On Jesus the Christ and the Mystery Cults

Click here for more details,books and links on the topics mentioned! Similarities between Roman, Greek, and Etruscan mythologies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Similarities_between_Roman%2C_Greek%2C_and_Etruscan_mythologies Roman Religion: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_ancient_Rome Parallel Mystery Cults http://kataragama.org/research/dionysus.htm The Life Of Apollonius of Tyana http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollonius_of_Tyana Mithraic Cults in Rome http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithras Roman Religion Gallery http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/roman_religion_gallery_06.shtml Greek hero cult http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_hero_cult The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Scrolls-English-Penguin-Cl... Social World of Jesus and the Gospels http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.a... Pagans & Christians: The Personal Spiritual Experience http://www.amazon.com/Pagans-Christians-Personal-Spiritua... The Concise Oxford Companian to Classical literature http://www.amazon.com/Concise-Companion-Classical-Literat... The Power of Myth http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/102-8266632-4647333?u... The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/frazer/ The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings http://www.amazon.com/New-Testament-Historical-Introduction-Christian/dp/0195154622 Role of the Roman Imperial Cult During the Augustan Age http://janusquirinus.org/essays/Cult.html Imperial cult (ancient Rome) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_cult_(ancient_Rome) "Mark's Incipit and the Priene Calendar Inscription: From Jewish Gospel to Greco-Roman Gospel", http://craigaevans.com/Priene%20art.pdf The Bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:22-33): a problematic wedding. http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-94331936.html Roman Devotio Decius is instructed to dress the toga praetexta and to cover his head, which, as we have already seen, are usual procedures of a standard sacrifice Romano Ritu. The only elements not found elsewhere are the use of a spear laid on the ground and the act of touching the chin. While the detail of the spear is surely specific of the devotio (for Livy says later that the spear could not be captured by the enemy), the act of touching the chin may or may not be specific of the devotio. In fact it resembles the adoratio (kissing of one's right hand used to salute a deity [Plinius, Historia Naturalis, 28.25]), and it might well be a variant. But it can also be a symbol that Decius was also an offering to the gods as he was about to give his life in the sacrifice. http://www.novaroma.org/religio_romana/posture.html Religions of Late Antiquity in Practice http://books.google.com/books?id=-N6u74StgmUC&pg=PA370&lpg=PA370&dq=decius+mundus&source=web&ots=sPhWXNwdbh&sig=dP5nhZzJlROQAQkaC_NMR7tZva0&hl=en Decius Mundus http://www.utexas.edu/courses/rome/paulina.html