The idea of a dying and rising god is very common for the line of near eastern religions christianity emerged from. This also means that the scholars whose text

The idea of a dying and rising god is very common for the line of near eastern religions christianity emerged from. This also means that the scholars whose texts we now have as sources were most probably accustomed to the idea. Them reiterating christian assertions thus is mostly just proof that they were accustomed to the then-prevalent belief systems. Other traits of christian beliefs also mirror other near eastern religions. Have a look at e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroastrianism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroastrianism - Zoroaster is the prophet receiving commandments directly from the good god, you also have a bad god seducing people, you have heaven and hell, and where one lands after death is a result of listening to the commandments or giving in to the seductions.