Initiation into a mystery religion. There are several explanations regarding the beginning of the observance of the Lords Supper. 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. Willoughby, Pagan Regeneration, pp. 10. In winter vegetable life was dead while Demeter, the giver of life, grieved for the loss of her daughter. Mithraism was brought to Europe from its Persian roots after Alexander the Great's conquests. First, they treated the mystery religions as if they were just one religion. Please c, ontact Intellectual Properties Management (IPM), the exclusive licensor of the Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., Inc. at. The similarity of the religious vocabulary is also great. Knowledge condemns. 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. Christianity originated during the time of the Roman Empire, which was also the time at which the mysteries reached their height of popularity. It, Christianity, is the expression of the longing of people for light, truth, salvation, security. 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. It is this fact that immediately brings to mind the words in the Epistle to the Hebrews: But Christ being come an High Priest neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood obtained eternal redemption for us.\[Footnote:] Heb. 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. Borrowing was not only natural but inevitable.6. The cult of Isis originated in Egypt and went through two major stages. The people of Cyrene selected him as the most able man of the city to be their bishop, and he was able to accept the election without sacrificing his intellectual honesty. Martin Luther King Jr. titled "The Influence of the Mystery Religions on Christianity."King wrote it around the . 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. Mythicists confidently assert, "Christianity is nothing more than a patchwork quilt of ancient pagan and mystery religions.". And today similar experiences are represented by Greek Christians. The Mystery Religions were eventually wiped out by Christianity. This faith had always exerted its influence on Jewish thought, so much so that the prophet Ezekiel\[Footnote:] Ezekiel 8:14.\ found it necessary to scold the women of Jerusalem for weeping for the dead Tammuz (Adonis) at the very gate of the temple. In this earlier stage, Isis had a husband named Osiris. 1. 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 . Yet they all died out within a couple of centuries of the Christian era, Gnosticism (apart from a few vestigial groups in the Near East and Europe) subsuming their heritage last. London, 1928. "Concerning the relationship between the mystery cults and Christianity, scholarly opinion has varied. 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. 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. 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 existence of this atmosphere was vitally important in the development and eventual triumph of Christianity. In the end, virtually all the unique teachings of New Testament theology, including the distinctive doctrines on Jesus Christ, God, man, sin, salvation, etc . At the same time, the . Others saw it as an out-growth from Jewish precedents. Dimensions : 5.37 x 0.73 x 8.4 inches. The previous five sentences are similar to a passage in Kings earlier paper, A Study of Mithraism, pp. The property of the pagan gods was confiscated, and the temples were destroyed. 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. 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. March 24th was the Day of Blood, whereon the High Priest, who himself impersonated Attis, drew blood from his arm and offered it up in place of the blood of a human sacrifice, thus, as it were, sacrificing himself, a fact which recalls to mind the words in the Epistle to the Hebrews: Christ being come an High Priest neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood obtained eternal redemption for us. That night the priests went to the tomb and found it illuminated from within, and it was then discovered to be empty, the god having risen on the third day from the dead; and on the 25th the resurrection was celebrated with great rejoicings, a sacramental meal of some kind being taken, and initiates being baptised with blood, whereby their sins were washed away and they were said to be born again., 14. 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. (2) All had secret rites for the initiated. 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. . 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. It lies in the fact that the mystery religions paved the way for the presentation of Christianity to the world of that time. It is very common to find claims that Christianity was a mystery religion, similar to the worship of Dionysus, Isis, Orpheus, etc. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. 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 Easter ceremonies rivalled the pagan spring festivals. For the Stoics, a relationship with the Logos is . Paperback : 384 pages. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. A query from Stephanie on the Ethical Witches list turned up this paper by Rev. 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. 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. 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. ISBN-10 : 0486231240. The Roman aristocrats multiplied their efforts to maintain the piety of the mysteries, and the pagan philosophers tried to refine their theology by oversubtle interpretations. In the Avesta,\[Footnote:] This is the sacred book of the religion of Iran.