Without using specific names, the following is an accurate brief description of one of the world’s major religions. This accounting contains the major features of this religion, in relation to the time in which it flourished. Let’s see if you can name that religion by this description.
The hero of this religion was born on December 25. His mother was a virgin female, fertilized by the Heavenly Father. His birth was witnessed by shepherds and by Magi, who brought gifts to his sacred birth place. As an adult he performed many miracles, raising the dead, healing the sick, making the lame walk, helping the blind to see and casting out devils. He carried the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. After his early death, he was placed in a tomb covered by a rock. After his death, the rock was rolled away and he was withdrawn from this tomb. He miraculously came back to life, and ascended to Heaven. Before his triumphant ascension, he held a last supper with his twelve disciples. His ascension to Heaven is celebrated at Easter.
This religion believes that our world is caught in a battle between good and evil, the forces of light against the forces of darkness. It believes that this struggle will result in a final massive battle, the result of which will be the destruction of the earth. At that time, all will be judged. Those who have been virtuous, following the teachings of this religion, will be saved, and join the forces of light for an eternity of pleasure. Those who have been sinful, following the teachings of other religions, will be sent to Hell with the fallen Angels, and suffer for an eternity. This religion was dominant in the first three centuries. Early in the fourth century, the Roman Emperor declared its hero to be the protector of the empire. The temple for the high priest of this religion, the Pater Patrum, was on the Vatican hill in Rome.
Did you say that this has to be a description of Jesus and Christianity? Well, it could be, but it happens to come from resources that succinctly describe Mithra and Mithraism. Before the ascendancy of Zoroastrianism in the sixth century BCE, the religions of Persia (modern Iran), were highly polytheistic. None of those multiple Gods was more important in the life of Persians than Mithra. He was the God of kings, the God of mutual obligation between the King and his warriors, the God of war, the God of Contract and the God of justice. Since Mithra was the God of the Persians, this religion never became popular in Greece, the enemy of Persia. It was highly popular in many other areas of the Near East, however. When kings or rulers of surrounding territories pledged allegiance to the burgeoning Roman Empire, they did so in Mithraic ceremonies. They celebrated the contract between them through Mithra. Mithraism was the religion of loyalty to the king. In the second century, hundreds of inscriptions citing Mithra appeared in the Roman Empire, many of them along the military boundaries in Britain, along the Danube, Rhine and Euphrates. Mithra was declared the protector of the Roman Empire by the Emperor Diocletian in 307 AD.
St. Augustine declared that the priests of Mithraism worshipped the same Deity that he worshiped. The emperor Constantine I stated that he did not know whether he was worshipping Mithraism or Christianity, since they had the same beliefs. The only difference between the two religions was that their hero had a different name. There is no doubt, however, that Mithraism was the dominant religion in the Roman Empire during the first three centuries AD. Christianity was struggling to make itself known. It was for one, a hotbed of sectarian squabbling. Various sects argued as to the Divinity of Mother Mary, Mary Magdalene, Jesus, and who deserved to be worshipped the most. Also at that time, some Christians were still being persecuted. Constantine put an end to that practice. Some members of his family had become Christian. He passed a number of edicts which granted status to the new Christian religion. He also called the priests of this upstart religion together for the Nicean Council in 325 AD, demanding that they settle their differences and decide what their theology would be. He did not wish to have continuing dissension in his empire. The result was denigration of Mother Mary and Mary Magdalene, a declaration that Jesus was a Divinity on earth, creation of a mysterious tripartite Divinity called Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and establishment of a male dominated, priest intermediary, ritualistic religion. The only thing they did not change was their adoption of the mythology of Mithraism, which they had embraced in order to get themselves better accepted in the Roman Empire.
The ascendancy of Mithraism did not last much longer. Constantine was a pretty rotten person. He was devoted to himself and no one else. He murdered his wives, his children and pretty much anyone who posed a threat to his throne, or disagreed with him. Nearing his death in 337 AD, he was convinced by Christian priests that his sins would be forgiven and that he would go to Heaven, if he accepted Jesus as his savior and the Christian religion. He agreed, thinking he had made a really good deal, and was baptized a few weeks before his death. Following his death, all the Roman Emperors were Christian, save for Julian, “the apostate.” Julian paid dearly for his dissension, because the war was on. He was killed at a young age. The Christian church, blessed by the power of Rome, viciously eliminated all “pagans” (translation, Mithraists) who disagreed with their faith. All these other shrines were burned and looted, most of their gold and treasure carried off to Constantinople. This veil of terror reached its peak when the shrine of Mithra, on the Vatican hill, was seized by Christian priests. They not only looted and stole the temple; they also stole the title for their High Priest, the Pater Patrum, or Pope.
Apparently almost none of those who declare allegiance to the Christian faith realize that none of their religion is original. The early Christian religion was seeking to find converts any way they could. In an effort to survive, they adopted all the beliefs of the dominant religion that preceded them in the Roman Empire, Mithraism. The Virgin Birth, Son of God, Miracles on Earth, Resurrection, Twelve Disciples, Last Supper, Ascendance to Heaven, Battle between Good and Evil, Judgment Day, Armageddon, Rewards in Heaven for Believers, Punishment for Infidels in Hell were Mithraistic concepts. None of them began with Christianity. Christianity stole all of it from Mithraism, including their mythology, their possessions, and their titles. None of these cardinal concepts of Christianity were divinely inspired. It was all raw politics, vicious greed, and intolerant power.
It was a depraved beginning for the religion that prides itself on its morals, and claims to represent salvation for the human race. The subsequent history of the Christian religion has not been a whole lot better.