On The Other Hand

[poliphilo]

On the other hand, one of the reasons the gospels seem so "new and fresh" is that most of the contemporary literature we might have compared them with has disappeared. We know the Hellenistic world was awash with biographies of pagan holy men- but only one survives-  Philostratus' Life of Appolonius of Tyana.

 

Similarly, none of the Pagan mystery cults with which Christianity is often compared has left any scriptures behind.  All we have of them is their archaeology. Did Christianity borrow from Mithraism or the cult of Attis? We can only guess. 

Comments

[airstrip.livejournal.com]

Doesn't it make you just die a little inside when you think of all the stuff we lost to various barbarisms?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

O yes, very much so.

[veronikos.livejournal.com]

>> awash with biographies of pagan holy men- but only one survives

The Lives of Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laertius might count as a compendium of such.

>> Did Christianity borrow from Mithraism or the cult of Attis? We can only guess.

I thought that there were so many similarities as to make it rather conclusive?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

That comment was me, of course.

[michaleen.livejournal.com]

Mithraism was probably the most extensive cult in the Roman Empire and it just vanishes without a trace. The similarities between it and Christianity are so striking that one is tempted to suspect that one simply merged with the other.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Interesting idea. I guess it's quite plausible that a lot of cultists went and got themselves baptised when Christianity became the official religion of the Empire.

[michaleen.livejournal.com]

I was exposed to the idea in John M Robertson's, Pagan Christs, in which he devotes an entire section to Mithraism. No idea how well his ideas have withstood the test of time and scholarly critique, but the idea has been fixed in my mind since I first read him.

You might consider Robertson, since I see that he is available online for free.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

I always assumed that Christianity started out as just another one of these obscure eastern cults, but turned out to be the one that caught on...

When I was an undergrad, we had a brilliant course on the archaeology of religion, magic and burial which took us from Palaeolithic period to the reformation. The cult of Mithras was one of the topics covered. I think that whole course was one of the deciding factors which made me determined to continue archaeology at a postgraduate level.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Mystery religions were cool but exclusive. Christianity swept the board by marketing itself as the mystery religion for the masses. That's what I think, anyway.

Mithraism was a contender, but lost out because it was only for men.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

'Mystery religion for the masses' - I like it!!