Wow. I didn't know anything about christianity before, but gee willy i feel like I have read the bible twice.

(i'm still a buddhist)

 

Just a couple of questions.

1.Mithraism was extant in the Near East at the same time, and gained ground as a majority religion in Egypt and Asia Minor at the same time that Christianity was spreading.

Do you have an opinion about why Christianity replaced Mithraism and other religions as the religion of the majority?

2.Most people believe, and it's even taught in schools, that Constantine I (Ever August) was the one who established Christianity as the state religion.

However, all he did was stop the persecutions, and visibly adopt Christianity as his personal religion.

It was actually Theodosius I (Ever August) who adopted it as the state, imperial religion in place of all the others that were available, and it was with his reign that the title Pontifex Maximus referred to the Emperor as the chief Christian bishop and priest.

Do you have an opinion about why Theodosius the Great established Christianity so firmly in Roman Imperial consciousness? What made it attractive as an imperial faith?

 

1. i'm unfamiliar with Mithraism, so i cant really give an opinion on that particulary.
2. from what i remember, christianity was embraced in rome initially during a war. didnt they paint crosses on their shields and 'miraculously' win a battle after the general had a dream about it or something? anyway, i imagine that christianity was adopted because it was easier to control than the 'pagan' religions of the time.

so now that ive given you my answer, wont you enlighten me and tell me why these questions are relevant?

 

just a question, are you implying that there really is no god, and "he" is man made by Theodosis The great? From what you said, i gathered that god isn't real only man made to control the masses?

 

At one point in time, two cousins were vying for the throne of Rome. One emperor largely regarded the christian faith to be a freaky cult, and largely ignored it. The other one was curious about christianity. Said pro-christian guy saw a shooting star one night, thought it to be a sign from God, launched a surprise offensive with the help of some zealots he gathered over the course of a day or so, and was able to route the opposing army.

And why did the roman government so firmly entrench christian thought into their form of government? Long before Marx so eloquently put it, the romans were well aware of Religion being an opiate for the masses. The previous roman mythological system had little stress inherent in obedience and complicity to the government, and Christianity was chock full of it. So why not use it to it's fullest? A despot will take every step required to maintain his position of power.

Though, I'd like to clarify that I don't think Christianity's sole purpose is to control people in some illuminati-style fashion... But I do strongly believe that whenever religion is wielded by a government, the intent is to use it as if it were a tool. Look at historical, and even current, events, and you see this is true.

 

Constantine is supposed to have seen a vision in the sky, which vision consisted of the Chi Rho Monogram:



At this stage of early Christianity, the Chi Rho symbol was more popular than the Cross as the symbol of Christianity.

At the same time, he was supposed to have heard a voice whisper to him, "This is the banner under which you will succeed."

By the time the story became firmly entrenched in western Catholicism, the Chi Rho had become the cross, and the whisper had become a blazing heavenly inscription in Latin, "In hoc signo vinces" (With this sign you will conquer).

The Chi Rho symbol remained with Christianity, especially in Orthodoxy, for centuries. The shields of the legions of Theodosius the Great bore this symbol:



This is a combination of the Chi Rho monogram and the alpha and omega from the Greek text of what Christ spoke, "We are the way and the life. We are the beginning and the ending, the alpha and the omega."

I honestly wanted to know what you felt.

We don't have a lot of writings left over from the hand of Constantine I, saint and emperor, but we have words of his secretaries. One might infer from their writings that the organisational mirror of Christianity, which copied that of the Empire, was an influence.

Although he is an Orthodox saint, many people still claim that Constantine I (Ever August) refused communion on his death bed. :eek3:

 

Amazing how different our stories are!

 

I'm aware of that argument and I'm not afraid to hear it and discuss it.

However, I really, truly am an Orthodox Christian.

 

The only reason I know about it specifically is that scientists claimed to have found the meteor that caused the event. Angle of impact, distortion of surrounding geography, depth within soil strata... all match up rather accurately to what would have been seen 1700+ years ago on that night over Italy.

 

one word, Orgazmo.