In the initial decades of the Roman Empire, at the eastern end of the

Mediterranean, a new religion, Christianity, emerged. Much of the impetus for this new religion rested in issues in the Jewish religion, including a

long-standing belief in the coming of a Messiah and rigidities that had

developed in the Jewish priesthood. Whether or not Christianity was created by God, as Christians believe, the early stages of the religion focused on

cleansing the Jewish religion of stiff rituals and haughty leaders. It had

little at first to do with Roman culture. Christianity arose in a remote

province and appealed particularly to the poorer classes. It is not easy, as a

result, to fit Christianity neatly into the patterns of Roman history: It was

deliberately separate, and only gradually had wider impact.

 

Christianity originated with Jesus of Nazareth, a Jewish prophet and

teacher who probably came to believe he was the Son of God and certainly was regarded as such by his disciples. Jesus preached in Israel during the time of Augustus, urging a purification of the Jewish religion that would free Israel and establish the kingdom of God on earth. He urged a moral code based on love, charity, and humility, and he asked the faithful to follow his lessons, abandoning worldly concern. Many disciples believed that a Final Judgment day was near at hand, on which God would reward the righteous with immortality and condemn sinners to everlasting hell.

Any links to ancient pagan rites and and festivals where introduced by the pagan Romans.  Remember the Roman Emperor Constantine who was mis-credited with the growth of Christianity in Europe and later into America via the Founding Fathers and other  immigrants from the four corners of Europe.  Never converted to Christianity despite being cannonised a Saint by the Roman Catholics Popes who where themselves Romans during the inaugerating centuries of the History of Christianity in Europe.

Early Christians

The first Christians were Jewish Christians. The Pentateuch was of great importance to them and they kept its laws, keeping the sabbath and performing circumcision.

Christian beliefs were spreading largely among Jews, and Christianity was a group within Judaism.

They were called Jewish Christians because their membership consisted largely of Jews who had joined them and followed their beliefs and teachings.

They believed Jesus was a prophet who had tried to make people more aware of the intent of the Pentateuch and had tried to intensify the application of its laws.

As Jews had in any case to follow and live according to the Pentateuch's laws, so what were Jews and Jewish Christians arguing about?

At issue are the laws of behaviour and the social system which are laid down in the Pentateuch {13}:

The Pentateuch states that all are equal, that no person may oppress or exploit another, that all have the right to be free and be independent masters of their own fate.

Every person is entitled as a matter of right to social security. This means that people are entitled to be supported by the community not only when they fall on hard times but also to maintain their independence as independent breadwinners for their families.

For example, the community has to provide backup funds to those who need them and they have to be provided as and when required. To prevent people being exploited through their need these funds have to be provided without charging interest and such 'loans' are cancelled every seventh year if the borrower has been unable to repay them.

The country's wealth, and this applies particularly to productive capital, belongs to all equally and has to be shared out. This equal and fair distribution of the community's wealth has to be updated at regular intervals.

The role of those who are rich is seen to be that of administering their wealth and money on behalf of and for the community and not that of enriching themselves at the expense of the community.

The laws of the Pentateuch have to be followed and applied by Jews as a matter of law in their daily lives.

However, it was such laws of behaviour and such social system laws which the rich simply did not want to apply and they, the rich and powerful, had the application of the laws changed to suit themselves:  13-16

Jesus tried to reverse this situation and to have such laws applied by people in their everyday lives.

Paul

Paul was Jewish and persecuted the Christians who were renewing their knowledge of the laws and the application of the laws in their daily lives. So he was acting on the side of, that is for, the oppressive establishment.

He was unsuccessful in this as Jewish Christianity spread and continued to spread.

He then said that he had had a 'vision' and called himself a Christian but he preached not for but against the social laws and against the social system of the Pentateuch. He preached against material independence, against social security, against freedom from oppression and exploitation.

What he preached was the political ideology of an oppressive establishment which wanted to be able to oppress so as to exploit without hindrance.

This brought him into conflict with Jewish Christians and with the mostly Jewish Christian communities. He then concentrated on gaining converts from gentiles (people who are not Jewish) who presumably knew nothing or little about the laws of the Pentateuch and who would thus be more likely to follow his teachings without arguing about its content.

Paul's letters (epistles) are the oldest part of the New Testament. The Gospels followed - as far as we know Matthew's was written first, then Mark's, then Luke's. Luke also wrote The Acts. It seems that Paul's letters were written about 50 AD and the gospels about 70-100 AD.

What stands out is that no one before Paul wrote such letters and that no one did so afterwards. They give his own point of view and personal ideology and he gives them an authority which they would not otherwise have had by means of a self-proclaimed vision.

The gospels as a whole relate to the life and death of Jesus but Paul's letters seem to be more a vehicle for pronouncements directed against observance of laws ensuring freedom, independence and equality.

Paul's teachings were accepted to a considerable extent and the Gentile Christians' stories about the beginning of Christianity do differ from those of the Jewish Christians. It is the versions of the Gentile Christians which were included in the Christian Canon and became official doctrine.

I suppose that what I am saying is that changes which were made as time progressed were at times 'politically' motivated towards putting across Paul's 'message', towards indoctrinating people with the political ideology of an oppressive establishment which wanted to be able to oppress so as to exploit without hindrance.

