Sigh, you are pushing me to do the research for you...the info here is from the "Western Mithraism" tell me if you see no similarities...btw, Paul was at a much later date and had different concerns than Jesus. He got a number of things mixed up with Persian beliefs. Check out the roots of the words christ and messiah. Also note here sullivan-county.com
In Damascus, Saul began to preach, but the locals drove him out of town. He went to Jerusalem and tried to preach there, but Jesus' followers didn't trust him either. He escaped to his home town, Tarsus, in Cilicia, also known as Cesarea.
Tarsus, on the northern side of the Mediterranean, in what is now Turkey, was a bustling seaport, 2000 years old when Saul arrived in about year 40 C.E. This big, cosmopolitan city was a mixture of many cultures, and the ancient religion of the god Mithras was prominent among them. Shrines and images of Mithras abound there and as far west as the Danube River, and though obscure, a few of the concepts of Mithraism are known to us.
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It was believed that the partaking of the sacrement ensured eternal life, the immediate passing, after death, to the bosom of Mithras, there to tarry in bliss until the judgement day. On the judgement day the Mithraic keys of heaven would unlock the gates of Paradise for the reception of the faithful; whereupon all the unbaptized of the living and the dead would be annihilated upon the return of Mithras to earth. It was taught that, when a man died, he went before Mithras for judgement, and that at the end of the world Mithras would summon all the dead from their graves to face the last judgement. The wicked would be destroyed by fire, and the righteous would reign with Mithras forever...Saul had become convinced that Jesus would return within his lifetime. He therefore thought it was necessary to convert as many people as possible. He was a powerful, charismatic orator, and an effective evangelist...Saul (now Paul) no doubt found it easier to convert the Tarsans by weaving the story of Jesus in with their own beliefs, and making it more palatable to them.
> That's an assumption I'm not sure about at all.
Well, that is an assumption based on the fact that Mithraism went from Persia to Rome and that at the time of such transference Mithraism had no existed on its own for a few centuries. There is no question that the rise of Mithra in Rome was in fact the rise of Mithra of Zoroastrianism within Rome. Now if you want to argue that this Western Mithra had Helenic ritual mingled in it, I am receptive. But if you are going to say it was a radically different Mithra, then I will need a fair bit of convincing.
> I'd think that was a pretty significant break.
It is a significant break from Zoroasterianism. But it is not a very big break from Mithraism that existed within Zoroasterianism. Here is a prayer to Mithra:
Spirit of Spirit, if it be your will, give me over to immortal birth so that I may be born again - and the sacred spirit may breathe in me
So it seems clear that even the Roman variety of Mithraism had parted ways with Greek doctorines and believed in heaven, hell, resurection, breath of god, wine and bread as the blood and flesh of the god, and so on. These are very drastic departures from the traditional Roman beliefs in which everyone went to hell and there was no resurection.
Also from the same source:
Thus were formed the "Paulist doctrines" that form Christianity as we know it today, i.e, God's love compelled him to sacrifice his only son, so that our sins could be forgiven, washed in the savior's blood, and the ritual eating of the flesh and drinking the blood of God, etc.. Using the blood and sacrifice motif, Paul took Mithraism up a step, from an animal to a Man/God being sacrificed; a potent and compelling idea. An idea that differs, though, from what Jesus taught, which was a Buddhist influenced, psychedelic, shamanistic oneness with him, God, and eternity.
With this new inflection of the resurrection idea, Paul went on to convert huge numbers of people, finding plentiful fodder in the Roman cities teeming with displaced war refugees, victims of the Roman conquests.
Paul also broke with ancient Jewish traditiion and opened his religion to women and non-Jews; uncircumcised Gentiles. This was a radical and important break, allowing many new converts. When the Bible was compiled, the old Jewish Pentateuch and accompanying books were called the "Old Testament," and newer books, including Paul's letters and trial briefs, became the "New Testament."
The translation of Mithraism into Christianity is demonstrated in Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews, Chapter 9, verses 13 and 14: 13 "For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"
This is to say, "If goat's blood will get you some spiritual energy, then the blood of a messiah will get you even more." Paul is reasoning with blood-sacrificing Pagans, trying to appeal to their particular belief system.
But in order to believe the second part of that, you have to believe the first; You have to believe that blood is an effective tool, adequate payment, and that some sacrifices get better results than others from the mysterious "Gods."
Contemporary Christians are not likely to admit this, or even to admit the connection. The idea of actually slashing the throat of a lamb would horrify them; it would be seen as a vile Pagan act; not as what it is, the root of their religion. Church propaganda claims that the whole idea of blood payment was transcended with the crucifixion of Jesus, making it less messy and more profound. Perhaps, but it's still the same Pagan, barbarian recipe.
(Yes, Jews were the intended audience in "Hebrews." He was trying to convert them. Hebrews 9 clarifies Paul's way of thinking on a particular point, and to a specific audience. And yes, daily sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem produced rivers of blood that were carried away in huge hidden gutters built into the stone floor around the altar. Hundreds of sheep, cows, goats, and fowl were killed daily to appease the Jewish god.)
Christianity is "Paulist Doctrine;" far removed from the teachings of Rabbi Yeshua - Jesus. This is where "Judaic Christianity" became "Hellenistic Christianity," and where the two religions finally, completely split. |
