MITHRAISM AND BLOOD SACRIFICE IN CHRISTIAN BELIEF AND PRACTICE

AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO CHRISTIANITY

2015

James J. DeFrancisco, PhD

www.aramaicbibleperspectives.com

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ABSTRACT

The author has made the premise that original sin necessitates a sacrificial system and that this is expressed within both Judaism and Christianity. In Judaism the sacrificial system is explicitly expressed and defined in the Torah and implemented especially in the tabernacle and temple cult. In Christianity the central core is the belief that Jesus died for the sins of the world and was presented as a sacrificial offering in atonement for those sins. This is implemented in the sacrifice of the Mass and the Eucharistic service as well as emphasis that Christians are saved by the blood of Jesus. The author presents textual evidence to challenge these central doctrines of 1) original sin in several previous papers, “Original Sin and Its Relationship to Sacrifice”, and 2) sacrificial atonement which is covered further in subsequent papers. This present paper continues with the theme from the perspective of Roman Catholic theology – specifically in the liturgy of the Mass.

In future papers in this series, the use of the statements of the Biblical prophets and sayings of Jesus will compose the major part of this body of evidence as this theme is developed in further. Other primary sources from Jewish sages and Christian theologians are also used to create a compelling argument that challenges both original sin and the sacrificial system. Historical sources are utilized to trace the development of the practice of sacrifice in various religions and cultures.

INTRODUCTION

Abraham is the father of three great religious traditions, Judaism, Christianity, and

Islam. In a previous paper we saw that he is depicted as a man of faith and the story of his life is that of a man who left idolatry to become a worshipper and close friend of the one true God. His life shows a progression in spiritual development. It shows a man who heard God in his dreams and it is evident that he may not have always clearly understood what God was communicating to him. As time went on the message of God became clearer. That is the premise of this interpretation of the Akidah.

We also saw that sacrifice was the general religious practice of most of these pagan cultures and human sacrifice (primarily of children or young virgins) was a primary means of appeasing the gods. Some of the sacrificial systems also involved immorality through temple prostitution. It appears that God provided satisfaction to the primitive Israelites' barbaric concepts of worship by instituting a holy and very restrictive nonhuman sacrificial system which is described in the Torah.

The prophets later emphatically stated that God was less interested in the shedding of blood to remove sin than in mercy and justice. Isaiah and Jeremiah started to move the House of Israel (the Kingdom of Judah) further away from sacrifice and to prepare them to survive as a nation (without the Temple) while in captivity. Other prophets, such as Hosea and Micah, placed the religious emphasis in practice, not on sacrifice, but on obedience.

Later, the learned physician and sage Maimonides (RaMBaM) supported this belief, as explained by the late Dr. J.H. Hertz, former Chief Rabbi of the British Empire, 1 that some Mosaic Laws are neither permanent nor infallible. We will discuss this in more depth in a subsequent paper.

Unfortunately, Christianity seems to have grossly misunderstood the historical duration and purpose of the blood sacrifice, and founded a belief system on the sacrificial cult with Jesus being the sacrificial lamb. 2 This is based on the belief that "without the shedding of blood, there can be no remission of sin." Most Christians don't understand that the prophets (long after Moses) redirected the emphasis away from sacrifice and on to obedience, repentance, righteousness, justice, and mercy. Biblical emphasis has always been placed on the human ability to do good and repentance from sin.

The sacrificial doctrines that were developed within Christianity were readily accepted by gentile pagans who were use to many varieties of religious sacrifice. One of the major religions influencing Christianity was Mithraism. Unfortunately, the sacrificial cult replaced the teachings of Jesus and the apostles which emphasized repentance to an

1 Soncino Edition of the Pentateuch and Haftorahs, page 562 2 Book of Hebrews, especially chapters 9-10.

emphasis on vicarious atonement. Today many Christians believe that if they commit a sin against another person, Jesus forgives them for the sin without the need for restitution or true repentance. This attitude and reliance on "irresponsible belief" has allowed many Christians to commit atrocities for centuries without having to repent or compensate anyone for their evil actions. Many are confused in a dichotomy of law vs. grace and faith vs. works.

In this paper we will look at the idea of vicarious sacrifice within Christianity and

how it relates to Mithraism and blood sacrifice. Keep in mind that in these papers we are often taking an encyclopedic approach to

lay the foundation for what follows. Therefore, we will use extensive extracts from encyclopedic sources along with the applicable references for those who desire to do further study from these sources.

The Primary Pagan Influence on Christianity – Mithraism

Mithraism

When exploring the idea of sacrifice in Christianity a special emphasis must be placed on the influence that Mithraism played on religion within the Roman Empire. Mithraism is a pagan religion consisting mainly of the cult of the ancient Indo-Iranian Sun-god Mithra. It entered Europe from Asia Minor after the conquest of Alexander the Great, spread rapidly over the whole Roman Empire, and reached its zenith during the third century CE. On its own, it vanished under the repressive regulations of Theodosius at the end of the fourth century CE. The research of Cumont has brought it into prominence mainly because of its similarity to Christianity.

The origin of the cult of Mithra dates from the time that the Hindus and Persians were still one people, for the god Mithra occurs in the religion and the sacred books of both races, i.e. in the Vedas and in the Avesta. In the Avesta he is much more of a living and ruling deity than in Indian piety; nevertheless, he is not only secondary to Ahura Mazda, but he is a Yazad, a popular demigod or genius. The Avesta however gives us his position only after the Zoroastrian reformation; the inscriptions of the Achaemenidae (seventh to fourth century B.C.) assign him a much higher place, naming him immediately after Ahura Mazda and associating him with the goddess Anaitis (Anahata), whose name sometimes precedes his own. Mithra is the god of light, Anaitis the goddess of water. Independently of the Zoroastrian reform, Mithra retained his place as foremost deity in the north-west of the Iranian highlands.

