Ok, let's start with the Jesus of the Bible. Was Jesus ever worshipped as the Sun God and connected in a significant way to the solstice/sun? Let's see what the earliest extant sources about him have to say (i.e. the various books in the New Testament). If none of these books provide this connection, and neither do later books written about Jesus in the first 2-3 centuries AD, then we should safely say that Jesus was never worshipped as a Sun God by the early Church. So the question would be: who worshipped him as a Sun God?
The way to do this briefly (to save time and space) is to do an online key word search for all instances of the word "sun" in the New Testament. If none of them show any connection to Jesus' identity as some sun god in any way, then it's safe to say that the Bible has no support for what ZEGH (or, rather, what Acharya S herself) says:
I'll use the BibleGateway website (and the NIV version to be exact). Feel free to check the verses out using other translations if you don't trust the NIV.
Link to online BibleGateway search:
http://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/Now, searching for the word "sun" from Matthew to Revelation, we get the following verse references (check them out in detail and context on your own if you wish):
Matthew 5:45
that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Matthew 13:6
But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
Matthew 13:43
Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.
Matthew 17:2
There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.
Matthew 24:29
“Immediately after the distress of those days “‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’
Mark 1:32
That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed.
Mark 4:6
But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
Mark 13:24
“But in those days, following that distress, “‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;
Mark 16:2
Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb
Luke 1:78
because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
Luke 4:40
At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them.
Luke 21:25
“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea.
Luke 23:45
for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.
Acts 2:20
The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
Acts 7:42
But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the sun, moon and stars. This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets: “‘Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?
Acts 13:11
Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand.
Acts 26:13
About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions.
Acts 27:20
When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.
1 Corinthians 15:41
The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
Ephesians 4:26
“In your anger do not sin” : Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,
James 1:11
For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.
Revelation 1:16
In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
Revelation 6:12
I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red,
Revelation 7:16
‘Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them,’ nor any scorching heat.
Revelation 8:12
The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.
Revelation 9:2
When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss.
Revelation 10:1
Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars.
Revelation 12:1
A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.
Revelation 16:8
The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was allowed to scorch people with fire.
Revelation 19:17
And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God,
Revelation 21:23
The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.
Revelation 22:5
There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
***
As we can see, in almost every verse that the sun is brought up, it is associated with other objects similar to it, like the moon, the stars, etc. It is treated as an object separate from Jesus and even with less significance than Jesus himself as you can see in the Revelation verses.
The only verse that even treats Jesus as the sun is Luke 1:78, but if you check the context of the verse, it's within a hymn being sung by Zechariah the elderly priest (after his son John was born), and in Biblical hymns and songs and psalms as can be seen very often in the Old Testament, people are often metaphorically associated with objects depending on the point trying to be made, objects like the sun, the moon, the stars, like animals, like swords, and bows and arrows, and shields, and gazelles, and so on. And even then, that verse never actually suggests Jesus is the Sun God but that he is metaphorically the sun that rises on the people in metaphorical darkness. It does not mean that the Bible treats him as literally the Sun and that we're literally in darkness (at all times, that is).
So the Bible used as support for ZEGH's argument is out of the question. Other Christian sources at the time? Well, ZEGH needs to show any evidence from those primary sources treating Jesus as the Sun God. If he can't, then it means Christianity itself never treated Jesus as such.
Next post will attempt to see, by checking the primary sources, if Egyptian mythology had Gospel stories predating Jesus and that are for Horus or Osiris or whatever character you wish to choose from Egyptian mythology.
