Person of Interest: Why Jesus Still Matters in a World that Rejects the Bible

by J. Warner Wallace

As I finished my investigation of the mythologies, I recognized that there were similarities between Jesus and the mythological deities. The list of the most common attributes of these ancient deities sounded a lot like the Christian description of Jesus: Predicted by prophecy Recognized the need for a sacrifice Born by unnatural means Established a divine meal Protected as an infant Faced a trial Faced temptation Had the power to defeat death Was associated with shepherds Offered eternal life Possessed supernatural power Judge the living and the dead Engaged and taught humans directly At first glance, these common descriptions seemed surprisingly similar to characteristics of Jesus. But a closer examination revealed something entirely different. None of the ancient mythologies possessed all the attributes described on this list. At best, a handful of deities displayed ten of the shared characteristics. Most had far fewer (from five to nine). And while these similarities existed broadly, the details among the ancient narratives differed dramatically. For example, although many ancient deities were said to enter the world unnaturally, the way they entered couldn’t have been more different.