Editing Christian mythology (section)

===Other connections===
In [[Buddhist mythology]], the demon [[Mara (demon)|Mara]] tries to distract the historical Buddha, [[Siddhartha Gautama]], before he can reach enlightenment. [[Huston Smith]], a professor of philosophy and a writer on comparative religion, notes the similarity between Mara's temptation of the Buddha before his ministry and Satan's temptation of Christ before his ministry.<ref>Smith, p. 9</ref>

In the [[Book of Revelation]], the author sees a vision of a pregnant woman in the sky being pursued by a huge red dragon. The dragon tries to devour her child when she gives birth, but the child is "caught up to God and his throne". This appears to be an allegory for the triumph of Christianity: the child presumably represents Christ; the woman may represent God's people of the Old and New Testaments (who produced Christ); and the Dragon symbolizes Satan, who opposes Christ.<ref>footnote on Revelation 12:1–6 in ''The New American Bible'', St Joseph Edition</ref> According to Catholic scholars, the images used in this allegory may have been inspired by pagan mythology:
{{blockquote|This corresponds to a widespread myth throughout the ancient world that a goddess pregnant with a savior was pursued by a horrible monster; by miraculous intervention, she bore a son who then killed the monster.<ref>footnote on Revelation 12:1–6 in ''The New American Bible'', St Joseph Edition. The footnote does not specify which pagan myths it means.</ref>}}