While I was preparing material for this study, I came across an old writing that makes the claim that there were “sixteen crucified saviors” in the pagan world that predated Jesus Christ. (By Kersey Graves, https://sacred-texts.com/bib/cv/wscs/wscs21.htm).

For the record, I don’t recommend Graves’ book at all. A little bit of research reveals that his work is highly untrustworthy in accuracy. He makes lots of presumptions and virtually nothing is cited as to be verifiable. It seems, as with Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code, anything that makes Christianity look bad is popular to the unenlightened.

One of the ridiculous examples given as a “crucified savior” is Buddha. Here’s what Buddhists say about “sin” in their view…

“Do Buddhists believe in sin? The dictionary defines sin as a violation of religious or moral law. Since the Buddha was not God and he didn’t hand down any commandments, the first part of the definition doesn’t apply. You’re not damned if you don’t do what the Buddha said. More broadly, good versus evil is not the central issue in Buddhism. It’s ignorance versus wisdom.” (https://www.lionsroar.com/do-buddhists-believe-in-sin/).

There are no “damning sins” to be “saved” from in Buddhism. So much for the Buddha being either an incarnate God, or “a savior” of man’s sins. Furthermore…

“Among the founders of the world’s major religions, the Buddha was the only teacher who did not claim to be other than an ordinary human being. Other teachers were either God or directly inspired by God. The Buddha was simply a human being and he claimed no inspiration from any God or external power… Man’s position, according to Buddhism, is supreme. Man is his own master and there is no higher being or power that sits in judgment over his destiny. If the Buddha is to be called a “savior” at all, it is only in the sense that he discovered and showed the path to liberation, to Nirvana, the path we are invited to follow ourselves.” (Text by Dr. Jennifer N. McIntire, “The Historical Buddha”, https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/introduction-cultures-religions-apah/buddhism-apah/a/the-historical-buddha)

Contrary to Graves’ work, I could not find any verifiable information to confirm that Buddha ever claimed to be a god, nor that he claimed to be sent by God, nor that he or his followers believed he was crucified to atone for the sins of the world. If these facts are true, as the author alleges, they were certainly lost on practicing Buddhists. That, of course, is hardly the case with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is a core, highly publicized, and foundational truth of Christianity.

However, Graves’ work does touch on a fact that the Bible itself clearly affirms. And that is the pagan idea of gods coming to earth in the form of men…

“And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men” (Acts 14:11).

Chapter 16 of Graves’ book is titled, “Sixteen Saviors Crucified.” Literally, every one of the “saviors” on the list (including Buddha) is identified or implied as being an incarnation of a “god.” This should not be a shock to Christians because the Bible identifies that pagans believe in “gods coming to earth in the form of men.” But there is no controversy or correlation between these incarnate pagan deities and the Christ that is openly and clearly explained in the Bible. Of course, that isn’t the case with “Christianized” versions of the pagan doctrine of incarnations of a preexistent deity.

Ironically, Graves’ work began chapter 16 with a verse that is itself key in understanding the major difference between Jesus Christ and all the pagan counterfeits…

“For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (2 Corinthians 2:2).

The key word is “Christ.” The simple fact is, “God,” being Almighty, with whom nothing is impossible (except to die, lie, or fail, of course), does not need any anointing by anyone. And if He did, who is greater than Him that would do the anointing?

“¹For every high priest, being taken from among men, is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. ²The high priest can deal gently with those who are ignorant and going astray, because he himself is also surrounded with weakness. ³Because of this, he must offer sacrifices for sins for the people, as well as for himself. ⁴Nobody takes this honor on himself, but he is called by God, just like Aaron was. ⁵So also Christ didn’t glorify himself to be made a high priest, but it was he who said to him, “You are my Son. Today I have become your father” (Hebrews 5:1-5)

On the contrary, virtually all the pagan myths of “saviors” portray a god (who wouldn’t need to be anointed) that came to earth in the form of a man.

For example, Krishna was “worshipped as the eighth incarnation (avatar, or avatara) of the Hindu god Vishnu and also as a supreme god in his own right.” (https://www.britannica.com/topic/Krishna-Hindu-deity).

