Monotheistic Judaism of the First Century – Part Two

Monotheistic Judaism of the First Century – Part Two

Posted on by confidentchristianity@gmail.com

In arguing against the theories of “Zeitgeist, the Movie”, I will be presenting a three-part series of posts relating to the first century Jewish culture from which Christianity was birthed. Though I will not directly counter specific points in the movie in these posts, I will establish a historical case to demonstrate that first-century monotheistic Judaism was not doctrinally influenced by the cultural worship of various pagan deities.

The Jewish People Viewed as Social and Religious Separatists by Foreigners

The foreigners, or gentiles, who came into contact with the Jews, wrote about the exclusivity of the Jewish people. One of these writers was Publius (or Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus, a Roman historian. In his Histories, Book V, Tacitus explains the exclusive worship of the Jews, “…the Jews have purely mental conceptions of Deity, as one in essence. They call those profane who make representations of God in human shape out of perishable materials. They believe that Being to be supreme and eternal, neither capable of representation, nor of decay. They therefore do not allow any images to stand in their cities, much less in their temples.”[1] Tacitus further explains the self-imposed social segregation of the Jewish people, “…they regard the rest of mankind with all the hatred of enemies. They sit apart at meals, they sleep apart….they abstain from intercourse with foreign women….Circumcision was adopted by them as a mark of difference from other men. Those who come over to their religion adopt the practice, and have this lesson first instilled into them, to despise all gods, to disown their country, and set at nought parents, children, and brethren.”[2]
Another writer, Dio Cassius, a Roman historian of the second century, reflects on the established Jewish monotheism in the Roman Empire, “They are distinguished from the rest of mankind in practically every detail of life, and especially by the fact that they do not honour any of the usual gods, but show extreme reverence for one particular divinity. They never had any statue of him even in Jerusalem itself, but believing him to be unnamable and invisible, they worship him in the most extravagant fashion on earth.”[3]

Argument against a Strict Adherence to Monotheism

The argument against an exclusive monotheism of the first-century Jews usually refers to the cultural influences on Judaism from the Roman Empire (Hellenism). The Jewish believers, it is argued, could not be closed-off to or completely isolated from these influences.[4] To a certain extent, cultural variances are noted, as in the Judaism of Elephantine or in the later Judaism of Ethiopia.[5] However, cultural variances, as the use of foreign terminology to explain Jewish philosophy or belief[6], or as the Gentile proselyte maintaining pagan rituals along with Jewish belief,[7] do not warrant a verdict of fluctuations in the traditional Jewish adherence to monotheism.
The argument that Hellenistic pagan mystery cults influenced the core doctrine of Jewish monotheism lacks an evidential base. In “Pharisaism and Hellenism” from the multi-volume work, Judaism and Christianity, W.L. Knox reports, “We have a great deal of evidence both in literature and in inscriptions as to the Judaism of the time and the evidence of syncretism of Judaism with Gentile cults, when it is carefully sifted and the conjectures left out, boils down to singularly little.”[8] Also, “there is no evidence that any one of these gods [of the pagan mystery cults] was conceived of as an ethical personality, still less any suggestion that the ethical character of the god is the basis and source of both individual and social morality.”[9] The Judaic view of God was a totally different concept from the Hellenized religions of Rome, because of the very idea that only the one true God was worthy of any worship. Even though the Hellenistic Romans had a concept of a highest god, they believed worship was a matter of degree because divinity was a matter of degree.[10] A lesser or greater god was worthy of the appropriate degree of worship.[11] This strict adherence to monotheism was a noted hallmark of Judaism in the first century,[12] and out of this Judaism the earliest Christian followers emerge.

THE EARLIEST CHRISTIANS WERE MONOTHEISTIC JEWS

The earliest extant historical writings concerning the origins of Christianity are from the apostle Paul.[13] Scholars generally agree that of the writings attributed to Paul, these date between the late 40’s and the early 60’s of the first century[14]. In Paul’s texts, there is a basis for the former adherence to the monotheistic Judaism of the first century by the early Christian leaders. Larry Hurtado, in How on Earth Did Jesus Become a God, emphasizes this basis, “Our earliest extant historical sources exhibit an emphatic rejection of pagan religion and a corresponding monotheistic affirmation of the exclusive validity of the one God.”[15] In the establishment of Paul’s monotheism, Paul’s letters to the Galatians, Thessalonians, and Corinthians will be investigated along with Luke’s Acts of the Apostles.

