Several Biblical scholars have controversially claimed the story of Jesus Christ is almost a carbon copy of an earlier ancient Greek deity, Dionysus, whose character was plagerised in writing the New Testament, with the support of the Romans that wanted to control its populace.

Greek God, Dionysus, was born of a virgin on December 25th, killed and resurrected after three days Worshiping Dionysus became firmly established in Greece by the seventh century BC.  Dionysus may have been worshiped as early as 1500–1100 BC by Mycenaean Greeks.  Traces of Dionysian-type cult have also been found in ancient Minoan Crete.

As the story of Jesus goes, he –

i).      was born on December 25, 4 BC through an immaculate conception;

ii).     could turn water into wine, and walk on water;

iii).    was betrayed by one of his 12 followers; and

iv).    was crucified, died and subsequently resurrected from the dead three days later.

Some Biblical scholars controversially believe that these claims are directly stolen from, or heavily influenced by, stories of other ancient deities.  One of the most prominent claims that the story of Jesus is a copy when he is compared to the ancient Greek God, Dionysus, who lived at least 1,000 BC. According to www.greek-gods.org , “Dionysus was a descendant of Zeus and mortal woman Semele,” a stark similarity of Jesus, who was a descendent of God and the mortal mother, Mary.

Additionally, Dionysus was considered The God of Wine and could turn water into wine.  He was also identified with the Ram – whereas Jesus was known as The Lamb of God.

In his book ‘Clash of the Gods’, former New York University historian, Dr. Thomas F. Mathews, claims that early Christians recognised the influence that the story of Dionysus had on the chronicled account of Jesus in the New Testament.

Dr.  Mathews writes: "Early Christian art is rich with Dionysiac associations, whether in boisterous representations of agape feasting -

A.    in the miracle of water-into-wine at Cana;

B.    in wine and vine motifs alluding to the Eucharaist; and

C.    most markedly in the use of Dionysiac facial traits for representations of Christ." 

Another God is the deity, Mithra, in ancient Indo-Iranian mythology, who was worshipped in ancient Persia and even by ancient Romans centuries before Jesus of Nazareth began preaching.  This God was also allegedly born on December 25, but in 1,400 BC and once again a virgin birth.

Gerald Berry wrote in Religions of the World:

  • “Both Mithras and Christ were described variously as 'the Way,' 'the Truth,' 'the Light,' 'the Life,' 'the Word,' 'the Son of God,' 'the Good Shepherd.' 

  • “The Christian litany to Jesus could easily be an allegorical litany to the sun-god. Mithras is often represented as carrying a lamb on his shoulders, just as Jesus is.

  • “The virgin mother was easily merged with the virgin mother Mary. Petra, the sacred rock of Mithraism, became Peter, the foundation of the Christian Church."

The significance of December 25 in religion is that it is the day when days finally begin to get longer in the northern hemisphere and stems from the days when people used to worship the sun as a God.

It is also three days after the shortest day of the year, which some claims represent the three kings, according to Stellar House Publishing.

Several other Gods have similar stories to Jesus, including claims that ancient Egypt’s Horus and Osiris heavily influenced the story of Christ, leading some to believe that Jesus was not a real person.

So what would be the purpose of reinventing the myth of the Son of God coming to Earth?  One scholar claims that it was a Roman hoax designed to control the people.

Biblical scholar, Joseph Atwill, wrote on his website: "Christianity may be considered a religion, but it was actually developed and used as a system of mind control to produce slaves that believed God decreed their slavery.

The scholar argues that at the time, Jewish sects in Palestine were awaiting a ‘warrior Messiah’, which became an increasing problem after the Roman Empire failed to deal with the problem with traditional means.

As a result, the rulers resorted to psychological warfare which would appear to give the citizens what they wanted, while at the same time making sure they followed their rules.

Mr Atwill added: "They surmised that the way to stop the spread of zealous Jewish missionary activity was to create a competing belief system.  "That's when the 'peaceful' Messiah story was invented.

By comparing the New Testament to the 'War of the Jews' by Flavius Josephus – the sole surviving account of first century Judea – he found the parallels between the two are uncanny.

Mr Atwill: