[Foucceedo]

there is a whole video series on this issue over at a web site called The Zeitgeist.

Also, hammer, I don't know why you insist at several occasions (I've seen you mention it elsewhere before) that Krishna worship is about the same age as Christianity. That may be your understanding, but I don't know if that is the established understanding. The Yuga Era calendar (the current Kali Yuga) is set at passing away of Krishna Dwapiayana-- The Krishna of the Dwapara Yuga. That calendar is traced back to the year 3102 BCE (meaning the current Kali Yuga year is 5,111.

Now if you say Bhakti Yoga as a popular devotional worhship movement, is about the same age as Chrisitianity, then that is more agreeable. But before Bhakti Yoga's popularity, Brahmins and others within Hinduism worshipped Krishna (among other avatars of God) using other Yoga sutras, especially Gyana Yoga. In fact, Krishna is even mentioned in some Buddhist texts (as Kanha) and some of Hinduism's/India's early texts dating back to 5th century BCE refer to Krishna worship.

Considering that a lot of what evolved into classical Hinduism was passed down the generations among families only via oral tradition, the actual antiquity of Krishna worship can, at this point, only be gauged to be quite older, and certainly older than the appearance of Jesus worship.