The Cult of Mithras in Early Christian Literature – an Inventory and Interpretation

Abstract

Abstract This article investigates references to Mithraism in early Christian works, dating from the second to fifth centuries AD. It argues that the way the Mithras cult was described and/or addressed transformed as the relative positions in society of Christianity and pagan cults changed. In the earliest period Christianity was only one religious group among many, and its later dominance could not be foreseen. This may have made Christian writers eager to distinguish themselves from other religious groups by a detailed explanation of the differences between their religion and others, and by a careful exposition of what their cult entailed and why other cults were wrong. In later periods, when the position of Christianity was much stronger, a systematic refutation of other religions was no longer necessary. Most references to the cult of Mithras in later periods therefore merely seem to emphasize the superiority felt by Christians over other religions. An Appendix collects all references to the Mithras cult in patristic literature from the second to fifth century AD.