Do you see what I mean? “A supreme god in his own right” would certainly need no anointing, meaning a gifting of authority. Furthermore, also regarding Krishna, he is said to have taught that sin is an illusion and doesn’t even exist…

“The best definition of the word sin comes from the Vedanta. It says thinking about sin is the greatest sin. So basically sin is an illusion. Krishna says that sin is a lower awareness and anything that is a lower awareness does not exist… If you get into this mode of guilt and sin just keep telling yourself that it is ignorance. It doesn’t exist so don’t waste time thinking about it. Spend your time on your consciousness. Do this, then sin and guilt won’t bother you anymore. You won’t even give them a second thought. As you move closer to light – darkness fades.” (https://www.bhagavadgitauniversity.com/blog/bhagavad-gita-summary-how-does-krishna-define-sin-the-dreaded-word-guilt/)

So how in the world could Krishna be accused of being crucified to “atone” for sins that he claimed both don’t exist and can be ignored away by not thinking about them? This alone should prove the dishonest nature of the book about the world’s crucified saviors.

Another example is Tammuz. Supposedly he was also an incarnate God who was a crucified savior. Quoted in an encyclopedia, Paul Carus states: “The ancient Tammuz is one of the most important prototypes of Christ. He is a god-man, an incarnation of the deity who is born as a human being, dies in the course of time and eakes (sic) to life again.” (https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Tammuz)

What we see in these two examples of pagan mythological gods, is that they often are viewed as incarnations of a preexistent deity. And even in the case where they may have said to have started as a man, it doesn’t really matter. Why? Because there is only one true God. If there is only one true God, there is also only one truth. If there is one truth, then it is open to be believed or exploited or perverted. Just because there are similarities in other religions or myths, only means that there are counterfeits out there.

Other nations have myths, they have imaginations, they have imitations, they have impostors. That doesn’t mean there can’t be a real thing. And that is one reason Jesus could say…

“All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them” (John 10:8).

The existence of pagan incarnations of deities also explains why God was very firm in His commandments for God’s chosen people not to learn the way of the heathen. This is an Old Testament command that Christians seem to disregard in their desire to adopt concepts and deities from non-Christian mythologies and philosophies. The heathen nations had imposters and counterfeit saviors and counterfeit gods and false notions about God and God did not want His people to learn their ways. But so does the New Testament period, and so it has its own commandments against adopting pagan gods or concepts:

“Be careful that you don’t let anyone rob you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the elemental spirits of the world, and not after Christ” (Colossians 2:8).

“¹⁶ ‘What agreement does a temple of God have with idols? For you are a temple of the living God. Even as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk in them. I will be their God and they will be my people.’ ¹⁷Therefore “‘Come out from among them, and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘Touch no unclean thing. I will receive you” (2 Corinthians 6:16-17).

When Jews allowed themselves to be “Hellenized”, they were allowing themselves to be robbed by philosophy. That means polluted by the views of pagans who influenced some of them to view God as a multi-person deity. Likewise, only through pagan converts to Christianity did Jesus begin to be viewed as an incarnation of a preexistent deity. As we have seen, that is because they usually refused to totally repent, meaning “die out to” those pagan influences, as we have clearly seen was the case with Justin Martyr, for example.

Consistently in Judaism Messiah was to be a man chosen by God, who would be highly gifted and anointed by God (Deuteronomy 18:18). Only by polluting the prophecies with pagan views of “gods come to earth in the form of man” did Jesus begin being “imagined” and ultimately “confessed” as “God incarnate.”

So those who view God as an incarnate deity are the ones who should be very concerned that the pagan myths closely align with their views of an incarnated savior.

We need not concern ourselves with the similarities in other moral aspects of pagan myths. Remember that it only takes breaking one commandment to bring bondage, as in the case of the serpent in the Garden and was the case with the emperors of Rome acting as “bishops.”

Another difference in truth is that Jesus was confirmed by eyewitnesses. The other saviors in the pagan myths cannot be confirmed as being either factual or mythical. There is plenty of evidence of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection for those who aren’t simply dismissive of the evidence.

Furthermore, there is one more very important detail that the writer of the “sixteen saviors” did not adequately take into consideration. And that is the fact that Jesus as Messiah was born from the family of Jacob/Israel. No other nation or family on earth has ever been designated as, or called themselves by, the term of “God’s chosen people.” No other pagan saviors have a heritage like the Exodus and resultant nation of Israel. No other family of people have been called out of another nation into a theocracy that God established through them. No other people have had such a long history of prophets pointing to a particular individual as their Messiah than is told to us in the Hebrew scriptures. These historic facts help us accept the fact that other saviors are counterfeit.

