The Pagan Christ: Recovering the Lost Light [ペーパーバック]

Recently the CBC in Canada aired a program which examined the views put forward by Theologian Tom Harpur in his bestselling book - The Pagan Christ. Harpur's book challenged the literalist view of Christianity and it is not the first time this position has been brought to light.

The mythological figure of the dead and resurrected god-man have long been exposed as universal myth motif that has been enshrined by a long list of cultures predating Christianity as we know it today. The universality of this motif has been meticulously documented, not only by Harpur and one of his main references Gerald Massey, but also the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung and more recently Joseph Campbell. Jung wrote a detailed account of the origins of Christian myth motifs in "Symbols of Transformation" first compiled in 1920. He was later followed by Joseph Campbell whose most recognized work amongst many was "The Hero With A Thousand Faces".

Massey's comparative examination of Christian religon and Egyptian myth produced a staggering number of points of comparison - roughly two hundred in number. His entire volume works are freely available online for examination. While the documentary focused mainly on the Egyptian figures of the Horus and Isis, they could have extended the list to many more mythological figures that share the same characteristics. A detailed comparative examination is included in Harpur's book and reveals a list that includes Tammuz, Adonis, Mithras, Dionysus, Krishna, amongst many others shared these key characteristics that are attributed exclusively to Christ - miraculous births, turning water into wine, death and resurrection, a spiritual leader accompanied by twelve deciples, to name only a few. Many of these motifs are not only confined to the Mediteranean cultures but can been seen in north american myths as well pointing to the fact that they products of human imagination that attempt in symbolic form to enshrine the immeasurable value of the human spirit.

This spirit is myopically viewed as the life force found in the human emotion of love and is in many cultures extended to be the source of a broader range of qualtities that include creativity, memory and in some instances the very "the seat of intelligence". The journey of the archetypical hero in all of these myths was an attempt to enshrine the journey of self-discovery in stories so that they would inspire this inward journey and in turn draw the power of this force outward to the benefit of society.

The path of literalism has left humanity and our collective psyche in a state of fragmentation by obsessing over the tribal peacock feathers of cultural forms and lead us to our present deplorable state that can nowhere be seen more clearly in the eternal Greek tradgedy of the middle east where the world's great religons face off in the endless insanity of war while they defend mythological belief structures that were originally intended to unite humanity by recognizing the common element of the human spirit, or as Joeseph Campbell aptly put it "they're dying for metaphors".

Harper's work is an attempt to draw those people whose adoration of the beauty and power of the human spirit has been lost in the outward projected symbolic forms of religon. The release of the outer forms is the first step in the journey to rediscover what myths were originally intended to represent - the inward journey of self-discovery. To inspire this journey is the goal of Harpur's book. The book is not anti-christian and the idea that it is anti-christian leaves one with great concern as to whether his critics even opened it. Harpur is not requesting that readers dismiss the human spirit, but embrace it on the hopes that as a species we can more forward united and in peace.

Steve - Toronto

It is said that the most powerful thing on Earth is an idea, and Tom Harpur has tapped into the idea of "God within", that runs like an underground river in the mystical branches of the Abrahamic religions of our time, and on the surface of ancient religions and modern Eastern spirituality. Harpur ladles out a generous cup of this enlightenment and offers it to a spiritually parched mankind.

Gnosticism claims that all men have a spark of divinity within, and that enlightened religion involves developing this divinity and manifesting it in the world. The connections to ancient Egyptian sources are documented by authors Massey and Kuhn, and are used to show where many Biblical ideas may have come from. I would have added Sumerian, Mesopotamian, Babylonian, and the Greek Mystery religions to this, although one might argue that they had a common source.

Whether or not authors Massey and Kuhn are historically accurate, the "God within" theme is a mythologically based spirituality that can empower humans. Egyptian religion developed many powerful ideas in it's long history, and it's libraries were an important source of learning and diffusion of ideas.

Harpur makes the point that religion has too often used literal interpretation of scripture to justify hate and war. He offers the "God within" alternative as a fruitful way to break through the tribalism of modern religions into inclusiveness.

The Jesus story may well be a mythological reenactment of an older stories. As several authors have pointed out, there are few aspects of his story that can't be found in the various mythologies of the dying and resurrecting God/men in previous religions. The idea of a Creator God putting a spark of divinity into humans may also be mythological, but does speak to human aspiration to goodness in a way that both the religious person and the heretic can relate to. I would prefer to think of such a spark as "Godlike" rather than God endowed. All the same,The Pagan Christ is a provocative read.

Some critics would like to persuade us that Tom Harpur is alone in his opinion but if they would take the time to read the works of other great minds such as C. J. Jung, Joseph Campbell, G.A. Wells and Northrop Frye it will be clear that these scholars are all of the same thinking.
An example of proof of Harpur's claim that Christianity is fashioned after ancient Egyptian themes is found in the fact that the Goddess Isis was referred to as Mother of God and Queen of Heaven ( Theotokos in Greek) well over 1,000 years before the Church gave such titles to Mary.
Some people like to dwell on insignificant details obscuring the core message of the book: Christ is within each and everyone of us.
I found The Pagan Christ very inspiring giving me hope for the future of the church.