The similarities must rather be explained by parallel developments from similar origins. 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 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. Although the mystery religions did move towards advancing a solar god above all the others, this change began after 100 A.D., too late to impact the theology of the New Testament. Modern reconstructions that view the mysteries as a cohesive religious phenomenon run the risk of oversimplification. 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. It can be shown that the very earliest practices of Christianity coincided with popular mystery cults on many levels. 5. In connection with the temple, she established certain ceremonies and rites for her worship. It is also significant to know that Roman tolerance had favoured this great syncretism of religious ideas. They encouraged the movement away from the state religions and the philosophical systems and toward the desire for personal salvation and promise of immortality. How do we determine conjectured information? Here we see how Mary gradually came to take the place of the goddess.\[Footnote:] Weigall, op. In the end, virtually all the unique teachings of New Testament theology, including the distinctive doctrines on Jesus Christ, God, man, sin, salvation, and so on, are . That is essential. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. Willoughby, Pagan Regeneration, p. 41: In order to understand the type of religious experience represented by this important cult, it is necessary clearly to keep in mind the main points of the Eleusinian myth which was developed to explain and justify the cult rites. CHRISTIANITY AND THE MYSTERY RELIGIONS SHIRLEY JACKSON CASE, PH.D. The previous five sentences are similar to a passage in Kings earlier paper, A Study of Mithraism, pp. Therefore it is necessary to study the historical and social factors that contributed to the growth of Christianity. 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. 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. This was by no means an accident. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. The preceding five sentences are similar to a passage in A Study of Mithraism, pp. 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. 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. This triumph may be attributed in part to the fact that Christianity took from its opponents their own weapons, and used them: the better elements of the mystery religions were transferred to the new religion. The similarity of the religious vocabulary is also great. People were free to move from one country to another and became cosmopolitan. A query from Stephanie on the Ethical Witches list turned up this paper by Rev. The main characterization of this religion is the secrecy associated . On March 24th, known as the Day of Blood, the High Priest, impersonating Attic, drew blood from him arm and offered it up in place of the blood of a human sacrifice, thus, as it were, sacrificing himself. 1. The staggering question that now arises is, what will be the next stage of mans religious progress? 3. To make their case, they cite extensive lists of apparent similarities between . 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. They felt at first that these competitors were not worthy of consideration, and few references to them are found in Christian literature. It had to do with the nature of the Christian religion . xixii: Christianity triumphed after long conflict It took from its opponents their own weapons, and used them; the better elements of paganism were transferred to the new religion. He too had God for his father. This still stands as a festival in the ecclesiastical calendar; and thus Christians unconsciously perpetuate the worship of Osiris and the commemoration of all his subjects in the Kingdom of the Dead., 22. (2) All had secret rites for the initiated. The Greeks interpreted the national religions of the Greek Orient chiefly in terms of Platos philosophical and religious concepts. 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. The first Christian communities resembled the mystery communities in big cities and seaports by providing social security and the feeling of brotherhood. 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. Babylon Mystery Religion is a detailed Biblical and historical account of how, when, why, and where ancient paganism was mixed with Christianity. 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. 3. Mystery religions, as a rule, can be traced back to tribal origins, Christianity to a historical person. First, they treated the mystery religions as if they were just one religion. Greco-Roman mysteries. There are also great differences between Christianity and the mysteries. (4) All promised a happy future life for the faithful.\[Footnote:] Enslin, Christian Beginnings, pp. After a short period of toleration, the pagan religions were prohibited. Dimensions : 5.37 x 0.73 x 8.4 inches. Paperback : 384 pages. The hypothesis of a mutual dependence has been proposed by scholarsespecially a dependence of Christianity upon the mysteriesbut such theories have been discarded. In the latter capacity Isis was represented in tens of thousands of statuettes and paintings, holding the divine child in her arms. So we might say that Eleusinianism was not blotted out by Christianity. The Mysteries of Mithras presents a revival of this ancient Roman mystery religion, popular from the late second century B.C. 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. While Herodotus fails to give a date for this festival, Plutarch says that it lasted four days, giving the date as the seventeenth day of the Egyptian month Hathor, which, according to the Alexandrian claendar used by him, corresponded to November 13th.\[Footnote:] Frazer, op. This makes it sound as if they were unified, sharing common beliefs that . (3) Baptism and a communion meal were important parts of the ritual of both groups. 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. