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According to Persian mythology, Mithras was born of a virgin given
the title 'Mother of God'. The god remained celibate throughout
his life, and valued self-control, renunciation and resistance to
sensuality among his worshippers. Mithras represented a system of
ethics in which brotherhood was encouraged in order to unify against
the forces of evil. The worshippers of Mithras held strong beliefs
in a celestial heaven and an infernal hell. They believed that the
benevolent powers of the god would sympathize with their suffering
and grant them the final justice of immortality and eternal salvation
in the world to come. They looked forward to a final day of Judgment
in which the dead would resurrect, and to a final conflict that
would destroy the existing order of all things to bring about the
triumph of light over darkness.
Purification through a ritualistic baptism was required of the
faithful, who also took part in a ceremony in which they drank wine
and ate bread to symbolize the body and blood of the god. Sundays
were held sacred, and the birth of the god was celebrated annually
on December the 25th. After the earthly mission of this god had
been accomplished, he took part in a Last Supper with his companions
before ascending to heaven, to forever protect the faithful from
above.
However, it would be a vast oversimplification to suggest that
Mithraism was the single forerunner of early Christianity. Aside
from Christ and Mithras, there were plenty of other deities (such
as Osiris, Tammuz, Adonis, Balder, Attis, and Dionysus) said to
have died and resurrected. Many classical heroic figures, such as
Hercules, Perseus, and Theseus, were said to have been born through
the union of a virgin mother and divine father. Virtually every
pagan religious practice and festivity that couldn't be suppressed
or driven underground was eventually incorporated into the rites
of Christianity as it spread across Europe and throughout the world.
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