Letter: Incarnation myth

The idea that he was an incarnation of God (Richard Lucas, Letters, 13 December) would have greatly surprised Jesus. He rejected any such idea, as "the historical evidence" shows.

The early church borrowed the concept of incarnation from contemporary religions, notably Mithraism, so as to show that Jesus was as worthy of worship as a saviour god as them. Without that invention Christianity would have vanished.

STEUART CAMPBELL

Dovecot Loan

Edinburgh