After the conquest of Babylon this Persian cult came into contact with Chaldean astrology and with the national worship of Marduk. For a time the two priesthoods of Mithra and Marduk (Magi and Chaldaei respectively) coexisted in the capital and Mithraism borrowed much from this intercourse. This modified Mithraism traveled farther north-westward and became the State cult of Armenia. Its rulers, anxious to claim descent from the glorious kings of the past, adopted Mithradates as their royal name (so five kings of Georgia, and Eupator of the Bosporus). Mithraism then entered Asia Minor, especially Pontus and Cappadocia. Here it came into contact with the Phrygian cult of Attis and Cybele from which it adopted a number of ideas and practices, though apparently not the gross obscenities of the Phrygian worship.

This Phrygian-Chaldean-Indo-Iranian religion, in which the Iranian element remained predominant, came, after Alexander's conquest, in touch with the Western World. Hellenism, however, and especially Greece itself, remained remarkably free from its influence. When finally the Romans took possession of the Kingdom of Pergamum, occupied Asia Minor and stationed two legions of soldiers on the Euphrates, the success of Mithraism in the West was secured. It spread rapidly from the Bosporus to the

Atlantic, from Illyria to Britain. Its foremost apostles were the legionaries; hence it spread first to the frontier stations of the Roman army.

Mithraism was emphatically a soldier religion: Mithra, its hero, was especially a divinity of fidelity, manliness, and bravery; the stress it laid on good fellowship and brotherliness, its exclusion of women, and the secret bond amongst its members have suggested the idea that Mithraism was Masonry amongst the Roman soldiery. At the same time Eastern slaves and foreign tradesmen maintained its propaganda in the cities. Magi, coming from King Tiridates of Armenia, had worshipped in Nero an emanation of Mithra. 3

Nero desired to be initiated in their mysteries. As Mithraism passed as a cult it began to share in the official recognition which Phrygian worship had long enjoyed in Rome. The Emperor Commodus was publicly initiated. Its greatest devotee however was the imperial son of a priestess of the sun-god at Sirmium in Pannonia, Valerian, who according to the testimony of Flavius Vopiscus, never forgot the cave where his mother initiated him. In Rome, he established a college of sun priests and his coins bear the legend "Sol, Dominus Imperii Romani". Diocletian, Galerius, and Licinius built at Carnuntum on the Danube a temple to Mithra with the dedication: "Fautori Imperii Sui". But with the triumph of Christianity Mithraism as a religion came to a sudden end. Under Julian it had a short revival with other pagan cults. The pagans of Alexandria lynched George the Arian, bishop of the city, for attempting to build a church over a Mithras cave near the town. The laws of Theodosius I signed its “death warrant” 4but aspects of it became assimilated into Christianity.

In the theology of Mithraism, it is man's duty to worship the four simple elements, water and fire, air and earth, which in the main are man's friends. The seven planets likewise were beneficent deities. The souls of men, which were all created together from the beginning and which at birth had but to descend from the empyrean heaven to the bodies prepared for them, received from the seven planets their passions and characteristics. Hence the seven days of the week were dedicated to the planets, seven metals were sacred to them, seven rites of initiation were made to perfect the Mithraist, and so on. As evil spirits ever lie in wait for hapless man, he needs a friend and savior who is Mithra. It is said that shepherds watched his birth, but how this could be, considering there were no men on earth, is not explained. The hero-god first gives battle to the sun, conquers him, crowns him with rays and makes him his eternal friend and fellow; nay, the sun becomes in a sense Mithra's double, or again his father, but Helios Mithras is one god. Following that is the struggle between Mithra and the bull, the central dogma of Mithraism.

Ahura Mazda had created a wild bull which Mithra pursued, overcame, and dragged into his cave. This wearisome journey with the struggling bull towards the cave is the symbol of man's troubles on earth. Unfortunately, the bull escapes from the cave,

3 Catholic Encyclopedia > M > Mithraism 4 Ibid

whereupon Ahura Mazda sends a crow with a message to Mithra to find and slay it. Mithra reluctantly obeys, and plunges his dagger into the bull as it returns to the cave. Amazingly, according to this belief, from the body of the dying bull proceed all wholesome plants and herbs that cover the earth, from his spinal marrow the corn, from his blood the vine, etc. The power of evil sends his unclean creatures to prevent or poison these productions but in vain. From the bull proceed all useful animals, and the bull, resigning itself to death, is transported to the heavenly spheres. Man is now created and subjected to the malign influence of Ahriman in the form of droughts, deluges, and conflagrations, but is saved by Mithra. Finally man is well established on earth and Mithra returns to heaven. He celebrates a last supper with Helios and his other companions, is taken in his fiery chariot across the ocean, and now in heaven protects his followers.

The struggle between good and evil continues in heaven between the planets and stars, and on earth in the heart of man. Mithra is the Mediator (Mesites) between God and man. This function first arose from the fact that as the light-god he is supposed to float midway between the upper heaven and the earth. Likewise a sun-god, his planet was supposed to hold the central place amongst the seven planets. As Mazdean dualists the Mithraists were strongly inclined towards asceticism; abstention from food and absolute continence seemed to them noble and praiseworthy, though not obligatory. They battled on Mithra's side against all impurity, against all evil within and without. They believed in the immortality of the soul, sinners after death were dragged off to hell; the just passed through the seven spheres of the planets, through seven gates opening at a mystical word to Ahura Mazda, leaving at each planet a part of their lower humanity until, as pure spirits, they stood before God. At the end of the world Mithra will descend to earth on another bull, which he will sacrifice, and mixing its fat with sacred wine he will make all drink the beverage of immortality. He will thus have proved himself Nabarses, i.e. "never conquered".

There were seven degrees of initiation into the Mithraic mysteries. The consecrated one (mystes) became in succession crow (corax), occult (cryphius), soldier (miles), lion (leo), Persian (Perses), solar messenger (heliodromos), and father (pater). On solemn occasions they wore a garb appropriate to their name, and uttered sounds or performed gestures in keeping with what they personified. "Some flap their wings as birds imitating the sound of a crow, others roar as lions", says Pseudo-Augustine. 5 Crows, occults and soldiers formed the lower orders; a sort of catechumens; lions and those admitted to the other degrees were participants of the mysteries. The fathers conducted the worship. The chief of the fathers, a sort of pope, who always lived at Rome, was called "Pater Patrum" or Pater Patratus." The members below the degree of pater called one another "brother," and social distinctions were forgotten in Mithraic unity.

