Did Zoroastrianism influence Christianity?

There are many subjects on which I would enjoy commenting, but I have determined to keep this Blog as a travel blog pertaining primarily to biblically related sites. And, I don’t have time to take care of another blog.

We had a comment on The Persian background of Iran that needs some comment. Our reader says,

And incidentally, there’s much more of Iran in the bible. The original “apple” was actually a pomegranate — which comes from Iran, for example. Mithraism, a Persian religion, was the basis for the celebtration of Christmass. The whole concept of hell and heaven and angles was introduced from Zoroastrianism into Judaism and then Christianity.

The Bible does not speak of an “apple” in the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 3:3 and 3:6 we are told that Adam and Eve had been told not to eat “from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden.” The fruit was good for food. Earlier, in Genesis 1:29 we are told that God gave man “every tree which has fruit yielding seed, it shall be food for you.” The Hebrew words are the same for fruit, tree, and food in both Genesis 1 and Genesis 2. We certainly do not know that the fruit was pomegranate.

The issue of whether Judaism and Christianity have borrowed some basic concept from Zoroastrianism is debatable. Notice the comment by Lewis and Travis in Religious Traditions of the World (Zondervan, 1991).

The relation between Zoroastrianism and the chief monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, is debated. Part of the problem is due to the fact that the collection of Zoroastrian teaching was not completed until the fourth century C.E. [A.D.], leaving in some doubt who may have influenced whom in such matters as angels, resurrection, and eschatology. (57)

If one takes the New Testament as the complete and final revelation of the will of God for man, as I do, any changes in doctrine after New Testament times must be considered as departures from the faith. The argument goes something like this:

• The New Testament is the completed revelation of the mind of God to man (Ephesians 3:1-7; 1 Corinthians 2:6-13; Ephesians 4:5; Jude 1:3; Romans 1:16; I Corinthians 1:21, et al.). The Scripture is the inspired word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
• Jesus is God (John 1:1; Hebrews 1:8; Colossians 1:15-17). He became flesh (John 1:14). He died on the cross for the sins of mankind (1 Corinthians 1:23; 2:2, 8; 15:3-4; Hebrews 9:28; Acts 2:36; 4:10).
• The Bible warns about going beyond this teaching (1 John 4:1; Galatians 1:6-8; 2 John 1:9-11).

It is true that Mithraism was a significant competitor of Christianity in the second century Roman Empire. It was one of the favorite mystery religions of the Roman soldiers. At Caesarea Maritima on the Mediterranean coast, in one of the substructures of a public building, evidence has been found indicating that one of the vaults served as a Mithraeum in the early 2nd century A.D.

Building at Caesarea Maritima converted to a Mithraeum in the early 2nd century A.D. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Christmas, as a religious holiday, is not known in the New Testament. In this case we must say that later Christianity borrowed aspects of it from pagan sources. See my article on The Truth About Christmas here for more details.

If you are interested in a complete study about the relation between Persia and the Bible, I suggest Edwin M. Yamauchi’s Persia and the Bible with foreword by Donald J. Wiseman) Baker, 1990.

Yamauchi tells us that “the central cult image of Mithraism was the statue of the tauroctony or depiction of Mithras slaying the bull.” He says over 500 representations of this image have been found. Here is one I photographed in the Britism Museum.

The Sun-god Mithras slaying a bull. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins in the British Museum.

Resources on the Book of Revelation

Yesterday I received an Email from Dr. Georg S. Adamsen in Denmark, asking that I change the link to his Revelation Resources page on my Biblical Studies Info Page. First, let me say I appreciate his notifying me of the change. Many individuals ask to include a link but never notify us when they close down the page.

Revelation Resources is now presented in blog format. Adamsen describes the blog this way:

Revelation Resources – about 250 hand-picked references on valuable resources for the study of the Book of Revelation. Many topics have separate introductions…

My Old Testament in the Book of Revelation has been included at Revelation Resources for several years. I was pleasantly surprised this evening when I was checking the URL to see that the book is featured on this page (January 7).

Because the current publisher of the book does not have a marketing strategy many people think the book is out of print. You may secure a copy from the Florida College Bookstore. I wasn’t able to locate the book on the website, but you can send an Email to bookstore@floridacollege.edu for information. I think the book now sells for $4.95. I saw a used copy on Amazon recently for $59.96!

Florida College also recently reprinted my Studies in the Book of Revelation. It sells for $5.99. In my judgment this is an excellent source for a class study of the Revelation.

Studies in the Book of Revelation (90 page paperback) is composed of these sections.

