Is there a Connection Between Jesus and Scipio Africanus?

Image via Wikipedia

When critics of Christianity want to deny the historicity of Christian teachings of Jesus by claiming that we copied our beliefs about who Jesus and is and what he did from pagan mythologies they sometimes like to point to Scipio Africanus. They point to him because it is said that that he was the product of a virgin birth reported before Jesus appears on the stage of human history. This idea has been circling the internet. Here is the first example I found:

When Scipio Africanus (Scipio Africanus, for Christ's sake) is described as the Son of God, born of a mortal woman, we understand that as a myth.

Well, I decided to google "ScipioAfricanus", and I found something very perculiar: this was a man whose reality of his existence is well documented. He lived 235–183 BC. Why should you care? He was the Roman general who managed to save the Roman Empire from being destroyed in the Second Punic War against Carthage! In other words, he beat Hannibal after Hannibal managed to destroy several Roman legions. So one might imagine that the people of  Rome for generations looked up to him. The idea that his was a virgin birth seems to come from the following quote:

Image via Wikipedia

It is recorded that the mother of Scipio Africanus, the elder, had the same experience as Olympias, Philip the Great's wife and Alexander the Great's mother,... his mother had long been believed sterile and that Publius Scipio, her husband, had despaired of having children. Then, while her husband was away and she was sleeping on her own, a huge snake was seen beside her, in her room and in her bed; when those who saw this snake shouted out in terror, it vanished and could not be found. Scipio consulted the harupices about this and they held a sacrifice and gave a response that children would be born. Not long after the sighting of the snake, the woman began to show all signs of being pregnant; in the tenth month, she gave birth to this Publius Africanus, the man who defeated Hannibal and the Carthaginians in the Second Punic War. But it is much more because of his achievements than because of that prodigy that he also is thought to be a man of godlike quality.
[Aulus Gellius, Attic Nights VI. 1.1-6, 2d century AD]

 So, yup Attic Nights VI is an ancient work, written by a Roman - almost 400 years after Scipio's birth and 200 years after Jesus' birth. What's more credible? In attempt to understand how Scipio Africanus could have beaten the unbeatable Hannibal that generations afterward he gained a reputation imbued with dignity influenced by the Christian tradition. Aulus Gellius was far from a contemporary  and I could find no evidence of anyone who was alive at the same times as people who knew Scipio who thought Scipio was the son of a god.  Contrast that with Jesus. Matthew and Luke report that Jesus was virgin born (no sexual contact)  and both written withing 70 years of Jesus' crucifixion.  Matthew and Mark were not influenced by Gellius, they came first. Aside from that Alexander the Great, 100 years before Scipio, is said to have been born under the same circumstances: their moms had sex with a  god who had taken the form of  a snake! Hardly a virgin birth. What does Jesus have in common with Scipio Africanus? Nothing.

Pagan Origins of the Christ Myth
Scipio Africanus

Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament: What Was the Donkey Doing in Its Master’s Crib?

Image via Wikipedia

Dr. Claude Mariottini has posted a great article discussing Isaiah 1:3. It says

“The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib; but Israel does not know, my people do not understand” (Isaiah 1:3 NRSV).

"The ox knows his master,
the donkey his owner's manger,
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand."(NIV)

The article discusses that fact that some translations like the NRSV makes it sound like Isaiah was saying that donkeys belong in a baby's crib. But clearly many translations including te NIV do not make the same translation mistake. I agree with Dr. Mariottni that it does seem like a translation mistake. I also think that the issue brought up that some people interpret the verse as being a prophecy of Jesus lying in a manger as a baby. I was aware of the fact that the tradition of baby Jesus, lying in a manger surrounded by farm animals is just that - a tradition. I didn't realize that there is a pseudo-gospel out there that teaches that outright. This article is great and worth reading!

Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament: What Was the Donkey Doing in Its Master’s Crib?