I remember sitting in class at Grove City College in the fall of 2015 and disagreeing with every single Christian point that the professor made. I didn’t really know about the word “atheist” then, and I didn’t exactly know what I was, but I knew I wasn’t a Christian. It was probably around this time when the events of this post took place, and when I first tried watching the famous Bill Nye vs. Ken Ham debate. It was also around this time that I first saw Zeitgeist: The Movie.
Along with many other factors, Zeitgeist rocked my world when I was trying to figure out my beliefs in college. It is a three-part movie, the first part of which essentially is trying to completely disprove Christianity.
What was the movie about?
If you want to watch what I watched, the content on Christianity is from 13 minutes in to 39 minutes in. So your first clue that this might be a little wonky is that Peter Joseph, the filmmaker, tries to debunk Christianity in only 26 minutes (before going on to argue that 9/11 was an inside job).
As someone who was extremely skeptical of Christianity but had done absolutely no prior research about its origins, you could imagine that I was intrigued by this movie. I can only describe it now as what must have seemed the most enlightening thing I’d ever seen. Its most salient points are as follows:
- The sun was personified as a god. It was known as “God’s Sun,” the light of the world, the savior of humankind. Likewise, the 12 constellations represented places of travel for God’s Sun.
- Jesus has essentially the same story as Attis of Phyrigia, Krishna of India, Dionysus of Greece, Mithra of Persia, and especially Horus of Egypt.
- Jesus’ birth is entirely astrological, in that the star in the east is Sirius, which aligns with three stars known as The Three Kings on December 24th. When they line up, they point to the sunrise (or son’s birth) on December 25th.
- The Virgin Mary is the constellation Virgo, which in Latin means virgin. Virgo is also referred to as the House of Bread. This House of Bread and its symbol of wheat represents August and September, the time of harvest. In turn, Bethlehem literally translates to “house of bread”. Bethlehem is thus a reference to the constellation Virgo, a place in the sky, not on Earth.
- Between the summer solstice and the winter solstice, the days get shorter, which is personified as Darkness and Death overtaking Light and Life. On December 22nd, the Sun is (perceptibly) at its lowest point (death) for three days, until it begins to get higher in the sky (resurrection) on December 25th. During these three days, the Sun is in the vicinity of a constellation called the Southern Cross. Only during the spring equinox, when the Sun actually gets more time of day than darkness, do we celebrate the resurrection at Easter.
- The twelve disciples were the twelve signs of the Zodiac. The cross is actually a pagan Zodiac symbol. Also, Moses is a representative of the Zodiac Age of Aries the Ram, replacing the Age of Taurus the Bull. Jesus represents the Age of Pisces the Fish, which is still happening. When he spoke of the “end of the age,” he actually meant the Age of Pisces the Fish, and he even alluded to the next age, that of Aquarius the Water-Bearer.
- Also, the stories of Noah and Moses were plagiarized. So was Jesus. So was the entire bible.
- Jesus didn’t exist.
Of course, watching this movie now, after having seen so many dozens of videos on conspiracies and cults, it’s clear as day that this video is a string of conspiracies. I’ve already touched on why Jesus is not merely a rehashing of the story of Horus (which I won’t tell you here, because I shared it in my last post on this and I have no desire to show it again because it’s disgusting).
I’ve also talked briefly on why I do, at least at the time being, believe that there was a historical Jesus. My main source for this is Bart Ehrman’s book Did Jesus Exist? which also covered the embarrassment that was Acharya S’s outlandishly conspiratorial 1999 book The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold. The Christ Conspiracy is noted as the main source that Peter Joseph used for Zeitgeist, even though neither make any particularly viable claims.
Luckily, I do not have to go through Zeitgeist point-by-point, debunking these ideas that seem too convenient to be true, because it has already been done. Skeptic Project’s Edward L. Winston created this guide over a decade ago in an article with nearly ninety sources, addressing every point I listed above and more. I highly recommend it.
Budding skepticism
I’m glad that when I first saw this movie, I took notes which I can still look at today, unlike some of my class notes from the time that are unfortunately long gone. I was noticeably shocked by some of the claims made in the film, which is made obvious by my reactions of:
They made the christmas story because the winter solstice and the brightest star lines up with the 3 kings on december 25th so they made it up to remember the stars
The 3 KINGS follow the STAR to find the SUNRISE, the BIRTH OF THE SON.
As shocked as I was, I’m proud to read on and see that even then, I was feeling a bit skeptical about Zeitgeist’s conclusions, saying:
I know that some of this is definitely related to one another like the christmas thing and how all of the gods are the same but we can’t be sure that the bible verses that relate god to the son are not just a coincidence, if I really will be as skeptical of this movie as possible which hurts but is necessary
Confused about the time periods and the things associated with them and how we know that moses was from the time of the bull and why people particularly liked bulls at that time
The bible doesn’t actually even say that christmas happened on december 25th.
Clearly, I was on the right path here, considering that even more than the various religious stories being coincidences, most of the elements that make them similar to the story of Jesus were just fabricated. Furthermore, if you read the Skeptic Project piece refuting Zeitgeist, you’ll find that Moses was in fact from the age of Taurus the Bull, but the event with the Ten Commandments was from the middle of the age and not the beginning, like the film says.
Finally, it’s true that it is never mentioned in the bible that Jesus was born on December 25th. And it’s worth noting that while the Synoptic Gospels do refer to Jesus as God’s Son, it wouldn’t have been a reference to The Sun, as “son” and “sun” sound similar only in English, not in Aramaic, Hebrew, or Greek.
