Pagan Roots of Christianity- From the Horse's Mouth-Origins of Religions Study 2

8/9/2019 Pagan Roots of Christianity- From the Horse's Mouth-Origins of Religions Study 2

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Types of Christianity who were the early

Christians ?


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Jesus, son of the Hebrew sky God, and Mithras,

son of Ormuzd are both the same myth. The rituals

of Christianity coincide with the earlier rituals ofMithraism, including the Eucharist and the

Communion in great detail. The language used by

Mithraism was the language used by Christians.

[...] The idea of a sacrificed saviour is Mithraist, so

is the symbolism of bulls, rams, sheep, the blood

of a transformed saviour washing away sins andgranting eternal life, the 7 sacraments, the

banishing of an evil host from heaven, apocalypticend of time when God/Ormuzd sends the wicked

to hell and establishes peace. Roman Emperors,

Mithraist then Christian, mixed the rituals and

laws of both religions into one. Emperor

Constantine established 25th of Dec, the birthdateof Mithras, to be the birthdate of Jesus too. The

principal day of worship of the Jews, The Sabbath,

was replaced by the Mithraistic Sun Day as the

Christian holy day. The Catholic Church, based in

Rome and founded on top of the most venerated

Mithraist temple, wiped out all competing son-of-god religions within the Roman Empire, giving us

modern literalist Christianity.


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"Mithraism and Christianity" by Vexen Crabtree

(2002)

How a Christian looks at the mountain ofevidence confronting him to show that what

he had come to believe as an unique and

exclusive Revalation and Faith are in fact

much the same as the Pre-Christian pagans,

which he had been indoctrinated to revile andridicule as an abomination, is a study in

human conceit and behaviour in itself.

A look at Catholic encyclopedia dealing with

this aspect of Christianity- its close

resemblance and identical core ideas, show

how there is no such thing as a free and

impartial mind within the folds of this

theology.

We can only be reminded of Julian theapostate who countered this Christian claim

to uniqueness and authenticity of Divine

Revalation thus-


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say what else.......

Early Christians were criticized for copying Pagan ideas

and stories and simply re-telling them. By the 4thcentury, the founders of the Christian Church sought

evidence and historical proof to back up their mistaken

opinion that Christianity was a new religion, derived

from the new revelations of Jesus. Eusebius failed to

find much evidence at all, except in the book of the first

century author, Philo, who described a group of people

who were clearly practicing Christian rituals:Eusebius, the fourth-century Church propagandist,

could find little evidence from which to construct a

history of Christianity, so he eagerly seized upon a

description in one of Philo's books, of a group of Jews

called the Therapeutae. Philo's description of their

spring festival is reminiscent of the Christian

celebration of Easter and Eusebius, therefore, claimedthat he had discovered the earliest Christians in

Alexandria. [... but] the spring, of course, was also the

time when Pagans celebrated their festival of the dying

and resurrecting godman, so Eusebius is unjustified in

his assumption. Philo wrote about the Therapeutae in 10

CE, which would be 20 years before the supposed date

of the crucifixion [...]. The Therapeutae are a group ofJews clearly practising a Jewish version of the Pagan

Mysteries. [...] We can tell that the Therapeutae were

Jews because they celebrated the Jewish festival of the

Pentecost and kept sacred the Sabbath. [...]


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"Jesus Mysteries" by Freke & Gandy [Book Review] (1999)4

Eusebius didn't know that Philo was writing 20 years

too early, and he had therefore uncovered additional

evidence that turn-of-the-millennium Jewish Paganismwas almost identical to Christianity in terms of rituals

and beliefs - if Jesus arrived and preached a New

Testament, it seems he really didn't have anything new

to say that wasn't already being practiced in a Christian

way by pagans. The fact that "Philo can, in one

sentence, compare the Therapeutae to both initiates of

the Mysteries of Dionysis and the followers of Moseson the banks of the Red Sea shows just how integrated

Pagan and Jewish traditions had become". They lived

"near that great melting-pot pf Pagan and Jewish

cultures, Alexandria".

Today when we trace the source of modern Christianity,

we find that Christianity was codified in the 4th

century. But in the fourth century, they didn't know

what the source of Christianity was although critics said

it was re-hashed paganism. So in the fourth century,

they too searched in history to find the source of

Christianity. They found the history of their religion to

pre-date the actual founding of their own religion. The

ancient history of Christianity is merged with the

history of Paganism and the Church Fathers in the 4th

century, so much closer to original Christianity than us,

even mistook a group of pagans for early Christians. It

wasn't the only time that they done this either, for when

Bishop Melito in 160CE when in search of the ancient


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center of Christianity, he discovered only a group called

the Ebionites, another ancient group that 4th century

Christianity rejected as heretical.

