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. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. Moreover, much from the Mysteries has persisted in various modern phases of thought and practice.\[Footnote:] Angus, The Mystery Religions and Christianity, p. viii.\, This is not to say that the early Christians sat down and copied these views verbatim. 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. 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. According to this view, Christianity began as a Jewish adaptation of Greek mystery . . The mystery religions exerted some influence on the thinkers of the Middle Ages and the philosophers of the Italian Renaissance. King, Martin Luther, Jr. (Crozer Theological Seminary). The centres of pagan resistance were Rome, where the old aristocracy clung to the mysteries, and Alexandria, where the pagan Neoplatonist philosophers expounded the mystery doctrines. 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. The books that the mystery communities used in Roman times cannot possibly be compared to the New Testament. 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. 3. This disregard for correct doctrine is a key difference between mystery religions and Christianity. 116117: With [the Great Mother] was associated a hero-divinity called Attis who personified the life of the vegetable world particularly. Around these two divinities, the Great Mother and the god of vegetation, there grew up a confused tangle of myths in explanation of their cult rites. For the Stoics, a relationship with the Logos is . In The Influence of Mystery Religions on Christianity, King writes about the influence of Mystery Religions on Christianity: It is at this point that we are able to see why knowledge of these cults is important for any serious New Testament study. Arthur E. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity (n.p. cit., p. 257.\ Other Egyptian records speak of another feast in honour of all the dead, when such lamps were lit, which was held about November 8th.\[Footnote:] Ibid, p. 258.\20, It is interesting to note that the Christian feast of all Souls, in honor of the dead, likewise falls at the beginning of November; and in many countries lamps and candles are burned all night on that occassion. Now it seems that the general belief of the early church that Jesus was born in a cave grows directly out of Mithraic ideas. 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. They encouraged the movement away from the state religions and the philosophical systems and toward the desire for personal salvation and promise of immortality. 1. (4) All promised a happy future life for the faithful.\[Footnote:] Enslin, Christian Beginnings, pp. There are no parallels in Christianity to the sexual rites in the Dionysiac and Isiac religion, with the exception of a few aberrant Gnostic communities. However when we come to the idea of Jesus decent into hell it seems that we have a direct borrow from the Adonis religion, and in fact from other religions also. In fact, it's hard not to place Christianity among the mystery religions (even though Christian apologists refuse to do this). Christianity was subject to the same influences from the environment as were the other cults, and it sometimes produced the same reaction. It was suppressed by the Christians sometime in the latter part of the fourth century a.d.; but its collapse seems to have been due to the fact that by that time many of its doctrines and practices had been adopted by the church, so that it was practically absorbed by its rival.31, Originally Mithra was one of the lesser gods of the ancient Persian pantheon, but at the time of Christ he had come to be co-equal with Ahura Mazda, the Supreme Being.32 He possessed many attributes, the most important being his office of defender of truth and all good things. 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. 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. 3 Far from being dependent on mystery religions, Christianity can be correctly traced back to the life of a real flesh and bone person named Jesus 4 as well as to Old Testament Judaism. Men began to die for the lack of food while the sacrifices to the gods decreased in number because the animals were dying out. 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; 1. 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. cit., p. 125.\23, The Influence Of The Greater Mysteries At Eleusis. 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. The preceding two sentences are similar to a passage in A Study of Mithraism, p. 211 in this volume. It should also be noted that early Christianity was an exclusivistic religion while the mystery cults were not. Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like Neoplatonism resonated with the mystery religions because of its idea of (p. 236), The Stoic idea of logos expresses that the world is governed by (p. 235), The Gospels, which presented Christianity as a distinct religion, were written (p. 232) and more. 6. It is stated with sufficient elaboration in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter. 5. 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. 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. 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.. A query from Stephanie on the Ethical Witches list turned up this paper by Rev. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. In the Avesta,\[Footnote:] This is the sacred book of the religion of Iran.\ Mithra is represented as the genius of celestial light. ISBN-13 : 978-0486231242. 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. 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. 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 . 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. During the first semester of his second year at Crozer, King wrote this paper for Enslin's course on Greek religion. 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.. He had left behind the secret whereby men could achieve the goal with him.\[Footnote:] Enslin, op. 2d ed. They were themselves, in verying degrees, imperfect examples of the Galilean cult which was to replace them. 