Mithras = Christianity?

[crystalonyx]

"
This religion, cloaked in mystery and secrecy, has captivated the imaginations of scholars for generations. Many facts discovered sheds vital light on the cultural dynamics that led to the rise of Christianity. The National Geographic Society’s book “Great Religions of the World,” page 309 writes; “By Jesus’ time, East and West had mingled here for three centuries. Down columns of boulevards walked Roman soldiers loyal to the Persian god Mithras.” Mithras was a Persian deity. He was also the most widely venerated god in the Roman Empire at the time of Jesus. The Catholic Encyclopedia as well as the early Church Fathers found this religion of Mithras very disturbing, as there are so many similarities between the two religions, as follows:

1) Hundreds of years before Jesus, according to the Mithraic religion, three Wise Men of Persia came to visit the baby savior-god Mithra, bring him gifts of gold, myrrh and frankincense.
2) Mithra was born on December 25 as told in the “Great Religions of the World”, page 330; “…it was the winter solstice celebrated by ancients as the birthday of Mithraism’s sun god”.c
3) According to Mithraism, before Mithra died on a cross, he celebrated a “Last Supper with his twelve disciples, who represented the twelve signs of the zodiac.
4) After the death of Mithra, his body was laid to rest in a rock tomb.
5) Mithra had a celibate priesthood.
6) Mithra ascended into heaven during the spring (Passover) equinox (the time when the sun crosses the equator making night and day of equal length). "
When the Christ myth was new Mithras and Mithraism were already ancient. Worshiped for centuries as God's Messenger of Truth, Mithras was long revered by the Persians and the Indians (Zoroastrianism) before his faith found it's way to Rome where His mysteries flourished in the second century AD. Every year in Rome, in the middle of winter, the Son of God was born one more, putting an end to darkness. Every year at first minute of December 25th the temple of Mithras was lit with candles, priests in in white garments celebrated the birth of the Son of God and boys burned incense. Mithras was born in a cave, on December 25th, of a virgin mother. He came from heaven to be born as a man, to redeem men from their sin. He was know as "Savior," "Son of God," "Redeemer," and "Lamb of God." With twelve disciples he traveled far and wide as a teacher and illuminator of men. He was buried in a tomb from which he rose again from the dead -- an event celebrated yearly with much rejoicing. His followers kept the Sabbath holy, holding sacramental feasts in remembrance of Him. The sacred meal of bread and water, or bread and wine, was symbolic of the body and blood of the sacred bull.

Baptism in the blood of the bull (taurobolum) – early Baptism "washed in the blood of the Lamb" – late Baptism by water [recorded by the Christian author Tertullian Mithraic rituals brought about the transformation and Salvation of His adherents --an ascent of the soul of the adherent into the realm of the divine.

Yes, the ex-pagan Constantine and Paul were quit aware of all of this and it was that much easier to bring the pagan Gentile people into this new religion called Christianity. Contrary to popular belief, the ancients were not an ignorant and superstitious lot who actually believed their deities to be literal characters. This has been part of the conspiracy to make the ancients appear as if they were truly the dark and dumb rabble that was in need of the "light of Jesus." The reality is that the ancients were no less advanced in their morals and spiritual practices, and in many cases were far more advanced, than the Christians in their own morality, which in its very attempt at historicity, is in actuality a degradation of the ancient myths."



MITHRAS = CHRISTIANITY

 

[angellous_evangellous]

No, Mithras is not Christianity.

Most of the "similarities" in the OP are not in early Christianity (like the birthday of Christ and boys burning incense at an altar), and many other things attributed to Mithras are simply falsified, like Mithra dying on a cross and his followers keeping the Sabbath holy.

It's a hodge-podge of late Christianity and falsified Mithras.

*yawn*

 

[crystalonyx]

No, Mithras is not Christianity.

Most of the "similarities" in the OP are not in early Christianity (like the birthday of Christ and boys burning incense at an altar), and many other things attributed to Mithras are simply falsified, like Mithra dying on a cross and his followers keeping the Sabbath holy.

It's a hodge-podge of late Christianity and falsified Mithras.

*yawn*

Yawn....

 

[angellous_evangellous]

Yawn....

HA!

It's sort of stylish for sophomoric authors - usually not scholars - to draw parallels between Mithras (and other mystery religions) and Christianity. The only scholars that play up the parallels between the two religions are not classicists, biblical scholars, or archaeologists, historians, or otherwise experts in the ancient world, but are English professors or other dabblers trying to make a buck on other people who don't know anything about ancient life.

