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The central role of fire stood out to me too. We see a similar role in the early Greek and Roman religions (as documented in the book "The Ancient City") as well as in Vedic religion in India. It seems to be a primordial part of Indo-European religion that was sustained in several places.
As far as I can tell, the Hypsistarians would have…
The central role of fire stood out to me too. We see a similar role in the early Greek and Roman religions (as documented in the book "The Ancient City") as well as in Vedic religion in India. It seems to be a primordial part of Indo-European religion that was sustained in several places.
As far as I can tell, the Hypsistarians would have taken pagan mythology as their mythology. I think they also would have incorporated things like Herodotus's reports on the cycles of the past and Plato's on Atlantis. The concept of prophets seems unique to Judaism, but I think the equivalent would have been great theurgists and philosophers. Pythagoras, for instance. Or, perhaps deified Emperors, like Aurelian Restitutor Orbus or Julius Caesar.
However, I don't see any evidence it has a central Christ- or Moses-like figure, which perhaps was its competitive disadvantage when confronted by a religion that DID have that.
I suspect the deified emperors likely played a somewhat minor role, alongside other deified heroes. Similar to the saint cults in Christianity. And I think you're right: having an embodied savior who existed in historical time was a crucial advantage. It made Christianity less abstract, more personal and concrete, and therefore more emotionally compelling.
I wonder if that was functionally the role of Dionysus!
Only without the wild Bacchanalias.
Need more Bacchanalias
More's the pity.