Now Theres A Surprise!!! So Which One Is A Fake?

[RATTER15]

Mithra and Christ

Over the centuries—in fact, from the earliest Christian times—Mithraism has been compared to Christianity, revealing numerous similarities between the two faiths' doctrines and traditions, including as concerns stories of their respective godmen. In developing this analysis, it should be kept in mind that elements from Roman, Armenian and Persian Mithraism are utilized, not as a whole ideology but as separate items that may have affected the creation of Christianity, whether directly through the mechanism of Mithraism or through another Pagan source within the Roman Empire and beyond. The evidence points to these motifs and elements being adopted into Christianity not as a whole from one source but singularly from many sources, including Mithraism.

"The evidence points to these motifs and elements being adopted into Christianity..."

Thus, the following list represents not a solidified mythos or narrative of one particular Mithra or form of the god as developed in one particular culture and era but, rather, a combination of them all for ease of reference as to any possible influences upon Christianity under the name of Mitra/Mithra/Mithras.

Mithra has the following in common with the Jesus character:

Mithra was born on December 25th of the virgin Anahita.
The babe was wrapped in swaddling clothes, placed in a manger and attended by shepherds.
He was considered a great traveling teacher and master.
He had 12 companions or "disciples."
He performed miracles.
As the "great bull of the Sun," Mithra sacrificed himself for world peace.
Mithra ascending to heaven in his solar cart, with sun symbolHe ascended to heaven.
Mithra was viewed as the Good Shepherd, the "Way, the Truth and the Light," the Redeemer, the Savior, the Messiah.
Mithra is omniscient, as he "hears all, sees all, knows all: none can deceive him."
He was identified with both the Lion and the Lamb.
His sacred day was Sunday, "the Lord's Day," hundreds of years before the appearance of Christ.
His religion had a eucharist or "Lord's Supper."
Mithra "sets his marks on the foreheads of his soldiers."
Mithraism emphasized baptism.

December 25th Birthday

"The similarities between Mithraism and Christianity have included their chapels, the term "father" for priest, celibacy and, it is notoriously claimed, the December 25th birthdate. Over the centuries, apologists contending that Mithraism copied Christianity nevertheless have asserted that the December 25th birthdate was taken from Mithraism. As Sir Arthur Weigall says:

December 25th was really the date, not of the birth of Jesus, but of the sun-god Mithra. Horus, son of Isis, however, was in very early times identified with Ra, the Egyptian sun-god, and hence with Mithra..."

http://www.truthbeknown.com/mithra.htm

[FredPuli43]

Mithraism only has 7 months so "25th December" has a certain air of gloss about it. You can pick a few similarities out of this and other religions, whilst ignoring elements which have no similarity at all; no follower of Christ performed sacrifices and Christ never killed a bull, both elements in the belief in Mithra . The ancient Egyptians believed that, on death, your soul was weighed in a balance and only the pure passed into eternal life. That sounds familiar. But it would be natural both for beliefs to evolve and for similar ideas to come out of different cultures though the cultures had no connection with each other.

[RATTER15]

A lot of similarities you must admit. Coincidence? I dont think so lol

[jomifl]

All religions seem to have a common source...the human brain.

[Old_Geezer]

Surely any life details claimed which fill out the character are less relevant than whether the spiritual information given is valid or not ?

[goodlife]

Simple,you belief the Bible or you don't, Rat you do make it hard for your self, but there again thats athiests for you.

[RATTER15]

Goodlife, what exactly do I make hard? I really haven't noticed, but nice try ;-)

[mibn2cweus]

The problem is not in ones refusal to believe in the arbitrary . . . the problem is that some do.

Anthropomorphisation, the attribution of the distinctly human qualities of consciousness and reason to the wind, is as old as the human capacity for entertaining an imagination unfettered and unrestrained by a knowledge of what is indeed possible within the constraints of reality.

[chakka35]

I don't often feel sorry for Christians in their delusions; after all, they have had the same opportunity to check the authenticity of the Jesus story as the rest of us.

The one exception is when I am in church for social reasons and I see these people queuing up to get their wafers and wine, fondly imagining that it was a Jesus ritual. The thought that they don't know that it's purely pagan, the Lord's Supper, almost makes me weep.

Here is the pagan Mithras:

"He who will not eat of my body and drink of my blood, so that he will be made one with me and I with him, the same shall not know salvation."

Here, later, is Jesus:

"Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have not life in yourselves. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood will live in me and I in him."

But the likes of goodlife are not moved. "It's in the bible that Jesus did it, so it must be true." Jesus, a Jew, would have found such symbolism anathema, but Paul said he did it so it must be true. How shallow. How weak. What do such people do with the intellect that evolution has given them?

[naomi24]

The story of the divine Jesus emanates from a mish-mash of pre-existing religions, myths, and legends. The whole thing is concocted. Paul deemed circumcision and Jewish dietary laws no longer applicable specifically to entice non-Jews, into his new religion. The early church told the people what they wanted to hear – the prospect of cheating death the biggest incentive. Anything to encourage conversions!

[naomi24]

Goodlife, you’re talking nonsense. You cherry-pick the bible – you’ve just done it yet again on another thread. What doesn’t suit you, you ignore – but in fairness, since the bible is so utterly contradictory, it would be impossible for anyone to believe it all, so I suppose in your own mind, you make the best of a bad job. How sad to be so intellectually needy.

[Xtopher]

Mithraism and Christianity are but two Mystery Religions buzzing around the Eastern Meditteranean at the time of the Roman Empire. Many borrowed ideas from one another.

[jake-the-peg]

Actually the 25th of December may well have been stolen by both as the Roman festival of Sol Invictus. It's all really solstice cults

Religions have long stolen ideas from eath other - see the biblical flood and the earlier book of Gilgamesh.

Zoroastrianism taught doctrines of an individual judgment, Heaven and Hell, the future resurrection of the body, the general Last Judgment which should ring some bells with Christians.

Some of these comanalities come from similar options to common questions - for example if you want to answer 'What happens when we die' there are a limited number of possible answers so ideas of heaven will be common.