Horus, attis, mithra, krishna, dionysus and jesus spot. Mithraism as important for understanding the cultural matrix out of which the christian religion came to birth mithraism is the worship of mithra, the iranian god of the sun, justice, contract, and war in prezoroastrian iran. Mithras was born on december 25 in a stable to a virgin, surrounded by shepherds who brought gifts. Mitra was the god of friendship and the sun and served as one of the judges of the dead. The christ myth theory is the view that the story of jesus is a piece of mythology, possessing no. A common representation of mithras shows him slaying a bull, this images the end of the age of taurus moses threw down the golden calf around the same time it is the gradual move from polytheism to monotheism, the move into the age of aries war, heroes, sunworshipafter the age of aries comes, of course, the age of pisces, the age of.
Indeed mithras was androgynous and frequently worshiped in female guise. Mithras, the roman god of soldiers, light, truth, and honor mithras, or mitra, was a major figure in the religion known as zoroastrianism, which originated in ancient persia iran. If you read through all the gospels, the book of acts, all the epistles, and even t. Christianity is a direct copy of the mithraic religion that was 200 years its predecessor. It is a stretch to claim that mithras was a teacher in the same way jesus was. Unlike jesus, mithras was never believed to have been a real historical. According to archaeological evidence from a century after the new testament period, mithras was born as a fullgrown adult out of solid rock, and shepherds helped pull him out when he got stuck.
The church of rome produces christians by exactly the same method. Most of the roman soldiers were in the cult of mithras, so they were easier to convert if they adapted the story of jesus to align with mithras. It was not based on a body of scripture, and hence very little written documentary evidence survives. Stellar house publishing was founded in 2005 by author acharya s aka d. Sep 16, 2016 roger beck religion of the mithras cult michelle salzman minding time. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the roman cult of mithras. Debunking the jesusmithra connection sullivan county. Mithras was born out of a rock so there is no parallel there. The kabala of even greater importance is the fact that the mithraic cult was in fact that of his mother the goddess cybele. Oxford theology professor robert beckford in his documentary the hidden story of jesus looks for clues about how the jesus story was influenced by other religions during the time when. They are to be considered the druids of the levant, three of whom allegedly appeared in the stable at bethlehem bearing gifts for jesus. Jesus and mithras, debunked by joe heschmeyer on his facebook page, my friend cary laid out c. Robert beckford for all the work and effort you put into it. What were the similarities between christianity and other mystery cults like mithraism.
According to derek murphy, the documentaries the god who wasnt there 2005. The claim is that mithras was born of a virgin and thats a parallel with jesus, but not even the mythical mithras was born of a virgin. I removed it and replaced the material with the more scholarly work of alison griffith, which unlike the former, has reputable sources. With the rise in popularity of movies like zeitgeist. From cybele we get the terms cabala and cabal meaning secret society. This is an article on mithraism in comparative mythology and comparative theology. An overview of mithraism, the ancient roman mystery religion popular in the roman legions.
Welcome to stellar house publishing shp, a company dedicated to bringing to the public lost and hidden information regarding the worlds religions, mythologies and spiritual traditions. The god varuna was often paired with mitra, the former aspect of the god ruling the night and the latter aspect ruling the day, bhubaneswar, orissa persia. Get your kindle here, or download a free kindle reading app. Mitra is born unaccompanied by shepherds from the goddess aditi to whom the. The modern name by which the text is known originated in 1903 with albrecht dieterich, its first translator, based on the invocation of helios mithras as the god who will provide the initiate with a revelation of immortality. Mithras also had a myth about 3 magi from the east visiting him. They were the progenitors of the saxons, medes and other branches of the arya, such as the iranian magi. Mithras is the roman name for the indoiranian deity mitra or mithra, and. Mithras iconography does often incorporate the 12 signs of the zodiac, but this does not directly relate to his disciples. His worship spread to persia and, after the defeat of the persians by. Soldiers and the lower nobility appeared to be the most plentiful followers of mithraism.
