Has anyone here heard of the Mithraics?

[Studeclunker]

This would probably be a subject for people like myself who like historical deuterius.

A friend has sent to me an article on Mithraism. Would anyone else have any information about this reputably popular historical group?

[ctay]

I've never heard of them

[DaRev]

It's an ancient pagan cult with origins in Persia (now Iran) which also was influenced by Roman and Greek mythology. It was a rival to Christianity in the earliest days of the Church and was somewhat popular with the Romans.

I don't know much more than that.

[BigNorsk]

It seems to me it is one of the religions that some people claim Christianity came from, I should remember more but it doesn't pop in my head right now.

Marv

[Studeclunker]

It's an ancient pagan cult with origins in Persia (now Iran) which also was influenced by Roman and Greek mythology. It was a rival to Christianity in the earliest days of the Church and was somewhat popular with the Romans
That would follow with what I saw in Mary Stewart's series on King Arthur. She also connected it with Roman ideas and gave it some Christian characteristics. Then again, that's fiction. I never thought it was a real thing. It's interesting that these old pagan beliefs are being dredged up in this supposed age of reason.

[DaRev]

It was a popular movement among the Roman military because of its connection with Roman mythology. There has also been some Christian artwork that has elements of Mithraism mixed in. But as far as I am aware there is no connection between Mithraism and Christianity whatsoever.

[GratiaCorpusChristi]

It's an ancient pagan cult with origins in Persia (now Iran) which also was influenced by Roman and Greek mythology. It was a rival to Christianity in the earliest days of the Church and was somewhat popular with the Romans.

I don't know much more than that.

Right on.

It was a mystery cult, much like the cults of Isis, Demeter, and Dionysus. The parallels between mystery religions and Christianity are made because both practiced their rituals in secret, and both looked at their cultic figure as a savior-god. Mithas, a Persian diety among their wide pantheon, was seen as a personal savior of his cultic followers, and they held ritual meals in secret.

Some pseudo-scholars try and connect it with Christianity on these bases, and even go so far as to say that Christianity grew out of a similar mindset. This is even true of, say, Baptists like Kurt Aland who made the case that infant baptism grew out of mystery cults. For the most part, it's sheer nonsense (Aland's case has received wider attention, but was effectively refuted by the German historical Jesus scholar and Lutheran Joachim Jeremias).