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<DIV><FONT face="Baskerville Old Face">Just to add a bit more to the washing and blood of the lamb bit. The Old testament story of the Flood is about Washing/ purifying/ baptizing [see Exodus}. New Testament - John Baptizing in the wilderness - with water- to purify/ symbolize washing away of sins. When the bible says Christ died on the cross at a certain time that time corresponded to the time the lambs were sacrificed in the Temple - because the curtain was torn asunder at that time sacrifices stopped. Go back to the Old Testament - Exodus - The blood of the lamb protected the eldest children from the angel of death during the plagues. I don't have the documentation from the research in front of me but my professors in my master's degree program approved my work and papers. Suprised the heck outta me at the time. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Baskerville Old Face">Lady Geva </FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt Arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A href="mailto:EoganOg@aol.com" title=EoganOg@aol.com></A></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To: </B><A href="mailto:EoganOg@aol.com" title=EoganOg@aol.com>atlantia@atlantia.sca.org</A></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> 2/26/02 4:11:23 PM </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [MR] new vs. old</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><FONT size=2><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT size=2>To the many who have emailed me, privately and on the list, regarding my statements about Mythra, the blood of the Lamb, and all that, let me clarify a couple of things. <BR><BR>First, I wasn't trying to be antagonistic. Sorry if it came off that way. I was just commenting on one of the many interesting points in Charles' post. <BR><BR>Second, everyone seems to be commenting on the "washing" aspect. What seems to be more important, and is of the utmost importance in Christian scholarship, is the sacrificial blood of the Lamb being shed for the redemption of sins. While the Christian notion "washing" may have more in common with Mythraism than Judiasm, it is of secondary importance to the sacrificial aspect. <BR><BR>The comparisons between Jesus as the Sacrificial lamb of God and the sacrificial lambs of the Jewish faith, especially the Passover lambs, are many and theologically deep. No need to go into all of that here. But my main point was that if you looking for information on the cultural signifigance and the historic origin of Jesus' blood being the "blood of the lamb" then the obvious place to look is in the Old Testament. This is, after all, the very source that the Catholic Church itself gives for the symbolism, and who would know better? ;-) <BR><BR>While the reference to "washing" may resemble certain Mythra cult practices, we don't know how much this was actually an influence, and how much it was coincidence. As a matter of fact, Christian apologists may have taken up the "washing" symbolism specifically to appeal to practicioners of the Mythra religion who would have been familiar with the idea. Others may have thought it appropriate symbolism and so it continued being used even after Mythraism died out. I doon't know this for a fact, of course. I'm just saying this may be one reason why you find the idea of "washing" in blood in both religions. <BR><BR>Or, like I said, it could be mere coincadence. After all, in Mythraism they literaly washed in the blood of a slaughtered bull. No Christian actually washed in blood, Christ's or otherwise. It's symbolic language. <BR><BR>Or, alternately, perhaps Mythraism was influenced by the language of Chrsitianity? I don't know. In any case, Christianity was influenced much more heavily by Judaism, in fact was seen as the fufillment of Judaism (and still is) by the Church. Any influence by or similarity to other faiths is incedental to that. <BR><BR>And lastly, I did not mean to suggest that the cult of Mythra was an obscure cult in first century Rome. When I called it an obscue mystery cult what I meant was that it was, at the time, one of among many mystery cults (as was Christianity). Yes, it had its heyday, but it (unlike Christianity and Judaism) died out. You don't find cults of Mythra on the street corner today. It's time in history was brief compared to Judaism, Christianity, Islam, etc. I meant obscure in this context. Sorry for any confusion. <BR><BR>Aye, <BR>Eogan Og, EDF ;-) <BR></FONT></FONT>
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