The ceremonies of initiation for each degree must have been elaborate, but they are only vaguely known — lustrations and bathings, branding with red-hot metal,

5 Quaest. Vet. N. Test. In P.L., XXXIV, 2214.

anointing with honey, and others. A sacred meal was celebrated of bread and haoma juice for which in the West wine was substituted. This meal was supposed to give the participants super-natural virtue.

The Mithraists worshipped in caves, of which a large number have been found. There were five at Ostia alone, but they were small and could perhaps hold at most 200 persons. In the apse of the cave stood the stone representation of Mithra slaying the bull, a piece of sculpture usually of mediocre artistic merit and always made after the same Pergamean model. The light usually fell through openings in the top as the caves were near the surface of the ground. A hideous monstrosity representing Kronos was also shown. A fire was kept perpetually burning in the sanctuary. Three times a day prayer was offered the sun toward the east, south, or west according to the hour. Sunday was kept holy in honor of Mithra, and the sixteenth of each month was sacred to him as mediator. The 25th of December was observed as his birthday, the natalis invicti, the rebirth of the winter-sun, unconquered by the rigors of the season. A Mithraic community was not merely a religious congregation; it was a social and legal body with its decemprimi, magistri, curatores, defensores, and patroni.

These communities allowed no women as members. Women might console themselves by forming associations to worship Anaitis-Cybele; but whether these were associated with Mithraism seems doubtful. No proof of immorality or obscene practices, so often connected with esoteric pagan cults, has ever been established against Mithraism; and as far as can be ascertained, or rather conjectured it had an elevating and invigorating effect on its followers. From a chance remark of Tertullian 6we gather that their "Pater Patrum" was only allowed to be married once, and that Mithraism had its virgines and continentes; such at least seems the best interpretation of the passage. If, however, Dieterich's Mithra’s liturgy be really a liturgy of this sect, as he ably maintains, its liturgy can only strike us as a mixture of bombast and charlatanism in which the mystes has to hold his sides, and roar to the utmost of his power till he is exhausted, to whistle, smack his lips, and pronounce barbaric agglomerations of syllables as the different mystic signs for the heavens and the constellations are unveiled to him.

Mithraism’s Relationship to Christianity

From the above description it is obvious that there are remarkable parallels between Mitraism and Christianity. Similarities between Mithra and Christ struck even early observers, such as Justin, Tertullian, and other church Fathers, and in recent times has used as evidence to prove that Christianity is but an adaptation of Mithraism, or at most the outcome of the same religious ideas and aspirations (e.g. Robertson, "Pagan Christs", 1903). In fairness, the following considerations must be brought forward from Catholic sources. 7

6 De Praescriptione, xl. 7 Ibid

(1) Our knowledge regarding Mithraism is very limited; some 600 brief inscriptions, mostly dedicatory, some 300 often fragmentary, exiguous, almost identical monuments, a few casual references in the church Fathers or Acts of the Martyrs, and a brief polemic against Mithraism which the Armenian Eznig (about 450 CE) probably copied from Theodore of Mopsuestia (428 CE) who lived when Mithraism was almost a thing of the past. These are our limited sources but we could also include the Avesta in which Mithra is indeed mentioned. But is has limited value as an authority for Roman Mithraism with which Christianity is compared.

(2) Some apparent similarities exist; but in a number of details it is also probable that Mithraism was the borrower from Christianity. Tertullian (about 200 CE) could say: "hesterni sumus et omnia vestra implevimus" ("we are but of yesterday, yet your whole world is full of us"). It is not unnatural to suppose that a religion which filled the whole world, should have been copied at least in some details by another religion which was quite popular during the third century. The resemblances pointed out may be superficial and external. Similarity in words and names is not as pertinent as the sense that really matters. During these centuries Christianity was coining its own technical terms, and naturally took names, terms, and expressions current in that day; and so did Mithraism. This does show, however, a departure within Western and Eastern Christianity from Semitic terms from Hebraic and Aramaic words and concepts.

But under identical terms each system thought its own thoughts. Mithra is called a mediator; and so is Christ; but Mithra originally only in a cosmogonic or astronomical sense; Christ, being “God and man”, is by nature the “Mediator between God and man”. Of course this also resembles Greco-Roman demi gods. And so in similar instances Mithraism had a Eucharist, but the idea of a sacred banquet is as old as the human race and existed at all ages and amongst all peoples. Mithra saved the world by sacrificing a bull; Christ by sacrificing Himself. It is hardly possible to conceive a more radical difference than that between Mithra taurochtonos and Christ crucified. Christ was born of a Virgin; there is nothing to prove that the same was believed of Mithra born from the rock. Christ was born in a cave; and Mithraists worshipped in a cave, but Mithra was born under a tree near a river. Much as been made of the presence of adoring shepherds; but their existence on sculptures has not been proven, and considering that man had not yet appeared, it is an anachronism to suppose their presence.

(3) Despite some pseudo historians to the contrary, Christ was an historical personage, born in a well-known town of Judea (or Galilee according to other scholars), and crucified under a Roman governor, whose name figured in the ordinary official lists. Mithra was an abstraction, a personification not even of the sun but of the diffused daylight; his incarnation, if such it may be called, was supposed to have happened before the creation of the human race, before all history. Unfortunately, these pagan abstractions were intergrated into what became Christianity.

The small Mithraic congregations were for a few and for men only and even those mostly of one class, the military; a religion that excludes the half of the human race bears no comparison to the religion of Christ. Mithraism was all comprehensive and tolerant of

every other cult, the Pater Patrum himself was an adept in a number of other religions; Christianity was essential exclusive, condemning every other religion in the world, alone and unique in its majesty.

However, Mitraism was the favored religion among the Roman legions and Christianity had a vast tendency in its history to assimilate other religious practices. The comparisons between Mitraism and Christianity cannot be so easily put aside. The history of Mithraism needs to be examined in an unbiased and objective manner.

Mithraism 8 was an ancient mystery religion prominent from the 1st century BCE to the 5th century CE. It is important to note that it preceded Christianity and was prominent until it was displaced by Christianity. It was based on worship of the god Mithras and derives from the Persian and Indic god Mithra and other Zoroastrian deities.