Introducing the Book at the End of the Bible
Worthy Is the Lamb
Saints Victorious
Does Revelation Teach Premillennialism?
Letters to the Seven Churches
Emperor Worship in the Book of Revelation

If you prefer to call Florida College Bookstore and speak to one of the friendly staff, use their toll free number (1-800-423-1648).

What does this have to do with travel, you wonder. The Revelation was written to the seven churches of Asia, the Roman province of Asia Minor, in the late first century A.D. The seven cities were Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Several of them have significant ruins that can be visited. We have included them on several study tours we call Steps of Paul and John, including Turkey, Greece, and the Aegean Islands. During the course of this tour we spend some time lecturing on the setting of the Book of Revelation. We plan to do that in May when we again visit these and other cities associated with Paul and John.

This photo shows the reconstruction of the Temple of (Roman Emperor) Trajan ( A.D. 98-117). This was the second temple in Pergamum dedicated to the Emperor. The first temple in all of Asia was erected to Augustus in 29 B.C. Altogether Pergamum had three imperial temples.

Passing Through the Cilician Gate

After worship we visited the village of Ortahisar, and made another photo stop in Cappadocia. We stopped in Avanos to make a photo of the Halys River. The river marked the boundary of the early Hittite kingdom. Avanos is noted for its pottery making. In Turkey, as in many parts of the world, the old hand skills such as pottery making are being taken over by machinery. In this small town many of the people still make pottery by hand.
Elizabeth and I are joined by our driver and our guide, Orhan Ongu, for this photo at Ortahisar in Cappadocia. This is Orhan’s home town, but he now lives in Istanbul. He is a knowledgeable and personable guide. The group is enjoying his help and information.

In the afternoon we drove south to Adana through the famous Cilician Gate, the pass through the Taurus Mountains. This pass was used by famous rulers such as Xerxes, Darius, Cyrus, and Alexander the Great. This route seems to be the one taken by Paul and Silas on the second journey (Acts 15:46 – 15:1). It would have been the route used by the Romans and the Crusaders. There is a feeling of participating in history as one travels this road. The ancient road has been replaced by a modern multi-lane highway. The photo below shows the Taurus Mountains from a rest stop north of the Cilician Gates. On the left is a Roman milestone dating to A.D. 231.

We passed near Tarsus, the native home of Paul, and turned east to Adana. This was the Old Testament region of Que (Kue) and the New Testament region of Cilicia. The earliest letter of the New Testament is the one contained in Acts 15:23-29. This letter is addressed “to the brethren in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia who are from the Gentiles.” Paul and Silas traveled through the region, strengthening the churches (Acts 15:40-41). Who established these churches?

Tomorrow we will explore Tarsus, home of the Apostle Paul.

A Day in Fascinating Cappadocia

Most of our group arose early to go ballooning over Cappadocia. This was a fascinating experience, and I wanted to share one of the beautiful scenes of the landscape and some of the other balloons that were gliding under the control of their capable pilots.

We spent the entire day visiting the lunar-like Cappadocian countryside. The region is described this way: “Most of this part of Cappadocia is covered with a deep layer of tufa, a soft stone of solidified mud, ash and lava which once poured down from the now extinct volcanoes on Hasan Dagi and Ericiyes Dagi, the two great mountain peaks of Cappadocia. In the eons since then the rivers of the region have scoured canyons, gorges, valleys and gulleys through the soft and porous stone, and the elements have eroded it into fantastic crags, folds, turrets, pyramids, spires, needles, stalagmites, and cones, creating a vast outdoor display of stone sculptures in an incredible variety of shapes and colours” (John Freely, The Companion Guide to Turkey, 238).

Devout Jews from Cappadocia were present in Jerusalem on Pentecost (Acts 2:9). Peter=s letters were addressed to Christians living in Cappadocia (1 Pet. 1:1). In the centuries after New Testament times many Christians settled in this volcanic region of perhaps 50,000 cones. Hundreds of churches and numerous villages (e.g., Urgup and Goreme) were cut into these strange looking formations. Some apartment buildings are as much as 16 stories high. Subterranean cities (e.g., Kaymakli and Derinkuyu) extend downward to a depth of 8 to 10 levels. (See National Geographic, Jan., 1958; July, 1970).

Tomorrow we will travel south to Adana in ancient Cilicia. We will pass through the famous Cilician Gates in the Tarus Mountains.

Thanks for checking in each day. Here is a photo of our group which was made today by Adem Yildirim, local photographer, with my camera. How many of the group do you know?

 

 

 

Satellite View of Area of Paul’s First Journey

Take a look at this nice NASA photo as you study Paul’s travel on the First Journey (Acts 13-14).