\ Mithra is represented as the genius of celestial light. Best Sellers Rank: #329,817 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books) #317 in General History of Religion. Around these two divinities there grew up a confused tangle of myths in explanation of their cult rites. 136137: Tarsus, the home of St. Paul, was one of the great centres of his worship, being the chief city of the Cilicians; and, as will presently appear, there is a decided tinge of Mithraism in the Epistles and Gospels. by Bart D. Ehrman. In this myth, Persephone is depicted playing in the meadows of Mysia in Asia with the daughters of Oceanus and Tithys. 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. Show more. Dean Inge, e.g. 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 . 2d ed. 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. Christianity, in its earliest days, shared a good deal in common with the many "mystery religions" which became popular in the Roman Empire. It is because of this crusading spirit and its superb power of adaptability that Christianityahs {has} been able to survive. King, Martin Luther, Jr. (Crozer Theological Seminary). Sacred mysteries are the areas of supernatural phenomena associated with a divinity or a religious belief and praxis.Sacred mysteries may be either: Religious beliefs, rituals or practices which are kept secret from the uninitiated. Esoteric . 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. It is also significant to know that Roman tolerance had favoured this great syncretism of religious ideas. Modern reconstructions that view the mysteries as a cohesive religious phenomenon run the risk of oversimplification. They felt at first that these competitors were not worthy of consideration, and few references to them are found in Christian literature. This does not mean that there was a deliberate copying on the part of Christianity. Benjamin Cain. The later non-Greek mysteries were personal, private, and individualistic. Mystery religions were seen as more vibrant than the more stale state religions. 3. Was Christianity Originally a Mystery Religion? 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. 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. Mystery Religions and Christianity . The Mystery-Religions and Christianity. But although baptism did not originate with the Christians, still it was not copied from the pagans. It is a library research and is descriptive in nature. It is evident that in Rome there was a festival celebrating the death and resurrection of Attis. The statue of the Good Shepherd carrying his lost sheep and the pastoral themes on Christian sarcophagi were also taken over from pagan craftsmanship. 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. It is celebrated annually on August 13th. 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. The doctrinal similarity is exemplified in the case of the pagan writer and philosopher Synesius. They originated in tribal ceremonies that were performed by primitive peoples in many parts of the world. 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. 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. See A Study of Mithraism, 13 September23 November 1949, pp. The basic Christian objection to Freemasonry is that the Craft constitutes a religious sect in opposition to the revealed truths of the Gospel. cit., p. 110\15. It seems instead to have been carried over from Jewish background and modified by the new ideas and beliefs of the Christians. cit., p. 121.\ This still stands as a festival in the Christian calendar; and thus Christians unconsciously perpetuate the worship of Osiris in modern times.21, However this is not the only point at which the Religion of Osiris and Isis exerted influence on Christianity. 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. Cypress Hall D, 466 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA 94305-4146 As is commonly known Antioch was one of the earliest seats of Christianity. 4. The Institute cannot give permission to use or reproduce any of the writings, statements, or images of Martin Luther King, Jr. 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. The preceding two paragraphs are similar to a passage in A Study of Mithraism, pp. "The correspondences between Christianity and the other mystery religions of antiquity are perhaps more startling than the differences. 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. 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 origin of this cult is obscure and uncertain. He hears all and sees all: none can deceive him.\[Footnote:] Cumont, Mysteries of Mithra, pp. There are also great differences between Christianity and the mysteries. 9.1K Followers. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. However, in the conclusion I will attempt to give those fundamental aspects, characteristic of all the cults, that greatly influenced Christianity. He had left behind the secret whereby men could achieve the goal with him.\[Footnote:] Enslin, op. Mystery religions, as a rule, can be traced back to tribal origins, Christianity to a historical person. 37. Some held that the sacrament was instituted by Jesus himself. After a short period of toleration, the pagan religions were prohibited. 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. I do not deny that there are some similarities. 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. He too had God for his father. 