Reprinted as The Mystery-Religions: A Study in the Religious Background of Early Christianity (New York, 1975). 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. 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. The mother, frenzied with grief, rushed about the earth for nine days in search for her lost daughter,25 As a result of her wandering, she came to Eleusis where she was seen, although not recognized, by the four daughters of Kekeas sitting near a public well called the Fountain of Maidenhood. 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. In the former capacity she was identified with the great mother-goddess, Demeter, whose mourning for Persephone was the main feature in the Eleusinian mysteries. The Mystery Religions form a link between the inclusive pantheon of the Greeks and the more modern exclusive religions of today. There can hardly be any doubt that the myths of Isis had a direct bearing on the elevation of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, to the lofty position that she holds in Roman Catholic theology. The three actors of the Eleusinian tragedy, enacted the mystery of human life and death. 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. 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. 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. 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. The precious metal used to coin Constantines gold pieces was taken from heathen temple treasuries. I learned that as an artistic writer who did a doctorate in philosophy. [also note from page3]: This Dover edition, first published in 1975, is an unabridged and unaltered republication of the second (1928) edition of the work originally published by John Murray, in London, in 1925 under the title The Mystery-Religions and Christianity. He had left behind the secret whereby men could achieve the goal with him.\[Footnote:] Enslin, op. These scholars made two errors here. Mystery Religions and Christianity . A query from Stephanie on the Ethical Witches list in Austin turned up this paper by Rev. CHRISTIANITY AND THE MYSTERY RELIGIONS SHIRLEY JACKSON CASE, PH.D. However, in the conclusion I will attempt to give those fundamental aspects, characteristic of all the cults, that greatly influenced Christianity. Willoughby, Pagan Regeneration, p. 114: She was the Great Mother not only of all the gods, but of all men as well.. 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. (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. They encouraged the movement away from the state religions and the philosophical systems and toward the desire for personal salvation and promise of immortality. Art redeems. Mithraism was brought to Europe from its Persian roots after Alexander the Great's conquests. In the end, virtually all the unique teachings of New Testament theology, including the distinctive doctrines on Jesus Christ, God, man, sin, salvation, etc . 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. 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. Mithraism became the most popular and influential of the many mystery religions 2 that existed in the Roman Empire at the time that Christianity began, and was the major Followers of Mithra became less common after . The preceding three paragraphs are similar to a passage in Kings earlier paper, A Study of Mithraism, p. 211 in this volume. Men began to die for the lack of food while the sacrifices to the gods decreased in number because the animals were dying out. 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. Esoteric . 9.1K Followers. They prepared the people mentally and emotionally to understand the type of religion which Christianity represented. Esoteric Christianity (linked with the Hermetic Corpus since the Renaissance) is an ensemble of Christian theology which proposes that some spiritual doctrines of Christianity can only be understood by those who have undergone certain rites (such as baptism) within the religion.In mainstream Christianity, there is a similar idea that faith is the only means by which a . 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. At the same time, the . 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. 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. Item Weight : 14.3 ounces. Here are seven of the most influential Greco-Roman Mysteries and some of what little we know about them. 10. The Institute cannot give permission to use or reproduce any of the writings, statements, or images of Martin Luther King, Jr. Greco-Roman mysteries. All this goes to show how important Mithraism was in ancient times. Osiris and Isis, so runs the legend, were brother and sister and also 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. Each following {year} there was a great festival in commemoration of his resurrection, and the very words, The Lord is risen, were probable used. 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. 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. ISBN-10 : 0486231240. King also proposes that the mystery religions had an even greater influence by preparing the people to understand Christianity. (4) All promised a happy future life for the faithful.\[Footnote:] Enslin, Christian Beginnings, pp. 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. There are also great differences between Christianity and the mysteries. Frickel, J. Hellenistische Erl sung in christlicher Deutung. 37. Franz Cumont, The Mysteries of Mithra (Chicago: Open Court, 1910), pp. 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. 6. In the former capacity she was identified with the great mother-goddess, Demeter, whose mourning for Persephone was the main feature in the Eleusinian mysteries; In her aspect as the mother of Horus, Isis was represented in tens of thousands of statuettes and paintings, holding the divine child in her arms; and when Christianity triumphed these paintings and figures became those of the Madonna and Child without any break in continuity: no archaeologist, in fact, can now tell whether some of these objects represent the one or the other., 23. 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. 23: In the Avesta, Mithra is the genius of the celestial light. : 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. It was a nature myth portraying a vivid and realistic picture of the action of life in the vegetable world in regards to the changing seasons. 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. Christianity was truly indebted to the mystery religions for this contribution, for they had done this part of the groundwork and thus opened the way for Christian missionary work. On the contrary it was generally a natural and unconscious process rather than a deliberate plan of action. Therefore it is necessary to study the historical and social factors that contributed to the growth of Christianity. The Christian theologian Origen wrote in the 3rd century that it was part of the divine plan that Christ was born under the emperor Augustus: the whole Mediterranean world was united by the Romans, and the conditions for missionary work were more favourable than ever before. There are several explanations regarding the beginning of the observance of the Lords Supper. The similarity of the religious vocabulary is also great. The Easter ceremonies rivalled the pagan spring festivals. That is, with this study you have made, we see the philosophy both of Religion and History. After a short period of toleration, the pagan religions were prohibited. Greek life was characterized by such things as democratic institutions, seafaring, gymnasium and athletic games, theatre, and philosophy. 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. Whereas in these tribal communities almost every member of the clan or the village was initiated, initiation in Greece . Martin Luther King Jr. titled "The Influence of the Mystery Religions on Christianity."King wrote it around the . In a mystery religion, an inner core of beliefs, practices, and the religion's true nature, . 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. That is essential. Eastern Roman Empire is considered among the most influential empires of the . Loisy, Alfred. Paperback : 384 pages. It was a nature myth, a vivid depiction of the action of life in the vegetable world with the changing of the seasons. 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. The origin of this cult is obscure and uncertain. During the centuries leading up to the birth of Christianity, the Pagan Mystery religion, often known simply as the 'Mysteries', had spread throughout the ancient Mediterranean.Many of the greatest figures of the Pagan world were initiated into these Mysteries, and regarded them as the very source of civilisation. 213214 in this volume. The celebration of his ascension in the sight of his worshippers was the final act of the festival., 17. 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