(3) All offered mystical cleansing from sin. At this moment the light from the candle of the priest is passed on to light the candles of his companions; guns and firecrackers are discharged as they prepare to break the Lenten fast.\[Footnote:] Fairbanks, Greek Religion, p. 288.\29 As in the Eleusinian mysteries the modern Greek Christian finds this a moment of supreme joy. On the contrary many of its forms and some of its old content has been perpetuated in Christianity.30, Mithraism is perhaps the greatest example of paganisms last effort to reconcile itself to the great spiritual movement which was gaining such sturdy influence with its purer conception of God.\[Footnote:] Dill, Roman Society From Nero to Marcus Aurelius, p. 585.\ Ernest Renan, the French philosopher and Orientalist, expressed the opinion that Mithraism would have been the religion of the modern world if anything had occured to halt or destroy the growth of Christianity in the early centuries of its existence. Answer (1 of 7): Over the years, Christianity has often been compared to the mystery religions of ancient Greece and Rome, both by Christians wishing to emphasize the esoteric nature of their religion and by opponents of Christianity who claim that the resemblance between Christianity and mystery. However these specific differences need not concern us, for the most significant aspects are common in all the various versions.10 We are concerned at this point with showing how this religion influenced the thought of early Christians. 213214 in this volume. During the first semester of his second year at Crozer, King wrote this paper for Enslin's course on Greek religion. 211225 in this volume. At an early date there was associated with Cybele, the Great Mother, a hero-divinity called Attic who personified the life of the vegetable world particularly. Whatever the religious doctrines of the Masonic sect it is plain that they do not embrace the central Christian . This effigy was later buried in a tomb. It is at this point that we are able to see why knowledge of the Mystery religions is important for any serious study of the history of Christianity. Christianity emerged and grew at a time when mystery religions were popular throughout the Roman Empire. Harold R. Willoughby, Pagan Regeneration (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1929), p. 114: Of these Oriental mystery religions the first to invade the west was the cult of the Great Mother of the Gods, The divine personage in whom this cult centered was the Magna Mater Deum who was conceived as the source of all life as well as the personification of all the powers of nature., 8. As is commonly known Antioch was one of the earliest seats of Christianity. The essential features of Christianity were fixed once and for all in this book; the mystery doctrines, however, always remained in a much greater state of fluidity. Payam Nabarz reveals the history and tenets of Mithraism, its connections to Christianity, Islam, and Freemasonry, and the modern neo-pagan practice of . After a short period of toleration, the pagan religions were prohibited. Fairbanks, Greek Religion, p. 293: This religion was not blotted out by Christianity. I do not deny that there are some similarities. It is very common to find claims that Christianity was a mystery religion, similar to the worship of Dionysus, Isis, Orpheus, etc. 126127: But the Christian feast of All Souls, in honour of the dead, likewise falls at the beginning of November; and in many countries lamps and candles are burnt all night on that occasion. there seems little doubt that this custom was identical with the Egyptian festival. the festival of All Saints, which is held one day before that of All Souls and which was first recognised by the Church in a.d. 835, is undoubtedly identical with it in origin. Osiris and Isis, so runs the legend, were brother and sister and also husband and wife; but Osiris was murdered, his coffined body being thrown into the Nile, and shortly afterwards the widowed and exiled Isis gave birth to a son, Horus. 6. It was a nature myth, a vivid depiction of the action of life in the vegetable world with the changing of the seasons. : Putnam, 1928), p. 121: Attis was the Good Shepherd, the son of Cybele, the Great Mother, or, alternatively, of the Virgin Nana, who conceived him without union with mortal man, as in the story of the Virgin Mary., 12. Mithraism became the most popular and influential of the many mystery religions 2 that existed in the Roman Empire at the time that Christianity began, and was the major Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, p. 117: This coincidence has, of course, led many critics to suppose that the story of the burial and resurrection of Jesus is simply a myth borrowed from this pagan religion., 18. Hydria by the Varrese Painter (c. 340 BC) depicting Eleusinian scenes. The latter method is apt to neglect the distinctive contribution of each cult to the religious life of the age and, at the same time, to attribute to a given cult phases of some other system. All this goes to show how important Mithraism was in ancient times. The Mystery Religions form a link between the inclusive pantheon of the Greeks and the more modern exclusive religions of today. The mystery religions and Christianity had many similar featurese.g., a time of preparation before initiation and periods of fasting; baptism and banquets; vigils and early-morning ceremonies; pilgrimages and new names for the initiates. xixii: Christianity triumphed after long conflict It took from its opponents their own weapons, and used them; the better elements of paganism were transferred to the new religion. Thus, the religions had a common conceptual framework. 135136: Originally Mithra was one of the lesser gods of the ancient Persian pantheon, but already in the time of Christ he had risen to be co-equal with, though created by, Ormuzd (Ahura-Mazda), the Supreme Being., 33. cit., p. 190.