From the book, ‘The Da Vinci Hoax – Exposing the Errors of the Da Vinci Code’ by Carl E. Olson and Sandra Miesel 2004 Ignatius Press, pages 145-146. Any spelling mistakes are probably mine, the {} represents footnotes and the numbers in () are page numbers from the book ‘The Da Vinci Code’.

Unfortunately for Brown and the authors of ‘Holy Blood, Holy Grail’, there is little or no evidence that most pagan mystery religions such as the Egyptians cult of Isis and Osiris or the cult of Mithras existed in the forms described in their books prior to the mid-first century. This is a significant point, for much of the existing evidence indicates that the third- and fourth-century beliefs and practices of certain pagan mystery religions are read back into the first-century beliefs of Christians – without support for such a presumptive act. It is not until at least the second century, if not the third century A.D., that there is sufficent source materials to reconstruct a reliable semblance of the pagan mystery religions. “Far too many writers use this late source material (after A.D. 200) to form reconstructions of the third-century mystery experience and the uncritically reason back to what they think must have been the earlier nature of the cults.”, writes Ronald Nash. “Information about a cult that comes several hundred years after the close of the New Testament canon must not be read back into what is presumed to be the status of the cult during the first century A.D. The crucial question is not what possible influence the mysteries may have had on segments of Christendom after A.D. 400, but what effect the emerging mysteries may have had on the New Testament in the first century.”{26}

Rather than Christian borrowing from pagan mystery religions, there is evidence that some of the pagan mystery religions may have taken and incorporated elements of Christian belief in the second and third centuries, especially as the strength and appeal of Christianity became steadily apparent. “It must not be uncritically assumed”, states historian Bruce Metzger, “that the Mysteries always influenced Christianity, for it is not only possible but probable that in certain cases, the influence moved in the opposite direction.”{27}

Unfortunately, many works written on a popular level do make that uncritical assumption and do not consider the possibility that the influence may have traveled from Christianity, not to it.

{26} Ronald Nash, ‘Was the New Testament Influenced by Pagan Religions?’ ‘Christian Research Journal’, Winter 1994. Accessed online at http://www.equip.org.

{27} Bruce M. Metzger, ‘Historicial and Literary Studies: Pagan, Jewish, and Christian’ (Grand Rapids, Mich.:W. B. Eerdmans, 1968), II. Accessed online at http://www.frontline-apologetics.com/mystery_religions_early_christianity.htm.