No I did read them. I just harkened back to my comparative literature days in college where we discussed the common thematic devices of the old and new testament and I have to tell you, those themes did not originate with the bible. Look at Gilgamesh. Look at the Greek and Roman pantheon of Gods. Predictions and prophecies are replete in those religions just like with Chritianity.
Michael Grant's opinion does not change the fact that death and rebirth memes predate christ--the phoenix, Dionysus...odin...
The bible is not the first book to use these literary devices. In a confusing world it is very seductive to grab onto the certainty of the word of god and treat the bible as an infallible book of history, morality, science, etc, but it isn't. It's a book of stories masterfully written and re-written.
Jesus' birth, death and resurrection were predicted in The Old Testament. So they come from Judaism.
Judaism predates the Greek and Roman pantheon of Gods.
Roman, Greek and Jewish scholars of the time were far more familiar with those pagan myths than you and I and they would have easily discredited Christianity by showing that it was not but a copy of those pagan myths, but they did not do that. Instead, they used violence to try to destroy Christianity, while some Jews, Romans and Greeks even converted to Christianity.
It is relatively easy to find seemingly meaningful patterns relating any two people or events, but such patterns often do not stand up to rigorous scrutiny.
Lincoln Kennedy coincidencesBoth presidents were elected to the presidency in '60.
Both presidents were elected to the House of Representatives in '46.
Both were runners-up for the party's nomination for vice-president in '56.
Both assassins were born in '39.
Both successors were Southern Democrats named Johnson born in '08.
Both presidents were concerned with the problems of American blacks and made their view strongly known in '63. Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862, which became law in 1863. In 1963, Kennedy presented his reports to Congress on Civil Rights, and the same year was the famous March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
Both presidents were shot in the head.
Both presidents were shot on a Friday.
Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theatre. Kennedy was shot in a Ford car; a Lincoln limousine.
Lincoln had a secretary named Kennedy who told him not to go to the theatre. Kennedy had a secretary
named Evelyn Lincoln (whose husband Harold's nickname was Abe), and she warned him not to go to Dallas.
Both Oswald and Booth were assassinated before they could be put on trial.
Lincoln and Kennedy each have 7 letters.
John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald each have 15 letters.
There are 6 letters in each Johnson's first name.
Booth shot Lincoln in a theater and hid in a warehouse, while Oswald shot Kennedy in a warehouse and hid in a theater.
