I refer to the article, “A Brief Delusion”, by Kevin Rogers in the November 2009 issue of the Investigator magazine. At page 30, he states “… Laurie Eddie claimed Jesus is a copy of Mithra (issue #87)…” — in fact I did not make such a claim, I merely gave a list of attributes that were commonly credited to both Mithra and Jesus. What I actually said was, “… most of the claims made about Mithra were assimilated into the Christian Church and identified as attributes of Jesus. “ It is likely that the gospel stories which depict the extraordinary powers of Jesus were fictional attributes that originated with the Gentile Christians. It is unlikely they would have come from his Jewish followers. As Jews they would have accepted that, as the messiah, Jesus would be a descendant of David (2 Samuel 7:12-13; Jeremiah 23:5), obedient to the Judaic laws (Isaiah 11:2-5), a righteous judge (Jeremiah 33:15), and a great military leader; however, he would not have been considered to be divine, or to have exceptional powers, (other than perhaps the power to heal). The concept of demi-beings possessed of extraordinary powers was completely alien to the Jews, however, it was widely accepted by the Gentiles. Thus, it seems likely that, over a period of time, most of his extraordinary “powers” attributed to Jesus came from his Gentile followers who appropriated them from various pagan sources as they transformed Jesus from the Jewish messiah into the Gentile Christian Messiah. To better understand how this might have occurred one must examine the cultural mind-sets that would have influenced the interactions between the Gentile Christians and their pagan neighbours. It seems likely that, amongst the pantheistic populace of the Roman World, a favourite topic of conversation would have been the merits of their particular deities. No doubt, from time-to-time, these discussions would have degenerated into heated arguments about whose god was the best, the most powerful, etc. One can imagine how, in the decades after the death of Jesus, whatever powers the pagans claimed for their deities, the Christians would retaliate. They would have argued that Jesus was far greater than the pagan deities, in every way; each example of the powers of the pagan deities being countered by claims that Jesus was far greater and more powerful. Like every solar deity Jesus could turn water into wine, he could control storms and earthquakes, and could even provide a harvest of food greater that Ceres or Persephone. In this way, a rich lore of mythical stories entered the mainstream of Christian historical belief. These pseudo-tales would cover every aspect of Jesus’ life, from his birth to his death. Many of these fantastic tales were to find their way into the various gospels. The Gospel writers did not deliberately steal the attributes of the pagan deities and assign them to Jesus; there was no need, for the various oral traditions concerning the nature of Jesus had become so intertwined, it was impossible to distinguish what was fact and what was myth. In the tolerant religious environment of the pagan world, assimilating new deities into the existing pantheons was not a problem. Christianity however, was different. Despite there being numerous saviour figures at the time, the Christians claimed that Jesus was the only true saviour and that their religion alone was the only true faith. Insecure and with little power, Christianity could not afford any comparisons that might cast doubt on its “true origins”; so, when comparisons began to be drawn between Christianity and Mithraism the new faith reacted defensively. Early Christian scholars claimed Mithraism was due to the machinations of satanic and demonic powers. Justin Martyr claimed that these evil powers, having anticipated the Christian mysteries, had prepared parodies of them, ahead of time, to confuse “good Christians”. Another claim was that Mithraism was merely a copy of Christian teachings. The general modern opinion now is that Mithraism did predate Christianity: “The Mithraic mysteries, then, of the burial and resurrection of the Lord, the Mediator and Saviour; burial in a rock tomb and resurrection from that tomb; the sacrament of bread and water, the marking on the forehead with a mystic mark — all these were in practice…before the publication of the Christian Gospel of a Lord who was buried in a rock tomb, and rose from that tomb on the day of the sun, or of the Christian mystery of Divine communion, with bread and water or bread and wine,..”. (Robertson, J.M. (1911). Pagan Christs. London: Watts & Co. pp. 318-319). I apologize for the fact that there were no references provided in the outline of Mithra’s attributes. This was due to the fact that this was only intended as a simple list of comparisons. For those interested, some of the sources of the items mentioned in this list are as follows: - His solar attributes, (pages 48; 58; 59); his Last Supper (p. 59); the “Logos” (p. 58); his “rock birth” (p. 59); Barnes, E.W. (1948). The Rise Of Christianity, London, Longmans, Green & Co. Said to have been born of light striking a rock on December 25th, an event said to have been witnessed by shepherds, “He was the first to teach that gentleness is strength.” Wilson, c. (1971). The Occult, London: Hodder and Stoughton, p. 84. The “guardian of justice and truth”, saviour and deliverer of the righteous, (p. 310-311); his Last Supper, ascent into heaven, Judge of the dead, presided over the final judgment when he would return to earth, raise the dead and bring the forces of evil to an end; (p. 313); Case, S.J. (1960). The Evolution of Early Christianity. University of Chicago Press, pp. 310-311. Born of a virgin, in a cave on 25th December, (p. 21 and 203); he was a teacher with twelve disciples, (p. 21), buried in a tomb from which he resurrected, (p. 21); he was known as Saviour, often depicted as a lamb, and his followers underwent baptism and held a sacramental feast in his honour, (p. 21); Carpenter, E. (1920). Pagan And Christian Creeds: Their Origins And Meaning, London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1920. Visited by three Magi and presented with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, (p. 152). Doane, T.W., (1882). Bible Myths And Their Parallels In Other Religions, New York, Charles P. Somerby. Protector of the needy, the one who assisted souls on their journey to Paradise (p. 753); leaders called pater (Father), (756); Mithra a solar deity (p. 759). "Mithraism", in Encyclopaedia Of Religion And Ethics, Editor James Hastings, Edinburgh, T. & T. Clark, 1971. Laurie Eddie
Posted on: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 13:48:05 +0000