Rendering unto Caesar: Christianity's Foundation

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Back in the eighteenth century a scholar of religious literature published a dissertation on the founding of Christianity. His conclusions were repeated recently by Gerd Luedemann in his book of a similar title: Paul, the founder of Christianity. Both works fall short of their intended goal because they both fail to explore the way in which Paul's sect was chosen over the other sects as the One True Sect. Why, for example, were Pauline documents included in the canon while others were excluded? These works also tend to ignore the pre-Christian aspects of the Jesus-cum-Paul cult.

A much stronger candidate for the founder of Christianity is that famous founder of Istanbul. Upon that rock was Christianity built over the subsequent centuries reaching its greatest glory in the sixth century when it committed its most egregious acts of plunder and mayhem, planting the seed for the growth of Islam. Christianity belongs more to Caesar than it does to Paul, even though it elevates Paul into the pantheon of apostles.

Many aspects of the legend of Jesus contain elements of Pagan culture. Orion walked on water and a number of mystery schools bathed their initiates. Pagan philosophers hid their true meaning behind parabolic speech and ridiculed rich priests for their hypocrisy. On the other hand, there is no evidence to support the festival of Sol Invictus as the day that the Judeo-Pagan healer parted the lips of his maternal cocoon.

The opulence of the Vatican does not convince me that the Pontifex Maximus is a vicar of a wandering scholar from the Levant. Nor does it convince me that the office reflects a bridge to a higher realm. It seems more like a bridge to Pluto than to Jupiter. Perhaps the name should be change to Plutocratus Maximus.

Furthermore, Constantine was a sort of Second Coming for orthodoxy. He saved them from two of their enemies. On the one hand, they had been persecuted by Jews and Pagans who used them as scape goats. On the other hand, they were ridiculed by the more educated heterdoxy for clinging to the Pauline milk and failing to graduate to meatier material. Constantine provided the sect with the flaming cross with which they could attack both opponents. It is that same flaming cross that we see planted on lawns by more modern worshipers of Caesar.




To whom do you award the dubious honor of being the founder of Christianity.

Comments

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

I award that honor to Jesus of Nazareth. The idea that Christianity is inherently doomed to be the religion of the Sacking of Magdeburg, the 1204 Sacking of Constantinople, and the Taiping Rebellion ignores that Christianity in Abyssinia and India seems to have avoided the whole "Kill them all for God will know his own" mentality.

As far as Constantine and his successors, the Western Ashoka Maurya wasn't exactly all that successful. The Western Empire fell to a bunch of heretical tribal confederacies, and the Eastern remained intact but is ignored by everyone because the ERE is the spanner in the works of xenophobes.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

And as far as those pre-Christian aspects, while this is so in a few ways, the degree to which it is so tends to be exaggerated, and in Europe those aspects went into a nosedive following the Protestant and Catholic Reformations. Medieval Christianity, like the variants in South America, Voodoo, and North America to the Rio was very syncretic. Medieval Christendom also considered belief in witchcraft heresy, had a true universalist ambition, and was always and forever trying to destroy European states.

In a lot of ways the Medieval Church is the darling of latter-day anarchists who want to Smash the State without ever stopping to consider who or what fills that void.

I would not...

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

... go so far as to say that they were always trying to destroy states. They controlled states with the instrument of excommunication. Any state that did not kowtow to Rome was put on the block to be plundered by its neighbors. They still needed states in order to perform the dirty deed.

The sects of Thomas and Mark...

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

The Portuguese were pretty heavy handed when it came to interacting with the followers of Prester John in Ethiopia and with the remnant of the Thomasine community in India. The latter had remained in a rather pure condition until they were introduced to the orthodox cult by Nestorians from Armenia.

Re: The sects of Thomas and Mark...

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

The Portuguese in India *were* rather brutal, sure. But then nobody gives a damn about the Oriental Orthodox, otherwise Mussolini would not be seen as the "good" fascist.

[telemann.livejournal.com]

I have no idea what you mean, but here's a very cute cat:

That is...

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

... so sweet of you. Thanks for sharing.

[fizzyland.livejournal.com]

Look what you've done to Mr. Bigglesworth!!!

[telemann.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I only use kosher animated gifs.

[paedraggaidin.livejournal.com]

That cat is exactly like the one I had as a kid! Man I miss that cat.

[the-rukh.livejournal.com]

japanese version:



They're weird.

[hardblue.livejournal.com]

I'm inclined to think that the origins of Christianity is so wrapped up in Judaism that Christianity could be said to begin when the Five Books of Moses were cast.

Do you...

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

... believe that the Pentateuch was written by Moses?

Re: Do you...

[hardblue.livejournal.com]

No, but it is a useful handle, like Homer with the Iliad.

There was some dispute...

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

... between different sects over whether the deity mentioned by Jesus was the same as that in the Pentateuch. Jesus appears to have had some insight into the polytheism of the Old Testament. He may have been initiated into the oral tradition that has been called the Kabbalah. Both the Pharisees and the orthodox Church appeared to be in the dark in that area. I would agree with you only to the degree that the Pharisees were grounded in a literal reading of the Pentateuch and the orthodox emulated the Pharisees.

Re: There was some dispute...

[hardblue.livejournal.com]

I think Jesus accepted entirely the Holy Scriptures that he had, and that he held himself out as the culmination of that history and its promise.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

I think that the 1st Century Jews, particularly Sicarii, and the 2nd Century followers of Simon Ben Kocheba might beg to differ on that account.

[404.livejournal.com]

Does this have something to do with that Zeitgeist movie? Because I have no clue where you are going with this.

Is that...

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

... this movie?



It is pretty interesting stuff. Much of this comes from research that had been done over a period of the past four hundred years.

[kylinrouge.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to find the political relevance for sophia_sadek's cross-posts from some religious studies class but I can't see any.

The political relevance...

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

... is fairly simple. There is a movement at large to turn the US into a theocracy. That movement makes religion a political topic.

[the-rukh.livejournal.com]

"It is that same flaming cross that we see planted on lawns by more modern worshipers of Caesar."

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

I think I agree with this (I'm unsure if I'm interpreting the gif correctly). :)

[root-fu.livejournal.com]

Post is beyond my knowledge of history.

Only things registering on radar involve parting the lips of maternal cocoons and second comings.