Paul’s Former Religious Zeal and Conversion

Paul was a monotheistic, zealous Pharisee. His devotion to Judaism before his Damascus Road experience is perhaps best annotated by his ‘mission’ to persecute the followers of Jesus. Hurtado describes Paul’s loyalty, “…devotion to Jesus must have been sufficiently striking (even audacious) that it could draw the determined efforts of this formerly zealous Pharisee to destroy what he regarded as an unacceptable innovation in Second-Temple Jewish religion. It had to be some major offense by Jewish Christians to have elicited the kind of Phinehas-like zeal with which Saul/Paul attacked the Jesus movement.”[16] Paul’s testimony to his background and his conversion are found in several places in the Scripture. In Galatians 1: 11-24, Paul relays his conversion story concerning his zealous Judaism and his persecution of the believers in Jesus: “…how intensely I persecuted the church and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers” (v.13b-14). This story is confirmed in the Acts of the Apostles, chapters 9 and 22. Also, in Acts 8, the historian, Luke, mentions Paul’s approval of the stoning of Stephen. The case is made for Paul: he is a devoted Jewish believer in the one true God.

More to come…..
MJ
Footnotes:
[1] Tacitus. Histories, Book V. Available from: http://classics.mit.edu/Tacitus/histories.5.v.html. The Internet Classics Archive. Accessed December 5, 2007.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Dio Cassius, Roman History, Book 37, Chapter 17. Available from: http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/home.html. Accessed December 11, 2007.
[4] Snyder, Graydon F. “The Interaction of Jews with Non-Jews in Rome.” Judaism and Christianity in First-Century Rome. Karl P. Donfried, ed., Peter Richardson, ed. Grand Rapids, Eerdmans Publishing Company: 1998. pg. 74.
[5] Ibid.
[6] W.L. Knox suggests that Josephus dresses up a native Jewish idea in language drawn from the pagan mysteries. Knox, W.L., “Pharisaism and Hellenism.” Vol. 2,. Judaism and Christianity. pg. 83.
[7] See Cohen, Crossing the Boundary and Becoming a Jew.
[8] Knox, pp. 89-90.
[9] Hooke, S.H., “The Emergence of Christianity from Judaism,” Vol. 1, Judaism and Christianity. pg. 261.
[10] Bauckham. pg. 13.
[11] Ibid.
[12] See Bauckham. pg. 6, See also: Bowersock, G. W. Polytheism and Monotheism in Arabia and the Three Palestines. Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 51. (1997), pp. 1-10; Robert L. Wilken. “Judaism in Roman and Christian Society” The Journal of Religion, Vol. 47, No. 4. (Oct., 1967), pp. 313-330; Rainbow, Paul A. “Jewish Monotheism as the Matrix for New Testament Christology: A Review Article.” Novum Testamentum, pp. 78-91; Kaam, Antony. The Israelites: An Introduction. New York, Routledge: 1999. pg.161 (Jewish belief immediately prior to the first century); Bentwich, Norman. “The Graeco-Roman View of Jews and Judaism in the Second Century” The Jewish Quarterly Review, New Ser., Vol. 23, No. 4. (Apr., 1933), pg. 342 (Jewish belief coming out of the first century).
[13] Hurtado. How on Earth Did Jesus Become a God? pg. 32.
[14] Ibid. pg. 33.
[15] Ibid. pg. 32, See also Bauckham. God Crucified. pg. 40
[16] Ibid. pp. 35-36.
© Mary Jo Sharp 2007
Monotheistic Judaism of the First Century – Part One

Monotheistic Judaism of the First Century – Part One

Posted on by confidentchristianity@gmail.com

In arguing against the theories of “Zeitgeist, the Movie”, I will be presenting a three-part series of posts relating to the first century Jewish culture from which Christianity was birthed. Though I will not directly counter specific points in the movie in these posts, I will establish a historical case to demonstrate that first-century monotheistic Judaism was not doctrinally influenced by the cultural worship of various pagan deities.

