NOTHING NEW

The Greatest Story Ever Told (and told again)

He was born on the 25th December. His mother was made magically pregnant, filled with a ‘divine fire’. The child was born in a cave in a manger. His birth was heralded by a star in the east and three wise men were in attendance. The child was taken away by his mother fearing that he would be killed. He grew to be a great child-teacher in the temple. He was baptised at thirty. He had 12 disciples and performed miracles such as walking on water and feeding bread to a multitude. He raised a man from the dead and his name was El-Azar-us. He was known as ‘the way, the truth, the light.’ He was also called ‘the messiah’ and ‘the Son of Man’ and ‘the lamb of God’ and ‘the good shepherd’ and ‘the Lord of Heaven'. He was the fisher and associated with the lamb and the lion and fish. He was called ‘KRST’ and ‘Annointed One’. He was crucified and buried in a tomb and resurrected.

You would be forgiven for thinking you know this story. But this is apparently the story of the Egyptian god Horus as gleaned from ’The Egyptian Book of The Dead’. I do not pass comment on the implications this has for Christians today (anyone interested in this might want to see the online video called ‘Zeitgeist 1‘... though there is some reason to be cautious of the evidence given in that video, and all the conspiracy theories that follow are a bit hard to swallow). However, what the story of Horus does give us is another example of how stories and ideas can be taken from one source and given new life and made something richer by a new writer or writers, and that, it seems, is a natural process.

I love the Bible stories and cannot imagine my life without them. Can you?