Christianity's Relationship with Mithraism

Q. I’ve heard a little comment about Mithraism and Christianity. Can you lay out the actual history of such a connection if there is one?

A. Over the years I have given rather detailed analysis on this subject but it wouldn’t hurt to go over some of the basics again. IN the 1st Century, there was no such thing as “Christianity” as we see it today. The believers in the Messiah continued to observe the Torah and taught the Gentiles coming into the faith to observe whatever laws applied to them. They were all seen as part of Israel.

The main contention from the Scriptures was not whether Yeshua was the Messiah or not, but what to do with the Gentiles that were coming into the faith. It was revealed by the Lord that they did not have to be circumcised (become Jewish) in order to have a place in the Kingdom of God. They were accepted by Him without it, but they were to keep the Torah. But, even in the 1st Century, there was opposition to the Torah among believers, and the spirit of the False- Messiah was already at work. That spirit is “lawlessness” according to the Scripture. The word means “without Torah” ( Gk> “anomos”). After the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, the Pharisees survived and restructured the “faith” according to their image into what was called Rabbinic Judaism. Messianic believers consisting of Jews and Gentiles continued, but a third strain was developing that was more Greek and Roman based. This third “strain” was called Christianity and was made up of Gentiles who thought that God was doing away with Israel and they had been replaced. Christianity was contending with an already established religion in the Roman Empire called Mithraism.

This religion followed the sun god Mithra, originated in Persia and it was 700 years old by the time of Constantine. The Roman army picked it up and wherever they went, Mithraism went until it was more popular in the Empire than any other religion. Its monuments have been found as far away as Britain. Some of the basic ideas of Mithraism are as follows: Mithra was co-equal with the Supreme deity, kept Sunday as their day of worship, their chief festivals were December 25th and the spring solstice (Easter). Long before Yeshua was born, Mithra was said to be born of a virgin in a cave and died on a cross at Easter. They practiced baptism, made the sign of the cross on their foreheads and they considered Mithra “savior of the world” because he died to save others. For several hundred years these two religions co-existed until a major event happened.

Constantine was Emperor in Rome and supported Christianity, even though he practiced Mithraism until the day he died. The one advantage Christianity had over Mithraism is that a person could have his sins forgiven through repentance. Constantine had a lot to be forgiven for (mass murder) so he didn’t convert until his deathbed because he was only accountable for the sins committed after conversion. The Council of Nicea was convened because Constantine wanted to consolidate all these political and religious forces into one, thus unifying his Empire. He was a good politician. So, the Council of Nicea was the birthplace of Christianity and it was around that time that Mithraism “disappeared”. In reality, it was absorbed into Christianity along with many other superstitions.

Remember, a rose by any other name is still a rose. Thus, Mithraism continued under a new name and it was the end of all the different sects and cults. They found a new home, everybody was happy and they now had an official state religion. The Emperor Julian followed Constantine and he went back to Mithraism, but he reigned 2 years and could not stop Christianity. His death was seen as divine approval for Christianity and the next Emperor Jovian improved the status of Christianity again and it never lost steam after that, and the rest, well, is history. I know it is popular to think that the roots of Christianity are from Israel, but in actuality it is Mithraism that contributed to it. Constantine said himself that one of the goals of the Council of Nicea was to “root out the last vestiges of Judaism” still remaining.

Not one Messianic leader was invited to the council. So, it is not possible that the roots of Christianity are Jewish when Constantine said himself he was ridding Christianity of them, and that’s what he did. You can get volumes of information on this by going to the Internet and looking up subjects like Mithra, Mithraism, Christianity, Constantine, Council of Nicea and so on for yourself. The information I just gave you is all there but don’t do it if you are not serious with the Lord because you are not going to like what you see if you want to remain in Christianity today. If Mithra is god, than follow him. If the God of Israel is God, than follow him. But you can’t do both, or serve two masters. The choice is yours. I hope this helps.

Fall Festival Schedule

Olive Tree Ministries will kick off the fall festival season Friday. The following schedule is a list of events and times.