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. 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. S. Angus, The Mystery-Religions and Christianity (London: John Murray, 1925), p. vii: These Mysteries covered an enormous range, and manifested a great diversity in character and outlook, from Orphism to Gnosticism, from the orgies of the Cabiri to the fervours of the Hermetic contemplative.. Since Christianity was a mystery religion that demanded initiation to participate in religious practices, Christian architecture put greater emphasis on the interior. In this myth, Persephone is depicted playing in the meadows of Mysia in Asia with the daughters of Oceanus and Tithys. Whatever the religious doctrines of the Masonic sect it is plain that they do not embrace the central Christian . The Christian representations of the Madonna and child are clearly the continuation of the representations of Isis and her son suckling her breast. (3) All offered mystical cleansing from sin. Screenshots are considered by the King Estate a violation of this notice. 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). The Mystery-Religions and Christianity. After making herself known, she commanded the people of Eleusis to build her a temple. heralds of another mystery religion, and that Jesus 2. They were characterized by elaborate orgiastic rituals, secret knowledge, and an emphasis on a direct personal . or 404 526-8968. Mythicists confidently assert, "Christianity is nothing more than a patchwork quilt of ancient pagan and mystery religions.". 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. Regardless, one consequence of interpreting Christianity as an embellished mystery religion is the conclusion that Christian faith per se is the invention of men, not a revelation from God. Mystery religions were seen as more vibrant than the more stale state religions. Christianity triumphed over these mystery religions after long conflict. 5. Show more. 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. The Mystery Religions were eventually wiped out by Christianity. The Greeks interpreted the national religions of the Greek Orient chiefly in terms of Platos philosophical and religious concepts. The pagan cults and rites, for example, those of Eleusis, Attis, Osiris, Cybele, and Mithra (see mystery religions, greco-oriental). But when we observe a little further we find that as a solar festival, Sunday was the sacred day of Mithra; it is also interesting to notice that since Mithra was addressed as Lord, Sunday must have been the Lords Day long before Christian use.\[Footnote:] Ibid., p. 137.\ It is also to be noticed that our Christmas, December 25th, was the birthday of Mithra, and was only taken over in the Fourth Century as the date, actually unknown, of the birth of Jesus.36, To make the picture a little more clear, we may list a few of the similarities between these two religions: (1) Both regard Sunday as a holy day. (4) The rebirth of converts was a fundamental idea in the two cults. Interpretation in Platonic concepts was also the means by which the Judeo-Christian set of creeds was thoroughly assimilated to Greek ideas by the early Christian thinkers Clement of Alexandria and Origen. The eucharist, likewise through similar in some respects to the communion meal of Mithraism, was not a rite borrowed from it. 211225 in this volume. 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. Conservative Evangelical Christians care about their brand . 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. Paperback : 384 pages. The only one they could offer was quite naive, but it was in keeping with the trends of thought in that age. 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 it was generally a natural and unconscious process rather than a deliberate plan of action. Dean Inge, e.g. First, they treated the mystery religions as if they were just one religion. Their members refused to make offerings to Roman gods or take part in Roman religious festivals, which Rome considered a matter of showing loyalty. 129130: There were two aspects of Isis which commended themselves particularly to her worshippers: firstly, that of the lady of sorrows, weeping for the dead Osiris, and, secondly, that of the divine mother, nursing her infant son, Horus. The preceding two paragraphs are similar to a passage in A Study of Mithraism, pp. Clayborne Carson, Ralph Luker, and Penny A. Russell, eds. 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. The mysteries of human life and death are vividly enacted by Demeter, Persephone, and Hades. 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. 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. (Interesting parallels between the mystery faiths and early Christianity are discussed, without either apology or venom, but with an avid interest.) While playing she was stolen by Pluto and carried off to the underworld to be his bride. 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. The essay examines how Christianity developed as a distinct religion with a set of central tenets and how it was influenced by those pagan religions it assimilated. In speaking of the indispensability of knowledge of these cults as requisite for any serious study of Christianity, Dr. Angus says: As an important background to early Christianity and as the chief medium of sacramentarianism to the West they cannot be neglected; for to fail to recognize the moral and spiritual values of Hellenistic-Oriental paganism is to misunderstand the early Christian centuries and to do injustice to the victory of Christianity. The similarity of the religious vocabulary is also great. 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. 131132: At about this time a story, attributed to Melito, Bishop of Sardis in the Second Century, but probably of much later origin, began to spread that Mary had been miraculously carried to Heaven by Jesus and His angels; and in the Sixth Century the festival of the Assumption, which celebrates this event, was acknowledged by the Church, and is now one of the great feasts of Roman Catholicism, It is celebrated on August 13th; but that was the date of the great festival of Diana or Artemis, with whom Isis was identified, and one can see, thus, how Mary had gradually taken the place of the goddess., 24. 