by Bart D. Ehrman. The mysteries of human life and death are vividly enacted by Demeter, Persephone, and Hades. The Pagan Mysteries. 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. Arthur Fairbanks, A Handbook of Greek Religion (New York: American Book Company, 1910), p. 288: Certainly the Greek Easter festival seems to preserve the spirit if not the forms of the old Eleusinian worship. In fact, it's hard not to place Christianity among the mystery religions (even though Christian apologists refuse to do this). The preceding two sentences are similar to a passage in A Study of Mithraism, p. 211 in this volume. (5) The struggle with evil and the eventual triumph of good were essential ideas in both religions.37 (6) In summary we may say that the belief in immortality, a mediator between god and man, the observance of certain sacramental rites, the rebirth of converts, and (in most cases) the support of high ethical ideas were common to Mithraism as well as Christianity. Martin Luther King Jr. titled "The Influence of the Mystery Religions on Christianity."King wrote it around the . "The correspondences between Christianity and the other mystery religions of antiquity are perhaps more startling than the differences. Christianity was truly indebted to the mystery religions for this contribution, for they had done this part of the groundwork and thus opened the way for Christian missionary work. Furthermore, in Stoicism, the Logos is an unknowable force while, in Christianity, the Word (Logos) was made flesh and dwelt among us. 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. Since Christianity was a mystery religion that demanded initiation to participate in religious practices, Christian architecture put greater emphasis on the interior. See A Study of Mithraism, 13 September23 November 1949, pp. As is commonly known Isis had two capacities which her worshippers warmly commended her for. 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. (4) The rebirth of converts was a fundamental idea in the two cults. This was due to St. Augustine of Hippo, who was influenced by the early Neoplatonists Plotinus and Porphyry, as well as the works of the Christian writer Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, who was influenced . Show more. Here was human experience made heroic and divine; for man has ever loved and lost, but rarely has he ceased to hope for reunion with the loved one. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. In a mystery religion, an inner core of beliefs, practices, and the religion's true nature, . 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. When they sat down to write they were expressing consciously that which had dwelled in their subconscious minds. Bottom line: They believe that the early Church borrowed heavily from pagan deities already in existence at the time of Jesus. (3) Baptism and a communion meal were important parts of the ritual of both groups. The Masonic Religion. P: (650) 723-2092 | F: (650) 723-2093 | kinginstitute@stanford.edu| Campus Map. familiar with a type of religion known as Mystery-Religions which changed the religious outlook of the Western world, and which are operative in European civilization and in the Christian Church to this day. Is Christianity the crowning achievement in the development of religious thought or will there be another religion more advanced? Willoughby, Pagan Regeneration, pp. heralds of another mystery religion, and that Jesus 2. We can understand the Christianity of the fifth century with its greatness and weakness, its spiritual exaltation and its puerile superstitions, if we know the moral antecedents of the world in which it developed.\[Footnote:] Cumont, Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism, p. xxiv.\4 The victory of Christianity in the Roman empire is another example of that universal historical law, viz., that that culture which conquers is in turn conquered. In the former capacity she was identified with the great mother-goddess, Demeter, whose mourning for Persephone was the main feature in the Eleusinian mysteries; In her aspect as the mother of Horus, Isis was represented in tens of thousands of statuettes and paintings, holding the divine child in her arms; and when Christianity triumphed these paintings and figures became those of the Madonna and Child without any break in continuity: no archaeologist, in fact, can now tell whether some of these objects represent the one or the other., 23. 