Perhaps the most remarkable of the Asiatic religions was Mithraism. Mithra first appears as a Persian sun god, the leader of Ahuramazda's hosts in the ceaseless struggle against the forces of darkness and evil. [15] As a god of light Mithra was also a god of truth and purity. His worship, spreading over the length and breadth of the Roman Empire, became the noblest of all pagan faiths. Men saw in Mithra a Lord and Giver of Life, who protected the weak and miserable, cleansed the sinner, conquered death, and procured for his faithful followers the crown of immortality.
[Illustration: A MITHRAIC MONUMENT A bas relief discovered in 1838 A.D. in a cave near Heidelberg, Germany. The central group represents Mithra slaying the bull. The smaller reliefs show scenes from the life of Mithra, including his birth from the rock and his ascent to Ahuramazda.]
THE WORSHIP OF MITHRA
The Mithraic worship took the form of a mystery with seven grades, or degrees, through which candidates passed by ordeals of initiation. The rites included a kind of baptism with holy water, a sacrificial meal of bread and wine, and daily litanies to the sun. Mithra was represented as a youthful hero miraculously born from a rock at the dawn of day; for this reason his worship was always conducted underground in natural or artificial caves, or in cellars. At the back of one of these subterranean temples would be often a picture of Mithra slaying a bull, and an inscription: "To the Unconquerable Sun, to Mithra." [16]
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ORIENTAL RELIGIONS
The new Oriental religions all appealed to the emotions. They helped to satisfy the spiritual wants of men and women, by dwelling on the need of purification from sin and by holding forth the prospect of a happier life beyond the tomb. It is not strange, therefore, that they penetrated every province of the Roman Empire and flourished as late as the fourth century of our era. Christianity had no more dangerous antagonists than the followers of Mithra and other eastern divinities.
78. RISE AND SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY
CHRISTIANITY AMONG THE JEWS
Christianity rose among the Jews, for Jesus was a Jew and his disciples were Jews. At the time of the death of Jesus [17] his immediate followers numbered scarcely a Christianity hundred persons. The catastrophe of the crucifixion struck them with sorrow and dismay. When, however, the disciples came to believe in the resurrection of their master, a wonderful impetus was given to the growth of the new religion. They now asserted that Jesus was the true Messiah, or Christ, who by rising from the dead had sealed the truth of his teachings. For several years after the crucifixion, the disciples remained at Jerusalem, preaching and making converts. The new doctrines met so much opposition on the part of Jewish leaders in the capital city that the followers of Jesus withdrew to Samaria, Damascus, and Antioch. In all these places there were large Jewish communities, among whom Peter and his fellow apostles labored zealously.
[Illustration: Map, PALESTINE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST]