Christianity Before Christ John G Jackson Pdf Download
DOWNLOAD === https://urlin.us/2tuWBq
Christianity Before Christ John G Jackson Pdf Download
Christianity Before Christ: A Critical Review of John G. Jackson's Book
John G. Jackson was an American historian, lecturer, teacher and writer who promoted ideas of Afrocentrism, atheism, and Jesus Christ in comparative mythology[^3^]. In his book Christianity Before Christ, he argues that nothing is new or original in Christianity, and that all its features and components were present in mythologies that flourished before Jesus is alleged to have lived[^2^]. He also claims that Christianity is a syncretic religion that borrowed heavily from ancient Egyptian, Persian, Greek and Roman cultures.
In this article, I will critically examine some of the main arguments and evidence presented by Jackson in his book, and evaluate their validity and reliability. I will also point out some of the logical fallacies, factual errors and biased assumptions that undermine his thesis. My aim is not to defend or attack Christianity, but to provide a fair and balanced assessment of Jackson's work.
The Sources of Christianity
Jackson begins his book by stating that "Christianity was not invented by Jesus Christ" (p. 1), and that "the Christian religion is a composite of many ancient religions" (p. 2). He then proceeds to trace the origins of various Christian doctrines and practices to pre-Christian sources, such as:
The concept of God as a trinity derived from the Egyptian triad of Osiris, Isis and Horus (p. 3).
The virgin birth of Jesus inspired by the myths of Horus, Mithra, Krishna and Buddha (p. 4-5).
The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus based on the legends of Osiris, Attis, Adonis and Dionysus (p. 6-7).
The sacraments of baptism and communion copied from the rites of Mithraism and other mystery religions (p. 8-9).
The doctrine of original sin and salvation inherited from the Persian dualism of Zoroastrianism (p. 10-11).
The idea of heaven and hell influenced by the Greek underworld and the Roman Elysium (p. 12-13).
The moral teachings of Jesus borrowed from the ethical codes of Confucius, Buddha, Zoroaster and Plato (p. 14-15).
Jackson supports his claims by citing various sources, such as ancient texts, modern scholars, encyclopedias and dictionaries. However, a closer examination of these sources reveals that they are often unreliable, outdated, misinterpreted or taken out of context.
The Reliability of Sources
One of the main problems with Jackson's book is that he relies heavily on sources that are either dubious or obsolete. For example, he frequently quotes from The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors by Kersey Graves (1875), The Natural Genesis by Gerald Massey (1883), Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian Symbolism by Thomas Inman (1869), Anacalypsis by Godfrey Higgins (1836), The Golden Bough by James Frazer (1890) and The History of Magic by Eliphas Levi (1860). These books are widely regarded as outdated, inaccurate or pseudoscientific by modern scholars, and have been refuted or superseded by more recent research.
For example, Kersey Graves was a self-taught writer who had no formal education in history or languages. He claimed that there were sixteen saviors who were crucified before Jesus, but he provided no evidence or sources for his assertions. He also confused different cultures and religions, and made numerous factual errors and logical leaps. His book has been criticized as "a jumble of unsupported assertions" by Robert M. Price, "a monument to unscholarliness" by Richard Carrier, and "one long exercise in parallelomania" by Bart Ehrman.
Gerald Massey was a poet and amateur Egyptologist who claimed that Christianity was derived from ancient Egyptian religion. He argued that ec8f644aee