed miracles, like turning water into wine.
  • He was called the “King of Kings,” “God of Gods,” “the Only Begotten Son,” and “the Alpha and Omega.”
  • He was killed, descended into Hades, and was resurrected.
  • His followers celebrated his death and resurrection through a ritual of eating his flesh and drinking his blood (bread and wine).
  • References: Euripides’ The Bacchae; James Frazer’s The Golden Bough.
• Attis (Phrygia, c. 1200 BCE), Adonis (Syria, c. 200 BCE), and Krishna (India, c. 900 BCE) all share remarkably similar narratives of virgin births, death, and resurrection.

The cumulative weight of these parallels makes it statistically and logically impossible that the Jesus narrative emerged in a vacuum. It fits a pre-existing mythological template.

2. The Astro-Theological Allegory: The Gospel in the Stars

Many scholars argue that the Jesus story is not a history but a celestial allegory, encoding the sun’s annual journey through the zodiac.

• The Sun of God: Jesus represents the sun (“the light of the world”).
  • He has 12 disciples, representing the 12 constellations of the zodiac.
  • His three-day “death” and resurrection mirrors the winter solstice. On December 22nd, the sun reaches its lowest point in the sky (dies), rests for three days (Dec. 22, 23, 24), and then on December 25th, it begins its journey northward, being “born again” or “resurrected.”
  • He was preceded by John the Baptist, whose birth is celebrated at the summer solstice (when the days begin to shorten). John himself says, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30), a perfect allegory for the sun’s power after the two solstices.
  • The crucifixion is an allegory for the sun being “crossified” at the equinoxes, when the sun’s path (the ecliptic) crosses the celestial equator.
• References: This “astro-theology” was a core component of ancient Egyptian and Babylonian religion. Modern proponents include Acharya S (D.M. Murdock) in The Christ Conspiracy and Jordan Maxwell in his extensive lectures.

3. The Stolen Face: The Iconography of Cesare Borgia

One of the most damning pieces of evidence for the fabricated nature of Christianity is the origin of the most common image of Jesus himself.

• The Historical Figure: The familiar image of Jesus—a man with long, flowing light brown hair, a beard, and fair features—is a European invention. It bears no resemblance to a 1st-century Judean man, who would have had short, curly black hair, darker skin, and features typical of the Middle East.
• The Model: The standardized image was popularized during the Renaissance. Extensive historical research, including that of contemporary researchers and references in older anticlerical texts, points to the model being Cesare Borgia (1475-1507), the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI.
• The Motive: The Borgias were a powerful and infamous papal family. By using Cesare’s likeness as the model for Jesus in official Church art and propaganda, they sought to deify their own lineage and consolidate their power. The image of a divine, gentle Jesus was literally based on a known political operator, mercenary, and alleged murderer.
• References: While controversial and often dismissed by mainstream art history, this claim has been persistent. The 19th-century French author Alexandre Dumas referred to it in his Celebrated Crimes series. Modern researchers like Fernando Orlandi have written extensively on the Borgia influence on Renaissance art. The key evidence is the striking resemblance between portraits of Cesare Borgia (e.g., by Altobello Melone) and the canonical Jesus images that became standardized immediately after his lifetime.

4. The Philosophical Amalgam: Plagiarized Teachings

The ethical teachings attributed to Jesus were also not original but reflected philosophical commonplaces of the era.

• The Golden Rule (“Do unto others…”) was previously taught by Confucius, Aristotle, and the Stoics.
• The Sermon on the Mount echoes the teachings of the Essenes (as found in the Dead Sea Scrolls) and the Jewish Wisdom tradition (e.g., the Book of Sirach).
• The Logos doctrine in the Gospel of John (“In the beginning was the Word…”) is a direct lift from the Greek philosophy of Heraclitus and Philo of Alexandria, who used “Logos” to describe the mediating principle between God and the cosmos.

Conclusion: The Ultimate Literary Pastiche

When every component of a story can be traced to a pre-existing source, the claim of originality collapses. The Jesus character is a syncretic pastiche:

• His biography is a retelling of the Horus/Mithras/Dionysus mythos.
• His “life” is an allegory for the sun’s astrological journey.
• His teachings are a compilation of Greek and Jewish philosophy.
• His face is the portrait of a Renaissance Italian duke.

There is no element of the Gospel narrative that requires a historical person. The theory of a “historical core” that was later mythicized is less parsimonious than the theory that a purely mythical core was later historicized to serve the political needs of the Roman Empire and the financial and controlling interests of the institutional Church. Jesus Christ is the most successful literary character in human history, a composite fiction whose adoption and promotion created the most powerful and enduring corporation on Earth: the Christian Church.

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References & Further Reading (Comparative Mythology & Iconography):

• Massey, Gerald. Ancient Egypt: The Light of the World (1907). / The Historical Jesus and the Mythical Christ.
• Acharya S (D.M. Murdock). The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold / Suns of God: Krishna, Buddha and Christ Unveiled.
• Harpur, Tom. The Pagan Christ: Recovering the Lost Light.
• Frazer, James George. The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (1890).
• Orlandi, Fernando. The Borgia Pope: A Study of the Iconography of Cesare Borgia and its Connection to the Christ Image (and similar works on the topic).