Rebuttal to Dr. Chris Forbes concerning 'Zeitgeist, Part 1'

by D.M. Murdock/Acharya S


http://truthbeknown.com/chrisforbeszeitgeist.html

Australian historian Dr. Chris Forbes is a senior lecturer in Ancient History and deputy chairman of the Society for the Study of Early Christianity, as well as a member of the Society for Biblical Literature and of the Synod of the Diocese of Sydney. Dr. Forbes's criticisms of the first/religion part of the internet documentary "Zeitgeist" ("ZG1.1") have been widely circulated. However, Forbes is not an Egyptologist, classicist or mythologist, and his comments show a lack of knowledge in the relevant fields addressed in ZG1.1. In fact, Forbes makes several mistakes, and his remarks seem to be more reflective of his role as a devout Christian upholder of the faith, which from his credentials and curriculum vitae he clearly is. In the following article, I address Forbes's remarks point by point, demonstrating the numerous mistakes in roughly the order of the video above, as well as of his longer radio show, using also the summary of his claims on the "Zeitgeist: The Movie" page at Wikipedia. One reason for all the errors is that New Testament scholars and historians are not required to study the case for mythicism in their academic training; hence, they do not know this information.

In addition to providing a number of images for ZG1.1, I was a last-minute consultant thereon, and my books The Christ Conspiracy, Suns of God and Who Was Jesus? were sources used therein. I was not involved with the second and third parts of the original film or the second and third films. I am only interested here in presenting the facts about ancient mythology and religion that back up the first/religion part. In this quest, I have composed several articles as well as a nearly 600-page book, Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection and a 105-page ebook/PDF called "The ZEITGEIST Sourcebook," which alone rebuts the erroneous claims made by Forbes and others. Nevertheless, in order to underscore the factual nature of various claims in ZG1.1 and to demonstrate the fallaciousness of the mainstream contentions, I have written this additional long rebuttal.

It should be pointed out also that my books and writings provide thousands of pages carefully cited with primary sources and the works of credentialed authorities from a variety of fields, supplying the evidence that Forbes and others claim does not exist. In my response here, I cannot include all the evidence, as this article is already quite lengthy. I will thus provide many pertinent links along the way.

Forbes Claim No. 1: "Horus isn't a sun god.... He's the god of the sky. Ra is the sun god."

Forbes's comments continually reveal that he is not an Egyptologist and possesses cursory knowledge of Egyptian mythology. In fact, it appears he merely skimmed Wikipedia before making his responses. However, if he had read more closely even the Wiki article about Horus, he would have discovered that Horus most certainly is a sun god. What our critic fails to understand, apparently, is the vast profusion of sun gods or solar heroes in antiquity, with numerous gods and goddesses possessing solar attributes. He also appears not to know the basics of Egyptian mythology or even mythology in general, in not understanding that myths are very mutable and that numerous gods and goddesses are combined or syncretized with each other, with solar gods being interchangeable at times. This mythological fact is especially true with the Egyptian gods, including Ra, Osiris and Horus, who were often combined, a fact I demonstrate abundantly in Christ in Egypt.

Continue reading :

http://truthbeknown.com/chrisforbeszeitgeist.html

Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection

Book Review by Joan d’Arc

Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection, by D. M. Murdock www.TruthBeKnown.com and www.StellarHousePublishing.com

The boat of Afu-Ra glides silently in the black eternal waters of the Amduat. In front the goddess Isis, her arms outstretched in cruciform (as a cross), conducts her son, the Sun God Horus, with his 12 dead assistants — the major stars of the night sky — to new life in the daily rebirth of the morning sun. This is the powerful imagery conjured by D. M. Murdock (aka Acharya S.) in her new book, Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection.

Where does the sun go when it goes down under the world? The Egyptians had it all figured out in books like The Pyramid Texts and The Book of the Dead. The Book of Portals recounts the sun’s passage at night through the 12 gates, which are also the night hours. The Sun Boat of the Creator, the one who “crosses over” the heavens each day for 12 hours, also passes through the underworld each night for 12 hours, accompanied by his 12 assistants or helpers. According to Murdock, this is the derivation of the 12 disciples of the Christ mythos.

