Justin Martyr: Mithras as a demonic imitation of Christ

First Apology

Chapter 66

And this food is called among us ’eucharist’, of which it is lawful for nο one to partake except one believing the things that have been taught by us are true, and who has washed in the washing which is for the forgiveness of sins and for rebirth, and who lives in just the way that Christ handed down. For we do not receive these things as common bread or common drink. But, just as Jesus Christ our Saviour was made flesh by means of a word of God, and had flesh and blood for our salvation, just so we have been taught that the food which has been eucharistized through a word of prayer which comes from him is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh-from which food our blood and flesh are nourished by metabolic process. For the apostles, in the memoirs which they caused to be made and which are called gospels, handed down in this way what Jesus has commanded them. Taking bread and giving thanks, he said: ’Do this in memory of me, this is my body,’ and taking the cup similarly and eucharistizing it he said: ’This is my blood,’ and he shared it with them. The evil demons, imitating this ίη the mysteries of Mithras, handed down that the same should be done, for you either.

Justin, Philosopher and Martyr: Apologies, trans. and ed. Denis Minns and Paul Parvis (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009).

Dialogue with Tripho

Chapter 70

‘Now, when those who hand down the mysteries of Mithras claim that he was born of a rock, and call the place where they initiate his believers a cave, am I not right in concluding that they have imitated that dictum of Daniel, “a stone was cut without hands out of a great mountain”? In similar fashion, have they not attempted to imitate all the sayings of Isaias? For the demons urged the priests of Mithras to exhort their followers to perform righteous acts. Here are the words of Isaias which I must quote that you may know from them that this is so:

“Hear, you that are far off, what I have done; and they that are near shall know my strength. The sinners in Sion have departed; trembling shall seize the impious. Who shall announce to you the everlasting place? He that walketh righteously, and speaketh truth, that hateth iniquity and injustice, and keepeth his hands clean from bribes; that stoppeth his ears from hearing the unjust judgment of blood, that shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; he shall dwell in the lofty cave of the strong rock. Bread shall be given to him, and his water shall be sure. You shall see the King in his glory, and your eyes shall look far off. Your soul shall meditate on the fear of the Lord. Where is the scribe? Where are the counsellors? Where is he that counteth those who are nourished, the small and the great people? With whom they did not take counsel, nor knew the depth of the voices, so that they did not hear. A shameless people, and there is no understanding in him who hears.”’

‘It is quite evident that this prophecy also alludes to the bread which our Christ gave us to offer in remembrance of the Body which He assumed for the sake of those who believe in Him, for whom He also suffered, and also to the cup which He taught us to offer in the Eucharist, in commemoration of His Blood. The prophecy also states that we shall see this same King in the splendor of His glory; that the foreknown future believers in Him would have in mind the fear of the Lord; and that they who think they know the very letter of the Scriptures, and who listen to the prophecies, have no understanding of them. And, Trypho (I said), when I hear it asserted that Perseus was born of a virgin, I know that this is another forgery of that treacherous serpent.’

The First Apology, The Second Apology, Dialogue with Trypho, Exhortation to the Greeks, Discourse to the Greeks, The Monarchy (or Rule) of God, trans. Thomas B. Falls (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2008).