Was Christianity Influenced by Mystery Religions

Was Christianity Influenced by Mystery Religions? by Hank Hanegraaff is a must read.

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"S" will serve to remind us of syncretism. The mystery religions were syncretistic in that adherents not only worshipped various pagan deities but also frequently embraced aspects of competing mystery religions while continuing to worship within their own cultic constructs. Not so in Christianity. Converts to Christ singularly placed their faith in the One Who said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6). Says J. Gresham Machen, "A man could become initiated into the mysteries of Isis or Mithras without at all giving up his former beliefs; but if he were to be received into the Church, according to the preaching of Paul, he must forsake all other saviors for the Lord Jesus Christ....Amid the prevailing syncretism of the Greco-Roman world, the religion of Paul, with the religion of Israel, stands absolutely alone." 9

Apologetics — the defense of the faith — has a dual purpose. On the one hand, it involves pre-evangelism. We should thus pray that God uses our well-reasoned answers as an opportunity to share the good news that Jesus can become more real to people (like Jennings and the fellows of the Jesus Seminar )than the very flesh upon their bones. On the other hand, apologetics involves post-evangelism. During an age in which Jesus is being demeaned in both private academia and the public arena, knowing how to defend His historicity serves to strengthen our faith