Mithraism was practiced in the Roman Empire since the first century BC, and reached its apogee around the third through fourth centuries CE, when it was very popular among the Roman soldiers. Mithraism disappeared from overt practice after the Theodosian decree of 391 CE banned all pagan rites, and it apparently became extinct thereafter.

Mithraism is best documented in the form it had acquired in the later Roman Empire. It was an initiatory 'mystery religion,' passed from initiate to initiate, like the Eleusinian Mysteries. It was not based on a supernaturally revealed body of scripture, and hence very little written documentary evidence survives.

Soldiers appeared to be the most plentiful followers of Mithraism, and women were apparently not allowed to join. This is a distinction from Christianity.

The Mithraeum

There is difficulty for scholars to reconstruct the daily workings and beliefs of Mithraism, as the rituals were highly secret and limited to initiated men. Mithras was little more than a name until the massive documentation of Franz Cumont’s's Texts and Illustrated Monuments Relating to the Mysteries of Mithra was published in 1894-1900, with the first English translation in 1903.

However, it is known that the center of the cult was the mithraeum, either an adapted natural cave or cavern, preferably sanctified by previous local religious usage, or an artificial building imitating a cavern. Mithraea were dark and windowless, even if they were not actually in a subterranean space or in a natural cave. When possible, the mithraeum was constructed within or below an existing building. The site of a mithraeum may also be identified by its separate entrance or vestibule, its "cave", called the spelaeum or spelunca, with raised benches along the side walls for the ritual meal, and its sanctuary at the far end, often in a recess, before which the pedestal-like altar stood.

8 “Mithraism” in Wikipedia

Many mithraea that follow this basic plan are scattered over much of the Empire's former area, particularly where the legions were stationed along the frontiers. Others may be recognized by their characteristic layout, even though converted as crypts beneath Christian churches.

In every Mithraic temple, the place of honor was occupied by a representation of Mithras killing a sacred bull, called a tauroctony. It has been more recently proposed that the tauroctony is a symbolic representation of the constellations rather than an originally Iranian animal sacrifice scene. 9 Mithras is associated with Perseus, whose constellation is above that of the bull. A serpent, a scorpion, a dog, and a raven are present, also thought to represent associated constellations. However, this later theory has its own problems, as shown by Dr. Shepherd Simpson's "Mithraism and Precession: The Tauroctony and the Celestial Equator".

From the structure of the mithraea it is possible to surmise that worshippers would have gathered for a common meal along the reclining couches lining the walls. It is worth noting that most temples could hold only thirty or forty individuals.

The members of a mithraeum were divided into seven ranks. All members were apparently expected to progress through the first four ranks, while only a few would go on to the three higher ranks. The first four ranks seem to represent spiritual progress, while the other three appear to have been specialized offices. The seven ranks were:

• Corax (raven) • Nymphus (bride) • Miles (soldier) • Leo (lion) • Perses (Persian) • Heliodromus (sun-courier) • Pater (father)

The new initiate became a Corax, while the Leo was an adept. The titles of the first four ranks suggest the possibility that advancement through the ranks was based on introspection and spiritual growth.

The Iconography of Mithraism

In the absence of any Mithraist scripture, all we know about Mithras is what can be deduced from his images in the mithraea that have survived.

Some depictions show Mithras carrying a rock on his back, much as Atlas did, and/or wearing a cape that had the starry sky as its inside lining. He is sometimes depicted as a man being born or reborn from a rock (the 'petra genetrix), typically with the snake Oroboros wrapped around it. It is commonly believed that the cave in

9 Ulansey, 1991.

Mithraism imagery represents the cosmos, and the rock is the cosmos seen from the outside; hence the description of this god as 'rising from the dead'. According to some accounts, Mithras died, was buried in a cavernous rock tomb, and was resurrected.

One of the central motifs of Mithraism is the tauroctony, the myth of sacrifice by Mithra of a sacred bull created by the supreme deity Ahura Mazda, which Mithra stabs to death in the cave, having been instructed to do so by a crow, sent from Ahura Mazda. In this myth, from the body of the dying bull spring plants, animals, and all the beneficial things of the earth. It is thought that the bull represents the constellation of Taurus. However, in the period we are considering, the sun at the Vernal Equinox had left Taurus two thousand years before, and was in the process of moving from Aries to Pisces.

Some commentators surmise that the Mithraists worshipped Mithras as the mediator between Man and the supreme God of the upper and nether world. Other commentators, inspired by James Frazer’s theories, have additionally labeled Mithras a mystery religion with a life-death-rebirth deity, comparable to Isis, the resurrected Jesus or the Persephone/Demeter cult of the Eleusinian Mysteries.

Mithraism Before Rome

Mithraism is generally considered to be of Persian origin, specifically an outgrowth of Zoroastrian culture, though not of Zoroaster's teachings. For Zoroaster was a monotheist, for whom Ahuramazda was the One god, and Mithraism involves multiple gods and dualism. Darius the Great was equally stringent in the official monotheism of his reign: no god but Ahuramazda is ever mentioned in any of the numerous inscriptions that survive of his reign (521-485 BCE).

However, the official cult is rarely the sole religion in an area. The following inscription from Susa of Artaxerxes II Mnemon (404-358 BCE) demonstrates that not all the Archaemenid kings were as purely Zoroastrian as Darius the Great:

"Artaxerxes the Great King, [...] says: [...] By the favor of Ahuramazda, Anahita, and Mithra, this palace I built. May Ahuramazda, Anahita, and Mithra protect me from all evil, and that which I have built may they not shatter nor harm."

We could identify the Roman Mithras with the Persian Mithra, except that there is no known Persian legend or text about Mithra killing a bull or being associated with other animals. On the other hand, there is a story of Ahriman, the evil god in popular developments of Zoroastrianism, killing a bull. It is also hard to explain how the Sun-god Mithra would come to be worshipped in the windowless, cave-like mithraeum.

