AHC: Christianity as a mystery religion

The mainstream of Christianity has never been all too mystical, except for maybe in the very earliest days. Nevertheless, there's always been a running undercurrent of Esoteric Christianity, in the form of the Rosicrucians, the Behmenists, and even people like Origen and Clement of Alexandria. How could said undercurrent have become the major 'strain', as it were, of Christianity, and what would the effects be? Maybe Origen and his teachings are not condemned, but embraced by Christianity? I'm not sure what the best point to start from would be here. I'm assuming very early, though.
 
Mystery religions were a toy of the elites. Christianity had broad popular appeal. You're asking for a major christianity-screw.
 
St. Paul did kind of use mystery-religion terminology, most explicitly in 1 Corinthians 15; a more gnostic character being accepted in Christianity, along with the emphasis on the Messianic Secret of Mark's Gospel and the Lord's Prayer being said in secret, might work well to this aim.
 
Mystery religions were a toy of the elites. Christianity had broad popular appeal. You're asking for a major christianity-screw.

True! That's what makes it interesting, in a way. It doesn't have to be a screw, though. A mystery religion could just as much be, as you say, the purview of the elites rather than those beneath them. It would just make it more of an inherently elitist religion.
 
Ok, is posible that i dont understand The question, but is not acristianity a mistery religión anyways? Its have a serie of mysteries and sacred rites that only could be know by initiates, and sacred texts thar only could be handle by specialy or advanced initiates, and all te initiates have a series of rites of passage,. I'm wrong? If this is The case could some INE wxplain to me what are exactly a mtstery religión?
 
I'm certain the Pope knows some stuff the lay member of the Catholic Church doesn't know.

When you're taking it from the Book, the mystery is entirely in the interpretation, and there could be a million of them.

We can see the DNA of mystery religion still present, but it is not a modern mystery religion, or a medieval mystery religion, or a classical mystery religion.

I'd say Scientology is a good example of a modern mystery religion. I can't think of any others.
 
I'm certain the Pope knows some stuff the lay member of the Catholic Church doesn't know.

When you're taking it from the Book, the mystery is entirely in the interpretation, and there could be a million of them.

We can see the DNA of mystery religion still present, but it is not a modern mystery religion, or a medieval mystery religion, or a classical mystery religion.

I'd say Scientology is a good example of a modern mystery religion. I can't think of any others.

A lot of New Age stuff certainly counts. Going back a bit further, Theosophy and Anthroposophy are certainly mystery religions, and still active today. A majority of Neopagan movements too, although I would argue that's part of being Neopagan, given that a lot of it is trying to resurrect classical mystery religions.

I would, however, dispute the claim that Christianity as it stands is a mystery religion. To say there are mysteries within the Bible is not to say that the religion itself is a mystery religion. A true mystery religion, through all the various incarnations over the centuries, is extraordinarily secretive about essential doctrine, and in many cases, the actual leaders of the mystery religion are a secret to basic initiates. This is most certainly not the case in any form of Christianity except for the most esoteric fringe groups like the Rosicrucians.
 

samcster94

Banned
I think they were thinking of Christianity evolving like other minor non Hellenistic religions practiced by the Romans like Zoroastrian derivatives and Egyptian paganism. Christianity is nothing like those religions given the Bible is clearly codified and its doctrine is well known.
 
Christianity in the first few centuries was a mystery religion. It had secret meetings, symbols, and rites. Once they were a majority religion most of this disappeared.
 
I think the closest thing we have today is the Druze religion which is a mystery religion and also see jesus as one of God's massengers.
 
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