|
They are three separate religions.
Manicheism is a religion based on the conflict between good and evil in the world and proposes a dualism that has light and darkness in conflict.
Mithraism is an ancient Persian religion based loosely on the signs of the zodiac. It has different forms, but roughly the story goes that Mithra "sprang from a rock", and killed a bull (Taurus, representing evil). Ancient Roman soldiers adopted Mithraism and brought it back to Rome. They would often have a ceremony where a bull would be killed as a replaying of Mithra's slaying of the bull.
Zoroasterianism is a monotheistic religion not unlike Judaism. It's founding and growth is strikingly similar to Islam, but was founded roughly one thousand years earlier. The "magi" of the nativity story in the New Testament are believed to have been Zoroasterian priests.
|