Introduction

The Christian faith has weathered accusations over the years that it arose either from Hellenistic pagan mystery religions or from a flexible First-Century Judaism that would allow for a dying and rising god pagan religious pattern to be introduced.[1] Quite to the contrary, first-century (also called Second-Temple) Jews were ritual and doctrinal separatists mainly due to a fear of defilement. Out of this exclusivist faith, Christianity developed as a sect of Second-Temple Judaism that equated Jesus with the one true God; the only God worthy of worship. Because of this very exclusivity, the first Christians – being Second-Temple Jews – would not have tolerated the mere insertion or adaptation of pagan religious ideas into their Judaism for the same fear of defiling the one true God. The evidence for my case can be found in an examination of ancient Judaism in its first century environment and of the admonishment of Paul in his writings; the earliest extant texts from the New Testament.

ANCIENT JUDAISM: EVIDENCE OF SEPARATISM

Scholars have overwhelmingly viewed Ancient Judaism to be a monotheistic religion; with good reason.[2] The historical and literary data establish a people who separated themselves doctrinally, ritualistically, and to an extent, socially.[3] Before looking into the details, it is noteworthy to understand that the assessment I am leveling on the monotheism of the first-century Jewish people is not entirely void of ritualistic and social variances.[4] However, at the heart of Judaism, there exists an unwavering tenet to the “one true God.”[5]

Jewish Self-Imposed Separation

First-century Judaism was inherently exclusivist; namely due to “the nature of the Jewish conception of god which compelled the rejection of all deification of creatures as pagan abominations.”[6] From the self-imposed social separation, such as ill-regard towards marriage with non-Jews[7], to the extreme Pharisaic purity ritualism[8], the Jewish culture itself fostered a rejection of intimate community with non-Jews who defiled themselves with pagan rituals to ‘false gods.’ As Robert L. Wilken, Professor of History of Christianity at the University of Virginia states, “To the outsider it appeared that Jews were exclusionistic and separatistic.”[9] Philo, a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher from antiquity, writes of those who followed the Jews out of Egypt as “an illegitimate crowd with a body of genuine citizens.”[10] In Shaye J. D. Cohen’s article for the Harvard Theological Review, “Crossing the Boundary and Becoming a Jew,” he evidences the inferior view of proselytes to the Jewish faith in various writings from antiquity: the Acts of Pilate, the Qumran scrolls and rabbinic literature, the Mishnah, and the writings of Philo, as well.[11]

Jewish Monotheism in the Scripture

The exclusivist nature of Jewish monotheism can best be demonstrated through two key passages from Scripture.[12] The first passage is the Shema’ from Deuteronomy 6:4-6: “Hear O Israel: YHWH our God, YHWH is one,’ and continues later with the command of total devotion to YHWH, the one God, ‘You shall love YHWH your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.’ The Shema was a vital part of Jewish liturgy being recited twice daily as prescribed in the Tractate Berakoth portion of the Mishnah[13] and it is evidenced in use as early as the second century B.C.[14] The second passage is the Decalogue, in which the first two commandments forbid Israel to have or to worship any gods but YHWH.[15] “You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me” (Deuteronomy 5:7-9). From the Scripture, we can clearly see those who practiced Judaism were reminded daily – twice daily – of the loyalty and worship due to the one true God.

More to come….

MJ

Footnotes:

