David,

I apologize for taking so long to reply. I came across your email this morning as I was cleaning out my spam folder.

It's a folder on my own computer which I drag spam messages to, for the purpose of blocking the senders later. The reason your email ended up there is because originally, in my haste on October 11th, I misunderstood "Christ-myther" as a misspelling of "Christ mother," and assumed this was from a typical illiterate spammer. I didn't read any of the body of your message until this morning.

I believe something similar may have happened between you and my web page. With the statement, "You also claim to have come across mythology books in a library which back up the claims," you seem to be implying that I did not cite any sources. A more careful reading, or an actual first reading, would clear that up for you.

Another reason I think you didn't give the page more than a cursory glance is that your email seems to imply that I am interested in proving the claims these sources make. An actual reading of the page will reveal that I have no interest or stake in proving these claims to you or anyone.

In fact, I want you to continue to believe in the saving grace of Jesus Christ, as long as that belief system continues to serve you. This is so many what dedicated Christians who visit my page don't seem to understand (and I suspect the reason they continually miss my point is that they scan the page looking for "proof" that doesn't exist, rather than actually reading its message):

What I'm conveying on my web page is not directed at anyone who is secure in his own belief system. I have no interest in changing anyone's opinion. It is directed at those whose belief systems have failed them. It is not proof, but lack of proof that is the underlying basis of the message on my page.

It started as an email to someone who asked what I believed. It became so long that I decided to upload it to my web space and send him the link. I eventually put so much time into it that I removed the salutation and posted it as an open letter to anyone who might ask.

As you will see if you take the time to read the page, its genesis is my own confusion. It's a very personal story, and it's a bit of a time capsule, as my beliefs have continued to change over the eight years since I wrote it.

You may be wondering why I bothered to repeat the Christ-myth claims, since I have no proof of them other than the texts that make those claims (which I agree are nothing more than words printed on paper). My answer is: For the same reason I repeated the Christ claims found in the texts of the Christian scriptures.

It was to show how muddy the waters are. With enough honest, objective research, these waters become so muddy that they take on the consistency of sand, and yet our human folly is to attempt to build on the sand anyway. And when the rain, winds and floods destroy what we've so carefully constructed, our mistake is to look at the sand on which the ruins lie, call it rock, and try to rebuild.

So I'm afraid I won't be one of the thousand dollar winners. To try for that prize would be to rebuild on sand, and that's not what it's for. Sand is for building temporary castles, and playing with your kids, and basking in the sun.

Brad

Brad,

Thanks for your response.

You said: "You may be wondering why I bothered to repeat the Christ-myth claims, since I have no proof of them other than the texts that make those claims (which I agree are nothing more than words printed on paper). My answer is: For the same reason I repeated the Christ claims found in the texts of the Christian scriptures."

I think there is a strong difference though. When I say that the Gospels claim that Jesus was resurrected, they do. Whether He actually *was* resurrected or not is certainly up for debate (the authors could, hypothetically, have been lying or mistaken), but the texts do claim what I say that they claim. But the ancient texts about Horus, Mithra, etc. do not make any claims about those deities being born of virgins or resurrected, as your site claims. So it's not a question of whether those things actually happened, but whether it was even claimed that they had in pre-Christian times. It wasn't. The purpose of my challenge is to get Christ-mythers to actually look for the evidence for themselves, so that they will discover for themselves that it doesn't exist, and hopefully get the more honest ones to stop spreading the misinformation.

By the way, I have a link to your website at my page, and am putting your response on the page, also. If you want me to take either one (or both) down, let me know.

David

You're giving me the choice as to whether you "take either one (or both) down"?

Okay.

I want you to take your response down, but leave mine up. I want you to leave your readers with the distinct impression that you sat there, mouth open and eyes unfocused, completely dazzled by my response but unable to conjure up a single word in response to mine.

(I'm kidding.)