Doctor X

Maybe time for another topic? This one seems to still be discussing the interesting Mithras question, so perhaps we should not hijack it?

--J.D.

Toto

Lots of early Christian doctrine and practice were borrowed, because that's how religions evolve, and the Roman Empire at that time was a stew of competing cults and religions who borrowed from each other (no copyright on religious ideas or practices). There are Jewish elements in Christianity, and pagan elements, and Hellenistic philosophy, and godknows what else. And there are probably religions that borrowed from Christianity. We have lost a lot of information about the mystery religions and Mithraism, so there is a lot we will never know.

The specific form of death by Roman crucifixion seems to be unique, although there are gods who were hung in trees.

The similarities between Christian and pagan religions are emphasized by Catholics who want to promote their religion as universal, by Protestants who want to bash Catholics, by critics of Christianity in general. Some of the alleged borrowings are exaggerated or have been invented, which gives Christian apologists a chance to bash their critics and try to discredit all criticisms of the uniqueness of Christianity.

spin

I have to rant here to remind people that crucifixion was not specifically a Roman form of execution. The Greeks used it happily well before the Romans got to the east. You'll find it in Herodotus. Antiochus IV did it in Judah.

You must remember as well that the verb shouldn't be literally taken as "crucified" but as something like "hung on a stake", though the event could have been the Roman "crucify".


spin

Toto

I meant that Christianity's portrayal of the crucifixion of its savior by Roman crucifixion is a unique way of dying (for a god), not that crucifixion was unique to the Romans.

Those who want to find parallels between Christianity and paganism emphasis the "hung on a tree" aspect, since other gods were hung on trees.. Those who reject those parallels emphasize the trial before the Sanhedrin and the Roman governor Pilate, followed by crucifixion, since no other gods stood trial in that manner..