[1] Hooke, S.H., “The Emergence of Christianity from Judaism,” Volume One. Judaism and Christianity. W.O.E. Osterley, ed. New York, KTAV Publishing House: 1969. p. 279.
[2] For examples see: Hengel, Martin. Judaism and Hellenism. Eugene, Wipf and Stock Publishers: 1974. pp. 68, 77, 264-267, 313 -314.; Rainbow, Paul A. “Jewish Monotheism as the Matrix for New Testament Christology: A Review Article.” Novum Testamentum, Vol. 33, Fasc. 1. (Jan., 1991), pg.81.
[3] “In regard to Rome, however, the argument that the Jews of Rome did not interact with Roman culture has depended to a large extent on literary sources and historical data.” Snyder, Graydon F. “The Interaction of Jews with Non-Jews in Rome.” Judaism and Christianity in First-Century Rome. Karl P. Donfried, ed., Peter Richardson, ed. Grand Rapids, Eerdmans Publishing Company: 1998. pg. 74. However, Graydon goes on to say, “In order to assess cultural changes the broader, popular data of symbols and inscriptions provide a sounder basis,” which I have found, in the course of this research, to be out of line with most scholarly opinion.
[4] Ibid. See also, Weber, Max. Ancient Judaism. Glencoe, The Free Press: 1952. Weber addresses the Essenes and the variants prevalent in Essenian doctrine. Although, he denounces that these variants arose from Judaism. Also, Knox, W.L., “Pharisaism and Hellenism,” Vol. 2,. Judaism and Christianity. W.O.E. Osterley, ed. New York, KTAV Publishing House: 1969. pp.59-109.
[5] Hurtado, Larry. How on Earth Did Jesus Become a God? Historical Questions about Earliest Devotion to Jesus. Grand Rapids, Eerdmans Publishing Company: 2005. pg.133. Also, Paul A. Rainbow. “Jewish Monotheism as the Matrix for New Testament Christology: A Review Article,” Novum Testamentum, Vol. 33, Fasc. 1. (Jan., 1991), pp. 81.
[6] Weber, Ancient Judaism, pp. 412, 417.
[7] Though inter-marriage was practiced, the converted spouse was referred to as a “proselyte,” regarded as inferior to “native Jews.” See Cohen, Shaye J. D. Crossing the Boundary and Becoming a Jew. The Harvard Theological Review, Vol. 82, No. 1. (Jan., 1989), pp. 13-33.
[8] Weber. Ancient Judaism. pg. 412.
[9] Wilken, Robert L. “Judaism in Roman and Christian Society.” The Journal of Religion, Vol. 47, No. 4. (Oct., 1967), pp. 315-316.
[10] Philo. Life of Moses 1.27 Available from http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/text/philo/book24.html. Accessed December 5, 2007.
[11] Cohen, Crossing the Boundary and Becoming a Jew, pg. 30.
[12] Bauckham, Richard. God Crucified: Monotheism and Christology in the New Testament. Grand Rapids, Eerdmans: 1998. pg.6.
[13] Available from the Internet Sacred Text Archive website at http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/tbr/index.htm. Though the Mishnah dates later than the first century, it is a compendium of Jewish practices that were already in practice by the 2nd Century A.D.
[14] William Albright’s dating of the Nash Papyrus. Albright, William F. “A Biblical Fragment from the Maccabaean Age: The Nash Papyrus,” Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 56, No. 3. (Sep., 1937), p.149.
[15] Bauckham. pg. 6.

© Mary Jo Sharp 2007
Flawed Theory in Zeitgeist, the Movie

Flawed Theory in Zeitgeist, the Movie

Posted on by confidentchristianity@gmail.com

According to the makers of “Zeitgeist, the Movie,” the worship of Jesus is explainable as another outcrop of apotheosis (human figure exalted to divine status and therefore worthy of worship), as just another divine figure in the “religious cafeteria”[1] of the first century pantheon of gods, or perhaps a product of astrology. But is this explanation reconcilable to the actual historical and demographical evidence of first century Palestine and of the earliest surviving Christian writings? No. The earliest demonstration of the “cultic” worship of Jesus is by Second-Temple Jewish believers.[2] Though, as will be shown, this is an extremely important piece of Christianity’s development, “Zeitgeist, the Movie” completely ignores this fact.

The Second-Temple Jewish believers were unquestionably influenced culturally by the Hellenism brought from the Roman occupation of their lands.[3] But what historians must do is look at exactly how these Jewish believers were influenced, and in what areas of life. One area in which they were influenced was language. There are Greek copies of the Old Testament, known as the Septuagint; clearly demonstrating that some of the Jewish people spoke/read Greek. However, it does not follow that these people were therefore influenced in religious practice. This kind of conclusion requires more specific evidence.

