Just a bit about jesus, mithra, zoroasttianism and paul. The similarities with the other pagan gods are all there, I especially liked your reference to krishna's parents having children so the king could kill them - 'massacre of the innocents' anyone?
"In addition, Christianity adopted these doctrines from
Zoroastrianism: baptism, communion - the haoma ceremony, guardian
angels, the heavenly journey of the soul, worship on Sunday, the
celebration of Mithras' birthday on December 25th, celibate priests
that mediate between man and God, the Trinity, Zvarnah - the idea that
emanations from the sun are collected in the head and radiate in the
form of nimbus and rays, and asha-arta, "the true prayer". Centuries
later in Greece this became Logos or "true sentence" and like in Persia
it was associated with fire. Mithraism is widely considered to be a
syncretistic religion, that is: a combination of Persian, Babylonian
and Greek influences. However, the Greek influence seems to be limited
to the identification in Greece of Mithras with the Greek god Perseus.
The Babylonian influence seems to have been limited to astrology.
Perhaps, though, the Persian interest in astrology has been overlooked.
Zoroastrians worshipped at alters on hills and had a whole class of
professional Magi or priests who had lots of time on their hands to do
astrological research. Rather than a syncretistic religion, it would be
more proper to call Mithraism a Zoroastrian subcult. The center of the
Mithric cult was in Tarsus in Cilicia, Southeast Turkey. This is whence
Paul, the founder of the Christian church, came from as a young man.
Paul's insight on the road to Damascus was that instead of treating
Jesus as a false savior, he could be identified as the true savior if
combined with the new idea of "the second coming". That would cure the
embarrassing fact that nothing had come of Jesus' time on earth. The
rest was simple, Paul identified Jesus with Mithras and taught a
modified Mithraism. That got Paul branded as a heretic by the true
church and James the brother of Jesus. Eventually it cost Paul his
life. However, the Mithric ideas were so generally attractive that they
eventually won out."
Just a bit about jesus, mithra, zoroasttianism and paul. The similarities with the other pagan gods are all there, I especially liked your reference to krishna's parents having children so the king could kill them - 'massacre of the innocents' anyone?
"In addition, Christianity adopted these doctrines from
Zoroastrianism: baptism, communion - the haoma ceremony, guardian
angels, the heavenly journey of the soul, worship on Sunday, the
celebration of Mithras' birthday on December 25th, celibate priests
that mediate between man and God, the Trinity, Zvarnah - the idea that
emanations from the sun are collected in the head and radiate in the
form of nimbus and rays, and asha-arta, "the true prayer". Centuries
later in Greece this became Logos or "true sentence" and like in Persia
it was associated with fire. Mithraism is widely considered to be a
syncretistic religion, that is: a combination of Persian, Babylonian
and Greek influences. However, the Greek influence seems to be limited
to the identification in Greece of Mithras with the Greek god Perseus.
The Babylonian influence seems to have been limited to astrology.
Perhaps, though, the Persian interest in astrology has been overlooked.
Zoroastrians worshipped at alters on hills and had a whole class of
professional Magi or priests who had lots of time on their hands to do
astrological research. Rather than a syncretistic religion, it would be
more proper to call Mithraism a Zoroastrian subcult. The center of the
Mithric cult was in Tarsus in Cilicia, Southeast Turkey. This is whence
Paul, the founder of the Christian church, came from as a young man.
Paul's insight on the road to Damascus was that instead of treating
Jesus as a false savior, he could be identified as the true savior if
combined with the new idea of "the second coming". That would cure the
embarrassing fact that nothing had come of Jesus' time on earth. The
rest was simple, Paul identified Jesus with Mithras and taught a
modified Mithraism. That got Paul branded as a heretic by the true
church and James the brother of Jesus. Eventually it cost Paul his
life. However, the Mithric ideas were so generally attractive that they
eventually won out."
source:
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/6315/religion/zoro.html
I don't go to mythical places with strange men.
-- Douglas Adams, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul.