Introduction
I (Chris Lyons) began writing the document “The Origins of Christianity” intending to incorporate it into a book which briefly discussed how Plato had a philosophical impact upon Christianity. I discovered three things in the process of trying to write this section:
1.Christianity was more historically complex than I ever imagined it to be.
- There weren’t too many comprehensive public domain sources of information about the origins of Christianity.
- Many of the sites that do talk about the origins of Christianity don’t cite their sources, contain misinformation, or insert dialogue that isn’t objective.
Due to the aforementioned shortcomings, I felt a good project would be to create a public domain work which used primary source information, scholarly opinion, and short summaries of the relevant historical person, literary work, artifact, event, or religious group that may have influenced Christianity’s development. This would enable others to get into discussions about the origins of Christianity using the relevant information rather than getting into discussions which either ignore it or include misinformation.
Because I have declared this document to be in the public domain, this means the reader can use the work it its entirety if he or she agrees with my representation of the information. Or, if the reader doesn’t agree with my representation, he or she is free to use the relevant passages in their refutation. I would appreciate a short statement of acknowledgement though (such as ‘Taken from Chris Lyons’s Origins of Christianity’). The people I cite also deserve their contributions to be acknowledged if you are incorporating their work or wishing to refute a claim that they make. Their contributions are annotated by footnotes found on the bottom of the page and these footnotes refer to the bibliography where the full description of the work can be found.
One might notice that in the bibliography I have used more than a few Wikipedia articles. Mostly I have cited Wikipedia articles in regards to things I would normally just state without citations such as a description of the Allegory of the Cave (the allegory of the cave description is common knowledge among philosophers and therefore doesn’t require citations). Other times I cited Wikipedia because it provided a good overview of a topic and I didn’t want to get into specific citations for every single claim. For instance, when stating how Origen, Clement of Alexandria, the Cappadocian Fathers, and St. Augustine were influenced by Platonism, I simply cited the Wikipedia article for Platonism rather than acquiring citations for each church leader. If you disagree with my use of Wikipedia, feel free to do the research yourself to verify or refute.
If you are seeking to refute me, I would appreciate it if you would try and use primary source information rather than quoting a Christian apologist whom seeks to assert their point of view without first seeking to prove it. For the origins of Christianity, a primary source is essentially anything first written or made before 400 CE. If you are going to use an historian’s analysis of a primary source, be certain to clearly state the argument and historian being used.
Part of my desire to have “Origins of Christianity” in the public domain is that it can be expanded upon and adapted. Feel free to do so. The resulting elaboration and/or adaptation should remain in the public domain as well so that others can continue to add contributions and/or critiques. Be certain to specify your contributions/adaptations.
THE ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY
The Canaanite / Pre-exile Jewish period
The pre-exile Jews were influenced by the surrounding cultures and historical events. The following is a synopsis of several of these influences.
Enûma Eliš
The Enûma Eliš is a Babylonian document that depicts how the Babylonians believed the universe was originally devoid of matter/energy and Gods caused the objects in the universe to form. The beginning of Genesis is similar.
Tablet 1 of the Enûma Eliš / Genesis 1: 1-3When there was no heaven, no earth, no height, no depth, no name… then from Apsu and Tiamat in the waters gods were created, in the waters silt precipitated… the lines of sky and earth stretched where horizons meet to separate cloud from silt.[1] / In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
The Enûma Eliš goes on to describe how light, firmament (sky), dry land, the sun, the moon, and people were created in order.[2]Genesis follows this same order. Genesis 1.3 describes the creation of light, 1.6 describes the creation of the firmament, 1.9 describes the creation of dry land, 1.16 describes the creation of the sun and moon, and 1.26 describes the creation of mankind.
Enki and Ninhurshag
The Sumerian myth of Enki and Ninhursag depicts a paradise called Dilmun. Within this paradise are two Gods. One of them is Enki, the lord of Ab, which is a Sumerian word for fresh water or semen. The other is Ninhursag, who is sometimes referred to as Ki or earth. This myth describes how Enki seduced Ninhursag to produce Ninsar, seduced Ninsar to produce Ninkurra, seduced Ninkurra to produce Uttu, and seduced Uttu. In the case of his great-granddaughter Uttu, the semen Enki left in Uttu’s womb was used to create eight sacred plants and Enki ate the sacred plants despite being warned. Enki then became sick because the semen used to make the plants impregnated his jaw, his teeth, his mouth, his hip, his throat, his limbs, his side and his rib. A god was made out of each of his body parts in order to cure him and the last body part made into a God was his rib.[3],[4]
This account of a biblical paradise, the eating of forbidden fruit, and the removal of a rib is similar to the Adam and Eve story found in Genesis.