Rosh HaShanah - Friday, Sept. 25 - 11 a.m. Eschatology, Idioms and phrases of the Festival

Yom Kippur - Wed., Oct. 4 - 11 a.m. Service in the Temple - How it was done; Eschatology, Idioms and phrases

Oct. 8th - Sunday, Oct. 8 - noon - 2 p.m. Decorating the Sukkah

First Holy Day of Sukkot Monday, Oct. 9 - 11 a.m. Prophecy and The Temple Service - Beit HaShoevah (House of the water pouring service); Eschatology, Idioms and phrases. Festival continues into the week.

Tuesday, Oct 10 10 a.m. - 11 a.m. Bible Story with Elisa (children 5-12 please); 1 p.m. - 3 p.m. scrapbooking cards with Joan.

Wed., Oct. 11 10 a.m. - 11 a.m. Bible Story with Elisa (5-12 year olds only); 1 p.m. - 3 p.m. Mosaics; 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. Socialization; 6:30 p.m. Basic Prayer 101.

Thurs., Oct. 12 10 a.m. - Bible Story with Elisa (5-12 year olds); 1 p.m. - 3 p.m. Crafts with Lorraine.

Friday, Oct. 13 6 p.m. - 7 p.m. Sabbath Q&A; dancing, socializing.

Saturday, Oct. 14 11 a.m. Guest Speaker: Gary Hunter

Sunday, Oct. 15 noon - Cook out (includes adult, children games, socializing)

Monday, Oct. 16 11 a.m. Yeshua's birth and wrap-up of Festival Eschatalogy, Idioms and phrases (Q&A).

The High Holy Days

This week begins what is called "The High Holy Days" or what the scriptures call the "Days of Awe." Rather than answer a specific question on this, I want to deal with the whole concept and meaning of these holy days and how they fit the prophetic scenario. Prophecies can have numerous fulfillments.

Many make the mistake of thinking that something was fulfilled in the 1st century so it can't happen again, but that is not G-d's way. I can show you many prophecies that have numerous fulfillments, sometimes many years apart. This will be very brief ,but the main concepts will be brought out.

The scriptures teach that there is a 7000 year plan of G-d. 6000 years are equal to 6 days, and the last 1000 years is the L-rd's day, or Day of the L-rd. You will see this time period referred to as "in that day" or "that day" hundreds of times. That last 1000 years starts out on a Rosh Ha Shanah, 6001.

Rosh Ha Shanah: The term Rosh Ha Shanah means "head of the year", but the biblical term for this day is "Yom Teruah" , day of the awakening blast. Tewruah can means shofar or shout. Themes for this day include resurrection, coronation of the King, judgement and Wedding of the King. Scriptural idioms for this day are "the day no man knows", last trump", "door is open" plus many, many more. How does this fit the coming of Messiah?. The resurrection of the dead and the catching away of the believers to be with the L-rd will occur on that day. Isa 26, Rev 4, 2 Thes 2, 1Thes 4, 1 Cor 15 are written with Rosh Ha Shanah idioms and themes, clearly teaching these concepts.

Yom Kippur: The 10 days between Rosh Ha Shanah and Yom KIppur are called "the Days of Awe". Yom Kippur, 6001 will be the first day of what is biblically called the "birthpains" of the Messiah. Yom Kippur means "Day of Atonement" and is known as "the Great Shofar", "the Day of Redemption", "face to face" and many more. The "birthpains" will last 2520 days and will end on a Yom Kippur with the 2nd coming of Messiah to Jerusalem. The Yom Kippur ceremony teaches this. There are 2 goats that are a part of this ceremony. One goat is called "L'Adonai", or to the L-rd and is sacrificed. The second goat is called "L'Azazel" and means to the wilderness. The term Azazel is used in the book of Enoch and other writings of the 1st century to be a symbol of the False Messiah/Satan. That goat is not sacrified but is killed. This goat is a picture of the False Messiah meeting his doom at the coming of Yeshua on Yom Kippur.

Sukkot: The final feast in the fall is the feast of Sukkot, or booths, which teaches the coming of the Messianic Kingdom and the reign of Messiah. There were Temple ceremonies for all of these festivals. In Lev 23, G-d gave 7 festivals to Israel and any Gentile who aligned himself with them in faith. These are not "Jewish" festivals because G-d clearly says that these are His "appointed times" and HIs "holy convocations.". The word "convocation" is the Hebrew word for "rehearsal". By observing these festivals, you are rehearsing the coming of the L-rd.