What we do know about Second-Temple Jewish believers is that their devotion to the “One God” stuck out amongst the menagerie of pagan deities surrounding them. The Jewish adherence to God’s uniqueness can be seen in various non-rabbinic texts of the Jewish provenance: Sibylline Oracles (3.11-12, 545-61; cf. 4.27-32; 5.172-76; 493-500), Letter of Aristeas (132-38), Wisdom of Solomon, (13-15), and references in Philo and Josephus.[4] The First Book of Maccabees also describes Jewish devotion to the One God specifically with regard to the Hellenistic influences (1 Maccabees 2:15-26). From the Old Testament, worship of any other gods was established as detestable and vile. “If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed,” as found in Deuteronomy 8:19. Also, in Deuteronomy 13: 6-9, “If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us go and worship other gods’ (gods that neither you nor your fathers have known, gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people.” So what can be inferred from these evidences is the believers of Second-Temple Judaism not only disallowed influences of the pagan religions on their belief structure, but also vehemently opposed this activity.

The young Christian movement, located entirely within Second-Temple Judaism, associated Jesus with worship of and devotion to the One God; while at the same time showing disdain for worship of the multiple deities of the Roman environment. The earliest writings of Christianity (c. A.D. 50-60) by the apostle Paul demonstrate this very idea. In 1 Thessalonians, Paul describes his praise of the new believers for their conversion “to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, who he raised from the dead – Jesus who rescues us from the wrath that is coming” (1:9-10). Also, in 1 Corinthians 8 through 10, Paul addresses the Gentiles with regard to leaving behind their pagan religious practices. He advises them to completely shun any former pagan practices in light of their conversion to the one true God (through Jesus Christ).

The idea of abandoning all other deities was uncommon and dissimilar to the pagan mystery religions. The apotheosis stories and other pagan deities cannot show the same devotion to worship of one God. The earliest Christian writings disdain these very religions for their practices and establish a totally new kind of “theology”; namely, Jesus was to be identified and worshiped as the one, true God, not supplanting God, but as a part of God’s identity. The makers of “Zeitgeist, the Movie” need to satisfy the question of why the earliest Christians, who were Second-Temple Jewish believers, would create a theology influenced by the pagan deities in light of the historical evidence that these people abhorred pagan worship and deities. Speculation and surface similarities of worship practices will not suffice to explain the historical Jewish faith or the Christian sect that developed from Judaism in the first century.

MJ

[1] Hurtado, Larry. How Did Jesus Become a God? Historical Questions about Earliest Devotion to Jesus. Cambridge, Eerdmans Publishing Company: 2005, Pg. 25
[2] The name “Second Temple Judaism” has become popular in more modern scholarship to describe the religion of the Jewish people who practiced their faith in the time frame of the rebuilding of Solomon’s temple to at least the time of the destruction of this second temple in AD 70.
[3] For further study: Martin Hengel. Judaism and Hellenism: Studies in Their Encounter in Palestine During the Early Hellenistic Period. Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2003.
[4] Hurtado. How Did Jesus Become a God? Pg.118
© Mary Jo Sharp 2007

Zeitgeist, the Movie – Christianity versus the Pagan Mystery Religions

Zeitgeist, the Movie – Christianity versus the Pagan Mystery Religions

Posted on by confidentchristianity@gmail.com

The Zeitgeist Movie has taken up the task of comparing Christianity to the pagan mystery religions. The movie attempts to prove Christianity is just another myth, like these mystery religions, through comparing alleged similarities between these religions and Christianity. There is much work to be done on demonstrating the problems with these comparisons. I will begin with a quick look at a couple of the alleged similarities between Christianity and the pagan mystery religions stories. I am going to focus on the virgin birth, sacrificial death, and resurrection stories of four of the mystery religions (which I covered a little bit in previous posts).

Virgin Birth Stories:
Adonis: born from a myrrh-tree, the bark of which burst after ten months’ gestation, allowing the infant to come forth.

Osiris: the offspring of an affair between the earth god Seb (Keb or Geb, as the name is sometimes transliterated) and the sky-goddess Nut

Mithras: born out of a rock on the banks of a river under a sacred fig-tree, came forth clenching a dagger in one hand and a torch in the other hand; which he used to illumine the depths from which he came

Dionysus: Zeus, in the form of a serpent, visited Persephone and she bore him Zagreus, that is, Dionysus, a horned infant

Sacrificial Death Stories:
Adonis: Ares takes on the likeness of a boar in order to attack Adonis, Adonis is torn to pieces by the wild boar while hunting

Osiris: his brother, Set (or Seth), coaxed Osiris into a coffin, which he soldered shut with lead
– Osiris was then set adrift in the Nile to die
– later was found by his sister, Isis, who brought him back with her
– when Set discovered Osiris’ body, he chopped Osiris up into 14 pieces and spread him out all over the land