The closest I could find coming to a statement regarding a chosen people of God was regarding Islam…

“Who Are God’s “Chosen People” According to Islam?
“Short Answer: God’s chosen people are the people who have chosen to obey God, not some certain ethnic or religious group. The Qur’an generally says that anyone who submits himself to God will be given eternal salvation, and doesn’t explicitly forbid “non-Muslims” from Paradise.”
https://aboutislam.net/counseling/ask-about-islam/gods-chosen-people/

So, in Islam, God doesn’t choose you, you choose to submit to the “God” of Islam. To the contrary of Islam, Jesus said this…

“You didn’t choose me, but I chose you and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you will ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you” (John 15:16).

This gives great comfort to Christians. We couldn’t even call on him unless he called us! That gives us great faith that he is truly on our side because he first loved us. So now we Christians are God’s chosen people.

I don’t recall ever hearing of an entire nation being formed hundreds of years before Muhammad, waiting in prophetic anticipation of his appearance on Earth. But that was certainly the case with Jesus Christ.

Thus, the truth of the Jews being God’s chosen people is a big deal. And Paul tells us why…

“¹Then what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the profit of circumcision? ²Much in every way! Because first of all, they were entrusted with the revelations of God” (Romans 3:1-2).

And that is why it is critically important to understand, that out of all the world’s “saviors,” the one that was produced by Judaism was never, ever prophesied to be God incarnate. That isn’t to say that men don’t attempt to read such back into their scriptures and beliefs. But it is to say, there is absolutely no way that such an idea was ever so clear as to be anything close to being a fundamental, universally proclaimed, and anticipated tenant of their expectations of Messiah. That is an irrefutable statement.

Considering all the pagan traditions of “gods come to earth in the form of men” (Acts 14:11), this is another of the huge hits against any incarnation theory.

“²³But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, confined for the faith which should afterwards be revealed. ²⁴So that the law has become our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor” (Galatians 3:23-25).

According to the Jewish Frequently Asked Questions site, “The notion of an innocent, divine or semi-divine being who will sacrifice himself to save us from the consequences of our own sins is a purely Christian concept that has no basis in Jewish thought.” https://www.jewfaq.org/mashiach

Notwithstanding God’s foreknowledge of things to come, and not withstanding Isaiah 53:5 & 12, it is a historical fact that no ancient Jew is on record as expressing, understanding, or expecting Messiah to be an incarnation of their God Yahweh, or an incarnation of a literally preexistent “son” either, for that matter. Such was certainly never an openly declared, clear prophecy, nor in any way an expression or understanding of their hope.

In contrast, for example, consider in Christianity our express hope of the return of Christ that is consistently and openly reiterated both in scripture and Christian “culture” (ie preaching, songs, etc.). On one hand, it is true that the Jews were expecting Messiah to restore the natural Davidic kingdom, and many Jews reject Jesus because that didn’t and hasn’t happened yet. But that hope was a primary biblical tenet of their expectation for Messiah, not a man-made hope. So that isn’t a false hope, it is simply a hope that is yet to be fulfilled on earth. There’s a huge difference between a failure of discernment of the times versus expecting a human Messiah and then being told, by pagan converts to Christianity no less, that their Messiah was to be understood as in pagan myths of “gods come to earth in the form of man” (Acts 14:11) contrary to the Jewish hope of a human Messiah.

These same pagan myths, mind you, pertain to the same gods round about the Jews that they were clearly and consistently commanded to have nothing to do with. And transgressing such commands always ended disastrously for God’s people. And yet that is what Trinitarians want to impose upon the Jewish mindset. That, in a nutshell, is the shell game of the Trinity doctrine (along with any other incarnation doctrine). Now, if that isn’t spiritual harlotry and teaching people to eat things sacrificed to idols, what is?

“²⁰But I have this against you, that you tolerate your woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. She teaches and seduces my servants to commit sexual immorality and to eat things sacrificed to idols. ²¹I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. ²²Behold, I will throw her and those who commit adultery with her into a bed of great oppression, unless they repent of her works. ²³I will kill her children with Death, and all the assemblies will know that I am he who searches the minds and hearts. I will give to each one of you according to your deeds” (Revelation 2:20-23).

Since all the literal incarnation theories ultimately come from concepts in pagan mythologies, all such attempts at influencing Christians to view the Messiah in unbiblical and non-Jewish terms of incarnation should be considered as teaching and spreading idolatry. And further being rebellious to Jesus who stated his objections above. By rejecting the biblical view of “a man approved of God” (Acts 2:22), Trinitarians and others have aligned themselves totally with pagan ideas not only of a multi-person deity but with an “incarnation of god” doctrine that is 180 degrees contrary to the biblical, Hebrew doctrine of Messiah as “anointed one”.

So, we will turn, next, to biblical definitions of Jesus as the “Anointed One, the Son of the living God.”

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