Jesus (pbuh) and the Roman gods?

[Fishman]

:sl:
I recently saw a Christmas episode of QI, which said that the Biblical Jesus was copied from this Roman deity. They listed the similarities, and it turns out that most other the things that the Bible ascribes to Jesus (pbuh), such as divinity, his mission of salvation for all mankind, the fact that he is worshipped on Sunday etc are all shared with this Roman god. Is this true, or a load of rubbish?

The show also said that Islam says that Jesus (pbuh) was born in the summer. Is this correct?
:w:

[duskiness]

Mitra maybe?
I doubt we can know when He was born. The only hint we have is that shepherds met an angle when they were working. I'm not sure how is it in Israel but in Poland it means late spring - October. Summer may be a safe guess.

[brenton]

The idea of the invention of Christianity from the Roman or Persian gods or Mystery Religions is quite old, and in academic circles, an old-fashioned or unhelpful idea. Probably the Jewish world is a better place to look for a background to Jesus and the early Church.

[Muslim Knight]

Excerpts from "Defending Islam" written by Ali Ata'ie

[pie]Mithraism: An ancient Greco-Roman mystery religion prevalent at the time of Jesus. Also known as the “bull-cult.” Initiates (christos) were all men, engaged in communal meals, animal sacrifices, and ritualistic baptisms. A slaughtered bull’s blood, representing God, would be sprinkled upon the initiates as a symbol of remission of sin.

Mithras: The Persian sun-god worshipped by much of the ancient Greco-Roman world. According to legend, he committed an act of self-immolation for the sins of mankind. Also known as Ra (in ancient Egypt), Helios (Greek), and solen victus (Latin) meaning “the conquering sun-god.”[/pie]

It does bear some similarities with ancient Roman religion.

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[brenton]

I've never heard that initiates were called "christos" (I assume christoi in plural).

A relatively recent book on Paul by A.N. Wilson makes the connection. He is a good writer, though kind of laughed at in the academic world.

[Fishman]

:sl:
I just searched it on Wikipedia, and this Roman religion is very similar. There are quite a few differences though, I'm sure Christians don't make animal sacrifices.
:w:

[glo]

:sl:
I just searched it on Wikipedia, and this Roman religion is very similar. There are quite a few differences though, I'm sure Christians don't make animal sacrifices.
:w:

Occasionally we sacrifice hamsters, Fishman ...! :raging:
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(only joking ... ;D )

[Malaikah]

The show also said that Islam says that Jesus (pbuh) was born in the summer. Is this correct?

:sl:

I've never read anything about this but it might have something to do with the fact that she ate from a date tree right after she gave birth. Do dates only grow in summer?:?

[Abu Zakariya]

Read this insha'Allah:

http://www.islamqa.com/index.php?ref=12634&ln=eng

[DAWUD_adnan]

WOW! thats what i always thought but no one ever gave attention, or understood it, when i used to say it!

[Umar001]

I think its a point for someone to look into, but again, alot of Christians you will find will not take this serious for various reasons, I would only in honesty ask or speak to someone about this if I felt they were the academical type if that makes sense. This is something that involves loads of research to weed out truth from myth and so forth.

[brenton]

Good comment Eesa Abdullah

[Akil]

I have heard of this. The Mithra cult was popular in Rome right before Constantine the Great adopted Christianity in the 3rd century. Also note that Mithra as stated above leads back to the Ancient Persian Empire and I believe Mithra played some kind of lesser role in Zoroastrianism