Originally posted by twhitehead
I still contend that almost all similarities mentioned so far could easily be explained as people looking for similarities.

Why did some early Christian writers focus on Mithraism (Tertullian, for example, contended that the similarities between the two religions must be the Devil's work) rather than some other cult?

Originally posted by Bosse de Nage
Constantine I made Jesus birthday December 25 as a crowd-pleasing tactic. As a former high priest of Mithras, he knew who he was trying to please.

Eh? I thought he was a worshipper of Sol Invictus.

Or do I lack the "mythological imagination" you always keep talking about?

Originally posted by lucifershammer
Eh? I thought he was a worshipper of Sol Invictus.

Or do I lack the "mythological imagination" you always keep talking about?

"By the end of the 3rd century, the popular cults of Apollo and Mithras had started to merge into the syncretism known as Mithras Sol Invictus or simply Sol Invictus (the unconquerable sun—a term also used by other cults), and in 274 the emperor Aurelian (whose mother had been a priestess of the sun) made worship of this form official."

All the emperors from Aurelian up to Constantine were the high priests of Mithras Sol Invictus.

Apparently Constantine never recanted this position.

Don't feel bad about the mythological imagination thing. It's in short supply these days.

Originally posted by Bosse de Nage
Don't feel bad about the mythological imagination thing. It's in short supply these days.

I stand corrected on Mithras Sol Invictus. But wasn't the Roman Mithras essentially different from the Persian Mithras (they just happened to share the same name)?

As to mythological imagination, I don't think it's in short supply - I think it's actually in overdrive. People see links between mythologies that aren't there and (worse) get mixed up.

Originally posted by lucifershammer
I stand corrected on Mithras Sol Invictus. But wasn't the Roman Mithras essentially different from the Persian Mithras (they just happened to share the same name)?

As to mythological imagination, I don't think it's in short supply - I think it's actually in overdrive. People see links between mythologies that aren't there and (worse) get mixed up.

No, the Roman Mithras was of venerable Persian descent. Wikipedia has the answers you seek, my son.

Mythological imagination entails understanding the logic of myth. I am still learning how it works.