Christians: Does the earlier god Mithra sound curiously like Jesus?

Question

Mithra of Persia

--Mithra was born of a virgin on December 25 in a cave, and his birth was attended by shepherds bearing gifts.
--He was considered a great traveling teacher and master.
--He had 12 companions or disciples.
--Mithra’s followers were promised immortality.
--He performed miracles.
--As the “great bull of the Sun,” Mithra sacrificed himself for world peace.
--He was buried in atomb and after three days rose again.
--His resurrection was celebrated every year.
--He was called “the Good Shepherd” and identified with both the Lamb and the Lion.
--He was considered the “Way, the Truth and the Light,” and the “Logos,” [Word] “Redeemer,” “Savior” and “Messiah.”
--His sacred day was Sunday, the “Lord’s Day,” hundreds of years before the appearance of Christ.
--Mithra had his principal festival on what was later to become Easter.

--His religion had a eucharist or “Lord’s Supper,” at which Mithra said, “He who shall nto eat of my body nor drink of my blood so that he may be one with me and I with him, shall not be saved.”
--“His annual sacrifice is the Passover of the Magi, a symbolical atonement of pledge of moral and physical regeneration.”

http://www.geocities.com/inquisitive79/godmen.html#mithra

Answer 1

There are many similarities between Mithra and Jesus, but there's a very good reason for this that most atheists don't understand.

You may be aware that thousands of years ago, the Jews were taken into captivity in what soon became Persia, during their first dispursion. There, a young Jewish man named Daniel arose, showing himself to be a powerful prophet. Scripture tells us he possessed copies of the scrolls making up the Old Testament (as far as it had been written) and that he had Persian students who studied the Biblical scrolls under him. These students had students, and so on -- until we see the "Three Wise Men of the East," as discussed in Matthew 2 of the Bible. Because Daniel had taught his students Bible prophecy, these Wise Men knew how to calculate when the Jewish Messiah would be born, because Daniel Chapter 9 tells us the exact year that Jesus would be born!

Why is this important? Because there are ALWAYS people who will corrupt the truth into something it isn't. This happened in ancient Persia, when people corrupted the Biblical truths Daniel taught. The Mithra cult arose from that (they simply took a pre-existing deity and pasted Daniel's teachings onto him) -- and THAT'S why there's a similarity ... because ALL of the things the cult believed are taught by the Old Testament Scriptures!

In approximately 130 AD, the early Christian writer Justin Martyr, speaking with a Jew named Trypo, explained this in a roundabout way. Here's a link if you'd like to read it:

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf01.viii.iv.lxx.html

Answer 2

A lot of what you're saying is not in the old Mithra legends, but a lot is too!

First of all, we believe Jesus came not to fulfill the prophecies of JUST Judaism, but paganism as well, for the Scriptures tell us that God has never been without a voice among ANY people. He was busily pointing them to the coming Savior through many types, shadows and signs.

Great scott! You can go back to the Ugaritic texts with the Ball/Sapas/Mot mythology, and find the types and shadows of Holy Eucharist. And that predates Mithra by a thousand years or more!

We should EXPECT to see similarities, prophetic types, etc, within paganism. Why is that a problem for you?

Answer 3

S Was Paul a follower of Mithras.?
Paul was supposedly born and raised in the city of Tarsus, a region in SE Asia-Minor (now called Turkey) where Mithras was well known. Biblical scholars are now saying that Paul, the alleged author of 13 out of the 27 (maybe more) books of the New Testament, may have been influenced in his writings by this strong religion of Mithraism. We can see a profound kinship between Mithraism and Christianity.



In-as-much as Mithraism was so popular in Rome, it is no wonder why the pagan Emperor Constantine, who believed in the sun god, Mithras, designated a certain day of the week to him, Sunday, which means, “the day of the sun.”



The original "Christian" faith became a mix of pagan, Mithramic, Jeudeo/Christian teaching. This lead to the confusing mix of theology that we have today within the "Christian" community. This apostacy from the original simple and plain teachings of Christ was accelerated by the persecutions and killings of any who tried to support the "old" ways. Maybe this solves the mystery of the “ungodly” marriage between Mithraism and the cult of Jesus. As it turns out, it was all for political convenience! But, Christians think they are better than that today. In short: The "Christianity" they have today has almost no relationship, in doctrine or in way of life, to the "the original teachings of Jesus."



In my mind, there are two Jesus' teachings. Jesus the Jew and Jesus the Gentile, which by the way is really Paul's Jesus. And guess which one Christians follow? The ex-pagan Constantine liked Paul's Jesus over Jesus the Jew. Jesus and all the others upon whom this character is predicated are personifications of the sun, and the Gospel fable is merely a rehash of a mythological formula revolving around the movements of the sun through the heavens.

Answer 4

Wait...Jesus was born from a rock like Mithra was? Mithra was NOT born of a virgin, unless the rock was a virgin, lol.

Read a book on Mithraism, don't believe everything you read on the web.

Answer 5

The Gospels are nothing more than a marketing tool... a FICTION, written along the lines of the VERY familiar suffering-hero archetype, and gussied up with some OT scriptural tie-ins to create the illusion of fulfilled prophecies from scripture. In fact, it is pretty much a rip-off of Mithrasism. One Christian apologist went so far as to claim that Satan, aware that Jesus would come to earth, had created Mithrasism himself, a few hundred years earlier, knowing that Christianity would 'look' exactly the same, and thus cast doubt into the minds of believers. (This problem was solved later, and rather emphatically, by murdering all the priests of Mithras, and destroying their temples or, in some cases, converting them into churches.)
.

Answer 6

Yes but Mithra is a mythological character.
Jesus Christ is a historical character.

Answer 7

Mothra only existed in Godzilla movies, as far as I know...he was god-like, I suppose, what with the flame breath and all.

Answer 8

I really don't care what "earlier gods" do or don't do. It has no affect on me. However, thanks for trying to convince me that Jesus is just a myth. I'm especially pleased to see you chose such a warm and inviting avatar. It really helps me understand your purpose.

Answer 9

I was born on the same day as Mike Schmidt.


Does that make me a hall of fame third baseman?

Answer 10

I love these questions.

The life of Horus follows the lines too.

The poor dears don't like having to face up to this stuff.

Gee they're lucky they have faith to rely on in the face of cold logic, otherwise their beliefs would evaporate and they'd have to think for themselves!