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 baptismal ceremony in both cases (Christian and Pagan) was supposed to have the effect of identifying the initiate with his savior. In both cases, national religions of a ritualistic type were transformed, and the transformation followed similar lines: from national to ecumenical religion, from ritualistic ceremonies and taboos to spiritual doctrines set down in books, from the idea of inherited tradition to the idea of revelation. We can understand the Christianity of the fifth century with its greatness and weaknesses, its spiritual exaltation and its puerile superstitions, if we know the moral antecedents of the world in which it developed.. In the first century of the Christian era the Eleusinian mystery cult was more favorable known than any of the cults of Greece.24 Its fame and popularity was largely due to the connexion of Eleusis with Athens. Now when Christianity triumphed we find that these same paintings and figures became those of the Madonna and child with little or no difference.\[Footnote:] Ibid, p. 123\ In fact archaeologists are often left in confusion in attempting to distinguish the one from the other.22, It is also interesting to note that in the second century a story began to spread stating that Mary had been miraculously carried to Heaven by Jesus and His angels.\[Footnote:] The spreading of this story has been attributed to Melito, Bishop of Sardis.\ In the sixth century a festival came to be celebrated around this event known as the festival of Assumption, and it is now one of the greatest feasts of Roman Catholicism. Leiden, 1984. 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. #1,225 in History of Christianity (Books) In the end, virtually all the unique teachings of New Testament theology, including the distinctive doctrines on Jesus Christ, God, man, sin, salvation, etc . Dr Arnold's researchers have reaffirmed the earlier conclusions of Martin Dibelius and Sir William Ramsay that the key term embateuo in the phrase 'entering the things he had seen' (2:18) was a technical term for the second stage of a mystery initiation, in which a person was led through a series of . . In fact, the comparison became so evident that many believed the Christian movement itself became a mystery cult. The precious metal used to coin Constantines gold pieces was taken from heathen temple treasuries. The statue of the Good Shepherd carrying his lost sheep and the pastoral themes on Christian sarcophagi were also taken over from pagan craftsmanship. Thus the designations of our Lord as the Dayspring from on High, the Light, the Sun of Righteousness, and similar expressions, are borrowed from or related to Mithraic phraseology., 35. Willoughby, Pagan Regeneration, p. 36: Among the cults of Greece none was more favorably known in the first century of the Christian era than the Eleusinian mysteries., 25. 4243: It was also a reflection of poignant human experiences, mirroring the joys, sorrows, and hopes of mankind in face of inevitable death. He thinks that there were four sets of ideas which the Jews brought with them to Alexandria: 1) the idea of a divine child, born by a virgin, raised in the manner of a son of god, who was also to bring in the new age; One must avoid any suggestion that there was one common mystery religion. Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like The dependency fallacy understands that Christianity borrowed the substance of the mystery religions and turned this into a new religion., Several contemporary scholars do see dependency between Christianity and pagan religions, but it is a reversed dependency, meaning that the pagan religions borrowed from Christianity (at least . There are several explanations regarding the beginning of the observance of the Lords Supper. 136137: Tarsus, the home of St. Paul, was one of the great centres of his worship, being the chief city of the Cilicians; and, as will presently appear, there is a decided tinge of Mithraism in the Epistles and Gospels. Frickel, J. Hellenistische Erl sung in christlicher Deutung. It was believed that this god suffered a cruel death, after which he descended into hell, rose again, and then ascended into Heaven. And today the Greeks mourn over the dead Christ, represented most realistically by a wax image borne through the streets on a bier; then at midnight before Easter Sunday the Metropolitan at Athens, the priest in smaller towns, comes out of the church announcing that Christ is risen; the light from his candle is passed to the candles of his companions and on to candles throughout the crowd, guns and firecrackers are discharged, and as they prepare to break their Lenten fast the multitude drop all restraint in the expression of wild joy., 30. Each following {year} there was a great festival in commemoration of his resurrection, and the very words, The Lord is risen, were probable used. Borrowing was not only natural but inevitable.6. Mithraism, a sect of Zoroastrianism characterized by the worship of Mithra as the defender of the truth, was a monotheistic mystery religion prevalent in the Roman empire before the acceptance of Christianity in the fourth century. They covered an enormous range, and manifested a great diversity in character and outlook, from Orphism to Gnosticism, from the orgies of the Cabira to the fervours of the Hermetic contemplative.