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The problem is that Berry mostly just repeats the Mithra claims. He never tells us what the "evidence" is supposed to be. For anyone who's trying to get to the truth behind the claims, someone simply repeating the claims isn't much help.
The problem is that Berry mostly just repeats the Mithra claims. He never tells us what the "evidence" is supposed to be. For anyone who's trying to get to the truth behind the claims, someone simply repeating the claims isn't much help.
The problem is that Berry mostly just repeats the Mithra claims. He never tells us what the "evidence" is supposed to be. For anyone who's trying to get to the truth behind the claims, someone simply repeating the claims isn't much help.
The Catholic encyclopedia seems to give a logical reason why it is so difficult to find out anything about Mithra
Quote:
(1) Our knowledge regarding Mithraism is very imperfect; some 600 brief inscriptions, mostly dedicatory, some 300 often fragmentary, exiguous, almost identical monuments, a few casual references in the Fathers or Acts of the Martyrs, and a brief polemic against Mithraism which the Armenian Eznig about 450 probably copied from Theodore of Mopsuestia (d. 428) who lived when Mithraism was almost a thing of the past — these are our only sources, unless we include the Avesta in which Mithra is indeed mentioned, but which cannot be an authority for Roman Mithraism with which Christianity is compared. Our knowledge is mostly ingenious guess-work; of the real inner working of Mithraism and the sense in which it was understood by those who professed it at the advent of Christianity, we know nothing.
Well thats the problem with a lot of this stuff,a lot of theory and conjecture which is endlessly repeated in book after book,without any original source material,just a bunch of authors quoting each other and implying 'fact' while delivering 'conjecture'.
Since the library at alexandria was burned we don't actually 'know' whether the mithras orgin story was there or not or whether it matches the jesus story as perfectly as some claim.Perhaps it did.......but merely repeating that 'the evidence existed but was destroyed 2 thousand years ago' is a roundabout way of saying 'I don't actually have any evidence'.
Of course many books regarding early christian history are also based more on 'tradition' than any verifiable historical evidence.We don't actually 'know' as much about history as many think we do.
Well thats the problem with a lot of this stuff,a lot of theory and conjecture which is endlessly repeated in book after book,without any original source material,just a bunch of authors quoting each other and implying 'fact' while delivering 'conjecture'.
Since the library at alexandria was burned we don't actually 'know' whether the mithras orgin story was there or not or whether it matches the jesus story as perfectly as some claim.Perhaps it did.......but merely repeating that 'the evidence existed but was destroyed 2 thousand years ago' is a roundabout way of saying 'I don't actually have any evidence'.
Of course many books regarding early christian history are also based more on 'tradition' than any verifiable historical evidence.We don't actually 'know' as much about history as many think we do.
History is almost always what the present wants it to be even if it means some old written history needs to be 'corrected" or become non-existent.
That one doesn't address most of the claims, either. And for the few it does address, it should be noted that it's talking about Roman Mithraism, which is post-Christian. Only the Persian version of Mithra is pre-Christian, but there are no significant comparisons between the Persian Mithra and Jesus.
The Catholic encyclopedia seems to give a logical reason why it is so difficult to find out anything about Mithra
It's true that we don't know a lot about Mithra (especially the pre-Christian Persian version). But the lack of evidence doesn't mean that people can just "pretend" that Mithra has lots of comparisons to Jesus. If there's no evidence for most of the comparisons, then why are people claiming that the comparisons are true? Are we really allowed to fill in the gaps in ancient knowledge by just making stuff up?
It's true that we don't know a lot about Mithra (especially the pre-Christian Persian version). But the lack of evidence doesn't mean that people can just "pretend" that Mithra has lots of comparisons to Jesus. If there's no evidence for most of the comparisons, then why are people claiming that the comparisons are true? Are we really allowed to fill in the gaps in ancient knowledge by just making stuff up?
LOL! Obviously it is totally acceptable and very common.
If it was not so this forum and the two subforums wouldnt even exist!
I did read 'The man in the hat' (a summary of Mithra) some time ago. I have also been struck by the similarities between the images of Isis (in Ptolemaic dress) and some aspects of Isis - worship and the Marian cult. Both (along with Cybele and Christos) were 'alternative' cults to the Roman gods.
However, I'm pretty persuaded that, while Mithras and Isis may have provided some add - on material for the Christos myth, it was largely rooted in Paul's own ideas which were based on Jewish aspirations for a purified Israel, ruled only by God's appointed.
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