Easter and Jesus

Easter is coming. The holiday was named “Easter” after Eostre, the Saxon goddess whose feast was celebrated at the Spring equinox. Ancient people would not be surprised at our celebration of the resurrection of a living god at this time of year. The death and resurrection of gods was a well known scenario in ancient myth.

The death and resurrection of the Roman god Attis was celebrated on March 25th. Attis was the son of Cyble, known as “The Great Mother,” whose worship was introduced into Rome from Phrygia (in today’s Turkey) around 204 BC. The Greek god Dionysus was killed by his enemies and died. He descended into Hades and arose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of Zeus. His festival was celebrated in the Spring around the time that we now celebrate Easter. Other gods and goddesses who died and arose again from the dead are Adonis, Mithras, Persephone, Semele, Heracles (or Herakles), Osirus, Tammuz, Ishtar, and Melqart.

Christians today believe that Jesus is the omnipotent and everlasting god who created the universe. The Catholic Church and others believe that as the “Son of God,” Jesus is a manifestation of God himself through the Holy Trinity. The idea of a holy trinity did not originate with the Christians. Hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus, the Egyptian goddess Isis was worshipped along with her consort Sarapis and their child Harpocrates (Horus), as members of a Holy Trinity.

Some of the biblical scholars whose work is widely respected have questioned many of the biblical accounts of Jesus’ life. For example, they say that the Gospels falsely portray Jesus as one who was a frequent and harsh critic of the Pharisees and who broke with their rigid, stale, and even false piety. Many scholars agree that such stories cannot be true. They say that the slanderous descriptions of the Pharisees in the New Testament are not authentic. They were written at a much later time when the Pharisees were in rebellion against Rome. At the time of Jesus, the Pharisees were respected by the Jews. They were not a bunch of fanatical fundamentalists, but a group of pious Jews who taught many of the same things as Jesus.

While it is possible that Jesus differed at times with the Pharisees and their observance of ritual purity, the Pharisees frequently differed with one another. Debates between Jesus and Pharisees would have been nothing unusual. Some scholars claim that Jesus himself was a Pharisee. They have pointed-out that Jesus’ teachings appear to be taken directly from the great Pharisee and sage, Hillel. He may have been a member of the so-called “School of Hillel.” Hillel was from the liberal wing of the Pharisee sect. He interpreted the law as allowing exceptions to the rules in order to adjust to modern times and economic circumstances.

Jesus’ message, that the Kingdom of God is at Hand, was not new. It expressed the common hope of the Jews of his time. His healing of the sick was a common practice in his time. His exorcisms were a traditional function of the Pharisees. His use of parables was typical of the Pharisees’ method of teaching. His Sermon on the Mount was strictly in accord with Mosaic Law. His teachings expressed traditional Jewish beliefs. The Lord’s Prayer is derived from the Kaddish prayer of the ancient synagogue. He affirmed the widely influential exhortation in Leviticus 19:18, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Scholars argue that Jesus never intended his teachings to apply to non-Jews. He did not preach to the Gentiles or tell his disciples to go out and convert the Gentiles. He did just the opposite. In Matthew 10:5-15, Jesus says to his disciples: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Scholars point-out that Jesus did not refute the Mosaic Law or create a new law. He taught strict adherence to the Jewish Law. In Matthew 5:17-19, Jesus says: “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.”

Scholars also say that Jesus did not intend to found a new church naming himself as the Son of God. He was the leader of a group within Judaism. The few passages in the Bible that support the idea that Jesus wanted to start a new church are not based on anything Jesus said but on ideas that were developed long after his death. Jesus wanted to renew Judaism, which already had a Temple, priests, worship, and sacrifices. Jesus believed that the Kingdom of God was at hand and that the end of time was coming. He certainly did not wish to form a church that would last for centuries. Most of these scholars believe that the founding of a new church was basically the work of St. Paul.