THE ROBERT W. WHITAKER ARCHIVE

HISTORICAL FACT AS HISTORICAL FICTION | 2005-06-21

This is from Book One of the Arthurian Saga by Mary Stewart. It takes place in the fifth century, which will require a little arithmetic on your part.

When Christians met Mithraism, Christians honestly believed that the Mithraism from Iran had copied Christian doctrine, just as Old Testament fanatics today believe that the Magi had to know the Old Testament.

They've got it backwards.

So here is Mary Stewart's very accurate portrayal of Mithraism in the fifth century:

" I knew I had seen more than was in the painting. I had seen the soldiers' god, the Word, the Light, the Good Shepherd, the mediator between the One God and man. I had seen Mithras, who had come out of Asia a thousand years ago (500 BC). He had been born, Ambrosius told me, in a cave at mid-winter (December 25), while shepherds watched and a star shone....and then, after eating his last meal of bread and wine, he was called up to heaven. He was the god of strength and gentleness, of courage and self-restraint."

Mary Stewart is a good Catholic. But she does not depend on ignorance to confirm her faith.