A possible link between Persia and Rome, which could be the stage for these changes, may be the kingdoms of Parthia and Pontus in Asia Minor. Several of their kings were called Mithradates, meaning "given by Mithra", starting with Mithradates I of Parthia (died 138 BCE). It would seem that, in those kingdoms, Mithra was a god whose power lent luster even to a king. And it was at Pergamum, in the 2nd century BCE, that

Greek sculptors started to produce bas-relief imagery of Mithra Taurocthonos, "Mithra the bull-slayer." Although the cult of Mithras never caught on in the Greek homeland, those sculptures may indicate the route between Persian Mithra and Roman Mithras.

Around the first century CE, the Greek historian Plutarch wrote about pirates of Cilicia who practiced the Mithraic "secret rites" around 67 BCE. Since Cilicia was the coastal province in the southeast of Anatolia, the Mithras mentioned by Plutarch may have been worship of the Persian god Mithra; or may have been associated with Ahriman, the Persian god who killed a bull.

Mithraism in Early Rome

Mithraism evidently arrived fully mature at Rome with the return of the legions from the east in the first century BCE. As an action god of armies and the champion of heroes, he appealed to the professional Roman soldiers, who carried his cult to Iberia, Britain, the German frontiers, and Dacia.

The cult of Mithras began to attract attention in Rome about the end of the first century CE, perhaps in connection with the conquest of then Zorastrian Armenia. The earliest material evidence for the Roman worship of Mithras dates from that period, in a record of Roman soldiers who came from the military garrison at Carnuntum in the Roman province of Upper Pannonia (near the Danube River in modern Austria, near the Hungarian border). These soldiers fought against the Parthians and were involved in the suppression of the revolts in Jerusalem from 60 CE to about 70 CE. When they returned home, they made Mithraic dedications, probably in the year 71 or 72.

Statius mentions the typical Mithraic relief in his Thebaid (Book i. 719,720), around 80 CE; Plutarch's Life of Pompey also makes it clear that the worship of Mithras was well known at that time.

By 200 CE, Mithraism had spread widely through the army, and also among traders and slaves. The German frontiers have yielded most of the archaeological evidence of its prosperity: small cult objects connected with Mithra turn up in archaeological digs from Romania to Hadrian’s Wall. Note that although this time period is after Jesus along with his disciples and the apostles taught the elements found in the Gospels, Acts, the epistles, and the book of Revelation, it is prior to the formation of normative Christianity (325 CE).

Mithraism in the Roman Empire

The emperors in Rome in the 3rd century CE encouraged Mithraism because of the support which it afforded to the divine nature of monarchs. Mithras became the giver of authority and victory to the Imperial House. From the time of Commodus, who participated in its mysteries, its supporters were to be found in all classes.

Concentrations of Mithraic temples are found on the outskirts of the Roman empire: along Hadrian’s wall in northern England three mithraea have been identified, at Housesteads, Carrawburgh and Rudchester. Mithraea have also been found along the Danube and Rhine river frontier, in the province of Dacia (where in 2003 a temple was found in Alba-Iulia) and as far afield as Numidia in North Africa.

Mithraic ruins are also found in the port city of Ostia, and in Rome the capital, where as many as seven hundred mithraea may have existed (a dozen have been identified). Its importance at Rome may be judged from the abundance of monumental remains: more than 75 pieces of sculpture, 100 Mithraic inscriptions, and ruins of temples and shrines in all parts of the city and its suburbs. A well-preserved late 2nd century mithraeum, with its altar and built-in stone benches, originally built beneath a Roman house (as was a common practice), survives in the crypt over which has been built the Basilica of San Clemente, Rome.

The Demise of Mithraism

Worship of the sun (Sol) was within the indigenous Roman pantheon, as a minor part, and always as a pairing with the moon. However, in the East, there were many solar deities, including the Greek Helios, who was largely displaced by Apollo. By the 3rd century CE, the popular cults of Apollo and Mithras had started to merge into the syncretic cult known as Sol Invictus, and in 274 CE the emperor Aurelian (whose mother had been a priestess of the sun) made worship of Sol Invictus official. Subsequently Aurelian built a splendid new temple in Rome, and created a new body of priests to support it (pontifex solis invicti), attributing his victories in the East to Sol Invictus. However, none of this affected the existing cult of Mithras, which remained a non-official cult. Some senators held positions in both cults.

This period was also the beginning of the decline of Mithraism, as Dacia was lost to the empire, and invasions of the northern peoples resulted in the destruction of temples along a great stretch of frontier, the main stronghold of the cult. The spread of Christianity through the Empire, boosted by Constantine’s tolerance of it from around 310 CE, also took its toll - particularly as Christianity admitted women while Mithraism did not, which obviously limited its potential for rapid growth. However, this emphasis on tolerance and expansion resulted in assimilation of Mithraism and Sol Invictus into the development of Christianity.

The reign of Julian, who attempted to restore the faith, and suppress Christianity, and the usurpation of Eugenius renewed the hopes of its devotees, but the decree secured by Theodosius in 394 CE, totally forbidding non-Christian worship, may be considered the end of Mithraism's formal public existence.

Mithraism still survived in the Alps into the 5th century CE, and clung to life with more tenacity in its Eastern homelands. Its eventual successor, as the carrier of Persian religion to the West, was Manichaeism, which competed strenuously with Christianity for the status of world-religion.

Connections Between Mithraism and Christianity

With the above background we must consider the fact that there is much speculation that Christian beliefs were influenced by Mithraic belief. Ernest Renan, in The Origins of Christianity, promoted the idea that Mithraism was the prime competitor to Christianity in the second through the fourth century CE, although most scholars feel the written claims that the emperors Nero, Commodus, Septimius Severus, Caracalla, and the Tetrarchs were initiates are dubious, and there is no evidence that Mithraic worship was accorded any official status as a Roman cult except in its official form as 'Sol Invictus,' the first universal religion of the Greco Roman world.

Bull and cave themes are found in Christian shrines dedicated to the archangel Michael, who, after the officialization of Christianity, became the “patron saint” of soldiers. Many of those shrines were converted Mithraea, for instance the sacred cavern at Monte Gargano in Apulia, refounded in 493 CE. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that the Mithras cult was transferred to the previously unvenerated archangel.

