An inscription in the Vatican states plainly, "He who will not 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."
This is not terribly surprising, unless you consider that this is inscribed on the remains of the temple the Vatican was built on- one dedicated to the God Mithras.
Such eerie parallels between the pronouncements of Jesus and Mithras are not the only similarities. Mithras was known to his followers as "The light of the world," or "The good shepherd," and exhorted his followers to share ritual communion. He is born in a cave, with shepherds in attendance.
Attis, is known to his followers as "The lamb of God," and his crucifixion and subsequent resurrection were celebrated annually, with ritual communions of bread and wine. His virgin mother, Cybele, was worshipped as "The queen of heaven."
Thousands of years before Jesus, there was a passion story told about a God man, born of a virgin mother- in a stable. He travels about with his followers, preaching and performing miracles, until one day he is allows himself to be arrested and tried for blasphemy.
He is found guilty and executed, only to rise from the grave three days later, where the women weeping at his tomb do not recognize him- that is, until he assumes his divine form as the God Dionysus.
Common to all of these 'mystery' religions (so called because one had to be initiated or baptized into the faith to learn its doctrines), including early Christianity, are themes of rebirth, redemption, and the transmission of life-changing information. Many religions in those times shared similar themes.
Of course, later Christians were terribly perturbed by these similarities- one creative Church father, Justin Martyr, concludes that the devil copied Christianity before its time! Had he paid a little more attention to the past, he might have noted that the association of Jesus with Dionysus is not so strange-philosophers had been making connections between Jehovah and Dionysus for centuries.
New Testament authors stuck sly references to Pagan gods throughout the gospels. Did early Christians, like their modern descendents, believe that theirs was the one and only true manifestation of religion? Consider the words of Clement, of Alexandria, "There is one river of Truth, which receives tributaries from every side." If only the later followers of the religion listened more closely, the mysteries may not have been lost.
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Not my own work - I just found it fascinating.
Nic'