\. When Mithraism became widespread and powerful, it attracted so much attention that certain Christian apologists felt the need to present an explanation for the similarities in their respective characteristics. The people of Cyrene selected him as the most able man of the city to be their bishop, and he was able to accept the election without sacrificing his intellectual honesty. Such designations of our Lord as the Dayspring from on High, The Light, the Sun of Righteousness, and similar expressions seem to come directly from Mithraic influence.\[Footnote:] Weigall, op. Now this idea has no scriptural foundation except in those difficult passages in the First Epistle of Peter\[Footnote:] I Peter 3:194:6.\ which many scholars have designated as the most ambiguous passages of the New Testament. This disregard for correct doctrine is a key difference between mystery religions and Christianity. It was believed that this god suffered a cruel death, after which he descended into hell, rose again, and then ascended into Heaven. or 404 526-8968. The Christian churches needed large interior spaces to house the growing congregations and to mark the clear separation of the faithful from the unfaithful. How do we determine conjectured information? Sacred mysteries are the areas of supernatural phenomena associated with a divinity or a religious belief and praxis.Sacred mysteries may be either: Religious beliefs, rituals or practices which are kept secret from the uninitiated. Yet they all died out within a couple of centuries of the Christian era, Gnosticism (apart from a few vestigial groups in the Near East and Europe) subsuming their heritage last. Mystery religions were seen as more vibrant than the more . Hades, the god of death, stole the beloved daughter, Persephone, from Demeter, the life giver, who refused to admit defeat until she secured her daughters resurrection. There are several explanations regarding the beginning of the observance of the Lords Supper. King repeats material from an earlier paper, A Study of Mithraism, but he extends the discussion here to the influence of other mystery religions.1 Davis gave the essay an A, stating: This is very good and I am glad to have your conclusion. Best Sellers Rank: #329,817 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books) #317 in General History of Religion. Many views, while passing out of paganism into Christianity were given a more profound and spiritual meaning by Christians, yet we must be indebted to the source. The present study represents an attempt to provide a survey of the influence of the mystery religions on Christianity. Hardcover, 335 pages. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, p. 123: There can be no doubt that these ceremonies and beliefs deeply coloured the interpretation placed by the first Christians upon the historic facts of the Crucifixion, burial, and coming again to life of Jesus., 15. But in true Christianity, there is only the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and while they're 3 . Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. In 391, however, the Serapeum at Alexandria was demolished, and in 394 the opposition of the Roman aristocracy was crushed in battle at the Frigidus River (now called the Vipacco River in Italy and the Vipava in Slovenia). 6 Mithraism. He too had found the road to heaven by his suffering and resurrection. cit., p. 121.\ This still stands as a festival in the Christian calendar; and thus Christians unconsciously perpetuate the worship of Osiris in modern times.21, However this is not the only point at which the Religion of Osiris and Isis exerted influence on Christianity. The previous five sentences are similar to a passage in Kings earlier paper, A Study of Mithraism, pp. The words of St. Paul, They drank of that spiritual rock and that rock was Christ also seem to be {a} direct borrow from the Mithraic scriptures.35, The Hebrew Sabbath having been abolished by Christians, the Church made a sacred day of Sunday, partly because it was the day of resurrection. Modern reconstructions that view the mysteries as a cohesive religious phenomenon run the risk of oversimplification. The preceding five sentences are similar to a passage in A Study of Mithraism, pp. " King wrote . The similarity of the religious vocabulary is also great. It should also be noted that early Christianity was an exclusivistic religion while the mystery cults were not. For the Stoics, a relationship with the Logos is . Cybele, or Magna Mater, came to Greece around the 5th century BCE from . The central theme of the myth was the triumph of Attis over death, and the participant in the rites of the cult undoubtedly believed that his attachment to the victorious deity would insure a similar triumph in his life. Screenshots are considered by the King Estate a violation of this notice. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. Christianity emerged and grew at a time when mystery religions were popular throughout the Roman Empire. Please c, ontact Intellectual Properties Management (IPM), the exclusive licensor of the Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., Inc. at. In theology the differences between early Christians, Gnostics (membersoften Christianof dualistic sects of the 2nd century ad), and pagan Hermetists were slight. The preceding two sentences are similar to a passage in A Study of Mithraism, p. 224 in this volume. Esoteric Christianity (linked with the Hermetic Corpus since the Renaissance) is an ensemble of Christian theology which proposes that some spiritual doctrines of Christianity can only be understood by those who have undergone certain rites (such as baptism) within the religion.In mainstream Christianity, there is a similar idea that faith is the only means by which a . Eastern Roman Empire is considered among the most influential empires of the . 116, 117.