Bull and crypt are linked in the Christian saint Saturnin (frequently "Sernin" or "Saturninus") of Toulouse, France. The Mithraeum is retained as a crypt under his earliest church, evocatively named "Notre-Dame du Taur."

It has also been speculated that the ancient Orobouros of Mithraism (the encircling serpent about to bite its own tail) was adapted for a Christian symbol of the limited confines of time and space. The snake around a rock also is reminscent of the Midgard serpent, Jörmungandr, who was said to surround Midgard (the Earth) according to Norse traditions.

Christians would argue that because the Gospels were written mostly before 100 CE and that since little is known of Roman Mithraism until after 100 CE that it is not plausible to say that Christianity borrowed any of its doctrines from Mithraism; some Christians have suggested that Mithraism may have borrowed some elements from Christianity. Other, non-Christian scholars disagree on both the dating of the gospels and with the conclusions made. This author separates Jesus and the Gospels from what developed as the church. Our position is that the church was heavily influenced by pagan sources including Mithraism. There is much information available as Mithraic studies continue. 10 11

10 Franz Cumont (1868 - 1947) was the main proponent of the theory that Mithraism came originally from Persia. Cumont's student, Maarten J. Vermaseren, author of Mithras, the Secret God (1963), was very active in translating Mithraic inscriptions; Walter Burkert, Ancient Mystery Cults, Harvard University Press, 1987. A book, based on his Jackson Lectures at Harvard University in 1982, dispels some misconceptions and stereotypes; The Mysteries of Mithra 1903 English translation, complete, of Franz Cumont's book; Mithraism at L'Ecole Initiative; David Ulansey, The Cosmic Mysteries of Mithras An article published in Biblical Archaeology Review in which David Ulansey summarized his book The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries (Oxford, 1989); Ronald Nash, "Was the New Testament Influenced by

How Mithraism Relates to Beliefs And Sacrificial Practices Within Christianity

Why is it our position that the church (not necessarily the Gospels in their original form) was heavily influenced by Mithraism? As noted above, Christians would argue that because the New Testament books were written mostly before 100 CE and that since little is known of Roman Mithraism until after 100 CE. However, it is very plausible to say that Christianity borrowed the following beliefs, doctrines, and practices from Mithraism and other pagan religions: 12

• There are many similarities between pagan and Christian practices. The early Christians and pagans shared many rituals and practices. Authors Freke & Gandy appear to assume that all of the copying was done by Christians from Pagan sources. However, some might have gone in the opposite direction. During the 3rd century CE, Mithraism and Christianity were the main competitors for the religious affiliation the citizens of Romans. Some Christian practices might have actually been picked up by Mithraism, rather than vice-versa.

• Many early Christians celebrated Jesus' birthday on January 6th. Armenian Christians still do. In Alexandria, in what is now Egypt, the birthday of their god-man, Aion, was also celebrated on January 6th.

• Christians and most Pagans eventually celebrated the birthday of their god-man on December 25th.

Pagan Religions?"An article by a reputable scholar arguing that pagan religions (including Mithraism) did not influence the new Testament; David Fingrut, "Mithraism: The Legacy of the Roman Empire's Final Pagan State Religion", A web page giving a good summary of Cumont at high school level; Mithraism and Precession: A web page critical of Ulansey's theory regarding Mithraism and the Age of Taurus; the author's credentials are not given, and references to scholarly literature are not provided; Abstract from M.J. Vermaseren, Mithras, the Secret God, 1963: good abstract of Vermaseren's book; University of Newcastle Mithras website: (mostly about the mithraeum at Carrawburgh); Mithraeum at Riegel, Baden-Wurtemburg: plan and photos (French); The museum at the University of Newcastle displays findings from the three sites along Hadrian's Wall and recreates a mithraeum; Church of St. Clement in Rome has a preserved mithraeum with the altarpiece still intact; Ostia Antica, the port of Rome, where the remains of 17 mithraea have been found so far; one of them is substantial.

11 Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithraism"

12 See http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_jcpa1.htm and J. Goodwin, "Mystery Religions of the Ancient World," Thames & Hudson, (1981), Page 28. Quoted in Timothy Freke & Peter Gandy, "The Jesus Mysteries: Was the 'Original Jesus' a Pagan God?" Acacia Press, (1999), Page 49. Also see "Mithra," Barbara G. Walker, "The Woman's encyclopedia of myths and secrets," Harper & Row, (1996), Pages 663 to 665.

• According to an ancient Christian tradition, Christ died on March 23rd and resurrected on March 25th. These dates agree precisely with the death and resurrection of Attis.

• Baptism was a principal ritual; it washed away a person's sins. In some rituals, Baptism was performed by sprinkling holy water on the believer; in others, the person was totally immersed.

• The most important sacrament was a ritual meal of bread and wine which symbolize the god-man's body and blood. His followers were accused of engaging in cannibalism.

• Early Christians initiated converts in March and April by baptism. Mithraism initiated their new members at this time as well.

• Early Christians were naked when they were baptized. After immersion, they then put on white clothing and a crown. They carried a candle and walked in a procession to a basilica. Followers of Mithra were also baptized naked, put on white clothing and a crown, and walked in a procession to the temple. However, they carried torches.

• An inscription to Mithras reads: "He who will not eat of my body and drink of my blood, so that he will be made on with me and I with him, the same shall not know salvation." In John 6:53-54, Jesus is said to have repeated this theme: "...Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day." (KJV)

• In Attis, a bull was slaughtered while on a perforated platform. The animal's blood flowed down over an initiate who stood in a pit under the platform. The believer was then considered to have been "born again." Poor people could only afford a sheep, and so were literally washed in the blood of the lamb. This practice was interpreted symbolically by Christians.

• The Bible records that Jesus was crucified between two thieves. One went to heaven and the other to hell. In the Mithras mysteries, a common image showed Mithras flanked by two torchbearers, one on either side. One held a torch pointed upwards, the other downwards. This symbolized ascent to heaven or descent to hell.

• At Pentecost, the followers of Jesus were recorded as speaking in tongues. At Trophonius and Delos, the pagan priestesses also spoke in tongues: They appeared to speak in such a way that each person present heard her words in the observer's own language.

