Question 64 – Isn't Christianity a relatively recent religion?

I have often encountered the argument that Christianity cannot be true because of its relative "youth." It emerged approximately 2,000 years ago. This reasoning leads some to wonder: "Did God not care about people before then?" However, this idea is grounded in a lack of understanding of the fundamentals of Christianity. The answer is simple. Christianity has been present (in simplified terms) throughout the existence of humanity, as people have believed in God since the time of our earliest ancestors up to our own generation. Christianity is intrinsically connected with Judaism—specifically the Old Testament of the Bible.

The Old Covenant (Old Testament)

The Old Covenant is the "agreement" made between God and the people of Israel. The biblical books comprising the Old Testament contain information about the creation of the world, the first humans, human rebellion, the rise of civilizations, etc. Furthermore, within these pages, God promised through prophecy a savior (the Messiah) who was to come and establish a new and more perfect covenant. This Messiah was Jesus Christ.

The New Covenant (New Testament)

The New Covenant concerns the arrival of this promised Messiah, who lived among us, died, rose again, and now reigns at the right hand of God the Father. Through all that Jesus accomplished, He established a new covenant between man and God. The people of the new covenant are called Christians. Hence, we can assert that Christianity has been here from the beginning—since it refers to the same God we find within the pages of both the Old and the New Testament. God's message remains consistent, with one key difference: before Jesus' arrival, people were to believe that God would send a savior; after His arrival, they are to believe that He has already sent Him.

Plagiarism of Other Religions?

In connection with Christianity's relatively young age, there are further questions and counterarguments. Some attempt to prove that Christianity emerged by plagiarizing ideas from ancient Eastern religions. Consequently, it is nothing more than a "mishmash" of various elements, motifs, and teachings from other, non-Christian cultures. One of the most well-known documentaries globally attempting to "prove" this view is "Zeitgeist." It exerts a strong (even fanatical) effort to undermine the credibility of Jesus Christ, from questioning His historicity to attempting to demonstrate that many aspects of Jesus' life (birth date, number of disciples, aspects of His birth, etc.) are mirrored in other cults and gods. Simply put, this popular documentary finds great success with its audience, who believe its conclusions without reservation. However, the reality is that it is a highly manipulative and deceptive work, often using incorrect, false, and misleading information—not to mention its lack of academic integrity. There are plenty of critical responses online, including expert analyses, uncovering many manipulations and falsehoods concerning the critique of Christianity.

The most frequently cited similarities between pagan myths and Christianity in this documentary and others of its ilk are often forced, and in many instances, the information about alleged parallels is outright fabricated. One scholarly critical review comments on these parallels as follows:

"After watching the first part of Zeitgeist, The Movie the first thing that struck me, besides the obvious errors, was how dated the movie was. Its main argument stems from pointing out parallels between Christian beliefs and other belief systems with the conclusion, implied or blatant that there must therefore be a link. Such reasoning was popular among skeptics in the first half of the 20th century and earlier, but as more serious work was done, such argument were discarded, particularly after Samuel Sandmel's article Parallelamania in the 1960s. The main flaw in such arguments is that they are selective and thus superficial. They are selective in that they take only those things that match, and ignore differences. This leads them to be superficial in that the mere appearance of a parallel however weak is taken as a parallel. The net result is that you can find meaning and significance where it does not exist. For example, consider the parallels that have been noted between the assassinations of Lincoln and Kennedy. The problem scholars found is that the more they looked for parallels the more they found them, even between things that clearly did not have any links. Thus scholars long ago concluded that such parallels were pretty much meaningless." [2]

We do not have the space here to delve into specific mystery religions and systematically refute their arguments, so I will conclude with a few words. No one denies that certain similarities exist that can provoke various questions. However, it is essential to recognize that similarities of this nature occur across all human culture and experience—simply because we are people with similar feelings, thought processes, sinful nature, tendencies to solve problems, etc. Moreover, the role of God's adversary, Satan, must not be overlooked, as he has been attempting to destroy and discredit God's work for millennia. Nevertheless, despite these similarities, no credible or convincing evidence exists that would challenge the foundations of Christianity and the person of Jesus Christ. In the current academic climate, the idea that Christianity was influenced by mystery religions is almost universally dismissed. For instance, Professor of Old Testament T. N. D. Mettinger confirms this with the words: 

"Those who still think otherwise are considered the last members of an almost extinct species." [3]

Summation

In esoteric circles, theories and notions about Christianity being influenced by mystery religions are quite widespread. There are many arguments for rejecting these notions on the basis of rational consideration. The historical reality, confirmed by numerous researchers in this field, is quite different. Many of the alleged similarities and parallels are fabricated, evidently false, or seek connections where none truly exist.