SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE CULT OF ISIS AND EARLY CHRISTIANITY?
Isis (Ausar as known in Kemet) was originally worshiped in Egypt as Queen alongside her brother Osiris.
Her name literally means “Throne.” She was the mother of magic, life giver and the one who used her magic to bring Osiris back from the dead. In other words, she was a Goddess of Resurrection.
Through the process of Hellenization her worship eventually spread to the Greco-Roman world where her Cult became tremendously popular, especially among women and members of the lower class.
The other appeal of the Isis Cult is that it was a universal religion, meaning anyone could join regardless of class or gender.
The Roman emperors were originally afraid of this “Eastern Cult.” Augustus called it “pornographic” and tried to stop it.
This is probably because of his antagonistic relations with Antony in Egypt at the time. However, the later emperor Caligula embraced the religion.
Temples to Isis were permitted and Isiac festivals became a part of the public and civil calendar.
The Cult of Isis satisfied many concepts that were missing in the Greek and Roman religion.
It brought ideas of freeing oneself from moral pollution, reconciliation, equality of the sexes and equality among the rich and poor.
When Christianity later came to the Roman World, it had a similar appeal among women and members of the lower classes.
Many of the statues to The Mother Mary were even built upon places where statues to Isis once were.
However, in this new Christian Cult, the role of The Goddess was diminished. In the Roman Cult of Isis, The Goddess was arguably the most powerful member of The Trio, since she is the one who had the power of resurrection.
Yet as the Romans constructed their official version of Christianity, they replaced The Cult of Isis with Patriarchal ideas that were more fitting to the Roman Public.
Some say that The Cult of Isis was destroyed by the arrival of Christianity, others say that it was absorbed by the new Religion.
However, it can’t be denied that The Cult of Isis was an incredibly popular religion in Rome at the time that Christianity arrived.
There is no doubt that Christianity wasn’t at least influenced by this very popular Egyptian Cult.
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