Here at Believers Anonymous, when it comes to providing you information, only the cold hard facts will do. In some cases, this is not as easy as it may seem, as I’ve found out today.
I’ve just spent the last 2 days looking for information on something that I think will be helpful to you. It’s about the symbols and stories of christianity and how many if not all of them are merely taken from other earlier religions and myths.
While I know that such things as the cross, the fish symbol, wedding rings, the virgin birth, the resurrection, the trinity, the crucifixion, the theft of all the pagan holidays, the christian vestments and the baptism were all stolen, I don’t have any cold hard facts to cite for you.
I’ve found several sources. Unfortunately they are either laden with agenda and biased, or simply not cited and lacking any validity. While most of those sources basically say the same thing, that doesn’t make it fact.
This might be one of those areas where there just isn’t a lot of hard evidence. This is stuff that happened thousands of years ago, not to mention that pagan religions and myths were targeted by the church in an attempt to get rid of them during the Dark Ages and at other periods. Also the original texts of the bible have been cut and edited, rewritten and improperly translated so they aren’t all that reliable either.
So, I’m on a Quest of biblical proportions (pun intended) to hunt down some great historical information for you. If you happen to have wonderful texts sitting quietly on your shelves, secret stashes of links to great sites that contain hidden treasures of historical facts, or anything else that might be useful, please comment or email me at heavingdeadcats@gmail.com
This is sort of a response to this post, and sort of a book recommendation. Joseph Campbell did a very good job of providing information for comparative mythology. While he is not an original source for material, his writing would probably make for a great starting place and I’m sure he cites his sources. I recommend The Mythic Dimension: Selected Essays 1959-1987 (Collected Works of Joseph Campbell). I specifically enjoyed the section called “The Interpretation of Symbolic Forms”, much of which addresses the symbolism of the cross/Golgotha and the idea of the tree of knowledge/garden of Eden, in Christianity and in other religious traditions.
Reply to This Comment
Barbara, thank you very much for commenting!
I have Joseph Campbell’s book Myths to Live By, but I will look into his other works at your recommendation. Thanks again! 
Reply to This Comment