Christians May Have Stolen the Life-After-Death Idea

It is amusing to read sometimes on Christian sites that new archeology discoveries "prove" the historical validity of the Bible. There are discoveries that some claim might be evidence of Biblical events. But there are many more discoveries that raise questions. My own prediction is the field of archeology will become Christianity's biggest enemy.

A few years ago an Egyptian archeologist started poking around a pyramid that others had long abandoned. It was a pyramid away from the famous ones and had been robbed of its mummies and jewels generations ago. The scholar moved debris and saw color in a crack. The wall gave access to a hoard of coffins and history undisturbed for over 4,000 years. There have been articles and documentaries about the find. The article I like was just published in The Smithsonian. Most titles are similar to "The Secret Tombs of Saqqara."

It turns of Christianity was a late comer to using an "afterlife" to play with people's minds. The Greek Gods did not use it, nor did the Pagans. It was the Egyptians. A few thousand years before the New Testament time they used the afterlife to take people's money and presumably control them. Like some of today's Christians, they were "experts" in what to expect after death.

The trove of mummies is accompanied by prized possessions, food and pets. All of these are to provide the dead with the same thing as heaven, an eternal life of luxury. As the rooms of bodies and treasure are revealed, something similar to Christianity has come into view also.

Dating of the artifacts shows the earliest mummies were people of wealth and importance. Each of these rich people paid others to make accommodations for eternity. As the centuries moved along, it became apparent people of lower income also paid for luxury in the afterlife. And, as space in the tunnels filled, those who ran the business packed the dead tighter and tighter to keep their revenue flowing. There was profit in the lower classes and keepers of the tomb intended to grab it.

The link explores the timing and location of belief in the afterlife. He says there is not a direct path from Egyptians to Judeo/Christianity. The afterlife sprung up here and there in ancient literature. 

But no ancient authors laid out the clear message of the afterlife like the Egyptians and no group copies the Egyptians as well as today's Christians. People who like to imagine an after life have had opportunities.