“The Instruction Addressed of Kehty to Merikare”
“The Instruction Addressed of Kehty to Merikare” is an Egyptian document that describes the Pharaoh Kehty III’s instructions to his son Merikare.Within this document is a section called “The Hymn to the Creator God.” The following text is taken from that section:
“Well tended is mankind - the cattle of the god: he made sky and earth for their sake, he subdued the water monster, he made breath for their noses to live.
They are his images, who came from his body. He shines in the sky for their sake. He made for them plants and cattle, fowl and fish to feed them.
He slew his foes, reduced his children, when they thought of making rebellion.
He makes daylight for their sake, he sails by to see them.
He has built his shrine around them, when they weep he hears.
He made for them rulers in the egg, leaders to raise the back of the weak.
He made for them magic as weapons, to ward off the blow of events, watching over them by day and by night.
He has slain the traitors among them, as a man beats his son for the sake of his brother. For the god knows every name.”[5]
The creation of mankind in his own image, the creation of plants and animals to feed them, the slaying of foes and traitors, and the building of shrines to hear the prayers of his people are similar to passages found throughout the Old Testament.
The Epic of Gilgamesh
The flood story found within Genesis probably derives its origin from the Epic of Gilgamesh or other flood stories generated from a historical flood that occurred in Mesopotamia when the Sumerians were in power. The earliest known account of the Epic of Gilgamesh dates to 2150-2000 BC.[6]
The following is from Tablet 11 of this epic:
You know the city Shuruppak, which lies upon the River Euphrates. That city was of great antiquity. And ancient were the gods who still lived within it. In their hearts they resolved to bring on the Great Flood…
And Enki repeats what they say to Ziusudra,
Speaking through the wall of Ziusudra's reed hut:
'Reed hut, reed hut! Wall of the hut, wall of the hut!
Listen o reed hut! Consider, o wall of the hut!
O man of Shuruppak, o you son of Ubara-Tutu,
Tear down your hut of reeds,
Build of them a reed boat
Abandon things
Seek life
Give up possessions
Keep your soul alive!
And into the boat take the seed of all living creatures.[7]
Enki is a Sumerian God, and, as demonstrated, he instructs Ziusurdra to abandon Shuruppak, turn his reed hut into a reed boat, and go collect the seed of animals. This is similar to the biblical account of the flood. An excavation of Shuruppak revealed that a historical flood did occur in this city. The flood deposits date to 2950 to 2850 BCE.[8]
King Sargon
King Sargon of Akkad was an ancient Akkadian king who reigned from 2334 to 2279 BCE and conquered the Sumerian city states.[9] Moses’s placement among the reeds of the river Nile found in Exodus 2:3 is similar to the older Akkadian story ofKing Sargon’s birth.
King Sargon’s birth / Exodus 2:3She laid me in a vessel made of reeds, closed my door with pitch, and dropped me down into the river, which did not drown me.[10] / And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink.
Nestor and Ereuthalion
Nestor and Ereuthalion is a story about how a giant named Ereuthalion challenges an opposing army, and a young Nestor accepts the challenge. The following is from the Iliad:
On their side stood forth Ereuthalion as champion, a godlike man, bearing upon his shoulders the armour of king Areithous… And wearing this armour did Ereuthalion challenge all the bravest; but they trembled sore and were afraid, nor had any man courage to abide him. But me did my enduring heart set on to battle with him in my hardihood, though in years I was youngest of all. So fought I with him, and Athene gave me glory. The tallest was he and the strongest man that ever I slew.[11]
The plot of a young Nestor fighting a giant is very similar to the Jewish story David and Goliath. Other similarities include how David and Nestor were the youngest in their family, the rest of their army’s warriors were too scared to fight, they took a weapon of the fallen giant (chariot vs sword), the opposing army flees, and they were declared to be a hero by their people.[12]
The Jewish use of this story against the Philistines had a certain twisted logic to it as the Greeks and Philistines are believed to share a common ancestor (the Mycenaeans).[13] It must be noted that the armor described in 1 Samuel 17 is Greek armor of the six century BCE and not Philistine armor of the tenth century BCE.[14]
Laws of Eshnunna
The Laws of Eshnunna are one of the oldest law codes known to mankind. They consist of two cuneiform tablets found in Tell Abū Harmal (near the present-day city of Baghdad, Iraq) and they date back to no later than the reign of Dadusha (1808 - 1780 BCE).[15] Article 39 represents one example of how this law code may have influenced the laws of the Jews.
