The Christian Mythology

A critical survey of orthodox Christian doctrines that traces their development from primitive religious instincts and older pagan motifs. Chapters examine the virgin birth and other birth myths in comparative religions, pagan miracles and spurious relics, trial-and-execution and resurrection narratives, distorted prophecies, miracle claims, atonement and salvation by faith, the Trinity and Mariolatry, saints and spirits, religious holidays and rites, the Eucharist, and the institutional spread of belief. The work argues many doctrines and ceremonies reflect preexisting sun-god, ancestor-worship, and ritual patterns and considers how social and political forces shaped later theological forms.