Out of all the other religions of the Roman world, early Christianity was arguably most similar to the faiths called the mysteries. These religions consisted of groups of initiates who believed their saviour would grant them spiritual salvation after death.
The mysteries often demanded highly moral behaviour and taught the doctrine of original sin, as well as promoting acts of confession, cleansing and atonement. Their initiatory rituals included fasting, baptisms and ritual lustrations, abstaining from meat or wine, and refraining from sexual intercourse. In his novel The Golden Ass, Lucius Apuleius pointed out the moral codes that bound the initiates of Isis,
‘I found that to take orders was to bind oneself to a very difficult life, especially regarding chastity. Only the most unrelenting discipline could save the initiate from casual defilement.’ (The Metamorpheses 11.19)
Lucius wrote that the preparations of the initiate included having ‘to abstain from all but the plainest food for the ten succeeding days, to eat no meat and drink no wine.’ (The Metamorpheses 11.23)
The Neoplatonic philosopher Iamblichus (245 – 325 CE) wrote on the mysteries,
‘Exhibitions of this kind in the mysteries were designed to free us from licentious passions, by gratifying the sight, and at the same time vanquishing all evil thought, through the awful sanctity with which these rites were accomplished.’ (On the Mysteries 1.11.12)
Cicero wrote the following about the Eleusinian Mysteries, which were the most famous in the Greek world,
‘For among the many excellent and indeed divine institutions which your Athens has brought forth and contributed to human life, none, in my opinion, is better than those mysteries. For by their means we have been brought out of our barbarous and savage mode of life and educated and refined to a state of civilization.’ (Laws 2.14.36)
A central feature of the mystery religions was initiation, often through several levels (for example, seven in Mithraism). As the initiate advanced through the levels, he or she was taught the secret allegorical truths behind the myths of the faith. The higher the level of initiation, the more was revealed. The uninitiated could only understand the myths as parables, and weren’t told their hidden inner meaning. The philosopher Macrobius (359 – 423 CE) wrote the following on the subject,
‘Plain and naked exposition of herself is repugnant to nature…she wishes her secrets to be treated by myth. Thus the mysteries themselves are hidden in the tunnels of figurative expression, so that not even to initiates the nature of such realities may present herself naked, but only an elite may know about the real secret, through the interpretation furnished by wisdom, while the rest may be content to venerate the mystery.’ (Commentary on the Dream of Scipio 1.2.17f)
The third century philosopher Heliodorus of Emesa similarly wrote,
‘There is, I imagine, a school of natural philosophers and theologians who do not disclose the meanings embedded in these stories to laymen but simply give them preliminary instruction in the form of a myth. But those who have reached the higher grades of the mysteries they initiate into clear knowledge in the privacy of the holy shrine, in the light cast by the blazing torch of truth.’ (An Ethiopian Story 9.9)
Clement of Alexandria (150 – 215 CE) wrote of the mysteries, ‘Being philosophers, those who initiated the mysteries buried their doctrines in myth, so as not to be obvious to all’ (Stromata 5.9).
The same system of allegory and parables was used in early Christianity. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells his disciples,
‘To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God; but everyone else only has parables, so they may look but see nothing, and hear but understand nothing.’ (Luke 8.10)
The Gospel of Mark likewise states,
‘When he was alone, the Twelve and others who were around him asked him about the parables. He replied, “To you is given the mystery of the kingdom of God. But those who are outside get everything in parables, so that they may look but see nothing, and they may hear but understand nothing”.’ (Mark 4.10-12)
The church father Origen (185 – 254 CE) noted the usage of allegory in both early Christianity and Greek philosophy,
‘The existence of certain doctrines which are beyond those which are openly taught and do not reach the masses isn’t just a peculiarity of Christianity, it’s also shared by the philosophers. For they had some doctrines which were exoteric and some esoteric.’ (Against Celsus 1.7)
In his writings, Clement of Alexandria often presented Christianity as a mystery religion,
‘It is not wished that all things should be exposed indiscriminately to all and sundry, or the benefits of wisdom communicated to those who have not even in a dream been purified in soul…nor are the mysteries of the Logos to be expounded to the profane.’ (Stromata 5.9)
The letters of Paul predate the gospels and are the earliest known Christian writings. They therefore represent the earliest form of Christianity that we know about. Paul’s theology is very similar to that of the mysteries, he even refers to Christianity as ‘the mysteries of God’ (1 Corinthians 4.1). The letters mention ‘perfected’ and ‘mature’ Christians, these are the Greek words used to describe initiates of the mysteries. Colossians was most probably written by a late first century follower of Paul. It also uses the language of the mysteries,
‘The mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to his saints. God wanted to make known to those among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. He is the one we proclaim, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.’ (Colossians 1.26-8)
The language of the mysteries permeated the early church. The mass was called the mystagogia, and the bishop who led the service was termed a mystagogue.
