Mithras Links

"Spirit of Spirit, if it be your will, give me over to immortal birth so that I may be born again - and the sacred spirit may breathe in me."
Prayer to Mithras

Saul and Mithras
The translation of Mithraism into Christianity is demonstrated in Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews, Chapter 9, verses 13 and 14: 13 "For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"

This is to say, "If goat's blood will get you some spiritual energy, then the blood of a messiah will get you even more." Paul is reasoning with blood-sacrificing Pagans, trying to appeal to their particular belief system.

But in order to believe the second part of that, you have to believe the first; You have to believe that blood is an effective tool, adequate payment, and that some sacrifices get better results than others from the mysterious "Gods."

Contemporary Christians are not likely to admit this, or even to admit the connection. The idea of actually slashing the throat of a lamb would horrify them; it would be seen as a vile Pagan act; not as what it is, the root of their religion. Church propaganda claims that the whole idea of blood payment was transcended with the crucifixion of Jesus, making it less messy and more profound. Perhaps, but it's still the same Pagan, barbarian recipe.



Atheist Divine

Zoroastrianism was a dualist religion, with a good god (Ahura Mazda) and an evil god (Ahriman), who was described as the god of this world. (See 2 Corinthians 4:4). Mithras was seen as a mediator between Ahura Mazda and man, between heaven and earth, (See 1 Tim 2:5; Hebrews 9:15, 12:24) as well as being the divine representative of Ahura Mazda on earth, the one who protected the righteous from Ahriman. Under the reformed Zoroastrianism after Zarathusra, Mithras was said to have incarnated on the earth. He was born of a virgin, human mother (see Matthew 1, Luke 1) called Anahita, and ascended into heaven (see John 20 et al) in 208BCE, 64 years after his birth. He was described as God of truth (see John 14:6), and as the 'light of the world' (see John 8:12) - he later became linked, and finally submerged with, sol invictus, the Roman god of the sun.