2.3. Ebionite Christians (1st-4th Century)

Ebionite Christians believed that all the Jewish Laws

had to be obeyed; including the Sabbath and

circumcision for all males. As such, they considered StPaul to be the archenemy of Christianity as he taught

that people did not have to obey the Law in order to be

saved. They believed Jesus was Human, and adopted by

God as a perfect sacrifice.

The Ebionites were some of the original Christians:

Jews who believed that Jesus was the Messiah. They

populated the legendary Jerusalem Church. 'Ebionite'was sometimes used as a term to describe all Christians.

Those who we now know as Pauline Christians

opposed the Ebionites, after discovering them and

realizing that their beliefs differed. Authors such as


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Tertullian, Origen of Alexandria, and many other

intolerant "heresy-hunters" wrote at great length against

the Ebionites. Many of the claims made against them

were based on misunderstandings of their beliefs, andmany anti-Ebionite claims were plainly ridiculous.

[Ehrman, 2003]. Pauline Christians eradicated the

Ebionites, burning all of their books (none survived)

and harassing and arresting the people until none were

left. They edited Luke 2:32 and 2:48 where Joseph was

twice called the 'father' of Jesus so that it did not say so,

and they also edited Luke 3:22 where it plainly stated,in accordance with Ebionite beliefs, that God adopted

Jesus. Pauline Christians, as non-Jewish Romans,

handily came across a mistranslated prophecy that said

Jesus would be born of a virgin (like other Roman sons-

of-gods), adding a whole two chapters to the beginning

of Matthew to prove their point. These edits, now they

are uncovered, show that the Ebionites were treated

very cruelly and unfairly, and that the original readings

of Matthew and Luke both support Ebionite

Christianity, rather than the Pauline Christianity that the

West has inherited.

If we were to guess which group was the more austere,

holy and godly, we would have to guess it was the

Ebionites rather than the Pauline Christians whoslaughtered, slandered and oppressed them.

Unfortunately the victors get to write history, and it is

Pauline Christianity that became the legacy of the


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Roman Empire. After the fourth century, the Ebionites

were vanquished.

"1st Century Christian Ebionites: The Original

Christians?" by Vexen Crabtree (2006)

2.4. Arian Christians (2nd-8th Century)

As Jewish Christianity began to develop its own

character, Jesus was no longer considered to be just a

man. He had a special relationship with god, and was

perhaps conceived of by God before anything was

created. But he was not an eternal man nor a god.

Arianism describes the pre-trinitarian doctrine of aholy, but not a godly, Jesus. It is not always

adoptionism and not always monotheistic, either. It was

defined by a negative principal (that logically Jesus

can't be God and still suffer on the cross). If Jesus was

God (i.e., perfect), Arians realized, what chance would

any Human have of imitating him? Although Arian-

sounding theologies existed from the second centuryonwards, it only became a wide point of contention

after the third century. In the third century Origen of

Alexandria, the greatest theologian of his time, had

declared that the Father was Greater than the Son. This


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principal was later named after its principal proponent

and most articulate defender, Arius (256-336CE). It was

opposed by Athanasius, who became a Nicene Christian

from 325CE. In the Roman Empire, Arian Christianitywas supplanted by intolerant Nicene Christianity by the

5th century, but remained the most popular form of

Christianity amongst the tribes surrounding the empire,

until the 8th century. [...]

The eventual victory of the Cappadocian Nicene faith

from 380CE meant that as the Empire collapsed, the

Christianity that was left behind was the dark, violent,centralized type that did not tolerate dissent. By the late

fourth century, a recognizable Roman Catholic Church

had emerged. The doctrine of the Trinity had been

created, and the vengeful violence of Nicene

Christianity was in full, open, bloody view. Anti-

semitism was given its official sanction. The edited

Nicene Creed was the only form of belief that was to betolerated. Inquisitors began reviewing religious beliefs,

condemning victims to imprisonment, torture and

public execution for failing to believe the right things.

This state of affairs persisted and plunged Christian

societies into a 1000-year long dark ages. If the Arians

had survived the onslaught and been the religion that

the Empire left behind, we would have been left with aChristianity that would have left a glowing legacy of

Jesus. Instead, the Nicene's violence and intolerance

won out, and the 'ages of faith' that resulted darkened

humanity from the fifth until the fifteenth century.


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"Arian Christianity" by Vexen Crabtree (2008)

y Gnostic Christians: With stories, myths andbeliefs that are exactly the same as Christian ones

in many of the little details, gnostic beliefs manage

to pre-date Christians ones by over 200 years.

