Much of the early Christian symbolism was copied from other then popular religions, apparently to make the new religion more acceptable. The ritual of the making of the sign of the cross predates the time of Jesus and is a symbol for the Mithraic god of good, represented by the sun. Early Christians, despite the old testament reference to the Sabbath being the 7th day of the week, placed their day of worship right on top of that of the Mithraists, the FIRST day of the week, The Sun day. Likewise, ignoring the biblical reference that the historical Jesus was born in lambing time, the early Christians placed their celebration for the birth of Jesus at the Winter Solstice, over the Roman feast of the Saturnalia and the major creation festival of Mithra. The loaves and fishes as a ritual meal was also Mithraic in origin, as was the story of a final day of judgment when the dead are all raised from the grave and the wicked sent to eternal fire. The flesh and blood ritual sacrifice at the heart of communion also has roots in Mithraic ritual, and evidence of the transition appears in the Epistle to the Hebrews. The spring festival of Ishtar became Easter, and so on, the early Christians building their new religion by copying what worked in other, older religions. Whereas the old testament makes little mention of a separate afterlife for the wicked, or of an evil god, both concepts were copied from Zoroastrianism/Mithraism and into the New Testament.
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 01:48:22 +0000
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