Yes, there are parallels in Christianity and the Hellenistic world that it came from. There is no reason to be intellectually dishonest about it - unless, of course, one is peddling garbage.

 

[crystalonyx]

HA!

It's sort of stylish for sophomoric authors - usually not scholars - to draw parallels between Mithras (and other mystery religions) and Christianity. The only scholars that play up the parallels between the two religions are not classicists, biblical scholars, or archaeologists, historians, or otherwise experts in the ancient world, but are English professors or other dabblers trying to make a buck on other people who don't know anything about ancient life.

Yes, there are parallels in Christianity and the Hellenistic world that it came from. There is no reason to be intellectually dishonest about it - unless, of course, one is peddling garbage.

So all other religions are lies, but yours is the truth, I get it.

 

[angellous_evangellous]

So all other religions are lies, but yours is the truth, I get it.

No, I didn't say that.

I am simply addressing the OP.

 

[Kcnorwood]

While I agree that Christianty is more or less a copy of Pagansim after doing my own research Mithraism is not where it came from. However Mithraism does come into play here & there it's only a small part of it. For me at least Christianty is a mixture of all Pagan Gods not just one, that way it would be harder for those who are looking for proof to find it.

 

[crystalonyx]

"Most of the "similarities" in the OP are not in early Christianity (like the birthday of Christ and boys burning incense at an altar), and many other things attributed to Mithras are simply falsified, like Mithra dying on a cross and his followers keeping the Sabbath holy."

Looks like lies to me.

 

[angellous_evangellous]

Looks like lies to me.

Critical thinking would go a long way here.

Correcting the dribble in the OP is an act of mercy, not personal criticism.

 

[Willamena]

I'm no scholar, but I have read that the Roman "mystery" cult of Mithras (that is claimed to resemble Christian mythology) is independent of the Mithra who was a part of the Zoroastrian pantheism, and is largely a Roman invention. Even the Great Wiki indicates this: If the Roman religion was an outgrowth of an Iranian one, there would have to be evidence of Mithraic-like practices attested in Greater Iran. However, that is not the case: No mithraea have been found there, and the Mithraic myth of the tauroctony does not conclusively match the Zoroastrian legend of the slaying of Gayomart, in which Mithra does not play any role at all. The historians of antiquity, otherwise expansive in their descriptions of Iranian religious practices, hardly mention Mithra at all.
Mithraic Mysteries - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Scott1]

I love the story of Mithras....

For a long time I was like crystalonyx and spouted off borrowed "knowledge" about Mithras to every Christian I could find. To be honest, most just blabbered all over themselves and made me feel quite superior to those that were "duped". Until one day I met a Catholic who flipped open her Catechism and quoted:
"The Catholic Church recognizes in other religions that search, among shadows and images, for the God who is unknown yet near since he gives life and breath and all things and wants all men to be saved. Thus, the Church considers all goodness and truth found in these religions as "a preparation for the Gospel and given by him who enlightens all men that they may at length have life."CCC 843
... and then it just kinda made sense to me what the cult of Mithras actually was: a group grasping for something that could only be truly fulfilled in Christ.

Your results may vary ,
S

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

It's sort of stylish for sophomoric authors - usually not scholars - to draw parallels between Mithras (and other mystery religions) and Christianity. The only scholars that play up the parallels between the two religions are not classicists, biblical scholars, or archaeologists, historians, or otherwise experts in the ancient world, but are English professors or other dabblers trying to make a buck on other people who don't know anything about ancient life.

Seeing how Tom Harpur's an Anglican priest and a theology professor, I'd be interested in your take on his claims in The Pagan Christ that the Gospels are largely a re-telling of Egyptian religious beliefs. On the one hand, I would normally expect that someone in his position would know what he's talking about, but on the other hand, his primary sources are a fair bit outside the normally accepted body of research on the topic.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

BTW - on the topic of weird parallels with the Bible, do you know who was born in Bethlehem and raised in Nazareth?

Michael Andretti.

 

[Kcnorwood]

I'm no scholar, but I have read that the Roman "mystery" cult of Mithras (that is claimed to resemble Christian mythology) is independent of the Mithra who was a part of the Zoroastrian pantheism, and is largely a Roman invention. Even the Great Wiki indicates this: If the Roman religion was an outgrowth of an Iranian one, there would have to be evidence of Mithraic-like practices attested in Greater Iran. However, that is not the case: No mithraea have been found there, and the Mithraic myth of the tauroctony does not conclusively match the Zoroastrian legend of the slaying of Gayomart, in which Mithra does not play any role at all. The historians of antiquity, otherwise expansive in their descriptions of Iranian religious practices, hardly mention Mithra at all.
Mithraic Mysteries - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

While I agree I do not trust a source that anyone can edit.