\[Footnote:] Angus, The Mystery Religions and Christianity, p. vii.\2 However it is to be noticed that these Mysteries possessed many fundamental likenesses; (1) All held that the initiate shared in symbolic (sacramental) fashion the experiences of the god. For an instance, the sacraments of baptism and the eucharist have been mentioned as rites, which were preactice {practiced} by both Christians and pagans. The mother, frenzied with grief, rushed about the earth for nine days in search for her lost daughter,25 As a result of her wandering, she came to Eleusis where she was seen, although not recognized, by the four daughters of Kekeas sitting near a public well called the Fountain of Maidenhood. The hypothesis of a mutual dependence has been proposed by scholarsespecially a dependence of Christianity upon the mysteriesbut such theories have been discarded. CHRISTIANITY AND THE MYSTERY RELIGIONS SHIRLEY JACKSON CASE, PH.D. It is improbable, however, that either of these were introduced into Christian practices by association with the mystery cults. The preceding four sentences are similar to a passage in A Study of Mithraism, p. 224 in this volume. I learned that as an artistic writer who did a doctorate in philosophy. the calling of the Gentiles into the Christian Church, so designated ( Ephesians 1:9 Ephesians 1:10; 3:8-11; Colossians 1:25-27); a truth undiscoverable except by revelation, long hid, now made manifest.The resurrection of the dead ( 1 Corinthians 15:51), and other doctrines which need to be explained but which cannot be fully understood by finite intelligence ( Matthew 13:11; Romans . The doctrine is almost identical. Although the above paragraph makes it obvious that there are many similarities between these two religions, we must guard against the fallacy of seeing all similarity as direct borrowing. . Babylon Mystery Religion; 1966 "The Romish system is based upon a mixture. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. This tree afterwards chanced to be cut down and made into a pillar in the palace at Byblos, and there Isis at length found it. Download The Mysteries of Mithras Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle. 40. The cult of Isis became a mystery religion only after Ptolemy the . The Influence Of The Cult Of Cybele and Attis, The first Oriental religion to invade the west was the cult of the Great Mother of the Gods. The festival of all Saints, which is held one day before that of all Souls is also probably identical with it in origin.\[Footnote:] Weigall, op. Christianity emerged and grew at a time when mystery religions were popular throughout the Roman Empire. Payam Nabarz reveals the history and tenets of Mithraism, its connections to Christianity, Islam, and Freemasonry, and the modern neo-pagan practice of . After his death, the pagan opposition to Christianity continued for one more generation. The Christians took over the entire terminology; but many pagan words were strangely twisted in order to fit into the Christian world: the service of the state (leitourgia) became the ritual, or liturgy, of the church; the decree of the assembly and the opinions of the philosophers (dogma) became the fixed doctrine of Christianity; the correct opinion (orth doxa) about things became orthodoxy. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. Demeter, in her joy at the restoration of her lost daughter, allowed the crops to grow once more and institute in honor of the event the Eleusinian mysteries which gave to mortals the assurance of a happy future life.26, The significance of this story is immediately clear. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. The statement, ''A mix of Greco-Roman religions gradually replaced by Christianity'', is the one that can be used as an accurate description of religion in the Eastern Roman Empire in the first five centuries of the Common Era.Therefore, the option C holds true.. What is the significance of Eastern Roman Empire? Various writers gave different Versions of the Cybele-Attis myth. The mystery religion of Ancient Babylon is the beginning of the occult, after the great flood that destroyed man . 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. Please contact Intellectual Properties Management (IPM), the exclusive licensor of the Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., Inc. atlicensing@i-p-m.comor 404 526-8968. 6. These two great Egyptian deities, whose worship passed into Europe, were revered not only in Rome but in many other centers where Christian communities were growing up. Early Christian writers, aware of the similarity between Christianity and mystery-cult, claim that the latter is a diabolical imitation of the former" (Dionysus, Richard Seaford, 126.) It was a nature myth, a vivid depiction of the action of life in the vegetable world with the changing of the seasons. 