mystery religion christianity

Greek life was characterized by such things as democratic institutions, seafaring, gymnasium and athletic games, theatre, and philosophy. The Apostles Creed and Athanasian Creed say that between the Friday night and the Sunday morning Jesus was in Hell or Hades; It has no scriptural foundation except in the ambiguous words of the First Epistle of Peter; it did not appear in the Church as a tenet of Christianity until late in the Fourth Century., 19. Some writers traced its origin to Egypt while others upheld Eleusis in Greece as the place of its birth. After telling a fictitious tale of her escape from pirates, she won the sympathy of the girls who took her home and at her own request was given a job to nurse their infant brother, Demophon. P: (650) 723-2092 | F: (650) 723-2093 | kinginstitute@stanford.edu| Campus Map. The festival of all Saints, which is held one day before that of all Souls is also probably identical with it in origin.\[Footnote:] Weigall, op. (3) All offered mystical cleansing from sin. Martin Luther King Jr. titled "The Influence of the Mystery Religions on Christianity."King wrote it around the . 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. 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. Frickel, J. Hellenistische Erl sung in christlicher Deutung. If the definition is that the religion keeps things secret, then no, because secrets are about maintaining secrecy and exclusivity, and Latter-Day Saints do the . 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. Mystery. They were themselves, in verying degrees, imperfect examples of the Galilean cult which was to replace them. The precious metal used to coin Constantines gold pieces was taken from heathen temple treasuries. At an early date there was associated with Cybele, the Great Mother, a hero-divinity called Attic who personified the life of the vegetable world particularly. In winter vegetable life was dead while Demeter, the giver of life, grieved for the loss of her daughter. 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. 6. Fairbanks, Greek Religion, p. 293: This religion was not blotted out by Christianity. The theology of the mysteries was developed to a far lesser degree than the Christian theology. 9.1K Followers. The existence of this atmosphere was vitally important in the development and eventual triumph of Christianity. In the spring, those who had shared Demeters grief for the loss of her daugher welcomed the return of Persephone with all the joy that the returning life of vegetation might kindle. King wrote this paper for the course Development of Christian Ideas, taught by Davis. Thus, under identical conditions, new forms of religious communities sprang from similar roots. The word "Catholic" means Universalthe true Christian goal is not religion based on mixture, but a return to the original, simple, powerful, and spiritual faith that was once delivered to the saints."-Ralph Woodrow; pg. That is essential. 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. One must avoid any suggestion that there was one common mystery religion. 2d ed. 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. It is well-nigh impossible to . But when we observe a little further we find that as a solar festival, Sunday was the sacred day of Mithra; it is also interesting to notice that since Mithra was addressed as Lord, Sunday must have been the Lords Day long before Christian use.\[Footnote:] Ibid., p. 137.\ It is also to be noticed that our Christmas, December 25th, was the birthday of Mithra, and was only taken over in the Fourth Century as the date, actually unknown, of the birth of Jesus.36, To make the picture a little more clear, we may list a few of the similarities between these two religions: (1) Both regard Sunday as a holy day. This article discusses mystery religions and how they influenced the New Testament and early Christianity. I do not deny that there are some similarities. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. When Julian the Apostate, Roman emperor from ad 361 to 363, tried to reestablish pagan worship, he found allies at Rome and Alexandria. This universal law is expecially true of religion. In the Avesta,\[Footnote:] This is the sacred book of the religion of Iran.\ Mithra is represented as the genius of celestial light. The Institute cannot give permission to use or reproduce any of the writings, statements, or images of Martin Luther King, Jr. But in true Christianity, there is only the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and while they're 3 . On the whole, early Christians were not greatly concerned about the likenesses between the Mithraic cult and their own. #516 in History of Religions. Grant Showerman, introduction to Franz Cumont, Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism (Chicago: Open House Publishing Company, 1911), pp. Hardcover, 335 pages. Associate Professor of New Testament Interpretation, University of Chicago Author of "The Historicity of Jesus" "That he might gather together in one all things in Christ." That is Paul's inter-pretation of God's cosmic plan. The people of that age were eager and zealous in their search for religious experience. Mithraism was brought to Europe from its Persian roots after Alexander the Great's conquests. It should also be noted that early Christianity was an exclusivistic religion while the mystery cults were not. 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 his Christian Mysticism, p. 354, says that Catholicism owes to the Mysteries " the notions of secrecy, of : 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. Furthermore, in Stoicism, the Logos is an unknowable force while, in Christianity, the Word (Logos) was made flesh and dwelt among us. Here are seven of the most influential Greco-Roman Mysteries and some of what little we know about them. (2) All had secret rites for the initiated. Masonry Encompasses All Elements of a Religion of Naturalism. Willoughby, Pagan Regeneration, pp. The preceding two sentences are similar to a passage in A Study of Mithraism, p. 211 in this volume. King, Martin Luther, Jr. (Crozer Theological Seminary). Extremely popular among Roman soldiers, it became one of the ancient Roman mystery cults, religious sects which were restricted to initiates and were generally quite secretive.Mithras, as he was known to the Romans, was the Persian god of the sun, or at least the airy light between . 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. For the Stoics, a relationship with the Logos is . There seems little doubt that this custom was identical with the Egyptian festival. I learned that as an artistic writer who did a doctorate in philosophy. Scholars wrongly infused Christian terms into the mystery religion. 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. MLKP, MBU, Martin Luther King, Jr., Papers, 1954-1968, Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University, Boston, Mass. So we might say that Eleusinianism was not blotted out by Christianity. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. (3) Baptism and a communion meal were important parts of the ritual of both groups. The mysteries of human life and death are vividly enacted by Demeter, Persephone, and Hades. Franz Cumont, The Mysteries of Mithra (Chicago: Open Court, 1910), pp. The mystery religion was very narrow in scope, only involving select groups of people therefore not gaining support from the masses.Some people believe that Christianity and Judaism have many parallels to the mystery cults in terms of terminology (salvation, resurrection, eternal life) and in the particulars of the performance of initiation and ritual. It is not so much that Christianity was influenced by the Mystery Cults, or borrowed from them, but that in the long process of history this religion developed. Each year nature passed through the cycle of apparent 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. Demeter, in her joy at the restoration of her lost daughter, allowed the crops to grow once more and institute in honor of the event the Eleusinian mysteries which gave to mortals the assurance of a happy future life.26, The significance of this story is immediately clear. by Bart D. Ehrman. This is, of course, a loaded question. The preceding two sentences are similar to a passage in A Study of Mithraism, p. 224 in this volume. 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. 23: In the Avesta, Mithra is the genius of the celestial light. Arthur Fairbanks, A Handbook of Greek Religion (New York: American Book Company, 1910), p. 288: Certainly the Greek Easter festival seems to preserve the spirit if not the forms of the old Eleusinian worship. And Hades the Logos is a religion of Naturalism ( 3 ) Baptism and communion. 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