"The Influence of the Mystery Religions on Christianity" is an essay written from November 29, 1949, to February 15, 1950, by Martin Luther King Jr. It was written for a course on "The Development of Christian Ideas" at the Crozer Theological Seminary taught by George Washington Davis, who gave it an A grade. [1] It duplicates some material from "A Study of Mithraism" (1949), a previous essay King wrote for a course on Greek religion taught by Morton Scott Enslin. [2]
In the essay, King endeavors to show how five major mystery religions influenced Christianity. These religions include the cult of Cybele and Attis, the cult of Adonis, the worship of Osiris and Isis, the Eleusinian Mysteries, and Mithraism. [3]
After graduating from Morehouse College, King attended Crozer Theological Seminary from 1948 to 1951. He began his studies at Crozer at the age of 19, taking a total of 31 courses over the next several years, while also auditing one additional course on pastoral counseling and taking two additional courses at the University of Pennsylvania during that same period. From 1949 to 1950, he took the course "The Development of Christian Ideas" at Crozer, one of nine courses during that year. [4] King's essay, "The Influence of the Mystery Religions on Christianity", was written as part of that course, taught by George Washington Davis. Historian Clayborne Carson summarizes King's essay as an examination of "how Christianity developed as a distinct religion with a set of central tenets and how it was influenced by those pagan religions it assimilated". [1]
Mithraism, also known as the Mithraic mysteries or the Cult of Mithras, was a Roman mystery religion centered on the god Mithras. Although inspired by Iranian worship of the Zoroastrian divinity (yazata) Mithra, the Roman Mithras was linked to a new and distinctive imagery, and the level of continuity between Persian and Greco-Roman practice remains debatable. The mysteries were popular among the Imperial Roman army from the 1st to the 4th century CE.
Mystery religions, mystery cults, sacred mysteries or simply mysteries, were religious schools of the Greco-Roman world for which participation was reserved to initiates (mystai). The main characteristic of these religious schools was the secrecy associated with the particulars of the initiation and the ritual practice, which may not be revealed to outsiders. The most famous mysteries of Greco-Roman antiquity were the Eleusinian Mysteries, which predated the Greek Dark Ages. The mystery schools flourished in Late Antiquity; Emperor Julian, of the mid-4th century, is believed by some scholars to have been associated with various mystery cults—most notably the mithraists. Due to the secret nature of the schools, and because the mystery religions of Late Antiquity were persecuted by the Christian Roman Empire from the 4th century, the details of these religious practices are derived from descriptions, imagery and cross-cultural studies.
Upland is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Upland is governed by an elected seven-member borough council. The population was 3,239 at the 2010 census, up from 2,974 at the 2000 census.
James Bennett Pritchard was an American archeologist whose work explicated the interrelationships of the religions of ancient Palestine, Canaan, Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon. Pritchard was honored with the Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Archaeological Achievement in 1983 from the Archaeological Institute of America.
Howard Washington Thurman was an American author, philosopher, theologian, Christian mystic, educator, and civil rights leader. As a prominent religious figure, he played a leading role in many social justice movements and organizations of the twentieth century. Thurman's theology of radical nonviolence influenced and shaped a generation of civil rights activists, and he was a key mentor to leaders within the civil rights movement, including Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Sr. was an African-American Baptist pastor, missionary, and an early figure in the civil rights movement. He was the father and namesake of the civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. He was the senior pastor of Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church from 1931 to 1975.
Alberta Christine Williams King was an American civil rights organizer best known as the wife of Martin Luther King Sr.; and as the mother of Martin Luther King Jr., and also as the grandmother of Martin Luther King III. She was the choir director of the Ebenezer Baptist Church. She was shot and killed in the church by 23-year-old Marcus Wayne Chenault six years after the assassination of her eldest son Martin Luther King Jr.
Authorship issues concerning Martin Luther King Jr. fall into two general categories: Plagiarism in King's academic research papers and his use of borrowed phrases in speeches.
The Crozer Theological Seminary was a Baptist seminary located in Upland, Pennsylvania, and founded in 1868. It was named after the wealthy industrialist, John Price Crozer.
William Augustus Jones Jr. was an African-American Minister and Civil Rights leader.
Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School is a Baptist seminary in Rochester, New York. It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA.
Yazdânism, or the Cult of Angels, is a pseudohistoric pre-Islamic religion with claimed ties relating to a Mithraic religion of the Kurds. The term was introduced and proposed by Kurdish and Belgian scholar Mehrdad Izady to represent what he considers the "original" religion of the Kurds.
Ralph Edlin Luker was an American historian, teacher, and the author of several books about race, religion and the Civil Rights Movement.
Clayborne Carson is an American academic who was a professor of history at Stanford University and director of the Martin Luther King Jr., Research and Education Institute. Since 1985, he has directed the Martin Luther King Papers Project, a long-term project to edit and publish the papers of Martin Luther King Jr.
Soteriology is the study of religious doctrines of salvation. Salvation theory occupies a place of special significance in many religions. In the academic field of religious studies, soteriology is understood by scholars as representing a key theme in a number of different religions and is often studied in a comparative context; that is, comparing various ideas about what salvation is and how it is obtained.
Samuel DeWitt Proctor was an American minister, educator, and humanitarian. An African-American church and higher education leader, he was active in the Civil Rights Movement and is perhaps best known as a mentor and friend of Martin Luther King Jr.
The Roman cult of Mithras had connections with other pagan deities, syncretism being a prominent feature of Roman paganism. Almost all Mithraea contain statues dedicated to gods of other cults, and it is common to find inscriptions dedicated to Mithras in other sanctuaries, especially those of Jupiter Dolichenus. Mithraism was not an alternative to other pagan religions, but rather a particular way of practising pagan worship; and many Mithraic initiates can also be found worshipping in the civic religion, and as initiates of other mystery cults.
Charles Coates Walker was an American Quaker activist and trainer for nonviolent direct action in both the civil rights and peace movements. He worked throughout his life to bring segregation, racial injustice, nuclear and biological weapons, and war to public awareness. He used Gandhian methods of nonviolence, writing training materials and organizing marches, vigils, protest demonstrations, conferences and campaigns in different parts of the world.
Calvary Baptist Church is a Baptist Church founded in 1879 in Chester, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is affiliated with the Progressive National Baptist Convention, and the American Baptist Churches, USA.
Josephus Pius Barbour was an American Baptist pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Chester, Pennsylvania who served as an executive director of the National Baptist Association and editor of the National Baptist Voice publication. He was the first African American to graduate from Crozer Theological Seminary in 1937, and later mentored a teenaged Martin Luther King Jr., when King was a student there.