Are the Resurrection and Crucifixion Myths Really Unique to Christianity?

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By Kathleen Noller on January 23, 2026 Kathleen Noller, Questioning Belief, CSLI Podcasts

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Episode 14: Are the Resurrection and Crucifixion Myths Really Unique to Christianity? A Dive Through History

Is the archetype of the crucified and resurrected God present in religions other than Christianity— particularly in religions predating Christianity? Apologetics debates often bring up pre-Christian resurrection and crucifixion myths as evidence that the Christian accounts of Jesus' bodily resurrection are at best unremarkable and at worst copied from older accounts. We dive into primary sources in this episode to discuss three pre-Christian examples: the alleged spiritual resurrection of King Thoulis of Egypt, the Osiris myth, and the myth of the Hindu deity Krishna.

Resources for further study:

Garstad, Benjamin. "The account of Thoulis, king of Egypt, in the Chronographia of John Malalas" Byzantinische Zeitschrift, vol. 107, no. 1, 2014, pp. 51-76.
Griffiths, J. Gwyn (1960). The Conflict of Horus and Seth. Liverpool University Press.
Ehrman, Bart. “A full reply to mythicist Richard Carrier. Most-commented blog post: #4"
Ganguli, K. M. “Mahabharata,” Book 16: Mausala Parva.

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