Dupuis argued that ancient rituals in Syria, Egypt and Persia had influenced the Christian story which was allegorized as the histories of solar deities, such as Sol Invictus. He argued also that Jewish and Christian scriptures could be interpreted according to the solar pattern, e.g. the Fall of Man in Genesis being an allegory of the hardship caused by winter, and the resurrection of Jesus an allegory for the growth of the sun's strength in the sign of Aries at the spring equinox. Volney argued that Abraham and Sarah were derived from Brahma and his wife Saraswati, and that Christ was related to Krishna. Volney published before Dupuis but made use of a draft version of Dupuis' work, and followed much of his argument, but at times differed from him, e.g. in arguing that the gospel stories were not intentionally created as an extended allegory grounded in solar myths, but were compiled organically when simple allegorical statements were misunderstood as history. Reception French Catholic librarian Jean-Baptiste Pérès wrote a satirical refutation of Dupuis's work under the title of Grand Erratum'' (1827), in which he maintains, in parallel to Dupuis's thesis that the cult of Christ is merely a cult of the Sun, that Napoleon (who, in reality, died a mere six years before the publication of the pamphlet) never existed, but was only a sun myth. Awards Dupuis was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour by decree on 25 April 1806. References External links Brief notes Origine, chapter ix: "An explanation of the fable, in which the Sun is worshiped under the name of Christ" Origine, chapter xii: "“An abridged explanation of an apocalyptic work of the initiates into the mysteries of the light and of the sun, worshipped under the symbol of the vernal lamb or of the celestial ram." Full text of Origin of all Religious Worship (Origine de tous les Cultes) 1742 births 1809 deaths 18th-century essayists 18th-century French male writers 18th-century French scientists 18th-century non-fiction writers Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Christ myth theory proponents Academic staff of the Collège de France Critics of Christianity Enlightenment scientists French male essayists French male non-fiction writers French rhetoricians Lycée Saint-Louis alumni Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres Pantheists People from Oise Rhetoric theorists Trope theorists Writers about religion and science