• There were many additional points of similarity between Mithraism and Christianity. St. Augustine even declared that the priests of Mithraism worshiped the same God as he did:

o Followers of both religions celebrated a ritual meal involving bread. It was called a missa in Latin or mass in English.

o Epiphany, January 6th, was originally the festival in which the followers of Mithra celebrated the visit of the Magi to their newborn god-man. The Christian Church took it over in the 9th century.

o Both the Catholic Church and Mithraism had a total of seven sacraments.

Although there are some obvious similarities between Christianity and Mithraism, one should not be too quick to judge Christianity and compare it to a more pure religion, e.g. Judaism. I have observed many disillusioned Christians leave Christianity and run to rabbis without realizing that there are many parallels between Judaism and surrounding pagan religions. One is advised to consider these areas carefully – especially in regard to ritualistic practices and beliefs related to them. Ritual may have its place but we need to understand why it was presented to Moses in the precise manner as described in the Torah. Where did Moses get his ideas for the details? Why are the details so important? What did the prophets have to say about this? What did the letter of James have to say based on the teachings of Jesus? 13With these things in mind we will next look at the concepts of blood sacrifice and atonement.

13 The author maintains that Christianity is a blend of paganism and Judaism but that the same is true for Judaism (to a lesser degree). Rituals are valuable for training the mind, soul, and spirit through repetition of physical practices in worship but they are not the essence of a quality relationship with God and humanity. The rituals and sacrifices in Judaism were designed by God (Orthodox view) or by Moses (Conservative and Reform view) to prevent Israel from stepping into idolatry by providing for them a strict and definite practice of sacrificial worship. Jesus adamantly attacked the Temple practices (much like the prophets) and predicted its destruction. After the 2nd Temple was destroyed, prayer and study replaced the sacrificial system to a large degree although Orthodox Judaism expects the Temple cult to be restored at the coming of the Meschiach. Some Fundamentalist Christians expect the Temple to be rebuilt as well as part of their eschatology. However, Christianity sees the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross as the end of the Temple sacrifices. The letter of James describes true worship at the end of the first chapter. Addressing and challenging these areas are some of the core tenets of this series of papers. It is not the intention of the author to attack either Judaism or Christianity but to point out their relationships to pagan practices and also challenge traditional interpretations of Holy Scripture relative to sacrifice and atonement.

Blood Sacrifice and Atonement

Taurobolium

The Taurobolium involved a bull sacrifice practiced from about AD 160 in the Mediterranean cult of the Great Mother of the Gods. Celebrated primarily among the Romans, the ceremony enjoyed much popularity and may have been introduced by the Roman emperor. The nature and purpose of the ceremony seems to have gradually changed during the late 2nd and 3rd centuries. At the beginning it apparently resembled similar sacrifices performed in the cults of other deities, such as Mithra. By about 300, however, the ceremony had changed drastically. The person dedicating the sacrifice lay in a pit with a perforated board placed over the pit’s opening. A bull was slaughtered above him, and the person in the pit bathed in the blood streaming down. Thus the ceremony, perhaps influenced by Christianity, gradually took on the elements of moral purification. 14

The taurobolium in the 2nd and 3rd centuries was usually performed as a measure

for the welfare (salus) of the Emperor, Empire, or community; H. Oppermann 15 denies

early reports that its date was frequently 24 March, the Dies Sanguinis ("Day of Blood")

of the annual festival of the Great Mother Cybele and Attis; Oppermann reports that there

were no taurobolia in late March. In the late 3rd and the 4th centuries its usual motive

was the purification or regeneration of an individual, who was spoken of as renatus in

aeternum, "reborn for eternity", in consequence of the ceremony.[14] While its efficacy

was not eternal, its effect was considered to endure for twenty years, as if the magic

coating of the blood wore off after that time, the initiate having taken his vows for "the

circle of 20 years" (bis deni orbis). It was also performed as the fulfilment of a

vow (votum), or by command of the goddess herself, and the privilege was not limited by

sex or class. In its 4th-century revival in high pagan circles, Rutter has observed, "We

might even justifiably say that the taurobolium, rather than a rite effectual in itself was a

symbol of paganism. It was a rite apparently forbidden by the Christian emperors and

thus became a hallmark of the pagan nobility in their final struggle against Christianity

and the Christian emperors." The place of its performance at Rome was near the site

of St. Peter’s, in the excavations of which several altars and inscriptions commemorative

oftaurobolia were discovered.

14 http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/584394/Taurobolium 15

Oppermann, in RE 5A, (1934) s.v. "taurobolium".

Encyclopædia Britannica 1911, under the influence of Sir James George Frazer’s

The Golden Bough, suggested "The taurobolium was probably a sacred drama

symbolizing the relations of the Mother and Attis (q.v.). The descent of the priest into the

sacrificial foss symbolized the death of Attis, the withering of the vegetation of Mother

Earth; his bath of blood and emergence the restoration of Attis, the rebirth of vegetation.

The ceremony may be the spiritualized descent of the primitive oriental practice of

drinking or being baptized in the blood of an animal, based upon a belief that the strength

of brute creation could be acquired by consumption of its substance or contact with its

blood. In spite of the phrase renatus in aeternum, there is no reason to suppose that the

ceremony was in any way borrowed from Christianity." However, whether Roman

Christianity borrowed from the Taurobolium and Mithraism in its atoning sacrificial

portrayal of the death and resurrection of Christ is another matter. 16

The Importance of Blood

In the Sacrificial Cult of the Hebrews

(Leviticus 17:1–16)

“Blood is sacred to the Jews, because it is the essence of an animal’s life.” Blood is also the means that was identified in paying for sin.

The Israelites had to bring their animals to the priests to be killed and used for sacrificial offering. “Even providing meat for the family is an act of worship, because it involves the shedding of a life which belongs to God. The animals are to be brought to the door of the tent of meeting as a peace offering between God and his people.

“The Israelites are forbidden to make random killings out in the fields, like pagans making sacrifices to their goat idols, the demon spirits of nature worship. This law is relaxed in Deuteronomy, where it is accepted that people needing meat may live too far from an official place of sacrifice. Even so, the eating of blood is forbidden (Deuteronomy 12:20–25). To this day, Jews will only eat meat which is ‘kosher’—that is, carefully drained of blood and reverently prepared for the table.” 17

16 CIL Vi. 510-512; Burkert, Walter (2001). Ancient Mystery Cults. Cambridge: Harvard University

Press. p. 18; Rutter 1968:242; Rutter 1968:226; and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taurobolium.

