mystery religion christianity

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). 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 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. 213214 in this volume. Meanwhile the coffin was washed up on the Syrian coast, and became miraculously lodged in the trunk of a tree. The essay examines how Christianity developed as a distinct religion with a set of central tenets and how it was influenced by those pagan religions it assimilated. The only one they could offer was quite naive, but it was in keeping with the trends of thought in that age. After a short period of toleration, the pagan religions were prohibited. It is well-nigh impossible to . The Greeks interpreted the national religions of the Greek Orient chiefly in terms of Platos philosophical and religious concepts. 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. 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. For the Stoics, a relationship with the Logos is . 9:11, 12.\ Now to get back to the festival. Selected Answer : True 2d ed. 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. 3. CHRISTIANITY AND THE MYSTERY RELIGIONS SHIRLEY JACKSON CASE, PH.D. 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. Mithraism was brought to Europe from its Persian roots after Alexander the Great's conquests. 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. MLKP, MBU, Martin Luther King, Jr., Papers, 1954-1968, Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University, Boston, Mass. The main characterization of this religion is the secrecy associated . The hypothesis of a mutual dependence has been proposed by scholarsespecially a dependence of Christianity upon the mysteriesbut such theories have been discarded. (2) All had secret rites for the initiated. Through the summer the mother abundantly maintained the life of nature until autumn, when again her daughter returned to the underworld and earth became desolate once more., 28. Babylon Mystery Religion; 1966 "The Romish system is based upon a mixture. 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 festival ended with the celebration of his ascention in the sight of his worshippers.16 Needless to say that this story of the death and resurrection of Adonis is quite similar to the Christian story of the death and resurrection of Christ. 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. Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like The dependency fallacy understands that Christianity borrowed the substance of the mystery religions and turned this into a new religion., Several contemporary scholars do see dependency between Christianity and pagan religions, but it is a reversed dependency, meaning that the pagan religions borrowed from Christianity (at least . Every year nature passes through a cycle of apparent death and resurrection. 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. Jesus was the divine Lord. Here are seven of the most influential Greco-Roman Mysteries and some of what little we know about them. 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. Dimensions : 5.37 x 0.73 x 8.4 inches. 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. That is, with this study you have made, we see the philosophy both of Religion and History. The doctrinal similarity is exemplified in the case of the pagan writer and philosopher Synesius. 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. (Interesting parallels between the mystery faiths and early Christianity are discussed, without either apology or venom, but with an avid interest.) 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. 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. " King wrote . After making herself known, she commanded the people of Eleusis to build her a temple. 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. Download The Mysteries of Mithras Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle. The preceding four sentences are similar to a passage in A Study of Mithraism, p. 224 in this volume. Pluto, (also called Hades) therefore, at the request of Zeus released her but not before he had caused her to eat a pomegranate seed which magically required her return after a period of time. 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.. On the whole, early Christians were not greatly concerned about the likenesses between the Mithraic cult and their own. Therefore it is necessary to study the historical and social factors that contributed to the growth of Christianity. As is commonly known Isis had two capacities which her worshippers warmly commended her for. The preceding two paragraphs are similar to a passage in A Study of Mithraism, pp. 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. CULT OF CYBELE. 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. The Eleusinian myth told of these fundamental human experiences as well as of the life of nature., 29. People were free to move from one country to another and became cosmopolitan. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. There is more to the story before the flood, but as things started new after the flood, we will start from this point. In this legend, human beings, who are always loved and lost, are depicted as never or seldom loosing hope for reunion with their God. Martin Luther King Jr. titled " The Influence of the Mystery Religions on Christianity. The essential features of Christianity were fixed once and for all in this book; the mystery doctrines, however, always remained in a much greater state of fluidity. The Christian churches needed large interior spaces to house the growing congregations and to mark the clear separation of the faithful from the unfaithful. Both the Apostles Creed and the Athanasian {Creed} say that between the Friday night and Sunday morning Jesus was in Hades. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. Babylon Mystery Religion is a detailed Biblical and historical account of how, when, why, and where ancient paganism was mixed with Christianity. Mithraism, a sect of Zoroastrianism characterized by the worship of Mithra as the defender of the truth, was a monotheistic mystery religion prevalent in the Roman empire before the acceptance of Christianity in the fourth century. 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. Esoteric . Joining a mystery religion was a personal decision and was not connected to what family or culture one belonged to. Mystery Religion-Basic Traits. Some writers traced its origin to Egypt while others upheld Eleusis in Greece as the place of its birth. The Easter ceremonies rivalled the pagan spring festivals. Willoughby, Pagan Regeneration, p. 114: She was the Great Mother not only of all the gods, but of all men as well.. 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. 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. The later non-Greek mysteries were personal, private, and individualistic. Thus, under identical conditions, new forms of religious communities sprang from similar roots. cit., p. 190.\. (Pagan Regeneration, p. 115). In a mystery religion, an inner core of beliefs, practices, and the religion's true nature, . 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. 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. Early Christian writers, aware of the similarity between Christianity and mystery-cult, claim that the latter is a diabolical imitation of the former" (Dionysus, Richard Seaford, 126.) He had left behind the secret whereby men could achieve the goal with him.\[Footnote:] Enslin, op. by Bart D. Ehrman. 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. 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. They encouraged the movement away from the state religions and the philosophical systems and toward the desire for personal salvation and promise of immortality. This celebration was held annually from March 22nd to 25th.\[Footnote:] Frazer, Adonis, Attis, Osiris, p. 166.\ The influence of this religion on Christianity is shown by the fact that in Phrygia, Gaul, Italy, and other countries where Attis-worship was powerful, the Christians adapted the actual date, March 25th, as the anniversary of our Lords passion.\[Footnote:] Ibid, p. 199\12, Again we may notice that at this same Attis festival on March 22nd, an effigy of the god was fastened to the trunk of a pine tree, Attis thus being slain and hanged on a tree. This effigy was later buried in a tomb. Never stop with the external, which may seem like borrowing, but recognize there is the perennial struggle for truth, fuller life itself. Since Christianity was a mystery religion that demanded initiation to participate in religious practices, Christian architecture put greater emphasis on the interior. 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. or 404 526-8968. So we might say that Eleusinianism was not blotted out by Christianity. 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. During her short stay at the temple of Eleusis, the whole earth grew barren. in his Christian Mysticism, p. 354, says that Catholicism owes to the Mysteries " the notions of secrecy, of In connection with the temple, she established certain ceremonies and rites for her worship. In the large Gnostic library discovered at Najammd, in upper Egypt, in 1945, Hermetic writings were found sideby-side with Christian Gnostic texts. 10. It can be shown that the very earliest practices of Christianity coincided with popular mystery cults on many levels. 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. Some held that the sacrament was instituted by Jesus himself. 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. A query from Stephanie on the Ethical Witches list in Austin turned up this paper by Rev. In his pagan period he wrote hymns that closely follow the fire theology of the Chaldean Oracles; later he wrote hymns to Christ. 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. Genres Religion HistoryNonfictionThe World. 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. In fact, the comparison became so evident that many believed the Christian movement itself became a mystery cult. The date of Christmas was purposely fixed on December 25 to push into the background the great festival of the sun god, and Epiphany on January 6 to supplant an Egyptian festival of the same day. 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. King, Martin Luther, Jr. (Crozer Theological Seminary). It seems instead to have been carried over from Jewish background and modified by the new ideas and beliefs of the Christians. 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