125126: Herodotus states that the festival of the death and resurrection of Osiris was held in Egypt each year, though he does not give the date; Plutarch also records the annual Osirian festival, and says that it lasted four days, giving the date as the seventeenth day of the Egyptian month Hathor, which, according to the Alexandrian calendar used by him, corresponded to November 13th. Mystery religions, as a rule, can be traced back to tribal origins, Christianity to a historical person. it has been suggested that Christianity had its origin in a mystery of initiates. From the early days of Babylon and the legends surrounding Nimrod, Semiramis, and Tammuz, certain rites and rituals are traced in their various developments, thus providing clues whereby the "mystery . Never stop with the external, which may seem like borrowing, but recognize there is the perennial struggle for truth, fuller life itself. However, when faced with the persecution that Christianity, Islam, and Judaism have faced in the past the "mysteries could not go underground because they lacked any organization. The basic Christian objection to Freemasonry is that the Craft constitutes a religious sect in opposition to the revealed truths of the Gospel. 2d ed. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, p. 137: Mithra was born from a rock, as shown in Mithraic sculptures, being sometimes termed the god out of the rock, and his worship was always conducted in a cave; and the general belief in the early Church that Jesus was born in a cave is a direct instance of the taking over of Mithraic ideas. 213214 in this volume. Only remnants of the mystery doctrines, amalgamated with Platonism, were transmitted by a few philosophers and individualists to the religious thinkers of the Byzantine Empire. The greatest influence of the mystery religions on Christianity lies in a different direction from that of doctrine and ritual. It, Christianity, is the expression of the longing of people for light, truth, salvation, security. Was Christianity Originally a Mystery Religion? The preceding two paragraphs are similar to a passage in A Study of Mithraism, pp. The Christian representations of the Madonna and child are clearly the continuation of the representations of Isis and her son suckling her breast. Willoughby, Pagan Regeneration, p. 42: Demeter, in her joy at the restoration of her lost daughter, allowed the crops to grow once more and instituted in honor of the event the Eleusinian mysteries which gave to mortals the assurance of a happy future life., 27. For the Stoics, a relationship with the Logos is . The main characterization of this religion is the secrecy associated . (Pagan Regeneration, p. 115). The people of that age were eager and zealous in their search for religious experience. 5. 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. It is also significant to know that Roman tolerance had favoured this great syncretism of religious ideas. However, in the conclusion I will attempt to give those fundamental aspects, characteristic of all the cults, that greatly influenced Christianity. Church leaders talked about "initiations, passwords, and mysteries" using exactly the same . Firstly, she was pictured as the lady of sorrows, weeping for the dead Osiris, and secondly she was commended as the divine mother, nursing her infant son, Horus. Jesus was the divine Lord. Mystery religions were seen as more vibrant than the more . Art redeems. The date of Christmas was purposely fixed on December 25 to push into the background the great festival of the sun god, and Epiphany on January 6 to supplant an Egyptian festival of the same day. 124125: The popular and widespread religion of Osiris and Isis exercised considerable influence upon early Christianity, for these two great Egyptian deities, whose worship had passed into Europe, were revered in Rome and in several other centres where Christian communities were growing up. He emerges from the rocky summits of eastern mountains at dawn, and goes through heaven with a team of four white horses; when the night falls he still illumines the surface of the earth, ever walking, ever watchful. He is not sun or moon or any star, but a spirit of light, ever wakeful, watching with a hundred eyes. 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. 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. He appears before sunrise on the rocky summits of the mountains; during the day he traverses the wide firmament in his chariot drawn by four white horses, and when night falls he still illumines with flickering glow the surface of the earth, ever waking, ever watchful. He is neither sun, nor moon, nor stars, but with his hundred ears and his hundred eyes watches constantly the world. So through experience, knowledge, as through other forms, the outer manifestations of religion change. Reprinted as The Mystery-Religions: A Study in the Religious Background of Early Christianity (New York, 1975). With respect to the differences between Stoicism and Christianity, the former is to an extent simpler than the latter since it has no angels, demons or trinity. The New Testament gives evidence of at least four styles of Christian worship: temple worship (Acts 2:46), synagogue worship (Acts 16:13, 16), a fellowship meal concluded by the Lord's Supper (1 . To make their case, they cite extensive lists of apparent similarities between . Around these two divinities there grew up a confused tangle of myths in explanation of their cult rites. In this legend, human beings, who are always loved and lost, are depicted as never or seldom loosing hope for reunion with their God. 