 

[Willamena]

While I agree I do not trust a source that anyone can edit.

And that's wise, but it's no longer the case that just anyone can edit. Plus, in being an encylopedia, Wikipedia now requires its authors to quote sources. The source for this information was: Franz Cumont's Texts and Illustrated Monuments Relating to the Mysteries of Mithra published in 1894-1900.

 

[angellous_evangellous]

Seeing how Tom Harpur's an Anglican priest and a theology professor, I'd be interested in your take on his claims in The Pagan Christ that the Gospels are largely a re-telling of Egyptian religious beliefs. On the one hand, I would normally expect that someone in his position would know what he's talking about, but on the other hand, his primary sources are a fair bit outside the normally accepted body of research on the topic.

Good point. I haven't read this book... I was thinking about The Jesus Mysteries...

Anyway, historians and classicists have known about parallels in Christianity to ancient religions for quite a while now - it's the significance of the parallels that are the key..

Besides, I was specifically addressing this crap: MITHRAS = CHRISTIANITY

I don't think that Dr. Harpur would embarrass himself like that.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Good point. I haven't read this book... I was thinking about The Jesus Mysteries...

It's worth reading, IMO. Partly for the explicit subject matter, but also for his approach.

It seems to me like a lot of the "Jesus = something else" arguments end up implying that if Christianity is derived from some earlier source, then it's worthless; a major theme of his book is that the similarities between the two sets of beliefs might be a sign that both are expressions of the same universal truths.

Besides, I was specifically addressing this crap: MITHRAS = CHRISTIANITY

I don't think that Dr. Harpur would embarrass himself like that.

Especially since, as I alluded to before, it's obvious that the Gospels are a foreshadowing of the Michael Andretti story.

 

[angellous_evangellous]

It's worth reading, IMO. Partly for the explicit subject matter, but also for his approach.

Thanks for the recommendation. If I happen to see it, I'll read it and get back to you.

It seems to me like a lot of the "Jesus = something else" arguments end up implying that if Christianity is derived from some earlier source, then it's worthless; a major theme of his book is that the similarities between the two sets of beliefs might be a sign that both are expressions of the same universal truths.

Well, Christianity has never been one movement. Even in its earliest stages, different bishops taught different stuff, and had differing influences over a wide geographic and long time span. So narrowing the quite eclectic sources for Christianity has to be narrowed down to a specific time and place in the history of Christianity and the history of whatever a scholar thinks may be an influence.

Also, we should keep in mind that Mithras left no texts, so everything that we know from them comes from secondary ancient sources (which may or may not know anything about Mithras) and archaeological evidence (which is interpreted through the secondary sources). Such a dearth of evidence cultivates creative interpretations that may or may not actually have any relationship to the evidence.

For example, in the case of Mithras being crucified, the only evidence is from a misinterpretation of a Christian inscription on a Roman wall in about 250CE, and obviously cannot be an early influence on Christianity. That's just one example of how screwed up that link is in the OP.

To complicate matters even more, many sources for Mithras are in Christian polemic or apologists and come very late - say, the third century CE, well into the development of Christianity. And, these apologists may have no clue what they are talking about. Combine this with the fact that most Mithraim (places of worship for Mithras) are buried under Christian churches and therefore some idiots can mistake later Christian use for earlier Mithraic use... et cetera

 

[logician]

Wow, now people who compare Mithraism to Christianity are being called idiots - about par for the course for the naysayers

"

Identical Life Experiences

(1)Mithra was born on December 25th as an offspring of the Sun. Next to the gods Ormuzd and Ahrimanes, Mithra held the highest rank among the gods of ancient Persia. He was represented as a beautiful youth and a Mediator. Reverend J. W. Lake states: "Mithras is spiritual light contending with spiritual darkness, and through his labors the kingdom of darkness shall be lit with heaven's own light; the Eternal will receive all things back into his favor, the world will be redeemed to God. The impure are to be purified, and the evil made good, through the mediation of Mithras, the reconciler of Ormuzd and Ahriman. Mithras is the Good, his name is Love. In relation to the Eternal he is the source of grace, in relation to man he is the life-giver and mediator" (Plato, Philo, and Paul, p. 15).​

