Pagan Origins of the Christ Myth > Pagan Christs

Osiris 2,000 BC -- a dying, resurrected savior

Pagan Christs
"But when these souls are set free and migrate to the realm of the invisible.. then this god becomes their leader and king"
[Plutarch, Isis and Osiris, 382- 383]

Was Jesus new? Was Jesus unique? Lets talk about the Pagan godman Osiris.

The Egyptians worshiped thousands of divinities; Osiris was the God whose myth was most widespread. He was a Big Name God.

Dating Isis / Osiris

Isis and Osiris are so old they fade back into pre-history.

Egypt the written (chiseled!) record of the God dates from the third millennium BC.

Greece An inscription found in Piraeus, the port of Athens, records a temple to Isis / Osiris already there in 333 BC.

Rome The religion was introduced to in the city of Rome in the first century BC.

Osiris was worshiped in traditional temple worship and in Mysteries that were famous throughout the ancient world, celebrated not just in Egypt but in Greece and Rome. You've heard of Herodotus, Plutarch, Pythagoras, Plato? They each traveled to Egypt and were each certainly familiar with the worship of Osiris first hand. Some scholars point to ancient evidence that they were all actually initiates in the Mysteries of Osiris, though, frankly, there's room to argue the point.

Osiris' mother was the Goddess Rhea, his 'biological' father was the God Hermes, but he was raised by the great God Zeus. (Remember the Osiris legend dates from the 3d millennium BC, so it has very archaic elements.) Plutarch tells the story

Differences

Believing scholars like to bring up differences between Jesus and the earlier Pagan godmen. Attis' faithful hung his likeness on a pine tree, not on a cross, so Jesus can't be Attis. Osiris mother was a Goddess instead of a mortal woman. Believing scholars are right, Jesus wasn't Attis, and He wasn't Osiris. Jesus was a "new" God, the same way the first Honda Accord was a new car. He was a "new" version of God, built from old ideas.

"In the first of these [intercalary] days Osiris was born, and at the hour of his birth a voice issued forth saying, "The Lord of All advances to the light." ....Zeus bade [Pamyles] proclaim with a loud voice that a mighty and beneficent king, Osiris, had been born, for which Cronus entrusted him the child Osiris, which he [Zeus] brought up." [Plutarch, Isis and Osiris, 355]

Osiris traveled the world doing good deeds: Plutarch explains:

"...he [Osiris] traveled over the whole Earth civilizing it, without the slightest need of arms, but most of the peoples he won over to his way by the charm of his persuasive discourse. " [Plutarch, Isis and Osiris, 366]

The details of Osiris' myth are complicated and, to us, silly. Other peoples' myths are always silly. But the core of the myth is familiar: the God is killed and (eventually) resurrected, after which he becomes immortal and goes into the beyond to be the God of the dead.

The Discovery of Osiris [Inventio Osiridis] was the great autumn festival of the religion. It celebrated the death of the God on October 28th, and His resurrection on November 3rd.

On the first day of the festival the faithful, dressed in black, chanted laments, beat their breasts and cried out with grief as they joined Isis (the wife of Osiris) in mourning the death of the God.

A ritual search for the Osiris' body mimicked Isis' search for Him. The body -- a disassembled idol -- was found and reassembled, as Osiris' dismembered body had been. Then, on November 3d,

"A great shout arises from the company for joy that Osiris is found" [Plutarch, Isis and Osiris, 366]

the faithful joined a joyous procession through the streets to celebrate the Hilaria --the dead God had been reborn.

The Mysteries of Isis and Osiris
Osiris wasn't just worshiped in public temple-rites (which is what we've been talking about), he was also the godman of a Mystery Religion. Plutarch describes what the mystery ceremonies celebrated: the death and resurrection of Osiris! Plutarch explains:

"...the rites celebrated by night agree with the accounts of the dismemberment of Osiris and his revivification and regenesis." [Plutarch, Isis and Osiris, 364]

Wow!

Osiris saves
Osiris' followers knew their fate after death depended on the morality of the life they lead before death. The ancient Book of the Dead pictures resurrected believers standing the presence of Osiris as their judge. If they could recite a list of their good deeds in life, Osiris rewarded them with eternal life.

When initiates into the mysteries of Isis and Osiris died, their souls traveled to Heaven and Osiris became their king. How do we know this? The ancients tell us so. Here's Plutarch [who lived from about 45 to 120 AD]

"But He Himself is far removed from the earth, uncontaminated and unpolluted and pure....but for the souls of men [on earth]...there is no association with this god except. a dim vision of his presence....But when these souls are set free and migrate into the realm of the invisible and the unseen, [i.e. when people die] the dispassionate and the pure, then this god becomes their leader and king...." [Plutarch, Isis and Osiris, 382- 383]

And, quoting Theopompus, "... finally Hades shall pass away; then shall the people be happy, and neither shall they need to have food nor shall they cast any shadow." [Plutarch, Isis and Osiris, 370]

And it wasn't just Plutarch who wrote about salvation through Isis and Osiris.

