Four Alleged Parallels Compared

Osiris

Horus

Mithras

Jesus

Virgin Birth

Adulterous affair between gods

Isis & Osiris: (1) Two unborn gods had intercourse in their mother's womb;

(2) Isis has intercourse with Osiris's dead body;

(3) Isis impregnated by Osiris after his death and the loss of his phallus;

(4) Isis impregnated by a flash of lightning

(1) Sprang forth from a rock near a riverbed

(2) Born of a goddess and the seed of Zoroaster

Born of a human female who had not had sexual intercourse before Jesus' birth

Death

Killed by being lured into a sarcophagus

(1) Doesn't die;

(2) Death by scorpion sting in the swamps or in Sekhet-An

Doesn't die

Lays down His own life in accordance with His own prediction

Resurrection

Raised to the land of the dead to rule as king of the dead

Revived by the magical incantations of another god after a scorpion sting

No death; so no resurrection

Rose from the grave to new, transformed physical life

Title of "Savior"

Hope for salvation is the release from the fleshly body to be with god in the spirit realm; Osiris does nothing to secure this position for a person

Horus introduces those who have passed through judgment to the dead king, Osiris

(1) Hope for victory in this life;

(2) Bull-slaying act as "sacrificial"

Salvific act was for the sin of all humankind in order that man may be declared righteous before a righteous God (Rom 4:25)