“There were debates still going on after that too”.

Yes, but I think that Nicea was the first time that there was an official creed, stating what one needed to believe to be a Christian. (The dating of the Apostles' Creed is uncertain).

You may well be right about Mithraism; I'm sure you know more about these things that I do. Hyam Maccoby, whom Keith Michael quotes, relates Paul to pagan Mystery cults, especially those of Attis.

However, I did write about the connections between Jesus and Mithras once (A Resurrection for Christianity? — The Virgin Birth and the Resurrection of Jesus | by Graham Pemberton | Medium), saying:

“Special mention is reserved for the god Mithras, born to the virgin Anahita, who:

• was born on December 25th
• was wrapped in swaddling clothes, placed in a manger and attended by shepherds
• was considered a great traveling teacher and master
• had twelve companions or “disciples”
• performed miracles
• sacrificed himself for world peace
• ascended to heaven
• was called the Good Shepherd, the “Way, the Truth and the Light,” the Saviour, the Messiah.

Furthermore, Mithraism emphasised baptism, and had a Eucharist (Lord’s Supper) although, interestingly, no death and resurrection. It was widespread throughout the Roman Empire at that time. If that list is not enough to persuade someone that Christianity has been moulded onto Mithraism, for the obvious reason of seeking to appeal to these ‘pagans’, thus converting and absorbing them into Christianity, then I don’t know what would be”.

I did receive a critical response from Jonathan Poletti: “I'm looking up Mithraism and finding none of this information you cite”, referring me to a wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithraism#:~:text=Mithraism%2C%20also%20known%20as%20the,centered%20on%20the%20god%20Mithras.

I responded: “Well, wikipedia is ok, but not necessarily an authoritative source. You’re not meant to quote it when submitting work for proper publication, for example. My source for that list was:

https://stellarhousepublishing.com/mithra/

based on the work of a published scholar Acharya S/D.M. Murdock. I selected those items from a list about a third of the way in. As I said in my footnote, the whole list is a selection, not from a single figure. That’s repeated in the text.

Obviously we have to rely on the work of others when writing our stuff. Perhaps she is fallible, but I prefer her to wikipedia. Please let me know if you find anything incorrect for certain in there”.

As I said, I think we have to delve into Paul more deeply.