Unclean March 14, 2008 Share Unclean Member March 14, 2008 This is the thread to talk about Mithraism, spawned from this thread. To start off: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithra Mithra was purported to be the son of god, "the way, the truth, the light", born of a virgin, died for our sins, etc. There are many parallels to Jesus. What are your thoughts about it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonfly March 14, 2008 Share dragonfly Member March 14, 2008 A true scholar always begins with wiki! Looks like he just got the third one wrong: "the way, the truth, the life". Oh, and the wise men who came to visit Jesus at his house as a child were most likely Zoroastrians. I find that very interesting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clueless March 15, 2008 Share Clueless GC Alumni March 15, 2008 For you lazy folks, here is an interesting primer for you I read the wiki stuff, but there is much more detailed info out there if you google mithraism. By the way...big thanks should be given to Unclean for being the unofficial moderator of these discussions, he has started all the posts and set up the links between them...so thanks Unclean because I for one find alot of this fascinating Parallels to Christianity According to Martin A. Larson, in The Story of Christian Origins(1977), Mithraism and Christianity derived from the same sources, originally from the savior cult of Osiris. However, Larson believes that the Essenes were Jewish Pythagoreans, whose members not only gave birth to Christianity as Essenes, but were directly influenced by Zoroastrian doctrine as Pythagoreans. Mithraism, an established but exclusive sect devoted to social justice, was assimilated by state-sponsored Christianity before being disposed of in name. Though no texts of Mithraism survive, various fragments, inscriptions and critical commentaries show that Mithraism and early Christianity both possess similar religious doctrines. ³The resemblances between the two churches were so striking as to impress even the minds of antiquity² (Cumont, 193). From their common Zoroastrian sources, Mithraism first held that all souls pre-existed in the ethereal regions, and inhabited a body upon birth. Life then becomes a great struggle between good and evil, spirit and body, the children of light versus the children of darkness (identical to Pythagoreanism). All souls were to be judged by Mithra (represented as a bull) with the Elect going to heaven, and the earthly and evil being annihilated in a great battle. Mithraism divided the human race into three classes: the spiritual Elect, the wicked, and those who try to be good but can't seem to overcome evil. The Elect go straight to heaven, while the good-intentioned wait until judgment to be resurrected, where the wicked will be destroyed. Both Christianity and Mithraism prided themselves in brotherhood and organized their members as church congregations. Both religions purified themselves through baptism, and each participated in the same type of sacrament, bread and wine. Mithra was born in a cave; a cave is likewise the setting for the nativity of Jesus in the widely-read and influential Gospel of James, which though not canonical is the earliest surviving document attesting the veneration of Mary and claiming her continuing virginity. Both nativities were celebrated on December 25th, and each savior was visited by shepherds with gifts. Both Mithraism and Christianity considered Sunday their holy day, despite early Christianity observing the Jewish Sabbath for centuries. Many have noted that the title of Pope is found in Mithraic doctrine and seemingly prohibited in Christian doctrine. The words Peter (rock) and mass (sacrament) have original significance in Mithraism. Both Mithraism and early Christianity considered abstinence, celibacy, and self-control to be among their highest virtues. Both had similar beliefs about the world, destiny, heaven and hell, and the immortality of the soul. Their conceptions of the battles between good and evil were almost identical, with Christianity adopting millennial epochs that were integral to Mithraism from Zoroastrianism. "They both admitted to the existence of a heaven inhabited by beautiful onesŠand a hell peopled by demons situate in the bowels of earth." (Cumont, 191) Both religions placed a flood at the beginning of history, and both believed in revelation as key to their doctrine. Both awaited the last judgment and resurrection of the dead after the final conflagration of the universe. Christ and Mithra were both referred to directly as the "Logos" (Larson 184). It is probable that Christianity emphasized common features that attracted Mithra followers, perhaps the crucifix appealed to those Mithra followers who had crosses already branded on their foreheads. In art, the halo was a well-known depiction of Mithra, a true sun god, but which also depicts Christ in the same way. However, the similiarities were an embarrassment, and differences such as star gazing were persecuted as heresy. Trypho wrote that ³Justin Martyr declared that in a certain cave near BethlehemŠMary brought forth the ChristŠthose who presided over the mysteries of Mithras were stirred up by the devil to say that in a place called among them a cave, they were initiated by them² (LXXVIII). Tertullian seems to have feared the parallels between Mithraism and Christianity the most, demonizing Mithraism as a perverted truth planted by the devil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unclean March 15, 2008 Author Share Unclean Member March 15, 2008 By the way...big thanks should be given to Unclean for being the unofficial moderator of these discussions, he has started all the posts and set up the links between them...so thanks Unclean because I for one find alot of this fascinating Unofficial? I *am* one of the mods here, ya goof! And just glad to help, and hope everyone's getting good stuff out of these discussions. Is there a chart that maps out the parallels and differences between Mithra and Jesus? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clueless March 15, 2008 Share Clueless GC Alumni March 15, 2008 Haha...I guess I meant thanks for taking control of this series of discussions, but I hadnt realized you were a moderator Hmm, as far as a chart, I dont recall ever seeing one, most of this is stuff I had read a long time ago and I have scrambling throughout these discussions to find info, but I will search and see what I find, or if time allows, try to make one myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonfly March 17, 2008 Share dragonfly Member March 17, 2008 Both Mithraism and early Christianity considered abstinence, celibacy, and self-control to be among their highest virtues. Man, what were they thinking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Playaa March 17, 2008 Share Playaa Member March 17, 2008 Where can I find these parrallels to Christ. I need to read some sources (the Wikipedia pages on Mithra aren't very helpful). Who's to say that Mithraism isn't an off-shoot of Christianity (at that time simply known as "The Way")? They both started around the same time (1st century AD/CE). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clueless March 18, 2008 Share Clueless GC Alumni March 18, 2008 Where can I find these parrallels to Christ. I need to read some sources (the Wikipedia pages on Mithra aren't very helpful).Who's to say that Mithraism isn't an off-shoot of Christianity (at that time simply known as "The Way")? They both started around the same time (1st century AD/CE). Actually it was around before that, about 200BC or so, but lost the religion war so to speak against Christianity in around 300AD. You can also do a search for Sol Invictus, I believe that was the name it went by in the Roman world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Playaa March 18, 2008 Share Playaa Member March 18, 2008 According to the links that were provided Mithraism started "sometime in the 1st century". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unclean March 18, 2008 Author Share Unclean Member March 18, 2008 According to the links that were provided Mithraism started "sometime in the 1st century". Which links? The wikipedia link I provided shows Mithra is older than that: By at least the 3rd century BCE, Mithra was identified as the progeny of Anahita, a mother-entity who is not mentioned in the Gathas of the very early Avesta texts, but is described in the fifth Yasht of the newer texts as "the wide-expanding and health-giving". The largest temple with a Mithraic connection is the Seleucid temple at Kangavar in western Iran (c. 200 BC), which is dedicated to "Anahita, the Immaculate Virgin Mother of the Lord Mithras" though no historical evidence is found to support this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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