(2)He was considered a great traveling teacher and masters. He had twelve companions as Jesus had twelve disciples. Mithras also performed miracles.
(3)Mithra was called "the good shepherd,” "the way, the truth and the light,” “redeemer,” “savior,” “Messiah." He was identified with both the lion and the lamb.
(4)The International Encyclopedia states: "Mithras seems to have owed his prominence to the belief that he was the source of life, and could also redeem the souls of the dead into the better world ... The ceremonies included a sort of baptism to remove sins, anointing, and a sacred meal of bread and water, while a consecrated wine, believed to possess wonderful power, played a prominent part."
(5)Chambers Encyclopedia says: "The most important of his many festivals was his birthday, celebrated on the 25th of December, the day subsequently fixed -- against all evidence -- as the birthday of Christ. The worship of Mithras early found its way into Rome, and the mysteries of Mithras, which fell in the spring equinox, were famous even among the many Roman festivals. The ceremonies observed in the initiation to these mysteries -- symbolical of the struggle between Ahriman and Ormuzd (the Good and the Evil) -- were of the most extraordinary and to a certain degree even dangerous character. Baptism and the partaking of a mystical liquid, consisting of flour and water, to be drunk with the utterance of sacred formulas, were among the inauguration acts."
(6)Prof. Franz Cumont, of the University of Ghent, writes as follows concerning the religion of Mithra and the religion of Christ: "The sectaries of the Persian god, like the Christians', purified themselves by baptism, received by a species of confirmation the power necessary to combat the spirit of evil; and expected from a Lord's supper salvation of body and soul. Like the latter, they also held Sunday sacred, and celebrated the birth of the Sun on the 25th of December.... They both preached a categorical system of ethics, regarded asceticism as meritorious and counted among their principal virtues abstinence and continence, renunciation and self-control. Their conceptions of the world and of the destiny of man were similar. They both admitted the existence of a Heaven inhabited by beatified ones, situated in the upper regions, and of a Hell, peopled by demons, situated in the bowels of the earth. They both placed a flood at the beginning of history; they both assigned as the source of their condition, a primitive revelation; they both, finally, believed in the immortality of the soul, in a last judgment, and in a resurrection of the dead, consequent upon a final conflagration of the universe" (The Mysteries of Mithras, pp. 190, 191).
(7)Reverend Charles Biggs stated: "The disciples of Mithra formed an organized church, with a developed hierarchy. They possessed the ideas of Mediation, Atonement, and a Savior, who is human and yet divine, and not only the idea, but a doctrine of the future life. They had a Eucharist, and a Baptism, and other curious analogies might be pointed out between their system and the church of Christ (The Christian Platonists, p. 240).
(8)In the catacombs at Rome was preserved a relic of the old Mithraic worship. It was a picture of the infant Mithra seated in the lap of his virgin mother, while on their knees before him were Persian Magi adoring him and offering gifts.
(9)He was buried in a tomb and after three days he rose again. His resurrection was celebrated every year.
(10)McClintock and Strong wrote: "In modern times Christian writers have been induced to look favorably upon the assertion that some of our ecclesiastical usages (e.g., the institution of the Christmas festival) originated in the cultus of Mithraism. Some writers who refuse to accept the Christian religion as of supernatural origin, have even gone so far as to institute a close comparison with the founder of Christianity; and Dupuis and others, going even beyond this, have not hesitated to pronounce the Gospel simply a branch of Mithraism" (Art. "Mithra").
(11)Mithra had his principal festival on what was later to become Easter, at which time he was resurrected. His sacred day was Sunday, "the Lord's Day." The Mithra religion had a Eucharist or "Lord's Supper."
(12)The Christian Father Manes, founder of the heretical sect known as Manicheans, believed that Christ and Mithra were one. His teaching, according to Mosheim, was as follows: "Christ is that glorious intelligence which the Persians called Mithras ... His residence is in the sun" (Ecclesiastical History, 3rd century, Part 2, ch. 5).​

"I am a star which goes with thee and shines out of the depths." - Mithraic saying"I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright morning star." - Jesus, (Rev. 22​

"
Jesus as a reincarnation of Mithra

 

[angellous_evangellous]

Wow, now people who compare Mithraism to Christianity are being called idiots - about par for the course for the naysayers

How much critical thought does it take to cut and paste the dribble of others?