According to Dieterich the liturgy arose in the second century, and belongs to the Graeco-Egyptian Mithra-cult; about 200 A.D. it was annexed by the “magians” and from that time forward was preserved among them; about 300 it was embodied in the Paris manuscript which has come down to us. A valuable insight into the feelings and impressions associated with the Mysteries is given by the Hermetic writings, preserved mainly in “Poimandres.”_(_155_)_ They profess to be derived from Hermes, who in the thought of later times became the god of revelation, and in the prominence which they give to the philosophico-religious element they mark a stage in the development of Greek religious thought from the Mystery-religions to Neo-Platonism. In their present form the documents of this later Hermetic religion, which is marked by a certain profundity, doubtless belong to about the third century; but the original form dates, perhaps, from before the beginning of the second century. These are the cults and religions which have to be taken into account. They are parallel to Christianity in so far that they, like it—though in general doubtless somewhat later—make their appearance in the ancient world as religions of redemption. Certain analogies are not to be denied. The only question is how far these go, and how far the Mystery-religions really exercised an influence upon the views and the [pg 189] cultus-forms of the early, and especially of the primitive, church._(_156_)_ The first to examine the facts with any closeness was Anrich in his work, “The Ancient Mysteries and their Influence on Christianity.”_(_157_)_ He comes to the conclusion that both the Pauline and the Johannine views of Christianity “are to be understood as in the main original creations of the Christian spirit on the basis of genuine Judaism,” and if they show the influence of Greek thought, it is at most in a secondary fashion. There is, he asserts, “no apparent reason to refer the views on baptism and the communion-meal which meet us in the two cases to influences of the latter character.” It is only at a later time that a real influence comes into question. [pg 190] This negative conclusion has since been much disputed. That the author, in accordance with the position of Pauline scholarship at that period, did not sufficiently take into account the “physical” element in the mystical doctrine of redemption and in the conception of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and consequently does not give sufficient weight to the analogy between the religion of the Apostle of the Gentiles and that of the Mysteries, is certain. But it ought to be recognised as equally certain that to many points he has given the prominence which they deserved, and that the students of Comparative Religion would have in many respects done better if they had allowed their bold advance to be somewhat checked by his prudent warnings, and had learned something from him in regard to the formulation of the problems.