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. Screenshots are considered by the King Estate a violation of this notice. But with the coming of spring the life of nature revived again, for the sorrowing mother had received her daughter back with rejoicing. 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. Willoughby, Pagan Regeneration, p. 42: The experiential basis for this story is quite clear. 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. The Mystery Religions form a link between the inclusive pantheon of the Greeks and the more modern exclusive religions of today. The earlier Greek mystery religions were state religions in the sense that they attained the status of a public or civil cult and served a national or public function. 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. Forces have been known to delay trends but very few have stopped them. The pagan cults and rites, for example, those of Eleusis, Attis, Osiris, Cybele, and Mithra (see mystery religions, greco-oriental). cit., p. 42.\27, The myth is also an example of poignant human experience, reflecting the joys, sorrows, and hopes of mankind in the face of death. Genres Religion HistoryNonfictionThe World. These fundamental human experiences and the life of nature are the main substances of the Eleusinian Mysteries.28 To the searchers of salvation, the Eleusinian cult offered not only the promise of a happy future, but also a definite assurance of it.\[Footnote:] Nilsson, Greek Popular Religion, p. 54.\, Now when we observe the modern Greek Easter festival it seems certain that it preserves the spirit if not the form of the old Eleusinian worship. 6 Mithraism. 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. 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. 6. Here are my top five reasons mystery religions did not influence Christianity . 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 too had found the road to heaven by his suffering and resurrection. Download The Mysteries of Mithras Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle. In this legend, human beings, who are always loved and lost, are depicted as never or seldom loosing hope for reunion with their God. 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. 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.. 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 similarities must rather be explained by parallel developments from similar origins. The cult of Isis became a mystery religion only after Ptolemy the . Beliefs of the religion which are public knowledge but cannot be easily explained by normal rational or scientific means. Each following {year} there was a great festival in commemoration of his resurrection, and the very words, The Lord is risen, were probable used. Les myst res pa ens et le myst re chr tiens. 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. 222223 in this volume. 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. : Putnam, 1928), p. 121: Attis was the Good Shepherd, the son of Cybele, the Great Mother, or, alternatively, of the Virgin Nana, who conceived him without union with mortal man, as in the story of the Virgin Mary., 12. So we might say that Eleusinianism was not blotted out by Christianity. Willoughby, Pagan Regeneration, p. 114: She was the Great Mother not only of all the gods, but of all men as well.. This makes it sound as if they were unified, sharing common beliefs that . Christianity was subject to the same influences from the environment as were the other cults, and it sometimes produced the same reaction. The preceding five sentences are similar to a passage in A Study of Mithraism, pp. 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 . P: (650) 723-2092 | F: (650) 723-2093 | kinginstitute@stanford.edu| Campus Map. One must avoid any suggestion that there was one common mystery religion. Here are seven of the most influential Greco-Roman Mysteries and some of what little we know about them. This article discusses mystery religions and how they influenced the New Testament and early Christianity. 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. 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. They prepared the people mentally and emotionally to understand the type of religion which Christianity represented. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. Christianity acknowledges only one way to God (John 14:6) and places utmost importance on right doctrine (1 . Babylon Mystery Religion is a detailed Biblical and historical account of how, when, why, and where ancient paganism was mixed with Christianity. Both the Apostles Creed and the Athanasian {Creed} say that between the Friday night and Sunday morning Jesus was in Hades. 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 is an interpretation of human history that breeds Never stop with the external, which may seem like borrowing, but recognize there is the perennial struggle for truth, fuller life itself. The doctrine is almost identical. The other gods pleaded with her to relent but she refused to do so until Persephone was restored to her. King, martin Luther King Jr. titled & quot ; the correspondences between Christianity the! Opinion has varied the inclusive pantheon of the vegetable world particularly the widespread cults throughout each Mediterranean region as... From Jewish precedents Demeter, the giver of life, grieved for the presentation of Christianity in the fact the... 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