Posted by:
Lot's Wife
(
)
Date: February 02, 2024 12:34AM
Wow. That book is not an easy read.
The Golden Bough has been criticized on several scores, most importantly Fraser's tendency to make data from exotic cultures fit patterns he learned closer to home--like Micronesian rituals interpreted through Hebrew lenses--but given that it was first published way back when the Mormons adopted the Manifesto, it's held up exceptionally well.
I wrote about the annual death of the god and the consumption of his body--which were necessary for the world's vernal rebirth as well as the reincarnation of the dead--on RfM several weeks ago. My point was precisely the one you make here: no matter what Jesus was and did, the religion he founded was soon transformed into a run-of-the-mill mystery cult of the sort that was all over the eastern Mediterranean in the early centuries CE.
Viewed with that in mind, what is striking is God's lack of imagination. One would expect his "true" religion to stand out a bit more from all the cults.
https://www.exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,2501929,2501929#msg-2501929