They understood what the stories of the NT really

meant. Jesus didn't really exist, but was a

collection of such earlier stories, rewritten inGreek, with Greek names. This is the approach

taken by historians such as Freke & Gandy.

y Pauline / Roman Christians: When the Roman-

backed instance of Christianity went in search of

the ancient centres of Christianity, they discovered

to their horror that the Ebionites and Gnostics pre-dated them. Their un-Christian answer was to edit

verses, burn books, invent doctrines such as the

Trinity, arrest and harass the other poverty-stricken Christians until no opposition was left.

The form of Christianity that we have inherited

from the Roman Empire is far from what

Christianity originally was, yet most moderndenominations tookCappadocian-Nicene Pauline

Christianity as their starting point (and few have

moved far from it).


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During the first three Christian centuries, the practicesand beliefs found among people who called themselves

Christian were so varied that that the differences

between Roman Catholics, Primitive Baptists, and

Seventh-Day Adventists pale by comparison. Most of

these ancient forms of Christianity are unknown to

people in the world today.

In the second and third centuries there were, of course,

Christians who believed in one God. But there were

others who insisted that there were two. Some said there

were thirty. Others claimed there were 365.

"Lost Christianities" by Bart Ehrman (2003)1

The historian, in speaking of Christianity, has to be

careful to recognize the very great changes that it has

undergone, and the variety of forms that it may assumeeven at one epoch.

"History of Western Philosophy" by Bertrand Russell

(1946)2


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In the first few centuries CE there really

was no such thing as 'the Church', only competing

factions, of which the Literalists were one.

"Jesus Mysteries" by Freke & Gandy [Book

Review] (1999)3

So what were the original, ancient forms of

Christianity like? What happened to them? We

will see!

2.6. Roman Christianity / Pauline Christianity (4th

Century +)

"StPaul - History, Letters, Influences and Instructions;Gnosticism and Mithraism" by Vexen Crabtree (1999)

The gnostic Mithraists and Jewish Ebionites formed

the very first Christians of the first century, with

practices and beliefs based respectively on Gnostic and

Judaistic rituals, symbols and practices. Pauline

Christians dispensed with the difficult Jewish laws and

became popular amongst gentiles, soon out-numberingthe Jewish Christians, causing them to be secluded and

eventually suppressed. Increasing literalism amongst

roman converts then led the Pauline Christians to

become obsessed with enforcing their literal


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elements such as there being twelve disciples were

similarly present in other more ancient religions

and sometimes with an astonishing amount of

duplication. First century critics of Christianityvoiced accusations that Christianity was nothing

but another copy of common religions.

All the actual sayings and teachings of Jesus were

also not new, and much of the time speechesattributed to Jesus are more like collections of

Jewish and Pagan sayings. Even distinctive texts

like the Sermon on the Mount are not unique. If

we remove all the content that Jesus could not

have heard and repeated himself, there is nothingelse left. If we remove the supernatural elements

of Christianity that are copies of already existing

thought and religion, there is nothing left which is

unique! Even many of the sayings of subsequent

Christians are not unique; Jesus appears to not

have taught anyone anything that was not already

present in the common culture of the time. This

shows us that not only did Christianity follow on,

as expected, from previous thought in history but


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that we do not even need to believe in God or

supernatural events in order to account for the

history of Christianity. Stephen Hodge studied the

Dead Sea Scrolls, which were written some time

between 170BCE and 68BCE6, and very usefully

lists many of the similarities found in the Dead

Sea Scrolls to the teachings and organisation of

Jewish Christianity. He also concludes that these

Jewish documents make the teachings and

appearance of Jewish Christianity less

revolutionary.... the collection is really an invaluable cross-

section of religious material that reveals for the

first time just how rich and varied Jewish spirituallife was at that time. The scrolls offer an

intellectual and devotional landscape into whichJesus and his movement can be placed. No longer

does Jewish Christianity seem an inexplicable,

isolated occurrence. [...]

In other words, the true value of the Dead SeaScrolls is that they help provide a genuine context

for what was to become Christianity. For example,

they tell us just how widespread was the

expectation and longing for a saving Messiah


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among Jews at that time, and that there were a

number of competing theories about the expected

role of this Messiah in the world ofJudaism. The

scrolls also reveal that the expectation found in theGospels that the end of the world was imminent

was a dominant belief in many quarters in Judaea.

All biblical scholars agree that, apart from their

intrinsic value, the sectarian scrolls are of

tremendous importance as background information

to the social and religious conditions in Judaea thatled to the rise of Christianity. [... There are] subtle

implications that can be derived from the Qumran

texts, for they not only provide interesting parallels

to Christian concepts and practice but tend toreduce the uniqueness of the Yeshua movement. It

is reasonable to assume that there was perhaps notthat much direct contact between most members of

each community, but that there was a pool of

religious language and beliefs shared by many

other Jewish groups which have long since

disappeared.

