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. Esotericism has more in common with Gnosticism, Theosophy, and Rosicrucianism than genuine biblical Christianity. 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. 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. 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. The property of the pagan gods was confiscated, and the temples were destroyed. First published June 1, 1975. Masonry Encompasses All Elements of a Religion of Naturalism. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. This effigy was later buried in a tomb. 2. 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. All this goes to show how important Mithraism was in ancient times. cit., p. 113.\18 Such facts led almost inevitably to the view that this idea had a pagan origin, since it appears not only in the legend of Adonis, but also in those of Herakles, Dionyses, Orpheus, Osiris, Hermes, Balder, and other deities.\[Footnote:] Ibid, p. 114.\, The Egyptian mysteries of Isis and Osiris exerted considerable influence upon early Christianity. During the first semester of his second year at Crozer, King wrote this paper for Enslin's course on Greek religion. 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. 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. 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. 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. Reprinted as The Mystery-Religions: A Study in the Religious Background of Early Christianity (New York, 1975). 4. Paris, 1930 . 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. The holy stories of the mysteries were myths; the Gospels of the New Testament, however, relate historical events. 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. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, p. 135: It was suppressed by the Christians in a.d. 376 and 377; but its collapse seems to have been due rather to the fact that by that time many of its doctrines and ceremonies had been adopted by the Church, so that it was practically absorbed by its rival., 32. Supporters of the theory incorrectly assume that Christianity borrowed many of its ideas from the mystery religions, but the evidence reveals it was actually the other way around. Hardcover, 335 pages. 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. 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. Mythicists confidently assert, "Christianity is nothing more than a patchwork quilt of ancient pagan and mystery religions.". 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. Various writers gave different Versions of the Cybele-Attis myth. 6 Mithraism. 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. The first Christian communities resembled the mystery communities in big cities and seaports by providing social security and the feeling of brotherhood. Perhaps the most notable difference between Christianity and the mystery religions is Christianity's attitude towards proselytism. 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 . The mysteries declined quickly when the emperor Constantine raised Christianity to the status of the state religion. Never stop with the external, which may seem like borrowing, but recognize there is the perennial struggle for truth, fuller life itself. It, Christianity, is the expression of the longing of people for light, truth, salvation, security. London, 1928. After a short period of toleration, the pagan religions were prohibited. Christianity triumphed over these mystery religions after long conflict. Therefore it is necessary to study the historical and social factors that contributed to the growth of Christianity. This was by no means an accident. 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 . cit., p. 119.\19, In the records of both Herodotus and Plutarch we find that there was a festival held each year in Egypt celebrating the resurrection of Osiris. The previous five sentences are similar to a passage in Kings earlier paper, A Study of Mithraism, pp. 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. 211225 in this volume. 23: In the Avesta, Mithra is the genius of the celestial light. It should also be noted that early Christianity was an exclusivistic religion while the mystery cults were not. 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. It was in this city that there was celebrated each year the death and resurrection of the god Adonis. cit., p. 110\15. 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. Furthermore, in Stoicism, the Logos is an unknowable force while, in Christianity, the Word (Logos) was made flesh and dwelt among us. Modern reconstructions that view the mysteries as a cohesive religious phenomenon run the risk of oversimplification. Frickel, J. Hellenistische Erl sung in christlicher Deutung. 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. As is commonly known Antioch was one of the earliest seats of Christianity. ISBN-10 : 0486231240. In this myth, Persephone is depicted playing in the meadows of Mysia in Asia with the daughters of Oceanus and Tithys. However, in the conclusion I will attempt to give those fundamental aspects, characteristic of all the cults, that greatly influenced Christianity. In the large Gnostic library discovered at Najammd, in upper Egypt, in 1945, Hermetic writings were found sideby-side with Christian Gnostic texts. P: (650) 723-2092 | F: (650) 723-2093 | kinginstitute@stanford.edu| Campus Map. 187, 188.\. The preceding three paragraphs are similar to a passage in Kings earlier paper, A Study of Mithraism, p. 211 in this volume. 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 Christian churches needed large interior spaces to house the growing congregations and to mark the clear separation of the faithful from the unfaithful. These many religions, known as Mystery-Religions, were not alike in every respect: to draw this conclusion would lead to a gratuitous and erroneous supposition. They maintained that it was the work of the devil who helped to confuse men by creating a pagan imitation of the true religion.38, There can hardly be any gainsaying of the fact that Christianity was greatly influenced by the Mystery religions, both from a ritual and a doctrinal angle. 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. 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. It was a nature myth, a vivid depiction of the action of life in the vegetable world with the changing of the seasons. It is very common to find claims that Christianity was a mystery religion, similar to the worship of Dionysus, Isis, Orpheus, etc. So through experience, knowledge, as through other forms, the outer manifestations of religion change. Whereas in these tribal communities almost every member of the clan or the village was initiated, initiation in Greece . This coincidence had led many critics to suppose that the story of the burial and resurrection of Jesus is simply a myth borrowed from this pagan religion.17 Whether these critics are right in their interpretation or not still remains a moot question. But it was this very date that the festival of Dianna or Artemis was celebrated, with whom Isis was identified. 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. The conditions of that era made it possible for these religions to sweep like a tidal wave over the ancient world. 