The Pagan Christmas

   I occasionally envy the dead. As much as I enjoy life and living, I envy them for the knowledge they have that I don't. I have always been curious as the nature of the afterlife, if there is one, but unfortunately there is only one way to discover this. I believe that all the great mysteries of life will somehow be revealed at this time and I'm dying to find out. Just not fast enough.
   Earlier on this year, I read a book called "The Pagan Christ". It was written by Tom Harpur, an extremely well-known and highly regarded theologian and spiritualist. He is a Rhodes Scholar, T.V. personality (Harpur's Heaven and Hell) and his bio is rather academically astounding. The book is an extremely ground-breaking one as it flies in the face of what is generally regarded as the accepted story of Jesus Christ ie. the virgin birth, the performance of miracles and the final execution. In examining many other religions, he discovered that this story is repeated (different names and faces maybe) in many other religions, most of which pre-date Christianity!  He makes particular reference to the Egyptians, who incorporated this story into their religion at least a thousand years prior to the birth of Christ. Harpur spends much time delving into the similarities between all these religions and refers to the "Christos Myth", the general term for this narrative (birth, teachings, death of a central deity) which permeates these other major religions.
   It is a fascinating read, albeit a very heavy one with much information and cross-referencing to digest. But it is well worth the time. Possibly the most astounding thing to come out of the book is Harpur's belief that there may not even have been a historical Jesus of Nazareth! He bases this on a number of things but one of the most telling is his assertion that there are no non-Christian accounts of Jesus ever having existed. During a time period when they were keeping pretty accurate historical records there is no mention made of Jesus other than by people who came to call themselves Christians after his purported death. Apparently the Romans made no mention of him as a living person, nor is he mentioned in other historical chronicles at the time. Pretty absorbing stuff to read.
   What is fascinating through all of this, though, is that Harpur, once he was able to wrap his head around these ideas in an objective way, actually believes that his spirituality has been very fundamentally strengthened. Because his "Christos Myth" is not so intrinsically tied to one central character during one very brief period of time it is much easier to see it in a more universal light. The commonality of the myth suggests to him that there may be a sounder basis for belief than even the Bible can offer.
   I find myself thinking about this quite a bit as Christmas draws nearer. I had always believed in Jesus as an historical person and the stories about him as reasonably accurate, up to his death. Whether he was the "Son of God" I don't know, but suspected he wasn't. I have my own theory on the existence of a god but I will save that for another blog. I do know that many learned people believe that Jesus of Nazareth was born much earlier in the calendar year and that at some point the celebration of his birth got moved to coincide with some kind of pagan festival (winter solstice?) I do not doubt this, either. It does have a revisionist ring to it as does "The Pagan Christ". I do believe that I will find out the answer someday. And if it's later than sooner, that's fine too.