Reflections on the Similarities between the Language of the Mysteries and Patristic Literature

The article analyzes similarities between the core terms of Christian apologetic and patristic literature as well as those found in texts related to ancient mystery cults. First, we examine the examples of common vocabulary (common to the Mysteries, Hellenistic Judaism and Christianity) which cannot be convincingly designated as borrowings – words with the meaning of “secrecy” or “concealment” (μυστήριον). However, we then find examples of the use of mystery vocabulary by Christians accompanied by their metaphorical meaning found in the mysteries context – for example, the likening of the Easter Vigil to the Eleusinian torchlight procession, δᾳδουχία (both rites are held at night and precede the culmination – the celebration of the Resurrection of Christ and the epopteia in Eleusis). In other cases, the use of some “common” words by Christian authors in a rarely encountered meaning proves difficult to explain without admitting borrowing from mystery usage (this primarily concerns the word σύμβολον in the Creed). Finally, examples of similar imagery associated with light and fear are examined, the similarity of which lies not only in the lexicological plane, but also in the assumed universal features of religious experience.