9:11, 12.\ Now to get back to the festival. It is celebrated annually on August 13th. In the spring, those who had shared Demeters grief for the loss of her daugher welcomed the return of Persephone with all the joy that the returning life of vegetation might kindle. There seems little doubt that this custom was identical with the Egyptian festival. 2, 3.\33 Tarsus, the home of Saint Paul, was one of the great centres of his worship; and there is a decided tinge of Mithraism in the Epistles and Gospels. 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 . The staggering question that now arises is, what will be the next stage of mans religious progress? The coffin, meanwhile, was washed up on the Syrian coast, and became miraculously lodged in the trunk of a tree, 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. Afterwards, however, he returned to the other world to reign for ever as King of the Dead; and meanwhile Horus, having grown to manhood, reigned on Earth, later becoming the third person of this great Egyptian trinity., 20. Christianity certainly has many important features in common with Greco-Roman mystery religions, but there are some crucial differences between Christianity and mystery religions that really set Christianity apart. The simultaneousness of the propagation of the mystery religions and of Christianity and the striking similarities between them, however, demand some explanation of their relationship. 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. Freedom's Ring: King's "I Have a Dream" Speech, The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. Volume I: Called to Serve, January 1929-June 1951. Here are my top five reasons mystery religions did not influence Christianity . (3) Baptism and a communion meal were important parts of the ritual of both groups. 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. They felt at first that these competitors were not worthy of consideration, and few references to them are found in Christian literature. Les myst res pa ens et le myst re chr tiens. Mithra hears all, sees all, knows all: none can deceive him., 34. They originated in tribal ceremonies that were performed by primitive peoples in many parts of the world. The previous five sentences are similar to a passage in Kings earlier paper, A Study of Mithraism, pp. During the rise of Christianity in the first century A.D. also were the widespread cults throughout each Mediterranean region known as the mystery religions. . 222223 in this volume. 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 . It is not at all surprising in view of the wide and growing influence of these religions that when the disciples in Antioch and elsewhere preached a crucified and risen Jesus they should be regarded as the heralds of another mystery religion, and that Jesus himself should be taken for the divine Lord of the cult through whose death and resurrection salvation was to be had.3 That there were striking similarities between the developing church and these religions cannot be denied. This sacramental use of the term did not become established until the fourth century, when the mystery religions were no longer serious competitors of Christianity. 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. This is, of course, a loaded question. The Institute cannot give permission to use or reproduce any of the writings, statements, or images of Martin Luther King, Jr. If a mystery religion is one in which participation is "reserved to initiates," then yes, unquestionably so. It is because of this crusading spirit and its superb power of adaptability that Christianityahs {has} been able to survive. 9.1K Followers. 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 mystery religions adopted many expressions from these domains: they spoke of the assembly (ekklsia) of the mystai; the voyage of life; the ship, the anchor, and the port of religion; and the wreath of the initiate; life was a stage and man the actor. 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. In connection with the temple, she established certain ceremonies and rites for her worship. Underneath all expression, whether words, creeds, cults, ceremonies is the spiritual orderthe ever living search of men for higher lifea fuller life, more abundant, satisfying life. Some held that the sacrament was instituted by Jesus himself. Payam Nabarz reveals the history and tenets of Mithraism, its connections to Christianity, Islam, and Freemasonry, and the modern neo-pagan practice of . 121122: In Rome the festival of his death and resurrection was annually held from March 22nd to 25th; and the connection of this religion with Christianity is shown by the fact that in Phrygia, Gaul, Italy, and other countries where Attis-worship was powerful, the Christians adopted the actual date, March 25th, as the anniversary of our Lords passion., 13. The holy stories of the mysteries were myths; the Gospels of the New Testament, however, relate historical events. The people of that age were eager and zealous in their search for religious experience. Bottom line: They believe that the early Church borrowed heavily from pagan deities already in existence at the time of Jesus. The ideas of Greek philosophy penetrated everywhere in this society. This article discusses mystery religions and how they influenced the New Testament and early Christianity. 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. 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 precious metal used to coin Constantines gold pieces was taken from heathen temple treasuries. The purity demanded in the worship of Sol and in the Chaldean fire rites was similar to Christian standards. In the end, virtually all the unique teachings of New Testament theology, including the distinctive doctrines on Jesus Christ, God, man, sin, salvation, etc . So we might say that Eleusinianism was not blotted out by Christianity. The other gods pleaded with her to relent but she refused to do so until Persephone was restored to her. 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