As with all attempts to discredit Christianity: every few years the same ol′ objections are voiced in different forms and are discredited only to be voiced again voiced in different forms and discredited only to be voiced again voiced in different forms and discredited only to be voiced again voiced in different forms and discredited—you get the picture.
Such was the case with claims of similarities between how various religious personages were born—virgin births, etc. Beyond mere similarities some assert copying / borrowing—see Is the movie “Zeitgeist” accurate? for examples of this.
I thought that it might be interesting to consider how certain personages, who are considered prophets of various sorts, died.
Zoroaster / Zarathustra Zoroastrian tradition dates him to 628 BC—if any such person ever existed. Oh, I know; we are not supposed to say that about anyone except Jesus.
Zoroastrian scripture was compiled from 550-330 BC and, as per the Encyclopedia Britannica, “was assembled from remnants and standardized” between the 3rd and 7th centuries AD.
Some claim that he was murdered whilst at an altar while some claim that he simply died in peace of old age.
See: Burning Cross and El Zorro (…aster, that is)
Krishna
The year of Krishna’s birth is said to be 3,228 BC while the most important source of tales about Krishna were written in the Mahabharata between 400 BC and 200 AD and the Bhagavatam between the 9th to 13th centuries AD—if any such person ever existed. Oh, I know; we are not supposed to say that about anyone except Jesus.
Krishna was accidentally shot to death with an arrow by a hunter.
See: Hinduism / Hare Krishna / Krishna Consciousness
Siddhartha Gautama / Buddha
Considering that Buddhist scripture, including records of the Buddha’s life, were not put into writing until about 400 years after his death it is not surprising that the times of his birth (anywhere from 563 to 483 BC) and death are uncertain—if any such person ever existed. Oh, I know; we are not supposed to say that about anyone except Jesus.
It is generally reported that the Buddha died of, accidental, food poisoning.
See: Buddha and Jesus
Jesus Jesus is eternal yet, was born when He incarnated circa the year 4 BC. He died in the year 30 AD. His death was due to 1) His being sent by God the Father to die for our sins, 2) due to His taking on such a mission willingly, 3) due to the Jew’s rejection of Him and Messiah and considering Him to be a blasphemer, 4) due to the Romans subjecting Him to capital punishment, 5) due to my sin.
Three days after His death, Jesus rose from the death and subsequently ascended into heaven. There, He makes intercession for those who believe Him to be their savior and He will someday return.
Jesus died after being beaten, whipped and crucified.
Muhammad Muhammad was born in 570 AD—if any such person ever existed. Oh, I know; we are not supposed to say that about anyone except Jesus. The first manuscripts of the Qur’an were burned by the first Caliph, ‘Uthman, and all that we have, in essence, is his redaction which dates to circa 645 AD.
Other sources for the historical Muhammad date to 767, at the earliest (this is Ibn Ishaq’s work Life of God’s Messenger for which there is no manuscript evidence; it was quoted in later works by Abu Muhammad ‘Abd al-Malik bin Hisham aka Ibn Hisham and Abu Ja’far Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari).
While early on Muhammad had contemplated suicide, as he thought that he was being possessed by jins / demons, he died from poisoning in 632 AD. His poisoning was a purposeful act of revenge that took place after he attacked and conquered a Jewish settlement in Khaibar where he tortured and beheaded several of the settlements leaders so as to uncover where they had hidden their treasury.
See: my section on Islam
Joseph Smith Joseph Smith, Jr. founded Mormonism / The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He was born in 1805 AD and was shot to death in 1844 AD.
Smith was in prison due to charges that he had ordered his followers to destroy the headquarters of the Nauvoo Expositor newspaper which published information critical of Mormonism.
The jail was attacked and Smith was shot to death even as he shot some of his attackers to death.
Baha’u’llah
Mirza Hoseyn Ali, who took on the name Baha’u’llah (the Splendor, or Glory, of Allah), was born in 1817 AD.
He survived a poisoning attempt and died years later after a brief illness in 1892 AD.