"DeadSea Scrolls

"by Stephen Hodge (2001)7


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3.3. Christian Arguments Defending the Similarities

of Christianity to Paganism

The fact that many pagan religions had many of the

same dates, beliefs and practices as Christians led laterChristians to denounce them as 'satanic imitations'.

Theologians made the famous argument that the Devil

had created these pagan religions so that people would

think that Christianity was just a developed copy of

them. The Cardinal Newman argued that (be it God or

Satan's fiat) these pagan religions merely prepared

people to accept Christianity. In other words, god madepagan religions in order to teach people Christianity,

before revealing actualChristianity.

To Newman, 'Pagan literature,

philosophy and mythology were but a preparation for

the Gospel.' His Protestant counterpart, Bishop Westcott

of Durham, praised Greek thought for representingseveral stages in the unfolding of divine purpose.

Gladstone determined 'to prove the intimate connection

between the Hebrew and Olympian revelations', and

told the House of Commons that Greek mythology had

prepared minds for some of Christ's teachings. Kingsley


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agreed that it contained essential lessons in the human

relationship with the divine.

"The Triumph of the Moon: AHistory of Modern Pagan

Witchcraft" by Prof. R. Hutton (1999)8

Unfortunately, it seems that all such arguments are only

half-truths. If there is a progression of human belief,

then it implies that Christianity is itself not the final

truth. Islam, for example, claims to be host to the

teachings of the prophet that followed on from Jesus. If

this progressive march continues, then Christianityitself may well just be a stepping-stone for another

religion.

4. Literal Christianity: The Loss of

Symbolism by the Fifth Century

Jesus may well have started out as the creation ofGnostics, who were telling a symbolic story with

many parables, much mysticism, and little

historical truth. But this story paired well with theJewish community who were expecting an actual

Messiah to arrive. Whether or not Jesus existed as

an actual person, it soon transpired that the

generations after his supposed existence came tobelieve in him has an actual person. Although St

Paul wrote exactly like a gnostic in all his earlywritings, Greek authors forged seven epistles with

a strong literalist slant, which they then included in


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the Christian Bible. The sanction of an official

canon of Christian texts at the expense of all others

was the first major step towards literalist

Christianity. By the 4th century, the PaulineChristians had violently enforced their vision of a

real, historical Jesus. Christianity has become

increasingly literalist, and recent centuries have

seen the rising of fundamentalist Christianity,

which takes nearly all Biblical stories at literal face

value.

m

Paul's epistles make up 7 of the Books of the

Bible. Also, six more were written in Paul's name

at later dates (in some cases some believe the text

was written over 80 years after Paul's death).There are 13 epistles (epistles) which were

canonized into the Bible under the name of Paul.

The authentic writings are gnostic, whereas the

later pseudonymous texts are more literalist and

misogynistic.

"StPaul - History, Letters, Influences and

Instructions; Gnosticism and Mithraism" by

Vexen Crabtree (1999)


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The history of Christianity - from the death on the

cross onwards - is the history of a gradual and ever

coarser misunderstanding of an original

symbolism.

"The AntiChrist" by Friedrich Nietzsche (1888)9

5.1. The Cathars / Albigenses

The Marcionites of the 2nd century were lost to oppression,

however, their form of Christianity was not completely

eradicated. The Paulicians (followers of Marcion) and

Manicheans fused to form the Bulgarian Bogomils, who liketheir founding sects, were oppressed. But the Bogomils were

carried by Crusaders to Italy and France, where their gnostic-seeming beliefs flourished and were widely accepted.

The most interesting, and also the

largest, of the heretical sects were the Cathari, who, in the

South of France, are better known as Albigenses. [Their

beliefs] were widely held in Northern Italy, and in the Southof France they were held by the great majority [...]. The cause

of this wide diffusion of heresy was partly disappointment at

the failure of the Crusades, but mainly moral disgust at the

wealth and wickedness of the clergy. [...] The Church was rich

and largely worldly; very many priests were grossly immoral.


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[...] The more the Church claimed supremacy of religious

grounds, the more plain people were shocked by the contrast

between profession and performance. [...]

It seems that the Cathari were dualists and that, like theGnostics, they considered the Old Testament Jehovah a

wicked demiurge, the true God being revealed in the New

Testament. They regarded matter as essentially evil, and

believed that for the virtuous there is no resurrection of the

body. The wicked, however, will suffer transmigration into

the bodies of animals. On this ground they were vegetarians,

abstaining even from eggs, cheese and milk. They ate fish,

however, because they believed that fishes are not sexuallygenerated. All sex was abhorrent to them [...]. They accepted

the New Testament more literally than did the orthodox; they

abstained from oaths, and turned the other cheek.

"History of Western Philosophy" by Bertrand Russell (1946)10


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Documents

Pagan Roots of Christianity- From the Horse's Mouth-Origins of Religions Study 2