III. Religion in a Hellenistic World: The Mystery Cult
The Quest for Godliness
Mystery Religions were established all around
Greece. The
cults had a common
pantheon of
gods, and the point of a
cult was to obtain the favor of one's selected
god. The
religion taught and the techniques used in these cults were probably interesting and exciting to the
Greeks because it departed a bit from the old
Homeric world. (Riley 145). The idea was apparently to learn of the
god's nature, and, hopefully, to share in his nature (Noss 48). Through this, one might attain a better place in the next life.
One could decide, for the most part, among which of the many
cults one wanted to join (Price 108). There was a good number to choose from in the time of the
Greeks, and then even more so in
Roman times when
Greek Religion spread about like wildfire and everyone started getting ideas. Perhaps the oldest, the
Eleusinian Mysteries, was always very popular, and the
Cult of Dionysus with its raucous rites was common. Other cults to non-
Greek deities also formed in the Roman world: there was a cult to the
Egyptian god Osiris, to the
Persian god Mithras, and others (Brown). First, an initiate would undergo
baptism by
water, and then he would be taught in the
Cult's arcane knowledge and arts. He would then behold upon the sacred relics. After that, a
drama would take place: a story of the
Cult's
god would be performed. A
crown would be placed upon the initiate's head, and he was then a member of the
Cult (Noss 49). Early
Christianity had an extremely similar procedure for initiation: the initiate would undergo
instruction,
baptism, and
prayer, during which
white clothes were worn; after initiation, the candidate was supposedly reborn (Riley 146).
Its important to note, however, that historians' knowledge of the
Mystery Cults is incomplete. Many of the
cults didn't have articulated doctrines; members who participated were made to know through action, not words, so it was difficult to actually write anything down about it. Furthermore, divulging the rites or dances was thought to be treason ("Mystery").
As mentioned above, Greek Religion and the Mystery Cults were thrust upon the
Jews and
Christians of
Palestine during the
Hellenistic age. Following are three of the more popular
Mystery Cults and their relation to
Christianity. Because the
Jews in the time just before the dawn of
Christianity were heavily exposed to all of them, it seems likely that certain ideas were inherited.
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