Spring Festivals: The spring festivals are Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits and concludes with Pentecost (Shavuot). Yeshua died on Passover, was buried on Unleavened Bread, rose of Firstfruits and sent the power of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. The fall festivals ,just mentioned, will be fulfilled by HIm by raising the dead and taking the living believers to Him for the wedding, coronation and judgement, He will return on Yom Kippur , enter into judgement and set up the Messianic Kingdom on Sukkot. For the last month, our congregation has been taught the meanings of these things in detail with hundreds of scriptures and sources to study. Paul taught these things and told the Thessalonians that they were not in darkness and that these things would not overtake them unaware.

But many are unaware today because they have forsaken the Torah and the Prophets and have no knowledge of these things. Find a Torah teacher who can show you the whole counsel of G-d before it is too late. The coming of these things is very near, are you ready? G-d has an appointment with you on these days. Now, go and study!

Argument on Romans 14 Cont'd...

This week we are going to conclude last week’s question on whether you can use Rom.14 to justify the belief that the Law has been done away with. So, let’s go back and review a few things first. Paul is writing to the congregations in Rome. The synagogues were made up of 3 different groups we will call the synagogue Jews who did not believe in Yeshua and were referred to as “weak” on the point that they have not come to faith in Yeshua yet.

The second group was made up of Messianic Jews who did believe in Yeshua, and the third group believing Gentiles referred to as “strong” because of their faith in Yeshua. In the book of Romans Paul is addressing all three groups and dealing with a variety of issues. In Rom. 14 Paul is telling the believing Gentiles to accept the ways of the synagogue Jews and some of the particular opinions they have on eating and local celebrations. This is not talking about keeping the Torah and eating kosher food or not. The subject is how to deal with each other about non-Torah binding opinions. So, let’s pick up in verse 13 which is saying that they were not to judge others on how they serve God especially if what they are doing is not specifically forbidden in the Word.

In verse 14 the word “unclean” is “koinos” in Greek and it means common. Paul is talking about common, everyday food. If he was talking about unkosher items he would have used “akathartos” meaning ritually unclean. So, he not talking about someone eating pork and they shouldn’t say something, he is talking about common food. If someone doesn’t want to eat common, everyday food allowed in the Torah for some reason, don’t make it an issue and don’t eat it in front of him if it offends him (v15). The faith is not about food and drink allowed by the Torah, but being led by the Holy Spirit and not making an issue about things that the Torah does not specifically address. If the synagogue Jews don’t believe they can eat biblically kosher food and wine from a Gentiles because of their “halacha” or opinions, don’t get all upset. So, pursue peace with others and don’t tear down unity and the chance to bring these unbelieving Jews (weak) in the congregation to Yeshua for the sake of a stupid food argument that doesn’t even matter. So, if you are eating something permitted by God in His Word but eating it would offend someone else than it is evil to do it. This is not talking about going to someone’s house and they serve pork, and you have to eat it so they won’t get offended.

This is talking about people who are Torah observant, but their way of expressing it may differ. For instance, there are many today who will not eat meat and dairy products together because of a particular interpretation of a verse in Exodus. On the other hand there are others who do not interpret it that way and have no problem with a cheeseburger. What Paul is saying in these verse is don’t eat a cheeseburger in front of the one would be offended. It is better not to eat the cheeseburger if doing it would make someone else stumble (v21). Faith is acting on the Word as you understand it and your conviction (v22) and your faith will be revealed by what you approve of. So, if a person eats common meat and it fills him with doubts he is not acting faith in regards to what he thinks he should do and he thinks he has sinned. Faith is knowing what the Scripture says and doing it and unbelief is knowing what the Scripture says and not doing it. This chapter is not talking about the Law and how people shouldn’t judge another for eating things not allowed in the Scripture.

