So why December 25th? What is so special about this date that practically a whole pantheon of gods were born on this day? It is the winter solstice. Although our Gregorian calendars place the solstice on the 21st, the old Roman calendar, known as the Julian calendar, places the solstice on the 25th. The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year, that is the darkest day of the year, and it marks the time in which the days begin to grow longer again. This was considered a promise of spring to come and a sign of rebirth, hence why vegetative deities (namely all the above) are born on this day.
But the fact that these gods, and probably more, are born on this day is not the only coincidence between them and Jesus. Of them the following are born of virgins : Horus, Attis, Krishna, Zoroaster, Mithra, Heracles, Dionysus, Tammuz, Adonis, Hermes, and Bacchus. We could certainly compare all of these to Jesus, but let's just focus on a couple of them and their correlation to Jesus :
Horus's early father was named Seb, which is synonymous with Joseph. As a child he taught the priest in the temple. He went on hiatus for many years and when he returned he was baptized in a river. Horus had twelve disciples. He performed miracles, healed the blind and the lame, and raised the dead. Actually, he raised El-Azarus, which is synonymous with Lazarus (though originally derived from El-Osiris). He preached a sermon on a mountain. Horus was crucified and flanked by two crucified thieves. He was buried in a tomb, and three days later was resurrected. He was known as the "The Way", "The Truth", "The Light", "Messiah", "The Shepherd", "Son of God", "Son of Man" (Manson), "The Lamb of God", "KRST" or "Christ", and "The Anointed One". He was, to top it off, a fisherman and was attributed with a fish (the Ichthys).
Krishna's earthly father was a carpenter. He birth was signaled by a star in the eastern sky. He was placed in a manger. Angels and shepherds attended his nativity and brought gifts of spices. He performed miracles, raised the dead, and healed the sick, the lame, the blind, and lepers. Krishna had twelve disciples. He was crucified and flanked by two thieves. Known as "Son of God" and "Lord" and "Savior". He represents the second entity of the Hindu trinity. His disciples called him "Jezeus" or "Jeseus", which translates from Sanskrit meaning "pure essence".
Now, I personally find the accusation of Christians "stealing" from other religions to be a bit unfair. Although the Romans "stole" practically their whole mythology from the Greeks, we usually say the Romans "borrowed" from the Greeks. We might say, then, that the Christians simply united primary deities from other cultures to unify the nations under one religion. Point in fact, this is precisely what early Christianization was trying to do : to bring the world together into one belief system. Albeit, latter Christianization was far more forceful, unforgiving, unnecessarily brutal, and very violent.
Does this all sound vaguely familiar? Sure, we are experiencing it right now from the 20th Century until today in the 21st Century. It's called globalization. Globalization is the attempt to bring all nations and cultures into one political, economical, monetary, and social system. It involves incorporating the successful systems used by certain nations and rejecting the faulty systems of another. Globalization primarily tries to focus on creating a global economy that unifies different monetary systems, and often unites under one form of currency (for instance, the Euro). Social and cultural unification and adoption is usually a side-effect, though it may be intentionally by some nations. For instance, African cultures adopting American clothing styles and Oriental countries building McDonald's and Wal-Marts.
Considering how Jesus is so well tied to other deities of other nations, we can fairly safely say that Jesus, the "pure essence", was the precursor to globalization. For those who like equations :
Horus + Osiris + Attis + Krishna + Buddha + Zoroaster + Mithra + Heracles + Tammus + Dionysus + Hermes + Bacchus + Prometheus = Jesus
∴ Jesus ≤ Globalization.
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