Riddle of Resurrection Quotes

“One sometimes notes in the research certain evasive strategies designed to avoid the conclusion that the notion of dying and rising deities might be a pre-Christian phenomenon. Ancient Near Eastern gods are freely granted the privilege of rising or returning—as long as they behave like gentlemen and do not do so before Christ.”
― Tryggve N.D. Mettinger, Riddle of Resurrection: Dying and Rising Gods in the Ancient Near East