That interpretation is wrong and it is usually by people who know what the Scripture says about these creatures but they don’t want to do it. That is unbelief and that should be addressed. The truth about Rom. 14 is that all the groups in the congregation eat biblically allowed food, but some believe that they cannot eat meat or drink wine from a Gentile. Paul is telling these believing Gentiles to go along with this opinion when in their presence and to not let this become an issue because these synagogue Jews are watching how they react and to see if their faith was for real. Any contention or strife on their part would harm the most important goal of the believing Gentiles which was the presentation of the good news that Yeshua is the Messiah which is reflected in their changed lifestyle and the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

Argument against Rom 14

Q. How do you counter an argument for doing away with the Law using Romans 14?

A. First of all remember that anyone who teaches you that the Law has been “done away with” is a false teacher. Secondly, you can’t use Paul to prove that because he was Torah observant himself (Acts 28.17) and taught others to follow it (1Cor 11.1-2). So, the problem is their premise in saying Rom 14 is saying that the Law was done away with, and it isn’t saying that at all. Christian teachers and their followers have little understanding of what the Scriptures really say and this chapter is a good example of that, so in order to answer your question I think I’m going to do the chapter verse by verse so that we can understand the chapter the way it was written and understood in the 1st century. Paul is writing to the congregations in Rome. The congregations at that time were made up of three types of people. The synagogue Jews I will use as a designation for the Jewish people in the congregation that don’t believe in Yeshua. The second group I will call the Messianic Jews, who did believe in Yeshua. The third group will be called the Messianic non-Jews and are gentiles who believed in Messiah. All three groups worshipped together in synagogues in the 1st century (Acts 15.21). The book of Romans was written addressing certain problems in the congregation and how believers in Yeshua should deal with them. Let’s jump all the way to Chapter 14. This chapter is dealing with gentiles who have come directly into the faith and to accept the ways of the synagogue Jews in the congregation. I am going to go verse by verse to give you a feel for what is going on:

V1…”accept the one who is weak in faith” …the weak in faith are those who do not believe in Yeshua due to a lack of knowledge (Rom 4.19-20,10.2) and that their opinions were still valid.

V2…”one man has faith that he can eat all things”….this verse is talking about eating common food (Gk “koinos) as opposed to eating vegetables. The synagogue Jews would not eat meat or drink wine of the gentiles. This is still done today and it is called “halachah” or how to walk. The salvation of the “weak” (synagogue Jews) is directly related to how the “strong” (messianic gentile) deal with the issue of food. This has nothing to do with the clean and unclean list of Lev 11. The issue of eating pigs and unclean animals would never have been an issue. The synagogue Jews or the messianic gentiles would have never eaten pig or any animal on the unclean list. The issue of “eating” is over clean foods that the synagogue Jews considered unclean halachically not biblically, and there is a difference. The issue is not over the food with Paul, but whether it is an act of love to eat this in front of someone who considers it a sin. For an example, an orthodox Jew would not eat a cheeseburger because they do not eat milk and meat products together. That is not biblical halachah but rabbinical. So, I would not eat a cheeseburger in front of an orthodox Jew because it offended him, even though I have the freedom to do it).

V3 … “let not him who eats (common food) regard with contempt him who does not eat (common food for some halachic reason), and let not him who does not eat (common food) judge him who eats (common food) for God has accepted him (He accepts the actions of the weak and the strong).

V4…”who are you to judge the servant of another? “The Lord is able to make him stand” meaning to make the weak (unbelief) strong (believe).

…”one man regards one day above another, another regards every-day”…There is nothing to indicate that this is the Sabbath or any biblical holy day. This has to do with certain halachically mandated days unique to the synagogue in Rome. They may have had certain fast days (Luke 18.11-12) or certain days that were considered special due to local tradition just like congregations do today.

V6… He who observes the day (whatever fast day/special day of the synagogue) observes it for the Lord…so leave them alone if it’s not a big issue. If he eats vegetables and observes certain days, so what, as long as they are not replacing biblical foods or holy days!

V7-12…these verses go on to say that the Lord died for all men and we should not look to another in contempt over non-biblical mandates and traditions and it all is going to get sorted out someday by the Lord anyway so don’t get all worked up over it. This again is not talking about not observing the Torah. This has to do with things that are just traditions or man- made local synagogue laws, not biblically binding commandments of God. We are to keep in mind the greater law in the scriptures, which is love of your neighbor.

People serve God different ways within the context of scripture. This is not referring to someone who does not keep the Sabbath and says we shouldn’t judge them. We are to judge that situation. This also is not referring to someone who eats pig and catfish as opposed to someone who doesn’t. I have heard it said that the “weak’ in this verse is someone who is Torah-observant and the “strong” is someone who isn’t bound by the Law. That is not what is being referred to here. Next week we will pick up in v13 and finish this important chapter on how to treat others when their opinions (not Torah commands) are not like ours in the faith.