Mithras:– the sacrifice was a bull who contained all the “germs” of life, there is no recorded death of Mithras

Dionysus: the Titans attacked him while he gazed at himself in a mirror, he took on many shapes to evade attackers, he was cut to pieces by the murderous knives of his enemies while in the form of a bull

Resurrection Stories:
Adonis: after his death, Adonis was raised to the underworld for half of every year and to the upper world for half of every year
– He was supposedly given to Persephone, the goddess of death, for part of the year, and to Aphrodite, the goddess of love, for part of the year
– this representation of Adonis residing with death for part of the year and with love and fertility part of the year coincides with the seasons and crop cycles

Osiris: pieced back together and revived by the power of several gods, revival entailed rites which the Egyptians perform over the bodies of the departed, reigned as king over the dead in the other world

Mithras: no clear resurrection story, ascends to heaven in the sun’s chariot

Dionysus: his mother pieced together his mangled limbs and made him young again
– or shortly after his burial he rose from the dead and ascended up to heaven (only possible similarity..but nothing said of bodily resurrection)
– or that Zeus raised him up as he lay mortally wounded
– or that Zeus swallowed the heart of Dionysus and then begat him afresh by Semele
– or his heart was pounded up and given in a potion to Semele, who thereby conceived him
– so many stories, which one is the correct one?

The alleged similarities here are strained. These stories are not the same as the Biblical stories of Jesus’ birth by the virgin Mary, Jesus’ willing sacrifice to deal with sin and death for all mankind, and Jesus’ triumphant bodily resurrection as the “first born” of the resurrected. Of course, it may be argued that I am taking the stories at face value. But what I am showing is that a person needs to examine these similarities for what they are, which is really not that similar. Jesus birth by a virgin does not equal Adonis’ birth from a myrrh tree or Mithras’ birth from a rock.

But the arguments for the alleged similarities get much more problematic. In my next post(s), I will look at the following in more detail: the alleged similarities do not pre-date Christianity (who is influencing who), the argument ignores basic Christian history and doctrine (Christianity does not claim Christ was born on the 25th of December), the argument is not substantiated by a consensus of scholarship (a checks and balances system on ideas), the alleged similarities lack historical evidence, all reports about Jesus’ death and resurrection infer a dated experience concerning a historical person, and none of the pagan mystery religions attempt to undergird the stories of their rising gods with historical evidence.

MJ

References:Carnoy, Albert J. “Iranian Mythology,” Volume Six, Mythology of All Races. New York, Marshall Jones Company: 1917.

Parrinder, Geoffrey. Ed. The Illustrated Who’s Who in Mythology. New York, MacMillan Publishing Company: 1985.

Puhvel, Jaan. Comparative Mythology. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press: 1987.

Willis, Roy. Ed. “Persian Myths.” World Mythology. Richmond Hill, Duncan Baird Publishers: 1993.

Weston, Jessie. From Ritual to Romance. Chapter IV: Tammuz and Adonis. Available from: http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/frr/frr07.htm#fn_39texts.com/neu/frr/frr07.htm#fn_39. The Internet Sacred Text Archive. Accessed May 22, 2007.

Yamauchi, Edwin M. Easter: Myth, Hallucination, or History. Available from: http://www.leaderu.com/everystudent/easter/articles/yama.html. Accessed January 22, 2007.

Habermas, Gary. Mike Licona. The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus. Grand Rapids, Kregel Publications: 2004. pg. 90.

Frazer, Sir James George. The Golden Bough. Available from: http://www.bartleby.com/196/79.html. Accessed May 22, 2007.

McDowell, Josh. “Is The New Testament Filled With Myths”. Chapter 14 of A Reasoned Defense. Available from: http://www.greatcom.org/resources/areadydefense/ch14/default.htm. Accessed January 22, 2007.

Metzger, Bruce. “Methodology in the Study of Mystery Religions and Early Christianity.” From Historical and Literary Studies:, Jewish, Pagan, and Christian. Available from http://www.frontline-apologetics.com/mystery_religions_early_christianity.htm. accessed January 22, 2007
© Mary Jo Sharp 2007