Christianity also shared many of its rituals with the mysteries. These faiths practised baptism, ritual meals and eucharists centuries before Christianity. Ceremonial meals were a central part of the liturgy of mystery religions, sometimes as a re-enactment of one shared between the saviour and his disciples before the saviour’s ascent to heaven.
Ritual meals were also a fundamental part of ancient religion in general, and were practised ubiquitously in temples throughout the Roman Empire. Sometimes an icon of the god was laid on a couch alongside the celebrants to oversee proceedings. Bread and wine were often the staple diet of the pagan eucharist just as they are in the Christian one.
Even the bizarre Christian belief in transubstantiation (that the bread and wine of the eucharist actually physically become the body of Jesus) may have its roots in the mysteries. The wine used in the rituals of Dionysus was believed to physically represent that saviour and son of god. Euripides wrote,
‘Dionysus, being a god, is thus poured out in offering
To the gods, so that human beings receive blessings.’ (The Bacchae 283-4)
The Mithraic eucharist involved water mixed with wine and consecrated bread or wafers bearing the mark of the cross. Just like the Christian eucharist, it was a re-enactment of the meal Mithras had shared with his followers. In a Roman inscription, Mithras states,
‘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.’
This phrase was mirrored by Jesus in the Gospel of John,
‘Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you have no life in yourselves. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.’ (John 6.53-4)
Baptism and eucharist (called the Lord’s supper) rituals are both mentioned in Paul’s letters, so we know they date to the very dawn of the religion (Romans 6.3, 1 Corinthians 11.26-28). Paul links them back to the central myth of Judaism – the Exodus, equating baptism to the Israelites crossing the Red Sea and the eucharist to the manna they eat in the wilderness (1 Corinthians 10.1-4). This link was again repeated in the Gospel of John, which has Jesus state,
‘I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. Here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from the heavens. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, that I will give for the life of the world.’ (John 6.48-51)
Mithraism was one of early Christianity’s greatest rivals in late antiquity. Mithraism was a mystery religion that turned the Persian god Mithra into the Roman saviour Mithras. There has been much debate over the relationship between the original Persian god Mithra and the Roman god Mithras. Undoubtedly the latter is based on the former, but a whole new set of rituals and mythology appear to have grown up around the Roman god Mithras.
In Christianity, the Old Testament figure Joshua (who led the Israelites into the Promised Land) may have been the template upon whom Jesus was based. As already mentioned, the name Jesus / Joshua / Yeshua literally means ‘Yahweh saves’, so was the perfect name for a manufactured saviour. The Old Testament Joshua was actually called Jesus (Iesous / ΙΕΣΟΥΣ) in the Greek Septuagint, the version of the Jewish scriptures that Paul, the gospel writers and other early Christians used.
Many of the mystery religions were Hellenised / Romanised versions of faiths from the east of the Empire, which was seen as having ancient wisdom. Hence we have Mithras from Persia, Isis and Serapis from Egypt, Attis and Cybele from Asia Minor, and arguably Jesus from Judea.
The church fathers noted how pagan religions such as Mithraism shared similar mythology and practised similar rituals to Christianity. Some accused the mysteries of diabolical mimicry, despite the fact these pagan faiths were older. Tertullian (160 – 220 CE) wrote,
‘The devil, whose business is to pervert the truth, by the mystic rites of his idols, mimics the exact circumstances of the sacraments of God. He baptises his believers and promises forgiveness of sins by virtue of a bath, and thereby initiates them into the religion of Mithras. He also celebrates the oblation of bread, and introduces an image of the resurrection.’ (Prescription against Heretics 40)
Justin Martyr wrote,
‘The evil demons have imitated in the mysteries of Mithras, commanding the same thing to be done. For you either know or may learn that a loaf of bread and a cup of water, together with certain spoken formulas, are appointed for the initiation of the one being initiated.’ (First Apology 66)
And,
‘Having heard it proclaimed through the prophets that the Christ was to come and that the ungodly among men were to be punished by fire, the wicked spirits put forward many to be called Sons of God, under the impression that they would be able to produce in men the idea that the things that were said with regard to Christ were merely marvellous tales, like the things that were said by the poets.’ (First Apology 54)
The mysteries were shrouded in secrecy, and initiates were forbidden from divulging the sacred allegorical truths revealed to them. In his allegorical tale of the mysteries of Isis, Apuleius wrote of his initiation,
‘Perhaps, curious reader, you are keen to know what was said and done. I would tell you if it were permitted to tell. But my tongue would suffer for its indiscretion and your ears for their inquisitiveness.’ (The Metamorpheses 11.23)
Due to the secrecy, little revealing information was written on them in antiquity. Add to this the deliberate destruction of the temples and Hellenistic and Roman literature by the Christian authorities in the fourth, fifth and sixth centuries, and our current picture of what happened in the mysteries is far from complete. This is a shame because from the evidence that does survive there is reason to suggest that early Christianity had plenty in common with them.
The Bible and Mythology 