Even though I stayed as skeptical and level-headed as I could, Zeitgeist felt eye-opening for me when I first saw it years ago. It was a contributing factor to my becoming a more passionate atheist, so I find it a great irony that my own atheistic interests and that same skepticism of Christianity are what lead me to eventually study Christian history in greater detail and reject nearly everything in this apocalyptic-cult film.
Well told. I love your phrase, “deeply oversimplified.” I find that others would like to hear those kinds of explanations for atheism (mine) from me, but my awakening took many years, and seems to continue today. Would it be “more woke?” 🙂
Well written! So similar to my journey. Well done!! Thank you.
I never did watch that movie. I guess I will have to watch it now, before further commenting (beyond this comment).
I understood, from early on, that religion was a matter of faith. No, not faith in God. It was faith in what my pastor and others were telling me. So I knew that I owed it to myself to check it out. I was all in for a few years. But I kept up that idea of checking it out, and my skepticism gradually grew. I junked it all at around age 23.
I have now watched the movie — the first part only. When it got to the truth conspiracy theory, I don’t much care for that.
The part about religion was somewhat eye opening. But I’m inclined to not take it too seriously. Ancient people tended to see mysticism everywhere. You can even find some of it in early science and mathematics. I sometimes joke that theology is the art of making stuff up as you go along. Story telling comes naturally to people. But usually they are adding mystical elements to a story that was told for different reasons. The Noah’s Arc story and the Gilgamesh story probably started as reactions to a serious local flood. Then the stories became greatly embelished with mystical elements. And plagiarism was common in those days. This was before the invention of the printing press, so plagiarism wasn’t seen as intellectual theft. It was a way of keeping stories and traditions alive.
It is amazing how key moments in a deconversion, obviously pivotal to the journey, when reflected on later are in themselves questionable and falsifiable, much like the religious beliefs they rocked in the first place. I always want to be able to question everything, even if for a while I used that ‘something’ to help me further along the road to honesty and reality.
This life is a journey, it’s not a destination.
-Sam
The Zeitgeist movie was a movie for its time. Life has moved on.
House of Bread!? Hilarious, but a great name for a local bakery!
Merry Xmas (or should I say Winter Solstice?) Rebekah.
Thanks! I celebrate both.
An enjoy to read. It is great to be able to point to a moment of growth on an intellectual journey. It is also useful thing to demonstrate how your mind has changed through reason and evidence. Most people will say that they have changed their mind on things they believe in the abstract sense, but when ask for a concrete example you will tend to hear crickets.
I had a similar experience with Zeitgeist — a feeling that there was some truth meshed into the suspicious puzzle pieces that fit together so nicely. However, in full retrospect and hindsight, Zeitgeist still makes more sense than the actual bible. It has a system based on things we can actually see (stars), non-violent symbols for each of us to identify with (zodiac), and a history with traceable lineage (myths). Every day of my life I’m awestruck at what it takes to rationalize the bible as a holy book inspired by not just any god, but THE god. If that’s the book god wanted us to have he’s a fu!ng idiot.
I definitely agree with Alex. The most fact checking I’ve seen are from Christians who are obviously biased. He’s right,Zeitgeist’s religious section makes MUCH more sense than the bible. But I’m thinking that true fact based ideas etc. are impossible after 2 or 3 thousand years. I go with my gut instinct,that there are truths on both sides of this question. And in the end it’s a personal decision, I believe both have elements of truth, and neither can prove they are factual. I do believe however that organized religions are used to control peoples,with their wealth and power,and also believe they continue to cause too much strife and killing. Our world is in desperate need of a new paradigm,or we’re fucked.
I think we passed the point of changing it. The world today is collapsing between climate change, the economy and global tensions. Today I don’t know 100% what I believe but I’ve been always open minded & willing to change my views or be wrong.
I had a spiritual awakening which has led me to here so far. I always agreed with that. I think both sides have truth but it’s all buried in bullshit. I believe there is a higher power be it Jesus, God, The Creator or the Source. It’s all the same being and we all call them something different. Religion I’ve always felt was nothing but control and corruption by 99% of the people who preach it. Even in the New Testatament Jesus states to beware of them because THEY do not pracrice what they preach, they want the golry and wear the robes with pride but on the inside they are dirty and use it for thier selfish gain. If we are to believe in that, it clearly restates what we know from thier own book. They preach but don’t follow it, so we should live as they preach but not follow them in their footsteps and to question what they preach. For they close the doors to heaven not just on themselves but steer away innocent from reaching it.
Thus in the book it states that they who are wolves in sheep’s clothing will be judged for all the sin of their ancestors from the moment of Able to today and they will be judged with wrath. For as we know, be it all real or not, they have used it for corruption and power and greed and sin and selfishness. I always believed if the creator is listening exactly that as the video shows, all these things and needs money and threatens you with the torture of hell BUT he loves us unconditionally with nothing but pure love and acceptance… that don’t add up fam. So I never followed religion but always had my own 1 on 1 personal relationship with him and felt that if he is the being they preach then THAT IS ENOUGH, I can just live a good life and one day find out. I don’t need to be at church every Sunday or donating everyday, just be faithful and be a good person.
It’s the wolves that want me to believe that’s what our creator wants. But they are all liars because they don’t want to lose the control. Even so it’s said this is a time when the mask cutting starts and we are to see an incredible shift in power as thier masks slip and people realize they’ve been playing us. That’s just my 2 cents.. sure feels like we are on the cusp of that.