He says: Following the lead of the apostle Paul, the Christian missionaries on gentile soil finally made of Christianity a more appealing religion than any of the other mystery cults. Here are seven of the most influential Greco-Roman Mysteries and some of what little we know about them. After his death, the pagan opposition to Christianity continued for one more generation. Data was gathered from books . 23: In the Avesta, Mithra is the genius of the celestial light. 7. Eastern Roman Empire is considered among the most influential empires of the . 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. When Julian the Apostate, Roman emperor from ad 361 to 363, tried to reestablish pagan worship, he found allies at Rome and Alexandria. The mystery religion of Ancient Babylon is the beginning of the occult, after the great flood that destroyed man . He hears all and sees all: none can deceive him.\[Footnote:] Cumont, Mysteries of Mithra, pp. It was believed that this god suffered a cruel death, after which he descended into hell, rose again, and then ascended into Heaven. 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. In fact the idea did not appear in the church as a tenet of Christianity until late in the Fourth Century.\[Footnote:] Weigall, op. It was in this city that there was celebrated each year the death and resurrection of the god Adonis. In the latter capacity Isis was represented in tens of thousands of statuettes and paintings, holding the divine child in her arms. Borrowing was not only natural but inevitable.6. He had left behind the secret whereby men could achieve the goal with him.\[Footnote:] Enslin, op. It is inevitable when a new religion comes to exist side by side with a group of religions, from which it is continually detaching members, introducing them into its own midst with the practices of their original religions impressed upon their minds, that this new religion should tend to assimilate with the assimilation of their members, some of the elements of these existing religions. The existence of this atmosphere was vitally important in the development and eventual triumph of Christianity. The Institute cannot give permission to use or reproduce any of the writings, statements, or images of Martin Luther King, Jr. cit., p. 110\15. They were themselves, in verying degrees, imperfect examples of the Galilean cult which was to replace them. The ideas of Greek philosophy penetrated everywhere in this society. Screenshots are considered by the King Estate a violation of this notice. 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. . 211225 in this volume. To discuss Christianity without mentioning other religions would be like discussing the greatness of the Atlantic Ocean without the slightest mention of the many tributaries that keep it flowing.40. Christianity emerged and grew at a time when mystery religions were popular throughout the Roman Empire. It, Christianity, is the expression of the longing of people for light, truth, salvation, security. But, as a solar festival, Sunday was the sacred day of Mithra; and it is interesting to notice that since Mithra was addressed as Dominus, Lord, Sunday must have been the Lords Day long before Christian times. December 25th was the birthday of the sun-god, and particularly of Mithra, and was only taken over in the Fourth Century as the date, actually unknown, of the birth of Jesus.. 5. (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. Leiden, 1984. Since Christianity was a mystery religion that demanded initiation to participate in religious practices, Christian architecture put greater emphasis on the interior. 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. The people were conditioned by the contact with the older religions and the background and general trend of the time.39 Dr. Shirley Jackson Case has written some words that are quite apt at this point. The similarities must rather be explained by parallel developments from similar origins. During the first two or three decades of the twentieth century, it was thought that the mystery religions constituted a unity based on a common 'mystery theolgoy ,' and that Christianity was simply one of them, or at most, a distinct religion . 37. Babylon Mystery Religion is a detailed Biblical and historical account of how, when, why, and where ancient paganism was mixed with Christianity. 1. All of Lent's penitential practices and acts of spiritual renewal find their meaning in the journey of self-emptying and self-giving love that Jesus undertakes in his death and resurrection. London, 1928. Mystery religions were seen as more vibrant than the more . Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. The Easter ceremonies rivalled the pagan spring festivals. The conditions of that era made it possible for these religions to sweep like a tidal wave over the ancient world. The main characterization of this religion is the secrecy associated . We should try to see the dark comedy in all things. The preceding five sentences are similar to a passage in A Study of Mithraism, pp. 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. In order to understand the type of religious experience represented by this important cult, we must turn to the myth of the rape of Demeters daughter by Pluto. King, Martin Luther, Jr. (Crozer Theological Seminary). In the spring, those who had shared Demeters grief for the loss of her daughter welcomed the return of Persephone with all the joy that the returning life of vegetation might kindle. For the Stoics, a relationship with the Logos is . 5. 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 winter vegetable life was dead while Demeter, the giver of life, grieved for the loss of her daughter. 3. 