Blog Home | Musings on Mithras and Christ |
I usually see Mithras as an 'Archangel of Christ' . This is similar to the Archangel Michael, and in fact historically the christian Michael was originally based on Mithras, so really Michael is just an alternative name for Mithras. An angel is a messenger , and we can say that Mithras tells us about Christ by representing him in our imaginations in human form. However Mithras is not the only possible angel of Christ. So while he is nearest to Christ, he is not identical with Him. Also some people say that 'pagan' deities and angels are different from each other, but I don't really distinguish between Mithras as a deity or as an angel. It is important to point put that the Divine Christ is not the same as Jesus Christ. Christ (who I also call Chrestus) is firstly a divine being, who can have divine angels (like Mithras) or human incarnations who become similar to angels when we venerate them. (e.g. Zoroaster, Jesus and later venerated saints). If any human can claim to be 'Divine christ coming to earth' , then it would be Zoroaster as he invented the idea of a 'perfectly good person' - and so brought the idea of Christ into human history. In this case Zoroaster could also be called an avatar of Christ. Later prophets like John the Baptist and Jesus were effectively disciples of Zoroaster, and not independent avatars. |