does this sound familiar?

Question

According to Persian mythology, Mithras was born of a virgin given the title 'Mother of God'. The god remained celibate throughout his life, and valued self-control, renunciation and resistance to sensuality among his worshippers. Mithras represented a system of ethics in which brotherhood was encouraged in order to unify against the forces of evil. The worshippers of Mithras held strong beliefs in a celestial heaven and an infernal hell. They believed that the benevolent powers of the god would sympathize with their suffering and grant them the final justice of immortality and eternal salvation in the world to come. They looked forward to a final day of Judgment in which the dead would resurrect, and to a final conflict that would destroy the existing order of all things to bring about the triumph of light over darkness.

Purification through a ritualistic baptism was required of the faithful, who also took part in a ceremony in which they drank wine and ate bread to symbolize the bod

Now if i were to substitute "christian tradition" for persian myth, and "jesus" for "Mithras"......

Ah "old know it all"...yes there is one story that Mithras was born in a cave, and as you say had the regulation 3 visitors...who interestingly enough become Persian in the later christian tradition

Hey todd...isaiah wasn't written when this story was first formulated.....
Isiah does not prophesy a virgin...the hebrew word is 'alma ..young woman

...plus Isaiah talks about Bethlehem....and the biblical evidence is that Jesus came from nazareth

would some of the answerers be surprised to learn that this is taught to Christian priests as part of there training in Biblical studies...,,You are correct it doesn't diminish from the essential truths...Myth contains truth


Facts: jesus perfoms miracles......had the miracles been left out of the gospels....a 1st/2nd century jew would have exclaimed but where are the miracles.....ie they re part of the genre.........the walking on water myth goes back tfar further....
The jews would also have picked up stories during their exilic periods...notably Isis & osiris stories

I can imagine the early christian reading the jesus stories and wanting more information about his childhood...afterr all all we really know is the few years of the galilean ministry


read some of the childhood gospels if you want a good laugh

Answer 1

You didn't mention that he was born in a stable and worshipped by an ox, an ąss and some shepherds (representing the Greek, Roman and Jewish religions).

If your understanding of religion is that it is an attempt by man to come to terms with the divine (or by the divine to communicate with man), it's hardly surprising that particular themes recur in various religions.

Answer 2

This is similar because all of Judeo-Christian religions stem from the origin "mythology" that was created by the early civilizations in the Tigris-Euphrates River Valley(what is now the area around Iraq, Iran and Syria). Things were just changed with the passing times.

IF you look at this website, I think you might find more information on Mithra that shows the differences between the two stories.

www.tektonics.org/copycat/mithra.html

I don't necessarily like the author's tone, but it may be useful in filling in more info.

Here is another, article to read:

www.taivaansusi.net/historia/mithraism.html

Answer 3

Sounds like they read Isaiah. The Jews held high positions (read Daniel) after the destruction of Jerusalem and were obviously trying a one up. There are also similar Egyptian myths of Horus and gee the Hebrews were there for 450 years too... :-)

There is also no evidence that Mithras or Horus ever existed and lots that Jesus did! Even the Jewish Torah a contemprary document records Jesus as a magician and he had disciples but I will take the words of those that didn't crucify him and believe the 4 Gospels!

"Truth is absolute and knowable and must be searched for diligently, but many will try to hide it, deny it or muddy it." - Bia Leung.

Try studying some archaeology and history sometime you might realize the Bible is true! Here is a magazine edited by an agnostic for a start http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/

Todd


"Now is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It won't last forever. We must take it or leave it." Prof. C.S. Lewis - an atheist that examined Chrsitianity then became a Christian!

"There is ample evidence of God's hand on creation and proofs that Jesus existed and the Bible has been shown to be reliable historically. So logically True + True + True = God sent Jesus to die for our sins and provide salvation if we believe and follow him!" - Bai Leung

Answer 4

I would bet, that the honest Christians would admit to never having heard this myth, not that it would matter now. They have already accepted Christ as their savior and anything you might say against their religion would be viewed as just another non-believer trying to lead them astray. Besides, most Christians are not actually looking for the truth, they are only looking for something that makes life more bearable and gives them a purpose. It is sad though, they do not realize this self deception, while easing their own fears, does society more harm than good.

Answer 5

The Bible's always good for a laugh Doc, I bet it was originally a play or more likely a farce that got out of hand and now has a devoted following of modern day sun worshippers who have a bit of a detachment from the real world.......bless em.

Answer 6

Hi....

Yes, the religions of today, not only christianity, has its roots in much earlier myths and belief systems!

Not only Mithras, but Osiris, Isis, Set & Horus of the ancient Egyptians...
Zues, Apollo, Venus .... etc etc

I find it so funny, that the religious answers and beliefs, are so ignorant of these facts, or try to dismiss it as nothing!!?

Judaism and christianity 'IS' based in astrology, which was the normal belief system of the time, as was the rest of the World!

Go to:

www.zeitgeistmovie.com

There you will see the TRUE origins of these modern day, totally delusional religions!!

Oh!.... And for the christians:
May the 'sun rise again' for you too!! .... lol.

Answer 7

It's always amazing to me when people claim that "Christianity borrows" from systems of myth....

That amazes me because God was first, He created Adam and Eve...and from there even if the events of scripture were not written at the time, they were known and passed down from generation to generation.

Meaning, in short, that ALL mythologies, including Greek, Roman, and Persian were twisted versions of the truth, not the other way around.

Answer 8

Craig R, tcjstn, and Angel P's responses are correct in this matter. You left out lots of strange things about Mithras- I didn't see Jesus Christ dragging a primaeval bull back to his cave.

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Answer 9

Many Christian beliefs are taken from other realms.
I mean, there is so much mythology in the Christian bible that is preached as truth!
I choose not to reveal my own personal belief, whether Christian, athiest, Panthiest, etc., but these discussions can be very interesting and angry at times, don't you think?

Answer 10

Yep. Persians happened to copy plenty off the Jews...considering that they are also they same people that described an even like the Flood, but they had a square boat...odd that it would float, but whatever.

Jesus was prophecied when Abraham was around and before that. Persians hadn't even begun to gather yet.