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This website is mostly aimed at providing arguments and evidence for the non-Christian, the Christian who may be struggling with what he or she believes, or those Christians who are interested in reaching out to others.
My opinions may contradict what other Christians believe, but many of my arguments are also based on arguments given by a variety of Christian sources. I especially owe a debt of gratitude to the writings of Glenn Miller, J.P. Holding, Paul Maier, Grant R. Jeffrey, Lee Strobel, and Gerald Schroeder.
Please feel free to borrow ideas or arguments of mine (since many of them were not mine to begin with). I do ask that if you quote from my site directly, to please credit me.
Jesus & Adonis Parallels - A Christian Response
There are several different versions of the Adonis legend, but none of them provide any sort of parallel to the story of Jesus. Critics claim that Adonis was born of a virgin, but there are no versions of the story in which he is virgin-born. In the most common versions, his mother (named either Myrrha or Smyrna) conceives Adonis by having sex with her father, the King of Assyria. Ashamed, she hides in the woods and the gods turn her into a Myrrh tree. The tree later bursts open (or is broken open by a wild boar, or struck by an arrow fired by Theias) and Adonis emerges. In other versions, his mother is Queen Metharme of Cyprus or Aephesiboea, but I've found no references to either of them being virgins.
Critics also claim that Adonis died and was resurrected. Adonis is killed by a wild boar which was sent by Artemes (or, in some versions, Ares), and each drop of blood turns into the very first roses. In some post-Christian versions, his followers cremate his body and scatter his ashes to the wind, proclaiming that Adonis lives. Other than the proclamation that he lives, which is clearly not referencing a bodily resurrection since they're tossing about his ashes, there is no reference to his having lived after death. And, again, this is post-Christian anyways.
Links:
Pre-Christian sources:
Bion, "Lament For Adonis" (poem) (1st or 2nd century B.C.)
Apollodorus on Adonis (scroll down to 3:14:3) (2nd century B.C.)
General Sources:
Greek Myth Index: Adonis
Greek Mythology Link: Adonis
Encyclopedia Mythica: Adonis
Adonis, Greek Mythology
Tektonics: Adonis