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Hypotyposeis
Sketches in Biblical Studies by Stephen C. Carlson
Sacraments in Mithraism and Early Christianity
ProfileLink("Andrew Criddle")
Andrew CriddleTuesday, July 31, 2007
Justin Martyr in his First Apology chapters 65-67 compares Christian sacraments to those in Mithraism.
But we, after we have thus washed him who has been convinced and has assented to our teaching, bring him to the place where those who are called brethren are assembled, in order that we may offer hearty prayers in common for ourselves and for the baptized [illuminated] person, and for all others in every place, that we may be counted worthy, now that we have learned the truth, by our works also to be found good citizens and keepers of the commandments, so that we may be saved with an everlasting salvation. Having ended the prayers, we salute one another with a kiss. There is then brought to the president of the brethren bread and a cup of wine mixed with water; and he taking them, gives praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and offers thanks at considerable length for our being counted worthy to receive these things at His hands. And when he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, all the people present express their assent by saying Amen. This word Amen answers in the Hebrew language to so be it. And when the president has given thanks, and all the people have expressed their assent, those who are called by us deacons give to each of those present to partake of the bread and wine mixed with water over which the thanksgiving was pronounced, and to those who are absent they carry away a portion.
And this food is called among us the Eucharist, of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined. For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Saviour, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh. For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, have thus delivered unto us what was enjoined upon them; that Jesus took bread, and when He had given thanks, said, "This do ye in remembrance of Me, this is My body; "and that, after the same manner, having taken the cup and given thanks, He said, "This is My blood; "and gave it to them alone. Which the wicked devils have imitated in the mysteries of Mithras, commanding the same thing to be done. For, that bread and a cup of water are placed with certain incantations in the mystic rites of one who is being initiated, you either know or can learn.
And we afterwards continually remind each other of these things. And the wealthy among us help the needy; and we always keep together; and for all things wherewith we are supplied, we bless the Maker of all through His Son Jesus Christ, and through the Holy Ghost. And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who succours the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need. But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead. For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday); and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun, having appeared to His apostles and disciples, He taught them these things, which we have submitted to you also for your consideration.
The immediately odd thing about this is that Justin compares the use of water and bread in Mithraic initiation to the Christian Eucharist which (normally) involves bread and wine (mixed with water). Tertullian in a parallel passage in the Prescription of Heretics has “Mithra there, (in the kingdom of Satan, )... celebrates also the oblation of bread” with no mention of a parallel involving the cup.
Some scholars have paraphrased Justin’s statement about a cup of water in Mithraic initiation as really meaning a cup of wine mixed with water as in the standard early Christian Eucharist. However, water itself is important in the mythology of Mithras (Mithras shoots an arrow to bring water out of a rock) so it is more plausible to take water here as meaning simply water.
One problem is that the phrase from chapter 65 of Justin’s Apology “There is then brought to the president of the brethren bread and a cup of wine mixed with water” should be better translated as “Then bread and a cup of water and mixed wine are brought to the president of the brethren” as at ccel.org . The Greek is ἄρτος καὶ ποτήριον ὕδατος καὶ κράματος. A complication is that codex Ottobianus omits καὶ κράματος here. Harnack and others have suggested that this is the original text. (See McGowan Ascetic Eucharists) However the omission is probably due to homoteleuton, a scribe copying καὶ ποτήριον ὕδατος καὶ κράματος καὶ as καὶ ποτήριον ὕδατος καὶ.
How should we understand ‘a cup of water and mixed wine’? Justin is speaking of a Eucharist after baptism and an important parallel is found in the Apostolic Tradition attributed to Hippolytus and which preserves liturgical practice at Rome from the period shortly after Justin. The baptismal ritual in chapter 21 has, immediately after baptism, the following:
Then the deacons shall immediately bring the oblation. The bishop shall bless the bread, which is the symbol of the Body of Christ; and the bowl of mixed wine, which is the symbol of the Blood which has been shed for all who believe in him; and the milk and honey mixed together, in fulfillment of the promise made to the fathers, in which he said, “a land flowing with milk and honey,” which Christ indeed gave, his Flesh, through which those who believe are nourished like little children, by the sweetness of his Word, softening the bitter heart; and water also for an oblation, as a sign of the baptism, so that the inner person, which is psychic, may also receive the same as the body. The bishop shall give an explanation of all these things to those who are receiving. Breaking the bread, distributing a piece to each, he shall say, “The Bread of Heaven in Jesus Christ.” And the one who receives shall answer, “Amen.” The elders, and the deacons if there are not enough, shall hold the cups and stand together in good order and with reverence: first the one who holds the water, second the one who holds the milk, and third the one who holds the wine. They who partake shall taste of each three times.
Here we have a cup of water drunk, after baptism, for inner cleansing, as well as a cup of milk and honey and a cup of mixed wine. Justin’s statement ‘a cup of water and mixed wine’ should be taken to mean two cups, one of water and one of wine mixed with water, used in the special Eucharist immediately after baptism. If a cup of water was used in the baptismal Eucharist in Justin’s church then the parallel with the Mithraic use of bread and a cup of water in initiation would be apparent. However the similarity to the standard Eucharist involving bread and (mixed) wine would be much weaker.
Hence Justin’s claim that in Mithraism a cup of water was used in initiation should be taken at face value, and the parallels between this initiation ceremony in Mithraism and the Christian Eucharist appear to be based upon a special form of Eucharist used in baptism in his church, rather than upon the standard form of the Eucharist.
Labels: Andrew Criddle, Background, Patristics
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Tuesday Round-Up (7-31-2007)
Yeehaw! It’s Tuesday, and here’sa daily dose of “Round-Up”:. Andrew Criddle of Hypotyposeis explores the similarities between Christian Sacraments and Mithraic rituals in Justin Martyr: “Sacraments in Mithraism and Early Christianity. ... posted by stephen @ Tuesday, July 31, 2007 5:00:26 PM
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