What was the Cult of Mithras?

Today the god Mithra or Mithras is not recognized by many in the West. In fact, for people who have heard of this god, he is often seen as just another of the many gods that was once worshiped in Europe, the Near East, and South Asia. However, in the early centuries of Christianity, one can argue the worship of Mithras rivaled the Christian religion and if Christianity failed to plant itself, then it may have been possible for the worship of this god to have become more significant in later religious history for Asia and Europe. The importance of this god in perhaps bringing influences that also get adopted in later religions may also be evident.

Mithra and Key Beliefs

Mithra or Mithras was a god with an origin in Iran and India, where his imagery and display is often associated with the sun. The religion is mostly associated with its peak in worship that occurred around the 1st-4th century CE (or AD), where it was worshiped from Scotland to India. Key beliefs include the ritual slaughter of the bull by Mithra, which would likely lead to the presence of new life. Worship centered around underground temples known as Mithraea that attempted to represent caves. Sometimes the temples were in caves. These temples were representative of the world and the ceremonies held were to reflect a type of global worship. The worship ceremony often involved ritual feasting and was held in a type of secrecy, where members would be gradually initiated into the sacred rights. There were a total of seven levels that worshipers had to attain. The religion seemed to mostly incorporate men.

Mithraic belief likely borrowed from Zoroastrianism, which believed in a cosmic struggle of evil vs. good. Mithra could be involved in the final struggle against evil, but this is not clear. The god was seen as being born or December 25th, which likely several other gods, particularly those associated as sun gods, held that date. This date does likely influence later Christian adoptions as December 25th the birth of Christ. The god Mithra may have also been born of a virgin birth

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