Pagan Christs

John M. Robertson

• Publisher: Passerino
• Year: 2023
• eBook ISBN:
  9791222458649
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Comparative Religion

Pagan Christs is a book by John M. Robertson, originally published in 1903. This work is a critical examination of the historical and mythological aspects of various religious traditions, particularly focusing on the parallels between pagan myths and the story of Jesus Christ in Christianity. "Pagan Christs" challenges conventional religious beliefs by presenting a comprehensive analysis of the similarities between the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the stories of various pagan deities from ancient mythologies. Robertson argues that many elements of the Christian narrative, including the virgin birth, crucifixion, and resurrection, can be traced back to earlier mythological figures and cults. John Mackinnon Robertson (14 November 1856 – 5 January 1933) was a prolific Scottish journalist, advocate of rationalism and secularism, and Liberal Member of Parliament for Tyneside from 1906 to 1918. Robertson was best known as an advocate of the Christ myth theory.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Pagan Christs
• Table of contents
• Preface To The Second Edition
• Introduction
• PART 1. THE RATIONALE OF RELIGION
• CHAPTER 1. THE NATURALNESS OF ALL BELIEF
• 1. Origin of the Gods from Fear
• 2. All Belief Results of Reasoning
• 3. Dr. Jevons’ Theories of Religious Evolution
• 4. Scientific View of the Religious Evolution
• 5. Dr. Frazer's Definition
• 6. The Scientific Induction
• 7. Dr. Jevons’ Series of Self-Contradictions
• 8. His Contradictory Doctrine Of The Conditions Of The Survival Of Religion
• 9. The Continuity Of Religious Phenomena
• 10. Dr. Frazer's Sociological Vindication Of The Sorcerer
• 11. The Beginning Of The End Of Religion
• 12. Historic View Of Ancestor Worship
• 13. The Authoritarian Element A Mark Of Religion
• 14. Definition Of Religion
• CHAPTER 2. COMPARISON AND APPRAISEMENT OF RELIGIONS
• 1. Early Forces Of Reform.
• 2. Reform As A Religious Process.
• 3. Polytheism And Monotheism.
• 4. Hebrews And Babylonians.
• 5. Forces Of Religious Evolution.
• 6. The Hebrew Evolution.
• 7. Post-Exilic Phases.
• 8. Revival And Disintegration.
• 9. Conclusion.
• PART 2. SECONDARY GOD-MAKING
• CHAPTER 1. THE SACRIFICED SAVIOUR-GOD
• 1. Totemism And Sacraments.
• 2. Theory And Ritual Of Human Sacrifice.
• 3. The Christian Crucifixion.
• 4. Vogue of Human Sacrifice.
• 5. The Divinity of the Victim.
• 6. The Cannibal Sacrament.
• 7. The Semitic Antecedents.
• 8. The Judaic Evolution.
• 9. Specific Survivals in Judaism.
• 10. The Pre-Christian Jesus-God.
• 11. Private Jewish Eucharists.
• 12. The Eucharist in Orthodox Judaism.
• 13. Special Features of the Crucifixion Myth.
• 14. Possible Historical Elements.
• 15. The Gospel Mystery-Play.
• 16. The Mystery-Play and the Cultus.
• 17. Further Pagan Adaptations.
• 18. Synopsis And Conclusion: Genealogy Of Human Sacrifice And Sacrament.
• CHAPTER 2. THE TEACHING GOD
• 1. Primary and Secondary Ideas.
• 2. The Logos.
• 3. Derivations of the Christian Logos.
• 4. The Search for a Historical Jesus.
• 5. The Critical Problem.
• 6. Collapse of the Constructive Case.
• 7. Parallel Problems.
• 8. The Problem of Buddhist Origins.
• 9. Buddhism and Buddhas.
• 10. The Buddhist Cruces.
• 11. Sociological Clues.
• 12. Buddhism and Asoka.
• 13. The Buddha Myth.
• 14. The Problem of Manichæus.
• 15. The Manichean Solution.
• 16. The Case of Apollonius of Tyana.
• PART 3. MITHRAISM
• 1. Introductory
• 2. Beginnings Of Cult
• 3. Zoroastrianism
• 4. Evolution of Mithra
• 5. The Process of Syncretism
• 6. Symbols of Mithra
• 7. The Cultus
• 8. The Creed
• 9. Mithraism and Christianity
• 10. Further Christian Parallels
• 11. The Vogue of Mithraism
• 12. Absorption in Christianity
• 13. The Point of Junction
• PART 4. THE RELIGIONS OF ANCIENT AMERICA
• 1. American Racial Origins
• 2. Aztecs and Peruvians
• 3. Primitive Religion and Human Sacrifice
• 4. The Mexican Cultus
• 5. Mexican Sacrifices and Cannibal Sacraments
• 6. Mexican Ethics
• 7. The Mexican White Christ
• 8. The Fatality of the Priesthood
• 9. The Religion of Peru
• 10. Conclusion
• Appendix A. The Eating Of The Crucified Human Sacrifice
• Appendix B. Dramatic And Ritual Survivals
• Appendix C. Replies To Criticisms