Based on the bestselling religious studies book by joseph atwill, this documentary shows that jesus is not. Much as christian initiation brings you into a relationship with jesus, the. See also mithras and christianity in certain sorts of literature, the claim is made that jesus is merely a copy of mithras. Roger beck religion of the mithras cult michelle salzman minding time. Holy baptism is the basis of the whole christian life, the gateway to life in the spirit vitae spiritualis ianua, and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Mithras is born to shed its blood and save mankind.
Sources debunking the christmithras myth can be found at the tertullian project. Melvyn bragg and his guests discuss the cult of mithras, a mystery religion that existed in the roman empire from the 1st to the 4th centuries ad. Birth of mithras, entwined by the serpent altenburg, germany in the beginning. A series of statements are made about mithras born of a virgin, had a last supper, died, resurrected, etc which do make him seem identical. Mithras was a persian god from the zoroastrian pantheon where he was a helper and assistant to the power of good against the power of evil. While there may be some connection with mithras and aion, a lionheaded man has nothing to do with the imagery of the lion used to describe jesus in scripture. Dec 27, 2012 melvyn bragg and his guests discuss the cult of mithras, a mystery religion that existed in the roman empire from the 1st to the 4th centuries ad. The national geographic societys book great religions of the world, page 309 writes.
Unfortunately, the sacrificial cult replaced the teachings of jesus and the apostles which. Although christians today celebrate the birth of jesus on december 25, the new testament says absolutely nothing about the exact date when jesus was born. And while most scholarship on roman mithraism goes back to cumont, most of. Then you can start reading kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer no kindle device required. A long series of analogies exists between him mithras and jesus. A number of extremely wild claims that mithras had 12 disciples, was a wandering teacher, died and rose again, etc. He killed the bull in a cave, and from its blood sprang all life. This notion is no longer followed today, and it is generally agreed that borrowing e. Mithraism, the worship of mithra, the iranian god of the sun, justice, contract, and war in prezoroastrian iran. Oct 07, 2006 jesus is not a mithras redux the invisible things was in fact a fantastic post. See mithraic mysteries for the main article the roman cult of mithras had connections with other pagan deities, syncretism being a prominent feature of roman paganism.
The christian litany to jesus could easily be an allegorical litany to the sun god. Is jesus simply a retelling of the mithras mythology. Here was the germ for a god that personified agreement and just order. This explanation of paul and the mystery religions is intended to help you understand how the church replaced yeshuas teachings with a mythology that was current in the religions that appealed to the gentiles during his time. Shp books attain to the highest standards of scholarship while being accessible to the public. Cosmic mysteries of mithras mithraism ancient religion. The god and his mysteries kindle edition by clauss, manfred. You can look in up in the encyclopedia of world religions. And even if mithras was born on december 25th, this in no way undermines the historicity. Mithras is often represented as carrying a lamb on his shoulders, just as jesus is.
He did save his community, defeating a raging bull. Clash of male and female archetypes in classical rome. Connections with the figure of jesus himself have even been posited but are generally ignored by. The mithras liturgy is a text from the great magical papyrus of paris, part of the greek magical papyri, numbered pgm iv. Mithraism is the worship of the god mithras, best known as an ancient roman mystery religion. He celebrated a last supper with his faithful followers before returning to his father. The original article posted here claiming that apostle paul was somehow involved in mithrism was removed as pure trash.
The connections between persia and roman mithraism, and between christianity and mithraism or christ and mithras. Krishna, buddha and christ unveiled learn more here this is from a documentary called the hidden story of jesus. Cumont stated that the birthday of mithras was 25 december, on the basis that a solar feast took place on that date and mithras would, of course, be. A long series of analogies exists between him and jesus. Pdf mithraism and blood sacrifice in christian belief and practice. The next most common is mithras dining with the sun god on the parts of the bull. One of the major religions influencing christianity was mithraism. Mithra, also spelled mithras, sanskrit mitra, in ancient indoiranian mythology, the god of light, whose cult spread from india in the east to as far west as spain, great britain, and germany. Down columns of boulevards walked roman soldiers loyal to the persian god mithras. However, in popular culture and especially among the new atheist movement, the most widely discussed element of mithras in the context of comparative religion is his relationship with christianity.
