The Mystery-Religions and Christianity (Study in the Religious Background of Early Christianity)
Edition: New Ed edition
Publisher: Citadel
Published: October 1989
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 384
ISBN-13: 9780806511429
Subjects: Occultism & quasi-religious beliefs; Religion - Church History; Religion; Comparative Religion; History
First sentence: IN order to a proper understanding of the strange phenomenon presented by the rapid spread of the Eastern Mystery-cults in the Graeco-Roman world, the conflict of Christianity with, and ultimate triumph over, its competitors, the gradual and finally almost complete subjugation of the West to Oriental ways and thoughts and modes of worship, we must take into account the political, social, and religious history of the Mediterranean world during the period of approximately seven centuries, from the invasion of the East by Alexander the Great in 334 B.C. until the foundation of Constantinople by the first Christian emperor in A.D. 327.