Murdock contends that the Gnostics of Alexandria, in fact, created the imagery of Jesus on the cross, derived from the Egyptian god Horus. The task of the Gnostic Horos was to separate the upper from the lower, the saved from the fallen, the light from the dark. This task was accomplished by the Sun God Horus and his 12 assistants, the Egyptian Ennead.

The 12 are sometimes companions of the Father, Osiris, and at other times Horus is one of the 12 in the presence of the Father. This is mindful of Jesus being God and not God, both the Sun and the Son (a quandary the nuns could never quite answer to my liking). The 12 assistants are simply the signs of the zodiac, which Murdock tells us were alive and well in Egypt, being derived from the symbols for the Egyptian months, as follows:

1. The ram-headed Amun with the constellation of Aries
2. Osiris the “Bull of Eternity,” with the sign of Taurus
3. The Twin god of Set-Horus with Gemini
4. The beetleheaded Kheper-Ptah with the sign of the Beetle, which was later the Crab of Cancer
5. The lion-faced Atum with the sign of Leo
6. The Virgin Neith with the constellation of Virgo
7. “Har-Makhu of the Scales” equivalent to the sign of Libra
8. Isis-Serqet, the scorpion goddess, with the sign of Scorpio
9. Shu and Tefnut “figured as the Archer” with the sign of Sagittarius
10. Khnum, the goat-headed, with the sign of Capricorn
11. Menat/Hathor, the “divine wetnurse,” with the sign of Aquarius
12. Horus of the two crocodiles with the sign of Pisces

As Murdock explains, Christianity was created by Gnostics in Alexandria and then the Christians later came back and burned it all down, sacked the city, killed thousands of people, and covered up the tracks of its creation. The tale of Jesus and Satan is the same astrotheological epic drama told in Egypt. For instance, Set is the serpent, the “Prince of Darkness,” and all things “Satan.” Horus is the “Prince of Light,” the KRST, or the Christ (meaning “anointed one”).

Interestingly as well, the story of Lazarus in the Gospel of John was taken directly from sources like the Pyramid Texts and the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Horus was known as the anointed one, the “standing mummy” symbol of Egyptian hieroglyphs: the mummy come back to life. The Egyptian religion was all about being prepared for death and rebirth, as is the Christian religion today, only today prepping doesn’t involve the oil and rags of mummification.

Murdock proves with historical sources that Jesus was not born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem, but was born of the Virgin Isis in Egyptian mythology. Some of the correspondences she makes between Jesus and Horus are as follows:

· Horus was born on "December 25th" (winter solstice) in a manger.
· He was of royal descent, and his mother was the "virgin Isis-Mery."
· Horus's birth was announced by a star in the East and attended by three "wise men."
· At age 12, he was a child teacher in the Temple, and at 30, he was baptized.
· Horus was baptized by "Anup the Baptizer," who was decapitated.
· The Egyptian god had 12 companions, helpers or disciples.
· Horus performed miracles, exorcised demons and raised Osiris from the dead.
· The god walked on water.
· Horus was "crucified" between two "thieves."
· He (or Osiris) was buried for three days in a tomb and resurrected.
· Horus/Osiris was also the "Way, the Truth, the Life," "Messiah," the "Son of Man," the "Good Shepherd," the "Lamb of God," the "Word made flesh," the "Word of Truth," etc.
· Horus's personal epithet was "Iusa," the "ever-becoming son" of the Father. He was called "Holy Child," as well as "the Anointed One," while Osiris was the KRST.
· Horus battled with the "evil one," Set/Seth.
· Horus was to reign for one thousand years.

I have always been wowed by Ms. Murdock’s work, but this time she has outdone herself and has created a 574 page masterpiece that I’m sure will become a classic in religious studies. But even better, Acharya S. makes it really exciting to be an atheist. I would say she’s the goddess of the godless. I’m ever thankful she’s got my back.