‘Salvation’ (Soteria) and Ancient Mystery Cults
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Theodora Suk
Abstract
In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it was often held that ancient mystery cults were ‘religions of salvation’ (Erlösungsreligionen). Such interpretations have been criticised by Walter Burkert in Ancient Mystery Cults (1987), who argued against the other-worldly character of Greek mysteries. Burkert’s work remains one of the most important studies of mystery cults today; nevertheless it does not examine the actual use of the Greek word soteria (‘salvation’, ‘deliverance’, ‘safety’), which is central for determining whether Greek mystery cults were indeed ‘Erlösungsreligionen’. This article investigates the extent to which Greek mystery cults could offer soteria (‘salvation’) in the eschatological sense. By examining the language of soteria in the best-known mystery cults in ancient Greece, it will ask whether Greek eschatological hopes were ever expressed in the language of soteria or in other terms. It will be demonstrated that, even when used in relation to mysteries, soteria did not mean anything other than protection in the here-and-now, so that what was offered was predominantly a this-worldly ‘salvation’. If early Christianity indeed derived its most important concept (soteria) from Greek religion, it was a derivation with a significant adaptation and change in meaning.
© 2017 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelei
- Contents
- I. Sacra Privata: Domestic Religion in Greco-Roman Antiquity and Early Christianity
- Domestic Religion in Greco-Roman Antiquity and Early Christianity
- The Spaces of Domestic Religion in Late Antique Egypt
- Location of Domestic Rituals in the Roman Empire: An Interprovincial Comparison
- The roles of Isis in Roman domestic cults: A study of the “Isis-Fortuna” bronze statuettes from the Vesuvian area 37
- Household and Family in Diaspora Judaism
- Re-envisioning Ekklēsia Space: Evidence of the Flexible Use of Household Space for Religious Instruction and Practice in the Pastoral Epistles
- A Missing Sacrament? Foot-washing, Gender, and Space in Early Christianity
- Domestic religion, family life and the apocryphal Acts of the Apostles
- “When the Saints Go Marching in”. Gregory of Tours and his domestic Oratory
- Sacra Privata, Family Duties, and the Dead: Insights from the Fathers and Cultural Anthropology
- The Cult in the Cell
- Shedding Light on Early Christian Domestic Cult: Characteristics and New Perspectives in the Context of Archaeological Findings
- II. Savior Gods in the Mediterranean World
- Theoi Soteres
- ‘Salvation’ (Soteria) and Ancient Mystery Cults
- III. Varia
- King Osiris and Lord Sarapis
- Morality, Emotions and Reason: New Perspectives in the Study of Roman Magic
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelei
- Contents
- I. Sacra Privata: Domestic Religion in Greco-Roman Antiquity and Early Christianity
- Domestic Religion in Greco-Roman Antiquity and Early Christianity
- The Spaces of Domestic Religion in Late Antique Egypt
- Location of Domestic Rituals in the Roman Empire: An Interprovincial Comparison
- The roles of Isis in Roman domestic cults: A study of the “Isis-Fortuna” bronze statuettes from the Vesuvian area 37
- Household and Family in Diaspora Judaism
- Re-envisioning Ekklēsia Space: Evidence of the Flexible Use of Household Space for Religious Instruction and Practice in the Pastoral Epistles
- A Missing Sacrament? Foot-washing, Gender, and Space in Early Christianity
- Domestic religion, family life and the apocryphal Acts of the Apostles
- “When the Saints Go Marching in”. Gregory of Tours and his domestic Oratory
- Sacra Privata, Family Duties, and the Dead: Insights from the Fathers and Cultural Anthropology
- The Cult in the Cell
- Shedding Light on Early Christian Domestic Cult: Characteristics and New Perspectives in the Context of Archaeological Findings
- II. Savior Gods in the Mediterranean World
- Theoi Soteres
- ‘Salvation’ (Soteria) and Ancient Mystery Cults
- III. Varia
- King Osiris and Lord Sarapis
- Morality, Emotions and Reason: New Perspectives in the Study of Roman Magic