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. It lies in the fact that the mystery religions paved the way for the presentation of Christianity to the world of that time. During the first semester of his second year at Crozer, King wrote this paper for Enslin's course on Greek religion. Christianity emerged and grew at a time when mystery religions were popular throughout the Roman Empire. Conservative Evangelical Christians care about their brand . This disregard for correct doctrine is a key difference between mystery religions and Christianity. cit., p. 125.\23, The Influence Of The Greater Mysteries At Eleusis. Even Christian apologist had to admit that fact. 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. (3) All offered mystical cleansing from sin. The god of death himself stole the beloved daughter away from the life-giver; but the divine mother would not give up her loved one, and in the end she accomplished her daughters resurrection. Paris, 1930 . Here are seven of the most influential Greco-Roman Mysteries and some of what little we know about them. 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. 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. 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 . Willoughby, Pagan Regeneration, p. 42: The experiential basis for this story is quite clear. Mystery religions arose during the Hellenistic Period and continued into the Roman Period until about the 5th century, when most pagan traditions in the Roman Empire were replaced by Christianity. It is evident that in Rome there was a festival celebrating the death and resurrection of Attis. The later non-Greek mysteries were personal, private, and individualistic. It was a nature myth portraying a vivid and realistic picture of the action of life in the vegetable world in regards to the changing seasons. 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 celebration of his ascension in the sight of his worshippers was the final act of the festival., 17. 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 When Julian the Apostate, Roman emperor from ad 361 to 363, tried to reestablish pagan worship, he found allies at Rome and Alexandria. 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. 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. 1. King, Martin Luther, Jr. (Crozer Theological Seminary). 118119: But there is one feature of the Gospel story which seems really to have been borrowed from the Adonis religion, and, in fact, from other pagan religions also, namely, the descent into Hell. The Greco-Roman world in which the early church developed was one of diverse religions. heralds of another mystery religion, and that Jesus 2. 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. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, p. 116: This god was believed to have suffered a cruel death, to have descended into Hell or Hades, to have risen again, and to have ascended into Heaven; and at his festival, as held in various lands, his death was bewailed, an effigy of his dead body was prepared for burial by being washed with water and anointed, and, on the next day, his resurrection was commemorated with great rejoicing, the very words The Lord is risen probably being used. 4. 115116: Now one of the earliest seats of Christianity was Antioch; but in that city there was celebrated each year the death and resurrection of the god Tammuz or Adonis, This faith had always exerted its influence on Jewish thought, and, indeed, the prophet Ezekiel had found it necessary to scold the women of Jerusalem for weeping for the dead Tammuz at the very gate of the Temple; while, in the end, the place at Bethlehem selected by the early Christians as the scene of the birth of Jesus (for want to [sic] any knowledge as to where the event had really occurred) was none other than an early shrine of this pagan god, as St. Jerome was horrified to discovera fact which shows that Tammuz or Adonis ultimately became confused in mens minds with Jesus Christ., 16. Every year nature passes through a cycle of apparent death and resurrection. ISBN-10 : 0486231240. Christianity originated during the time of the Roman Empire, which was also the time at which the mysteries reached their height of popularity. Reprinted as The Mystery-Religions: A Study in the Religious Background of Early Christianity (New York, 1975). 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. Loisy, Alfred. It was in this city that there was celebrated each year the death and resurrection of the god Adonis. The purity demanded in the worship of Sol and in the Chaldean fire rites was similar to Christian standards. The words of St. Paul, They drank of that spiritual rock and that rock was Christ are borrowed from the Mithraic scriptures., 36. The Eleusinian myth told of these fundamental human experiences as well as of the life of nature., 29. If a mystery religion is one in which participation is "reserved to initiates," then yes, unquestionably so. It seems instead to have been carried over from Jewish background and modified by the new ideas and beliefs of the Christians. Joining a mystery religion was a personal decision and was not connected to what family or culture one belonged to. 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 . This article discusses mystery religions and how they influenced the New Testament and early Christianity. King also proposes that the mystery religions had an even greater influence by preparing the people to understand Christianity. purchase. Furthermore, in Stoicism, the Logos is an unknowable force while, in Christianity, the Word (Logos) was made flesh and dwelt among us. 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 . Now we know from old Egyptian records that a feast in honour of all the dead, when such lamps were lit, was held about November 8th., 21. 2. The religions that Rome had the most problems with were monotheisticJudaism and Christianity. 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. When they sat down to write they were expressing consciously that which had dwelled in their subconscious minds. 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.. It is stated with sufficient elaboration in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter. 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. Practices of Christianity upon the mysteriesbut such theories have been carried over from Jewish Background modified. Also be noticed that his worship was always conducted in a cave risk of oversimplification was the! 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