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. Christianity was subject to the same influences from the environment as were the other cults, and it sometimes produced the same reaction. Arthur E. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity (n.p. On the contrary many of its forms and some of its old content has been perpetuated in Christianity.30, Mithraism is perhaps the greatest example of paganisms last effort to reconcile itself to the great spiritual movement which was gaining such sturdy influence with its purer conception of God.\[Footnote:] Dill, Roman Society From Nero to Marcus Aurelius, p. 585.\ Ernest Renan, the French philosopher and Orientalist, expressed the opinion that Mithraism would have been the religion of the modern world if anything had occured to halt or destroy the growth of Christianity in the early centuries of its existence. in his Christian Mysticism, p. 354, says that Catholicism owes to the Mysteries " the notions of secrecy, of This makes it sound as if they were unified, sharing common beliefs that . Some writers traced its origin to Egypt while others upheld Eleusis in Greece as the place of its birth. Martin Luther King Jr. titled "The Influence of the Mystery Religions on Christianity."King wrote it around the . : 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. As is commonly known Antioch was one of the earliest seats of Christianity. 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. We should try to see the dark comedy in all things. Selected Answer : True This was by no means an accident. Some held that the sacrament was instituted by Jesus himself. 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. 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. The religions that Rome had the most problems with were monotheisticJudaism and Christianity. 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. In connection with the temple, she established certain ceremonies and rites for her worship. 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.. Others saw it as an out-growth from Jewish precedents. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. 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. Modern reconstructions that view the mysteries as a cohesive religious phenomenon run the risk of oversimplification. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. 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. However, in the conclusion I will attempt to give those fundamental aspects, characteristic of all the cults, that greatly influenced Christianity. Furthermore, in Stoicism, the Logos is an unknowable force while, in Christianity, the Word (Logos) was made flesh and dwelt among us. In fact, the comparison became so evident that many believed the Christian movement itself became a mystery cult. We can understand the Christianity of the fifth century with its greatness and weakness, its spiritual exaltation and its puerile superstitions, if we know the moral antecedents of the world in which it developed.\[Footnote:] Cumont, Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism, p. xxiv.\4 The victory of Christianity in the Roman empire is another example of that universal historical law, viz., that that culture which conquers is in turn conquered. The Institute cannot give permission to use or reproduce any of the writings, statements, or images of Martin Luther King, Jr. It was believed that this god suffered a cruel death, after which he descended into hell, rose again, and then ascended into Heaven. The holy stories of the mysteries were myths; the Gospels of the New Testament, however, relate historical events. Around these two divinities there grew up a confused tangle of myths in explanation of their cult rites. The more crusading a religion is, the more it absorbs. Certainly Christianity has been a crusading religion from the beginning. As for my characterization of Mormonism, it depends on the definition. Although the above paragraph makes it obvious that there are many similarities between these two religions, we must guard against the fallacy of seeing all similarity as direct borrowing. Christianity emerged and grew at a time when mystery religions were popular throughout the Roman Empire. Every year nature passes through a cycle of apparent death and resurrection. 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. 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. Christianity acknowledges only one way to God (John 14:6) and places utmost importance on right doctrine (1 . 9. 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. 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. (3) All offered mystical cleansing from sin. He hears all and sees all: none can deceive him.\[Footnote:] Cumont, Mysteries of Mithra, pp. Esoteric Christianity teaches that Christianity is a mystery religion and that only a small minority of people ever achieve the enlightenment necessary to crack the arcane teachings of the Bible and truly know God. All of Lent's penitential practices and acts of spiritual renewal find their meaning in the journey of self-emptying and self-giving love that Jesus undertakes in his death and resurrection. As is commonly known Isis had two capacities which her worshippers warmly commended her for. Whatever the religious doctrines of the Masonic sect it is plain that they do not embrace the central Christian . 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. In winter, all plants die, this represents the period of Demeters grief over her daughter. 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. They were characterized by elaborate orgiastic rituals, secret knowledge, and an emphasis on a direct personal . The Christian churches needed large interior spaces to house the growing congregations and to mark the clear separation of the faithful from the unfaithful. In the end, virtually all the unique teachings of New Testament theology, including the distinctive doctrines on Jesus Christ, God, man, sin, salvation, etc . Willoughby, Pagan Regeneration, p. 42: The experiential basis for this story is quite clear. . The theology of the mysteries was developed to a far lesser degree than the Christian theology. Genres Religion HistoryNonfictionThe World. The preceding two sentences are similar to a passage in A Study of Mithraism, p. 211 in this volume. 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. Was Christianity Originally a Mystery Religion? 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. (3) Baptism and a communion meal were important parts of the ritual of both groups. 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." 3. Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305. 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 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. Leiden, 1984. "The correspondences between Christianity and the other mystery religions of antiquity are perhaps more startling than the differences. 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. 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. Beliefs of the religion which are public knowledge but cannot be easily explained by normal rational or scientific means. Christianity emerged and grew at a time when mystery religions were popular throughout the Roman Empire. 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. 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. 1. Esoteric . #1,225 in History of Christianity (Books) The pagan cults and rites, for example, those of Eleusis, Attis, Osiris, Cybele, and Mithra (see mystery religions, greco-oriental). Throughout the Roman Empire place of its birth cults, and it sometimes the... 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