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“The Devil, whose business it is to pervert the truth, mimics the exact circumstances of the Divine Sacraments in the Mysteries of Mithras. He himself baptizes some, that is to say, his believers and followers; he promises forgiveness of sins from the Sacred Fount and thereby initiates them into the religion of Mithras; … he brings in the symbol of the Resurrection, and wins the crown with the sword.”

—Tertullian (early third century)

This is just one bit of tantalizing evidence that has led some scholars to suggest early Christians borrowed worship practices from the religions of Greece and Rome, particularly the mystery religions (see “Inside Pagan Worship” in this issue).

Christian History asked Dr. E. Glenn Hinson, professor of church history at The Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond, Virginia, to explore how much early Christians worshiped like their pagan neighbors.

Some scholars have claimed the apostle Paul was essentially a devotee of Greek mystery religions, that we cannot understand the New Testament without understanding the language of the mystery religions. Hardly anyone would now agree.

Still, most scholars recognize that over several centuries Christianity did not escape the effects of Greek and Roman culture. The question is, to what extent did the culture’s religions shape the lives and customs of Christians?

To answer that question, we must divide early Christian attitudes by historical periods.

The church experienced little Greek and Roman influence in its earliest years. In the age of the apostles, up to about A.D. 70, the predominance of Jewish Christians in the churches assured the influence of Judaism. Because Judaism was diverse, we find variety in worship across the vast reaches of the Roman Empire. The New Testament gives evidence of at least four styles of Christian worship: temple worship (Acts 2:46), synagogue worship (Acts 16:13, 16), a fellowship meal concluded by the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11), and a charismatic type of service with emphasis on prophecy (1 Cor. 14). None of these approaches to worship significantly reflects Greco-Roman customs.

From the late first century on, though, Gentiles came to outnumber Jews in the Christian assembly. They imported in subtle ways some of the ideas, attitudes, and customs of Greek and Roman culture. And to make Christianity attractive to Gentile hearers, Christian missionaries adopted their language and even their ideas.

When Justin Martyr (c. 100–c. 165) wrote his Apology, for instance, he spoke of baptism as “illumination,” a word packed with meaning for Greek and Roman intellectuals. Ignatius of Antioch (c. 35–c. 107) characterized the Lord’s Supper as “the medicine of immortality.” Other apologists (defenders of Christianity) called the Supper “the unbloody sacrifice.”

These early evangelists, though, chose their words cautiously. Justin took great pains to qualify what he said about baptism, the Eucharist, and even the word Sunday.

Like other Christians, he still preferred “Lord’s Day” and went out of his way to note that Christians worshiped “on the day which is called Sunday” (by non-Christians).

The apologists realized the similarities of Christianity to mystery religions, so they felt compelled to differentiate true custom from false. To Justin, the breaking of the bread and sharing of the cup were things “evil spirits have taught to be done, out of memory, in the mysteries of initiations of Mithras. For in these likewise, a cup of water, and bread, are set out with the addition of certain words, in the sacrifice or act of worship of the person about to be initiated.”

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