Is Attis like Jesus?
Article author: Jay Zeke Malakai
Article editor: Jay Zeke Malakai
Introduction
Attis is another pagan god that allegedly shares too many similarities to Jesus to be coincidence. Copycat theorists allege that Attis was born of a virgin on December 25th, that he is one with his father, that he died by crucifixion to attone for sins, that he was buried in a tomb and rose from the dead, and that he commanded his followers to eat bread and drink wine in rememberance of him. In this article, we will see that this argument does not hold water. Or wine...
Who was Attis?
Attis worship originated in what is now modern day Turkey, and eventually migrated throughout the Roman empire aswell.
The birth of Attis
Copycat theorists claim Attis was born of a virgin on December 25th. First, Attis' birth date is not actually mentioned in any writing available to us. Interestingly, neither is Jesus'. Unless some historically verified documents surface, giving us the exact date on which Jesus was born, we may never know when he was born.
But the story of Attis' birth is nothing like Jesus' birth either, no matter when it was supposed to have occurred. According to the story, a sexually frustrated Zeus masturbates and spills his semen on the ground. The Earth then brings forward an a-sexual monster named Agdistis, which creates the Sangarius river. A nymph, named Nana
emerges from the river. One way or another, an almond impregnates her, and she gives birth to Attis, whom she abandons, and Attis is instead raised by a goat. Now, I'll grant you, Nana doesn't have sex to concieve Attis, but honestly, in what possible way is having an almond pressed to her breast related to Mary being impregnated by the Holy Spirit?
One with the father
From what we already know about Attis' birth, we can already see that this is a little bit of a stretch. If we trace Attis' origins back through the crazy amounts of events, we find that the closest male link to him is Zeus. At no point in time is Attis claimed to be one with Zeus, so this similarity is complete nonsense. But even then, Zeus is not Attis' father, but if anything is his great grandfather.
Attis' death
Without some extreme twisting of word meanings, Attis' death bears no similarity to Jesus'. In the story of Attis' death, Attis goes insane before his wedding, and castrates himself below a pine tree. He bleeds to death, and the ground where his blood spilled brings forth violets. Attis' death is an accidental suicide caused by a moment of madness. By contrast, Jesus' death is a heroic act of sacrifice for the ones he loves. At no point in any pre-Christian accounts of his death does Attis attone for the sins of his loved ones, but Jesus has that goal in mind from before he even comes to the Earth. There is no similarity here.
Was Attis buried in a tomb?
There are several variants of what happened to Attis' body after death. In one account, Agdistas blames itself for Attis' death, and asks Zeus to preserve his corpse so it never decomposes. In another, Agdistas and Cybele carry the pine tree, under which Attis died, to Cybele's cave, where they mourn Attis' death together. In later versions, Attis is transformed into the pine tree.
Did Attis rise from the dead?
Nope.
The last supper
The only feast associated with Attis is when Attis' followers would eat a sanctified meal while playing tambourines. It is not mentioned exactly what is eaten, but copycat theorists assume it was bread and wine. While it's possible bread may have been involved, wine was banned during Attis festivals, making it very unlikely it would have been consumed. Darwing a parallelle between communion and Attis festivals is a stretch at best.
Conclusion
As you can see, Attis is yet another "pagan saviour" that simply cannot have influenced Christianity. Attis is the son of an almond and a nymph, not the son of a virgin, and he was not "one with his father", as he had no father. Attis' death is not by crucifixion to attone for sins, but is an accidental suicide by self-castration in a moment of madness, and the closest he comes to resurrection is in a variant of his stories when he becomes a pine tree. Attis was never buried in a tomb, and attempts to liken his feast to communion are very weak. Christianity and the religion of Attis share no similarities what so ever, meaning Jesus could not be a copy of Attis.