"The keys of hell and the guarantee of salvation were in the hands of the goddess, and the initiation ceremony itself a kind of voluntary death and salvation through divine grace." [Apuleius, Metamorphosis, Book 11, 21]

And, "Be of good cheer, O initiates, for the god is saved, and we shall have salvation for our woes." [Firmicus Maternus, The Error of Pagan Religions, 22.1]

Quoting the Goddess Isis: " I have come with solace and aid. Away then with tears. cease to moan. Send sorrow fleeing. Soon through my providence shall the sun of your salvation rise." [Apuleius, Metamorphosis 11.5]

The next time you're in Church
ask yourself:"What about what I'm hearing was new and unique with Christianity, and what was already part of other religions in a culture where over and over again new religions were built with old parts?"

Next time you're in church... When they get to the part about God dying and being resurrected, remember the great pagan festival of the Discovery of Osiris. You'll know you're hearing about stuff that predated Christianity by hundreds of years -- in a culture where over and over people built new religions out of old parts.

Wow!

Baptism and Eucharist: initiation into the Mysteries of Isis / Osiris began with the priest reading to the initiate from the ancient sacred books. Then the priest led the initiate to a bath near the temple, where he (or she, the Mysteries were open to either sex) bathed. After bathing he was sprinkled with purifying water brought from Nile.

The priest then led the initiate, dressed in new linen robes, to "the remotest part of the sanctuary" where he was shown the sacred Mysteries. What they were we don't know -- this part of the ceremony was kept secret on pain of death.

What the initiation meant was written about: death, rebirth and salvation.

Having completed the voluntary death [voluntariae mortis] and sacred birth [natalem sacrorum], the initiate became a new man.

The ceremony ended two days later with a sacramental meal.

"I approached the frontiers of death and, having walked on the threshold of Proserpine [the home of the dead], I returned."[Apuleius, Metamorphosis, Book 11, 23], and,

"The keys of hell and the guarantee of salvation were in the hands of the goddess, and the initiation ceremony itself to the form of a kind of voluntary death and salvation through divine grace." [Apuleius, Metamorphosis, Book 11, 21], and

"Be of good cheer, O initiates, for the god is saved, and we shall have salvation for our woes." [Firmicus Maternus, The Error of Pagan Religions, 22.1].

The next time you're in Church
ask yourself:"What about what I'm hearing was new and unique with Christianity, and what was already part of other religions in a culture where over and over again new religions were built with old parts?"

Next time you're in church... When they get to the part about water baptism bringing salvation and a new life with God, or to the part about Holy Communion, remember the Mysteries of Isis / Osiris. You'll know you're hearing about stuff that predated Christianity by hundreds of years -- in a culture where over and over people built new religions out of old parts.

Wow!

Good Books for this section

Isis and Osiris in Moralia V
Loeb Classical Library #306
by Plutarch

This is the same Plutarch who wrote Plutarch's Lives. Like Solon, Plato and Pythagoras before him, when he wasn't biographying Plutarch traveled to Egypt and studied the mysteries of Isis and Osiris -- probably even got initiated (though he doesn't say for sure).

Isis and Osiris, at just over 90 pages, is modern scholarship's main source for the goodies on one of the ancient world's big name Pagan religions.

This Loeb translation is pretty easy to read. And fun. You'll discover "accounts of the dismemberment of Osiris and his revivification and regenesis" [Isis and Osiris, 365] -- His death and resurrection!

Wow.

Be careful, there are a bunch of P's Moralias in print at Loeb and elsewhere. For Isis and Osiris, you want number V, which is Loeb #306.

And the good thing is, you don't have to believe me, you can read it for yourself. Available at amazon.com

The Golden Ass
or The Metamorphosis
by Apuleius

The ancients had novels (who knew?!), and this is one of them. And, believe it or not, it's a fun read, lighthearted, funny, and well written. The story moves. For the boys: it even has explicit sex. Amazing. Who knew?!

The story is about Lucius' adventures after he gets turned into a donkey. The first ten chapters are just fun, not related to the Pagan origins.

Chapter eleven is about Lucius in Egypt, and his study and initiation into the mysteries of Isis and Osiris (he's a man again by this point). For the ancients these mysteries were sacred secrets -- believers would die rather than reveal them. Apuleius' novel is the only surviving text that comes close to describing the mystery initiation ceremony. Apuleius also says initiation brought salvation:

"The keys of hell and the guarantee of salvation were in the hands of the goddess, and the initiation ceremony itself a kind of voluntary death and salvation through divine grace."

And the good thing is, you don't have to believe me, you can read it for yourself. Available at amazon.com