Evangelicalism and Empire: Rudyard Kipling on the Roman Cult of Mithras and Christianization

Abstract

Among the works of Rudyard Kipling, there are several short stories set in the Roman World that feature characters who are members of the cult of Mithras. These stories also involve Christian characters, but while the Mithraic initiates are loyal servants of the Roman Empire, the Christians create and attract disorder. The aim of this article is to explore why Kipling chose to make the heroic characters of these stories Mithraic initiates, and present the Christians in a less positive light. It will be argued that Kipling was attacking Christian evangelicals, who he disliked due to his experiences at the hands of one as a child, and also because of the difficult relationship between Christian missionaries and British imperial administrators, especially in the aftermath of the 1857 Indian Mutiny. In contrast, Kipling’s Mithras cult acknowledges that there are ‘many ways to the light’, and, moreover, by inferring that there are many similarities between the cult of Mithras and Christianity, Kipling hoped to urge evangelical Christians to moderate their behaviour and use his depiction of the Mithras cult as an example of how to better approach religious diversity within the Empire.