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. There are several explanations regarding the beginning of the observance of the Lords Supper. Mythicists confidently assert, "Christianity is nothing more than a patchwork quilt of ancient pagan and mystery religions.". heralds of another mystery religion, and that Jesus 2. After recovering Osiris dismembered body, Isis restored him to life and installed him as King in the nether world; meanwhile Horus, having grown to manhood, reigned on earth, later becoming the third person of this great Egyptian trinity.\[Footnote:] Weigall, op. 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. Dean Inge, e.g. Arthur E. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity (n.p. The greatest influence of the mystery religions on Christianity lies in a different direction from that of doctrine and ritual. mystery religion, any of various secret cults of the Greco-Roman world that offered to individuals religious experiences not provided by the official public religions. " King wrote . They were called mystery religions because individuals went through a secret ritualistic ceremony that was made known only to the initiates conducting the ceremony and to those being . 222223 in this volume. In fact, it's hard not to place Christianity among the mystery religions (even though Christian apologists refuse to do this). Mystery religions, as a rule, can be traced back to tribal origins, Christianity to a historical person. It is not so much that Christianity was influenced by the Mystery Cults, or borrowed from them, but that in the long process of history this religion developed. Around these two divinities there grew up a confused tangle of myths in explanation of their cult rites. The theology of the mysteries was developed to a far lesser degree than the Christian theology. It is also significant to know that Roman tolerance had favoured this great syncretism of religious ideas. CHRISTIANITY AND THE MYSTERY RELIGIONS SHIRLEY JACKSON CASE, PH.D. 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 words of St. Paul, They drank of that spiritual rock and that rock was Christ are borrowed from the Mithraic scriptures., 36. The preceding three paragraphs are similar to a passage in Kings earlier paper, A Study of Mithraism, p. 211 in this volume. 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; 122123: At this Attis festival a pine-tree was felled on March 22nd, and to its trunk an effigy of the god was fastened, Attis thus being slain and hanged on a tree, in the Biblical phrase. 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. Thus, under identical conditions, new forms of religious communities sprang from similar roots. 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. Question 10 1 out of 1 points It is likely that Christianity borrowed from the mystery religions, but when Christianity did this was hundreds of years after it began, and thus has nothing to do with the core of Christian proclamation. #1,225 in History of Christianity (Books) 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. 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 Osiris and Isis, so the legend runs, were at one and the same time, brother and sister, 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. Dimensions : 5.37 x 0.73 x 8.4 inches. Best Sellers Rank: #329,817 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books) #317 in General History of Religion. 10. Willoughby quoted from Apollonius Argonautica 1.1098 ff. There is no archaeological evidence that mystery religions were in Palestine in the first century A.D. Jews and early Christians loathed syncretism with other religions. 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. The mystery religions exerted some influence on the thinkers of the Middle Ages and the philosophers of the Italian Renaissance. On the contrary it was generally a natural and unconscious process rather than a deliberate plan of action. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. The Mystery Religions form a link between the inclusive pantheon of the Greeks and the more modern exclusive religions of today. To make their case, they cite extensive lists of apparent similarities between . 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. 511513\, The greatest influence of the mystery religions on Christianity lies in a different direction from that of doctrine and ritual. When we come to Christian thought the influence seems even greater, for even the place at Bethleham selected by the early Christians as the scene of the birth of Jesus was none other than an early shrine of this pagan goda fact that led many to confuse Adonis with Jesus Christ.\[Footnote:] Weigall, op. 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. That night the priests went back to the tomb and found it empty, the god having risen on the third day from the dead; and on the 25th the resurrection was celebrated with great rejoicing. Perhaps the most notable difference between Christianity and the mystery religions is Christianity's attitude towards proselytism. In the Christian congregations of the first two centuries, the variety of rites and creeds was almost as great as in the mystery communities; few of the early Christian congregations could have been called orthodox according to later standards. The Pagan Mysteries. 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.\[Footnote:] Willoughby, Pagan Regeneration, p. 114.\7 She was the Great Mother not only of all the gods, but of all men as well.8 The winds, the sea, the earth, and the snowy seat of Olympus are hers, and when from her mountains she ascends into the great heavens, the son of Cronus himself gives way before her, and in like manner do also the other immortal blest honor the dread goddess.\[Footnote:] Quoted in Willoughbys, Pagan Regeneration, p. 115.9\. Church leaders talked about "initiations, passwords, and mysteries" using exactly the same . Never stop with the external, which may seem like borrowing, but recognize there is the perennial struggle for truth, fuller life itself. 187, 188.\. The other gods pleaded with her to relent but she refused to do so until Persephone was restored to her. 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