The Abrahamic Prometheus

Ah Prometheus, promises! What promise did Prometheus bring only to be forever punished by his mortal parts, by the birds of vengeance that picked at his liver? He brought fire and with fire people could cook and get better food and have bigger families and then proceed to overpopulate the planet. He brought fire by which man could work metals, plunder the earth for more. With fire man could make swords and with swords man could kill and make war and make even bigger machines of war. With fire man could smelt gold and create objects that people still kill everyday for!  

From mans propective, Prometheus's actions had a positive effect, while Satan's had a negetive effect. The basis of the story is also different, in the former you have a situation of, "its a hard world, but Prometheus made it easier", in the second "its a hard world, we are here thanks to Satan, who incidentally  is trying his damnest to make it harder". One is seen as an agent of good, one as a cause of disaster.

He was a big maybe! It did marry a lot of factors that had been separate beforehand and world religion as a whole became more organized. It was interesting in that it took in Indian beliefs as well. We could suspect Alexander as being responsible, for he conquered Persia and marched on India. As a synchronistic religion this worship was about as realistic as a loaf of sliced bread wrapped in plastic, it was just too clever by half to be an organically grown religion and used lavish dollops of Greek logic.

Mithra was not so much referred to as a god, but a friend on earth from above. He also was looked upon as a sort of Prometheus, as a sun god he gave the world the gift of fire. His worship purified and freed the devotee from sin and disease.

With this forerunner and rival of early Christianity we deserve to know more, but the gospels of Mithra became destroyed or absorbed into the church triumphant. The obvious references this �light of the world come to earth to live among us� are the three wise men from the east who said they were following his (Jesus�s) star. Christ directly refers to this way when he told of killing the prophets between temple and alter, the way Zoroaster (the prophet of the East) died, nobody else had the same story.

The biggest failure of the Mithra religion was to not allow a major place for women and so Christianity became their choice of worship. This is despite the largest temple with a Mithra connection dates from 200 BC in western Iran and is dedicated to "Anahita, the Immaculate Virgin Mother of the Lord Mithras".