In continuing my essays on the critical view that our thoughts and belief about Jesus are borrowed from pagan myths, I want consider the myth of Romulus and Remus - the founders of Rome. I found an interesting article that makes the claim that beliefs about Jesus was influenced by Romulus because according to legend.1. Romulus and his twin, Remus, were the sons of a virgin raped by Mars - the God of War.
2. Romulus and Remus' uncle who supplanted their mother's father as a King wanted to kill them
3. After Romulus killed his brother and founded the city of Rome, a darkness covered the sun and he was ascended to heaven and made a god himself.
One of the articles I read asks the question for why is Jesus more credible than Romulus.
1.Generally speaking the founding of Rome is thought to be 753 BC, however Rome did not completely conquer the Greek Empire until about 30 BC and I doubt that we can argue that the Romans were worshiping the Greek god Ares whom the Romans called Mars back before the 750's.
2. Another point is that one of the earliest written examples of the myth was by Plutarch and can't be dated before the 1st century AD. How do we know that legend did not crop in there.
3. How closely does Jesus really resemble Romulus? He doesn't.
a. Romulus killed his brother Remus and Jesus never killed anyone - sounds more like Cain and Able.
b. Romulus became a god, Jesus was always god.
c. Romulus was conceived when a god raped his mother. Jesus was not conceived sexually - a true virgin birth. Even if you want to argue that Mars is a real god, it doesn't stack up against Jesus.
Source:
More Clues in the Legend (or Is It Fact?) of Romulus
Romulus and Remus
Plutarch
Romulus & Remus: A Lesson for Christianity
