Why Did Christianity Plagiarize Mithraism?

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The question has been asked, “Did Christianity plagiarize Mithraism?” Many have suggested that because Mithraism pre- exist Christianity approximately 600 years, that perhaps Christianity copied Mithraism. On the other hand, many believe that although there are some similarities, that Christianity is a religion of its own and does not copy Mithraism. This essay will present the meaning of syncretism. It will analyze the narratives of Mithras and Jesus, and form an opinion to whether or not Christianity duplicated Mithraism.
There have been several claims that Mithraism and Christianity are similar. Some of these resemblances are the virgin birth. According to Mithraism, Mithras was born from a virgin mother just as to Christianity where Jesus was born to a virgin mother named Mary. Another comparison is the birth date December 25. In relation to Mithraism, Mithras was born on December 25 and that a ceremony took place on this date in celebration of Mithras’ birth. Likewise, with Christianity, Jesus was born on the 25th of December and in celebration of his birth was also held called Christmas. In addition, the sign of the cross; in accordance with …show more content…

The word syncretism is derived from the modern Latin word syncretismus, drawing on Greek word synkretismos, meaning "a union of communities" ("Syncretism", n.d.). According to the thesaurus at infoplease.com ("Synonyms for Syncretism", n.d.) the word syncretism is synonymous with words like union, unification, and infusion and is related to subjects such as religion, philosophy and cultural. Whereas, the word plagiarism, which is derived from the words plagiarius, which is Latin for abductor and plagiare, which means to steal (Rajeev, 2012). As stated by inoplease.com the word plagiarism ("Synonyms for Plagiarism”, n.d.) is compared to words like infringement, stealing, copying and is related to subjects such as writing, language, and

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