Article 39 of the Laws of Eshnunna / Leviticus 25:29“If a man become impoverished and sold his house— the day the buyer will sell, the owner of the house may redeem.”[16] / “And if a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold.”
The Code of Hammurabi
The Code of Hammurabi is a Babylonian law code that dates to about 1780 BCE.[17]Articles 196 and 200 of this law code are combined in Exodus 21:23-24 to create the famous eye for an eye passage.
Articles 196 and 200 of the Code of Hammurabi / Exodus 21:23-24“If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out.”
“If a man knock out the teeth of his equal, his teeth shall be knocked out.”[18] / “And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”
The Code of the Nesilim
Nesilim is the term the Hittites used to call themselves and the Code of the Nesilim is their legal code. It dates to about c. 1650-1500 BCE.[19] Article 195 is an example Hittite’s influence on the laws of the Jews.
Article 195 of the Code of the Nesilim / Leviticus 20:14“If he have taken her daughter, then have intercourse with her mother or her sister, it is a capital crime, he shall die.”[20] / “And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you.”
There are several other examples of how the aforementioned legal codes influenced the laws of the Jews. The book “The Origins of Christianity and the Bible” is one source for this information.[21]
Hittite Suzerainty Treaties
A suzerainty treaty is a treaty imposed by a stronger power onto their vassal states. Michael Coogan asserts the Ten Commandments are modeled after these suzerainty treaties. These treaties have a preamble, a prologue / historical section, stipulations, a requirement to communicate the treaty to the public, divine witnesses, and curses and blessings that will occur depending on how well the treaties stipulations are followed.[22] The Ten Commandments have a preamble, a historical section, and stipulations.[23] The final three sections can be argued to be in the Torah itself. God punishes those who don’t follow his commandments (curses), the laws of the Torah were supposed to be communicated to the Jews, and Moses was a divine witness to Yahweh’s commands.
One good example of a suzerainty treaty is the “Treaty Between Mursilis II And Duppi-Tessub Of Amurru” which dates to 13th century BCE. Ammuru was a kingdom that defected to the Hittites after originally being a part of the Egyptian Empire.[24]
The following two passages are from this treaty. The first passage is part of the preamble which describes the divine nature of the Hittite king Mursalis II. The second passage is part of Mursalis II stipulations on the vassal state of Ammuru.[25]
“These are the words of the Sun Mursilis, the great king, the king of the Hatti land, the valiant, the favorite of the Storm- god, the son of Suppiluliumas, the great king, the king of the Hatti land, the valiant…
But you, Duppi-Tessub, remain loyal toward the king of the Hatti land, the Hatti land, my sons (and) my grandsons forever! The tribute which was imposed upon your grandfather and your father they presented 300 shekels of good, refined first-class gold weighed with standard weights you shall present them likewise. Do not turn your eyes to anyone else! Your fathers presented tribute to Egypt; you [shall not do that!].”
The idea of a divine power conveying stipulations to his people is thematically similar to the Ten Commandments.
The Egyptian Book of the Dead
The Egyptian Book of the Dead is a name anthropologists give to a group of spells used to help the dead attain an afterlife in the Field of Reeds, the Egyptian equivalent of heaven.[26] The Negative Confession is part of the Book of the Dead and it is similar to many of the commandments the Jews are expected to follow.
The following are some comparisons.
The Negative Confession of the Book of the Dead[27]
/ Exodus 20:7-17:Hail, Kenemti, who comest forth from Kenmet, I have not blasphemed.
Hail, Uatch-rekhit, who comest forth from Sau, I have not cursed God.
Hail, Am-khaibit, who comest forth from Qernet, I have not slain men and women.
Hail, Qerrti, who comest forth from Amentet, I have not committed adultery, I have not lain with men.
Hail, Fenti, who comest forth from Khemenu, I have not stolen.
Hail, Tenemiu, who comest forth from Bast, I have not slandered [no man].
Hail, Tutu, who comest forth from Ati (the Busirite Nome), I have not debauched the wife of any man. / 7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain…
13 Thou shalt not kill.
14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
15 Thou shalt not steal.
16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass…
Sources E, J, D, and P
The religious books of the Jews are believed to be composed by four different kinds of authors called E, J, D, and P source. The following is a brief synopsis of these sources.
E Source -
E source favors the Northern Kingdom of Israel over the kingdom of Judea, and uses the god El as its primary god.[28]El is the Canaanite high God.[29]God is called El 200 plus times in the Old Testament such as Genesis 33:20: “He (Jacob) erected there an altar and called it EleloheIsrael (translated as El, God of Israel).”[30]