Why i no longer believe in god documentary full movie by. Pagan and christians notions of the week in the fourthcentury roman empire maarten jozef vermaseren mithras, the. In an effort to cast doubt on christianity, skeptics will attempt to point out parallels between the beliefs and practices of christians to those of the roman cult of mithras. The hidden story of jesus, i have watched this doc quite a few times and i am getting ready to watch it again. Known throughout europe, the levant and asia in numerous guises and names, she. The god varuna was often paired with mitra, the former aspect of the god ruling the night and the latter aspect ruling the day. We know from the book that jesus had carefully prepared the apostles for a change in the direction of his ministry after the final, fatal rejection at capernaum, but the new direction that emerges at the time of peters confession. Known as mithras in the roman empire during the 2nd and 3rd centuries ce, this deity was honored as the patron of loyalty to the emperor.
The invincible mithras first edition of the universal religion. Both mithras and christ have been described variously as the way, the truth, the light, the life, the word, the son of god, the good shepherd. Connections with the figure of jesus himself have even been posited but are generally ignored by scholars citation needed. It is possible that the cult was known in the capital a century before, but it was the latter half of the first century of the christian era which saw its strong.
Enter your mobile number or email address below and well send you a link to download the free kindle app. If solely there was more weblogs like this particular one on the web. Unlike jesus, mithras was never believed to have been a real historical person who actually. Horus, attis, mithra, krishna, dionysus and jesus spot the. It is possible that the cult was known in the capital a century before, but it was the latter half.
May 01, 20 clauss suggest that because mithras was thought to be a god of the unfolding year, his worshippers may have identified him with aion the roman cult of mithras, p. The ancient roman religion known as the mithraic mysteries has captivated the imaginations of scholars for generations. Stellar house publishing specializing in archaeology. Dec 25, 2011 both mithras and christ have been described variously as the way, the truth, the light, the life, the word, the son of god, the good shepherd. The challengers claim mithras was born on december 25th, but jesus wasnt born on that date. Until the 1970s, the character of roman mithras was widely assumed to be a continuation of that of iranian mithra and thus also of indoiranian mitra. Mithras, also called mitra, was popular among the military in the roman empire, and the mystery cult of mithras was a potent religious force during the first through fourth centuries a. Major rituals included bull worship and sacrifice and a communal feast amongst brothers which strongly appealed to roman legionnaires. Mithraism, also known as the mithraic mysteries, was a roman mystery religion centered on the god mithras. The first written mention of the vedic mitra dates to 1400 bc. The religion of the mithras cult in the roman empire. Mithra died for the sins of humanity, had 12 apostles, a last supper and most of the other tenets that christianity copied. Are there actual biblical scholars that believe jesus is a myth.
The invincible mithras first edition of the universal. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Mithras, roman religion and mythology photo archive. The religion was inspired by iranian worship of the zoroastrian angelic divinity mithra, though the greek mithras was linked to a new and distinctive imagery, and the level of continuity between persian and grecoroman practice is debated. However, these old theories can no longer be sustained. Mithras was born on december 25 in a stable to a virgin, surrounded by shepherds who brought. In the gospel of mithras the first begotten creature is the primordial bull. Mithras was born from a rock, and his main service in the fight against evil was the slay a bull, created by the evil lord. What are the similarities between jesus and mithras. Anyway, thanks a lot for your personal precious time, rowena. The scene of mithras ascending into the heavens was similarly incorporated into christian art. The names mitra mithra mithras derive from the indoeuropean root mihr, a contract. Horus, attis, mithra, krishna, dionysus and jesus spot the difference. Mithraism, the cult of mithras, a persian sungod, which reached rome in or about a.
Christianity and mithraism unam sanctam catholicam. Mithraism in comparison with other belief systems wikipedia. Also the character of mithras himself, as he is depicted by christian writers, is absolutely ambiguous. A scholarly fashion claims that only by coincidence christ and not the egyptian isis or the persian mithras gained the upper hand as a world religion.
Jesus is not a mithras redux the invisible things was in fact a fantastic post. Almost all mithraea contain statues dedicated to gods of other cults, and it is common to find inscriptions dedicated to mithras in other. By jesus time, east and west had mingled here for three centuries. That is the most common scene depicted in mithras sites mithras defeating the bull.