Comparative mythology and astronomical religion

Charles François Dupuis

1742 – 1809

Charles François Dupuis was a French astronomer, classicist, and politician whose twelve-volume Origine de tous les Cultes (1795) argued that all world religions — including Christianity — derived from astronomical phenomena, particularly solar mythology and the movements of the zodiac. An early and systematic proponent of the Christ myth theory, he contended that Christianity was a synthesis of ancient astronomical allegories, influencing both Enlightenment rationalism and later esotericist interpretations of universal religious origins. His work became a touchstone for anyone arguing that all religions share a single astronomical substrate.