Today is observed in the USA as Martin Luther King, Jr. day. This year marks the 40th anniversary of US President Ronald Reagan signing into law the bill that established Martin Luther King Day. Although I normally do not take this day off (nor presidents’ days unless sometimes when I am out of town), I thought it might be appropriate to quote some writings from the late Martin Luther King, Jr.

His birth name was Michael King, Jr. His father was also born Michael King, but the elder King changed his and his son’s names following a 1934 trip to Germany to attend the Fifth Baptist World Alliance Congress in Berlin in honor of the Protestant leader, Martin Luther.

Martin Luther King was a Baptist minister who became best known as a civil rights activist.

January 15, 2023
President Joe Biden made a historical pilgrimage Sunday to “America’s freedom church” to mark Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, saying … that the civil rights leader’s life and legacy “show us the way and we should pay attention.” https://www.voanews.com/a/in-tribute-to-rights-leader-king-biden-invokes-battle-for-the-soul-of-this-nation-/6919321.html

As far as his legacy goes, Martin Luther King, Jr. also noticed certain things about religion before he became well known as a civil rights leader.

Much of this is overlooked by most. This post might be the only place today to point out that in the middle of the last century, Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote about many things, including Mithraism. Mithraism was a religion that observed Sunday and had followers such as the Roman Emperor Constantine in the 4th century.

Here is some of what Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote about it in a paper dated November 23, 1949:

In Avesta, Mithra was the genius of celestial light…The doctrine of the immortality of the soul was another view which was very prominent in Mithraism …
Women were compelled to seek salvation in some other cult, for Mithraism excluded them entirely …
When Mithraism is compared to Christianity, there are surprisingly many points of similarity. Of all the mystery cults, Mithraism was the greatest competitor of Christianity …
That Christians did copy and borrow from Mithraism cannot be denied (King ML. The papers of Martin Luther King, Jr, Volume 4. Clayborne Carson, Ralph Luker, Penny A. Russell editors/compliers. University of California Press, 1992, pp. 213-214, 217, 222, 224).

Here are some of his writings dated February 15, 1950:

Mithraism … was suppressed by the Christians sometime in the latter part of the fourth century A.D.: but its collapse seems to have been due to the fact that by that time many of its doctrines had been adopted by the church, so that it was practically absorbed by its rival.
… the Church made a sacred day out of Sunday partially because … of the resurrection. But when we observe a little further we find that as a solar festival, Sunday was the sacred day of Mithra: it is also interesting to notice that since Mithra was addressed as Lord, Sunday must have been “the Lord’s Day” long before Christian use. It is also to be noticed that our Christmas, December 25th, was the birthday of Mithra, and was only taken over in the Fourth Century as the date, actually unknown, of the birth of Jesus.
To make the picture a little more clear, we may list a few of the similarities between these two religions: (1) Both regard Sunday as a Holy Day. (2) December 25 came to be considered as the anniversary of the birth of Mithra and Christ also. (3) Baptism and a ritual meal were important parts of both groups …
In summary we may say that the belief in immortality, a mediator between god and man, the observance of certain sacramental rites…were common to Mithraism and Christianity. (King ML. The papers of Martin Luther King, Jr, Volume 4. Clayborne Carson, Ralph Luker, Penny A. Russell editors/compliers. University of California Press, 1992, pp. 307, 309.)

Notice that Martin Luther King, Jr. clearly understood that the Sunday churches dropped the Sabbath, that “the Lord’s Day” essentially first meant the day of Mithra, and that the worlds’ churches did adopt many practices from Mithraism. Much of what now is called “Christianity” is a compromise with the religion of Mithraism.

I wish that Martin Luther King, Jr. and others would have emphasized this aspect of his writings more. I would also add that Christians faithful to the original teachings of Christ, the apostles, and the New Testament did not adopt the practices of Mithraism.

Actually, early records show that there were basically two main groups that professed Christianity. One that was mainly based upon the Bible, and the other that accepted doctrines from those who followed Simon Magus and Mithras.

While Dr. King was most known for his civil rights protests, he figured out that much of what passed for Christianity in his day was really a form that adopted Mithratic practices.

Does that include your version of Christianity? Are you sure?

Related Items:

Church of Rome, Mithras, and Isis?

Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God Differs from Protestantism

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