The Eucharist and Christianity as a Mystery Religion
The
Eucharist is an act of worship in which the
Last Supper is reenacted and
Communion is taken in remembrance of
Jesus' death.
Drama as it is known today originated with the
Cult of Dionysus, and there is little question that the
Eucharist is a form of
drama.
Furthermore, the obvious parallels between
Christianity and the
Mystery Religions may be fairly telling. Some have gone as far as to suggest that
Christianity itself started off as a
Mystery Religion that offered
immortality, that, as with the
Cult of Dionysus and the
Cult of Demeter, acted out certain rites of remembrance, as shown in the
Eucharist (Riley 149). The secrecy of early
Christianity – which has extended into today in
eastern Christianity, where the
Eucharist is preformed behind a screen – possibly bolsters this argument (186).
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