17 Knowles, A. (2001). The Bible guide (1st Augsburg books ed.) (72). Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg.

Sacrifice and Atonement

To those who believe and practice some form of sacrificial atonement, sacrifice is a way of approaching God, to mark an occasion, thank him for a blessing or ask his protection or forgiveness. Because God is holy, anyone approaching him must first be cleansed from their sin. Sacrifice is the way God provides for a person or group to receive forgiveness. This process is called ‘atonement’ or covering (kippura in Hebrew), from the idea that the blood hides sin by covering it and so enables God and sinners to be ‘at one’ again.

The sacrificing of animals is common to many religions. It is only when we look at the reasons for Israel’s sacrifices that we see a clear difference from pagan practices. In ancient Israel, the sacrifice was for the benefit of the ordinary person who brings it. It is he who would place his hand on the sacrifice, kill it and receive the words of forgiveness. There were none of the pagan rituals associated with sacrifice, e.g. there were no sex acts or fertility rites, and no attempts to contact the dead or pray to ancestors. There was no casting of spells, studying of entrails or fortune-telling. There were no self-inflicted wounds to prove sorrow to God, and there was no sacrificing of children.

In Jewish sacrifice there is no attempt to bribe God or manipulate his favors.

People can’t impress God with a large sacrifice, because they aren’t graded according to wealth and power. There is no special offering required of a king, for example. Every person or family is expected simply to bring the best sacrifice they can manage, without reducing themselves to poverty. If a family is poor, then a pigeon or a cup of flour is enough.

Where there was a larger sacrifice, it was to indicate a greater responsibility for

sin. The high priest offers the largest, because of everyone he has sinned most knowingly! In all this, the only purpose is to be made right with God and receive his forgiveness.

In Isaiah 53, the prophet describes the innocent suffering and death of the ‘servant of the Lord’. This servant dies, not for his own sin, but for the sin of others. In other words, he is a sacrifice—‘led like a lamb to the slaughter’. His death is a ‘guilt offering’ to cover the wrongs of others, so that they may become right with God.

In Christianity, Jesus is this ‘suffering servant’. Matthew’s Gospel says that Jesus

fulfils Isaiah’s words: ‘He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows’ (Isaiah 53:4). Peter writes in his first letter: ‘He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed’ (1 Peter 2:24). This understanding comes from Jesus himself.

In Luke’s account of the Last Supper, Jesus warns his friends that he will be

‘numbered with the transgressors’. After his resurrection, he explains everything to the two people he meets on the road to Emmaus:

Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself (Luke 24:25–27).

In Christian Theology, the death of Jesus includes every aspect of sacrifice. He is a ransom for our guilt. He cleanses our dirty lives. He pays the debt we owe for our wrongdoing. In Mark’s Gospel Jesus says he must give his life ‘as a ransom for many’. This is the function of the burnt offering in Leviticus—to provide atonement for sin and deal with guilt.

The fullest explanation of the death of Jesus is found in the letter to the Hebrews.

The theme of the book of Hebrews is Jesus as Messiah and High Priest who replaces the sacrificial system of Israel. In Christianity this is interpreted as a sacrificial offering at the cross that abolishes the temple cult of Israel. The writer tells us that Jesus’ death on the cross is the supreme sacrifice of all time—a sacrifice to end all sacrifices. However, the sacrifices continued for over 30 years after the death of Jesus until the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE.

The sacrifices described in Leviticus are solemn, costly and moving. But they are

never enough. They are for ever being repeated, because sin is never fully dealt with. The letter to the Hebrews describes this weary and repetitive process:

Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins (Hebrews 10:11).

The writer expresses the painful knowledge that all the sacrificing of animals has never really dealt with sin. This is interpreted in Christianity to mean that Jesus, on the cross, at last makes a sacrifice which works for everyone for all time. He dies shouting triumphantly, ‘It is finished!’ As the letter to the Hebrews explains:

When this priest [Christ] had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God (Hebrews 10:12).

Like the ‘sin offering’, the blood of Christ has power to cleanse. It not only removes the guilt of sin, but also purges away its pollution. When we accept the death of Jesus for us, we can approach God with confidence. Our sins are forgiven. Our consciences are clear:

Therefore … since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body … let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water (Hebrews 10:19–22).

But note a few key words: “enter” – this denotes an entrance but not completion; “cleanse us from a guilty conscience” – this shows that we are purified to see what Jesus has done. But, from here we must listen to what he taught and preached. We must live as his disciples and not merely accept a sacrificial offering. His death was that of a martyr but his resurrection was that of a powerful spiritual king.

The ‘fellowship offering’ of Leviticus is a sacrifice which becomes a shared meal. It expresses a joyful unity of life, between God and people and between the worshippers themselves. In New Testament theology this becomes the agape, Eucharist or Lord’s Supper. By breaking bread and sharing it, believers give thanks for the sacrifice of Jesus,

broken for them. By pouring wine and drinking it, they remember his blood shed for the sins of the world.

Paul’s letter to the Corinthians encourages believers to care for one another

because of their fellowship with Christ. Paul warns the Christians at Corinth that if they don’t share their meal (if the wealthy eat while the poor go hungry), then it isn’t the Lord’s Supper.

When you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk (1 Corinthians 11:20–21).

There are major areas that still remain to be covered as we examine the doctrines of sacrifice and atonement. Our next paper (Part 6 in this series) will examine sacrifice and atonement further and see how it developed into various beliefs and practices throughout history – particularly in Judaism and Christianity. This will enable us to understand the importance of blood in sacrifice in relationship to doctrines about Jesus and the Atonement that influenced Christianity in the early development of Roman Catholicism. Then, in subsequent installments, we will explore the teachings of sacrifice in various religions related to Judaism and Christianity, focus on the teachings of the prophets and sages, and then finally we will see what all of this really has to do with Jesus and the cross.