Mystery Religions
In the mystery religions, salvation was less worldly and communal, and more a mystical belief concerned with the continued survival of the individual soul after death. Some savior gods associated with this theme are dying and regenerating gods, often associated with the seasonal cycle, such as Osiris, Tammus, Adonis, and Dionysos. A complex of soteriological beliefs was also a feature of the cult of Cybele and Attis.
The similarity of themes and archetypes to religions found in antiquity to later Christianity has been pointed out by many authors, including the fathers of the early Christian church. One view is that early Christianity borrowed these myths and motifs from contemporary Hellenistic mystery religions, which possessed ideas such as life-death-rebirth deities and sexual relations between gods and human beings. While Christ myth theory is not accepted by mainstream historians, proponents attempt to establish causal connections to the cults of Mithras, Dionysus, and Osiris among others. (see also Zeitgeist: The Movie)
Read more about this topic: Soteriology
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