Event	Horus	Yeshua of Nazareth, a.k.a. Jesus
Conception:	By a virgin. There is some doubt about this matter	By a virgin. 8
Father:	Only begotten son of the God Osiris.	Only begotten son of Yehovah (in the form of the Holy Spirit).
Mother:	Meri. 9	Miriam (a.k.a. Mary).
Foster father:	Seb, (Jo-Seph). 9	Joseph.
Foster father's ancestry:	Of royal descent.	Of royal descent.
Birth location:	In a cave.	In a cave or stable.
Annunciation:	By an angel to Isis, his mother.	By an angel to Miriam, his mother. 8
Birth heralded by:	The star Sirius, the morning star.	An unidentified "star in the East."
Birth date:	Ancient Egyptians paraded a manger and child representing Horus through the streets at the time of the winter solstice (typically DEC-21).	Celebrated on DEC-25. The date was chosen to occur on the same date as the birth of Mithra, Dionysus and the Sol Invictus (unconquerable Sun), etc.
Birth announcement:	By angels.	By angels. 8
Birth witnesses:	Shepherds.	Shepherds. 8
Later witnesses to birth:	Three solar deities.	Three wise men. 8
Death threat during infancy:	Herut tried to have Horus murdered.	Herod tried to have Jesus murdered.
Handling the threat:	The God That tells Horus' mother "Come, thou goddess Isis, hide thyself with thy child."	An angel tells Jesus' father to: "Arise and take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt."
Rite of passage ritual:	Horus came of age with a special ritual,  when his eye was restored.	Taken by parents to the temple for what is today called a bar mitzvah ritual.
Age at the ritual:	12	12
Break in life history:	No data between ages of 12 & 30.	No data between ages of 12 & 30.
Baptism location:	In the river Eridanus.	In the river Jordan.
Age at baptism:	30.	30.
Baptized by:	Anup the Baptiser.	John the Baptist.
Subsequent fate of the baptiser:	Beheaded.	Beheaded.
Temptation:	Taken from the desert of Amenta up a high mountain by his arch-rival Sut. Sut (a.k.a. Set) was a precursor for the Hebrew Satan.	Taken from the desert in Palestine up a high mountain by his arch-rival Satan.
Result of temptation:	Horus resists temptation.	Jesus resists temptation.
Close followers:	Twelve disciples. There is some doubt about this matter as well.	Twelve disciples.
Activities:	Walked on water, cast out demons, healed the sick, restored sight to the blind. He "stilled the sea by his power."	Walked on water, cast out demons, healed the sick, restored sight to the blind. He ordered the sea with a "Peace, be still" command.
Raising of the dead:	Horus raised Osirus, his dead father,  from the grave. 10	Jesus raised Lazarus from the grave.
Location where the resurrection miracle occurred:	Anu, an Egyptian city where the rites of the death, burial and resurrection of Horus were enacted annually. 10	Hebrews added their prefix for house ('beth") to "Anu" to produce "Beth-Anu" or the "House of Anu." Since "u" and "y" were interchangeable in antiquity, "Bethanu" became "Bethany," the location mentioned in John 11.
Origin of Lazarus' name in the Gospel of John:		Asar was an alternative name for Osirus, Horus' father, who Horus raised from the dead. He was referred to as "the Asar," as a sign of respect. Translated into Hebrew, this is "El-Asar." The Romans added the prefix "us" to indicate a male name, producing "Elasarus." Over time, the "E" was dropped and "s" became "z," producing "Lazarus." 10
Transfigured:	On a mountain.	On a high mountain.
Key address(es):	Sermon on the Mount.	Sermon on the Mount; Sermon on the Plain.
Method of death	By crucifixion.	By crucifixion.
Accompanied by:	Two thieves.	Two thieves.
Burial	In a tomb.	In a tomb.
Fate after death:	Descended into Hell; resurrected after three days.	Descended into Hell; resurrected after about 30 to 38 hours (Friday PM to presumably some time in Sunday AM) covering parts of three days.
Resurrection announced by:	Women.	Women.
Future:	Reign for 1,000 years in the Millennium.	Reign for 1,000 years in the Millennium

Characteristics	Horus	Yeshua of Nazareth, a.k.a. Jesus
Nature"	Regarded as a mythical character.	Regarded as a 1st century CE human man-god.
Main role:	Savior of humanity.	Savior of humanity.
Status:	God-man.	God-man.
Common portrayal:	Virgin Isis holding the infant Horus.	Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus.
Title:	KRST, the anointed one.	Christ, the anointed one.
Other names:	The good shepherd, the lamb of God, the bread of life, the son of man, the Word, the fisher, the winnower.	The good shepherd, the lamb of God, the bread of life, the son of man, the Word, the fisher, the winnower.
Zodiac sign:	Associated with Pisces, the fish.	Associated with Pisces, the fish.
Main symbols:	Fish, beetle, the vine, shepherd's crook.	Fish, beetle, the vine, the shepherd's crook.

Characteristics	Horus	Yeshua of Nazareth, a.k.a. Jesus
Criteria for salvation at the place of judgment:	"I have given bread to the hungry man and water to the thirsty man and clothing to the naked person and a boat to the shipwrecked mariner." 11	"For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me..." Matthew 25:35-36 (KJV).
"I am" statements	"I am Horus in glory...I am the Lord of Light...I am the victorious one...I am the heir of endless time...I, even I, am he that knoweth the paths of heaven." 12 "I am Horus, the Prince of Eternity." "I am Horus who stepeth onward through eternity...Eternity and everlastingness is my name." "I am the possessor of bread in Anu. I have bread in heaven with Ra."	"I am the light of the world....I am the way, the truth and the life." "Before Abraham was, I am" "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today and forever." "I am the living bread that came down from heaven." (From the Gospel of John)