Follow Jesus Christ

Today it is impossible to imagine understanding Christianity without such quotes from Paul: “we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death,” “we were buried with him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we too might walk in newness of life,” “if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we shall also be united in the likeness of his resurrection,” “our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with,” “he who has died is freed from sin,” “If we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.” Many believe that this is the quintessence of the Gospel, the divine revelation itself, and do not think much about the fact that, firstly, Jesus himself did not preach the above ideas. And secondly, they are ignorant of certain historical facts.

Paul should not be accused of adding something to the authentic teaching of Jesus. In fact, he simply spoke in understandable religious language to the inhabitants of the Roman Empire. He conveyed, interpreted, and translated the Gospel for his contemporaries as best he could. To prove this, let us consider a selection of quotations from ancient sources about the mysteries that are related to the theme of dying, rebirth, and new life. These texts show the cultural background in which Paul lived and why the image of “plunging into death and resurrection” was understandable to listeners of the Greco-Roman civilization.

“Those who are initiated into the mysteries of Osiris not only learn to rejoice in the festivities, but also perceive the hope of the immortality of the soul, for the god whom they worship dies and returns to life.” Plutarch, “On Isis and Osiris” (chapter 27).

“They mourn the death of Attis, then joyfully proclaim his resurrection, and thus believe that together with him they are reborn to a new life.” Arnobius (third century), “Against the Pagans.”

“I approached the very brink of death, and having crossed the threshold of Proserpina, I returned, having passed through all the elements. In the middle of the night I saw the radiance of the sun, shining brightly. I stood before the gods of the underworld and the heavenly, and worshipped them face to face.” Apuleius, The Golden Ass (second century).

For Paul, especially in his letter to the Romans, baptism is the sacrament of immersion in death and resurrection with Christ. In the Catholic and Orthodox churches it is still a literal sacrament. In the various mysteries of that time, initiation was the same symbolic death and rebirth with the deity. However, Paul did not connect this with the mythological cycle of nature, not with an imaginary deity, but with the unique historical event of the resurrection of Jesus. Absolutely convinced of the resurrection of Jesus, which he had witnessed like many of his companions, Paul dared to combine it with pagan beliefs, synthesize them and convert people to faith in Jesus.

And why not? It was a grandmaster’s move. As a missionary approach, such a synthesis is entirely justified. The inhabitants of the Roman Empire, having seen something native in Christianity, having seen the firm belief of Christians in the fact of Jesus’ resurrection, accepted Christianity. True, for millions of people, faith in Christ still remained in the form of a sacrament based on the blood or death of Jesus. But humanity moves toward the truth slowly, along the steps of its half-true ideas. Society cannot bypass certain stages of development. Thanks to Paul, tens of thousands of convinced followers of the Eleusinian and Dionysian mysteries, the cult of Osiris, Attis, Cybele, Mithras, and so on, suddenly became Christians. If they had not seen something of their own in Christianity, Christianity would not have become a world religion.

What is the next stage of Christianity? If Christianity is not really about the mystery of dying and resurrection, what is it? The teaching of Jesus is certainly something more sublime than the naive belief that unity with God can be achieved through sacraments. The teaching of Jesus is essentially an indication of salvation through purity of heart.

Does this mean that instead of the sacraments, a person has to go to God through his own efforts, the efforts of love, faith, righteousness? Jesus’ teaching does not assume that a person can rely only on his own strength in this matter. Spiritual growth occurs independently of a person’s efforts and leads to the salvation of the soul. However, there must be efforts, there must be daily desire and persistence. Apostle Paul, following Jesus, wrote about this too. In his letters, he combined various ideas that were understood by supporters of mystery cults, sacrifices, followers of high morality, spiritual seekers of various stripes and types. As a result, Christianity won, absorbed and reworked almost all the religions of that time in the Roman Empire. Unlike our ancestors, who were content with only the crucified and resurrected Christ, we are faced with getting to know the living Jesus (in the religious sense) better and recreating His original teaching.