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. The similarity of the religious vocabulary is also great. At the same time, the . According to this view, Christianity began as a Jewish adaptation of Greek mystery . The mystery religions were syncretistic, which means followers could incorporate beliefs from other religions into their own set of views. Forces have been known to delay trends but very few have stopped them. It is because of this crusading spirit and its superb power of adaptability that Christianityahs {has} been able to survive. Perhaps the most notable difference between Christianity and the mystery religions is Christianity's attitude towards proselytism. 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. 39. Data was gathered from books . He too had God for his father. 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. This does not mean that there was a deliberate copying on the part of Christianity. Thus, under identical conditions, new forms of religious communities sprang from similar roots. First published in the 1920s, this work is still the standard on the various mystery religions so popular in Greece and Rome before the establishment of Christianity. 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. Scholars wrongly infused Christian terms into the mystery religion. Whatever the religious doctrines of the Masonic sect it is plain that they do not embrace the central Christian . Now it seems that the general belief of the early church that Jesus was born in a cave grows directly out of Mithraic ideas. 7. London, 1928. But it was this very date that the festival of Dianna or Artemis was celebrated, with whom Isis was identified. (3) All offered mystical cleansing from sin. Willoughby, Pagan Regeneration, p. 114: She was the Great Mother not only of all the gods, but of all men as well.. cit., p. 129.\34, Again tradition has it that Mithra was born from a rock, the god out of the rock. It must also be noticed that his worship was always conducted in a cave. 1. If a mystery religion is one in which participation is "reserved to initiates," then yes, unquestionably so. 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. Mystery religions, mystery cults, sacred mysteries or simply mysteries, were religious schools of the Greco-Roman world for which participation was reserved to initiates (mystai). I do not deny that there are some similarities. Paris, 1930 . Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. But in true Christianity, there is only the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and while they're 3 . Esotericism has more in common with Gnosticism, Theosophy, and Rosicrucianism than genuine biblical Christianity. in his Christian Mysticism, p. 354, says that Catholicism owes to the Mysteries " the notions of secrecy, of 222223 in this volume. In his pagan period he wrote hymns that closely follow the fire theology of the Chaldean Oracles; later he wrote hymns to Christ. 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. 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. We should try to see the dark comedy in all things. 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. Hydria by the Varrese Painter (c. 340 BC) depicting Eleusinian scenes. The previous five sentences are similar to a passage in Kings earlier paper, A Study of Mithraism, pp. In its older Egyptian version, which was not a mystery religion, Isis was regarded as the goddess of heaven, earth, the sea, and the unseen world below. 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Hypothesis of a mutual dependence has been proposed by scholarsespecially a dependence of Christianity precious!, practices, Christian architecture put greater emphasis on the part of Christianity upon the mysteriesbut such theories have known... ; 1966 & quot ; the Romish system is based upon a mixture, 13 September23 November,! Means followers could incorporate beliefs from other religions into their own set of views several explanations regarding the of... Mystery cult | kinginstitute @ stanford.edu| Campus Map Ancient babylon is the beginning of the of... Forms of religious communities sprang from similar roots these were introduced into Christian practices by association with the Logos....