Is Balder like Jesus?
Article author: Jay Zeke Malakai
Article editor: Jay Zeke Malakai
Introduction
Copycat theorists usually remain curiously silent on exactly how Balder is supposed to have influenced Christianity. However, he still appears on a list of the world's "16 crucified saviours" that bear resemblence to Jesus, and thus must have influenced his stories. In this article, we will look at who Balder was and why he cannot be the inspiration for Christianity.
Who was Balder?
Balder is a norse god who was invincible to all items except mistletoe. He originated more than 1,000 years after Christianity, showing the impossibility of having influenced it.
Crucified?
Balder's death in norse mythology somewhat reminds me of the legend of Achilles. As the story goes, Balder had a dream that he was soon to die, and he begged the gods to protect him from death. A god named Frigg, hearing Balder's plea, asked everything on Earth to take a sacred oath not to harm Balder. However, Frigg did not see any possible danger coming from mistletoe, and thus he did not take an oath from that.
A fun pass time for norse gods was throwing things at Balder, testing his invincibility. However, hearing of Balder's weakness to Mistletoe, the god Loki crafts a spear out of the plant. He then tricks the god Hodur into throwing the
spear at Balder, killing him.
The failed resurrection
There are no accounts of Balder successfully being raised to life, but there is one story in which Balder's father, Odin, begs the norse god of death (Hel) to let Balder return to life. Hel agrees, on one condition. Everything on Earth must weep for Balder. Everything did, except for one thing. Loki. Because Loki refused to weep for Balder, Odin's plea to Hel failed, and Balder stayed dead.
Conclusion
Since copycat theorists rarely explain the supposed parallelles between Jesus and Balder, it is almost not worth listing him and responding. And norse gods didn't even exist at the time of Jesus, making it impossible for them to have influenced Christianity. Furthermore, the only similarity between Jesus and Balder's deaths is that both are pierced by sharp objects, and while Balder's resurrection attempt fails miserably, the grave just could not keep hold of Jesus for more than the 3 days he allowed it to. Jesus simply is not a copy of Balder.