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. In order to give a comprehensive picture of this subject, I will discuss Four {Five} of the most popular of these religions separately, rather than to view them en masse as a single great religious system. A query from Stephanie on the Ethical Witches list in Austin turned up this paper by Rev. 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. Benjamin Cain. How do we determine conjectured information? (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. He had left behind the secret whereby men could achieve the goal with him.\[Footnote:] Enslin, op. These are stated with sufficient elaboration in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, According to the story, Persephone, was stolen by Pluto and carried off to the underworld to be his bride. The mother, frenzied with grief, rushed about the earth for nine days., 26. 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 . 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. Christianity, however, [strikeout illegible] survived because it appeared to be the result of a trend in the social order or in the historical cycle of the human race. The cult of Isis originated in Egypt and went through two major stages. . The preceding five sentences are similar to a passage in A Study of Mithraism, pp. In connection with the temple, she established certain ceremonies and rites for her worship. Dean Inge, e.g. CHRISTIANITY AND THE MYSTERY RELIGIONS SHIRLEY JACKSON CASE, PH.D. 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. 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. 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 Mystery Religions were eventually wiped out by Christianity. 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. Mystery religions, as a rule, can be traced back to tribal origins, Christianity to a historical person. It is celebrated annually on August 13th. Mystery cults continue to vex scholars because the surviving evidence is problematic, comprising a few written sources, mostly late in date, and often with questionable aims and biases. 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 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. This universal law is expecially true of religion. Christianity's recently launched He Gets US campaignmillions of people got a dose during the Superbowltells us two things: 1. heralds of another mystery religion, and that Jesus 2. 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. 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. Various writers, pagan and Christian, gave different versions of the Cybele-Attis myth. The specific variations in all these diverse statements do not concern us, for certain significant elements were common to all the various versions., 11. Bottom line: They believe that the early Church borrowed heavily from pagan deities already in existence at the time of Jesus. (2) December 25 came to be considered as the anniversary of the birth of Mithra and Christ also. (Pagan Regeneration, p. 115). It is well-nigh impossible to . 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. 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. 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). In fact, the comparison became so evident that many believed the Christian movement itself became a mystery cult. Paperback : 384 pages. 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. It is because of this crusading spirit and its superb power of adaptability that Christianityahs {has} been able to survive. 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. This makes it sound as if they were unified, sharing common beliefs that . It is well-nigh impossible to grasp Christianity through and through without knowledge of these cults.5 It must be remembered, as implied above, that Christianity was not a sudden and miraculous transformation, springing, forth full grown as Athene sprang from the head of Zeus, but it is a composite of slow and laborious growth. 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. Willoughby, Pagan Regeneration, pp. Clayborne Carson, Ralph Luker, and Penny A. Russell, eds. Men began to die for the lack of food while the sacrifices to the gods decreased in number because the animals were dying out. 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. It is also significant to know that Roman tolerance had favoured this great syncretism of religious ideas. Loisy, Alfred. 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. 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. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. 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. The religions that Rome had the most problems with were monotheisticJudaism and Christianity. It is improbable, however, that either of these were introduced into Christian practices by association with the mystery cults. Willoughby, Pagan Regeneration, p. 114: She was the Great Mother not only of all the gods, but of all men as well.. Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305. It is a library research and is descriptive in nature. The precious metal used to coin Constantines gold pieces was taken from heathen temple treasuries. Spring, the time when all plants come back to life, indicates the return of plenty when the goddess maintains all life until autumn when her daughter returns to Hades and the earth becomes once more desolated.\[Footnote:] Willoughby, op. Scholars wrongly infused Christian terms into the mystery religion. 6. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. 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. Whatever the religious doctrines of the Masonic sect it is plain that they do not embrace the central Christian . But after being in contact with these surrounding religions and hearing certain doctrines expressed, it was only natural for some of these views to become a part of their subconscious minds. (2) All had secret rites for the initiated. 37. Here we see how Mary gradually came to take the place of the goddess.\[Footnote:] Weigall, op. 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. Attis was the Good Shepard, the son of Cybele, the Great Mother, who gave birth to him without union with mortal man, as in the story of the virgin Mary.11 According to the myth, Attis died, either slain by another or by his own hand. The purity demanded in the worship of Sol and in the Chaldean fire rites was similar to Christian standards. The cult of Isis became a mystery religion only after Ptolemy the . On the whole, early Christians were not greatly concerned about the likenesses between the Mithraic cult and their own. The preceding two sentences are similar to a passage in A Study of Mithraism, p. 224 in this volume. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. After mourning over the dead Christ, represented most conspicuously by a wax image carried through the streets, there comes an announcement by the priest, on the midnight before Easter Sunday, that Christ is risen. (3) All offered mystical cleansing from sin. That is essential. Church leaders talked about "initiations, passwords, and mysteries" using exactly the same . 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. Download The Mysteries of Mithras Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle. 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