\13, There can hardly be any doubt of the fact that these ceremonies and beliefs strongly coloured the interpretation placed by the first Christians upon the life and death of the historic Jesus.14 Moreover, the merging of the worship of Attis into that of Jesus was effected without interruption, for these pagan ceremonies were enacted in a sanctuary on the Vatican Hill, which was afterwards taken over by the Christians, and the mother church of St. Peter now stands upon the very spot.\[Footnote:] Ibid, p. 117.\, Another popular religion which influenced the thought of early Christians was the worship of Adonis. Martin Luther King Jr. titled "The Influence of the Mystery Religions on Christianity."King wrote it around the . It is evident that in Rome there was a festival celebrating the death and resurrection of Attis. And today similar experiences are represented by Greek Christians. In the Avesta,\[Footnote:] This is the sacred book of the religion of Iran.\ Mithra is represented as the genius of celestial light. To show the beginning of a new era, the capital of the empire was transferred to the new Christian city of Constantinople. The preceding two sentences are similar to a passage in A Study of Mithraism, p. 211 in this volume. The three actors of the Eleusinian tragedy, enacted the mystery of human life and death. As the religious history of the empire is studied more closely, writes Cumont, the triumph of the church will, in our opinion, appear more and more as the culmination of a long evolution of beliefs. The ideas of Greek philosophy penetrated everywhere in this society. The word "Catholic" means Universalthe true Christian goal is not religion based on mixture, but a return to the original, simple, powerful, and spiritual faith that was once delivered to the saints."-Ralph Woodrow; pg. Mithra hears all, sees all, knows all: none can deceive him., 34. In a mystery religion, an inner core of beliefs, practices, and the religion's true nature, . Willoughby quoted from Apollonius Argonautica 1.1098 ff. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. But although baptism did not originate with the Christians, still it was not copied from the pagans. If a mystery religion is one in which participation is "reserved to initiates," then yes, unquestionably so. It is improbable, however, that either of these were introduced into Christian practices by association with the mystery cults. Esoteric . It can be shown that the very earliest practices of Christianity coincided with popular mystery cults on many levels. in his Christian Mysticism, p. 354, says that Catholicism owes to the Mysteries " the notions of secrecy, of Dimensions : 5.37 x 0.73 x 8.4 inches. It should also be noted that early Christianity was an exclusivistic religion while the mystery cults were not. That is essential. In fact, it's hard not to place Christianity among the mystery religions (even though Christian apologists refuse to do this). cit., p. 113.\18 Such facts led almost inevitably to the view that this idea had a pagan origin, since it appears not only in the legend of Adonis, but also in those of Herakles, Dionyses, Orpheus, Osiris, Hermes, Balder, and other deities.\[Footnote:] Ibid, p. 114.\, The Egyptian mysteries of Isis and Osiris exerted considerable influence upon early Christianity. Esoteric Christianity teaches that Christianity is a mystery religion and that only a small minority of people ever achieve the enlightenment necessary to crack the arcane teachings of the Bible and truly know God. In order to give a comprehensive picture of this subject, I will discuss Four {Five} of the most popular of these religions separately, rather than to view them en masse as a single great religious system. . King also proposes that the mystery religions had an even greater influence by preparing the people to understand Christianity. These many religions, known as Mystery-Religions, were not alike in every respect: to draw this conclusion would lead to a gratuitous and erroneous supposition. 1. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, p. 145: The Hebrew Sabbath having been abolished by Christians, the Church made a sacred day of Sunday, partly because it was the day of the resurrection, but largely because it was the weekly festival of the sun; for it was a definite Christian policy to take over the pagan festivals endeared to the people by tradition, and to give them a Christian significance. During this great celebration a sacramental meal of some kind was taken, and initiates were baptised with blood, whereby their sins were washed away and they were said to be born again.\[Footnote:] Weigall, The Paganism In Our Christianity, pp. This was accomplished, not by any slavish process of imitation, but by {a} serious attempt to meet better the specific religious needs that the mysteries had awakened and nourished, and by phrasing religious assurances more convincingly in similar terminology.\[Footnote:] Case, The Mystery Religions, The Encyclopedia of Religion, Edited by Vergilius Ferm, pp. The greatest influence of the mystery religions on Christianity lies in a different direction from that of doctrine and ritual. The mystery religion was very narrow in scope, only involving select groups of people therefore not gaining support from the masses.Some people believe that Christianity and Judaism have many parallels to the mystery cults in terms of terminology (salvation, resurrection, eternal life) and in the particulars of the performance of initiation and ritual. Knowledge condemns. CHRISTIANITY AND THE MYSTERY RELIGIONS SHIRLEY JACKSON CASE, PH.D. "The correspondences between Christianity and the other mystery religions of antiquity are perhaps more startling than the differences. #1,225 in History of Christianity (Books) Extremely popular among Roman soldiers, it became one of the ancient Roman mystery cults, religious sects which were restricted to initiates and were generally quite secretive.Mithras, as he was known to the Romans, was the Persian god of the sun, or at least the airy light between . 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