There are several clues to that
we can follow, which will help us understand the significance of Mithraism in
relation to other Mediterranean religions; especially Judaism and Christianity,
which we can uncover in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures.
A close study of the Hebrew
scriptures reveals that the Jewish people did not always have (and do not now
have) a strong belief either in the immortality of the soul, or the afterlife.
After the Babylonian exile, which began in 586 BCE, these beliefs enter their
tradition, and over the centuries become more clearly developed. When the
Jewish people were released from captivity in Babylon. it was by the Persians;
under their king Cyrus,[1] who had
just recently conquered the Babylonians. Cyrus is depicted by the Jewish
people, in the Hebrew scriptures as a servant of Yahweh:
22
In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia—to fulfil the word of Yahweh
through Jeremiah—Yahweh roused the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to issue a
proclamation and to have it publicly displayed throughout his kingdom. 23 ‘Cyrus king of
Persia says this, “Yahweh, the God of Heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of
the earth and has appointed me to build him a Temple in Jerusalem, which is in
Judah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, may his God be with him!
Let him go up.”’[2]
This passage
does not shed any light on what Cyrus’s theological disposition might have
actually been, or what his personal beliefs were. Whatever that theology was,
we can conclude that it did not present a significant conflict with Hebrew
theology at that time. This passage indicates that there was no essential
antagonism between the theological claims of these two cultures. Furthermore,
it is likely that Cyrus or his priests saw a considerable amount of compatibility
between their belief systems. At this time; Persian Mithraism and Judaism were
both essentially monotheistic, though neither of them were perfectly so. They
both held, as basic beliefs, that creation was good. Mithraism had a strongly
held belief in the immortality of the soul. At this time Judaism did not, but
immediately following this period a movement within Judaism would develop this
theme in profoundly consequential ways. The adherents of this movement became
known as the Pharisees. The designation Pharisee, is derived from the name of
the Persian priests of Zoroaster, who were called the Parsees. This etymology
clearly shows the intimate connection between Pharisaic Judaism, and the
religious traditions of the Persian Empire.
Even in Jesus’
time, 500 years after the Babylonian exile; belief in the immortality of the
soul had not fully entered the mainstream of Jewish life, especially inside the
borders of Judea itself. This belief was taught primarily by the Pharisees,
among groups of Jews living outside Judea, in what is known as the diaspora. It
was taught by the Essenes, in the remote desert community of Qumran. It was a
popular belief among Jewish people for whom the synagogue was the center of
their faith life and not the temple in Jerusalem.
In addition to
belief in the immortality of the soul, and the afterlife; the Pharisees and the
Essenes of Qumran also had significantly developed angelologies. This belief in
the existence of angels (divine messengers) was another matter that took a long
time to develop in Judaism, but which was already present in Mithraism at the
time of the Babylonian exile. Many scholars say that it is impossible to state
with certainty that the Pharisees, received these teachings directly from the
Parsees, and through their exposure to Mithraism at the time of the Babylonian
captivity. It is also impossible to rule it out. What we can say for certain is
that the Pharisees came into existence just after the Babylonian exile. I do
not believe that these belief systems developed independently of one another,
because I do not believe in that type of coincidence, therefore I take it as
pure theological syncretism.
The Babylonian
exile and the subsequent release of the Jewish people by the Persian king Cyrus
were the first of many major impacts that Mithraism would have on the
Judeo-Christian tradition. Prior to the Babylonian exile; a belief in angels
and the immortality of the soul did not exist as fully developed doctrines, but
they did exist in germ, in a latent form, as an aspect of generalized beliefs
permeating the Mediterranean region, and the Near East at this. However, the
ideas in the broader tradition were not connected to a clearly developed
theology of salvation. In most Mediterranean and Near Eastern traditions, the
concept of a blessed afterlife, to the extent that such ideas existed, held
that those blessed places were reserved for people of heroic stature. Because
common people and slaves did not have the ability to lead a heroic life, they
had no hope of enjoying anything blessedness in the hereafter. Mithraism and
more importantly Christianity would change all of that; by promising the hope
of salvation to anyone who would seek to align themselves with the God of
creation, the God of light and goodness.
