(September 21, 2014 at 11:35 am)Rhythm Wrote: I thought we've been down this road before. No one brought the pitchforks.
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That's where an interactive medium like our forums really shines
I'm not sure what road you've been down, but please travel it again with me.
The Romans noticed long before Constantine. Pliny's writing to Trajan; his standard practice appears to be to execute those who refused to deconvert (and now we have ISIS- plus ca change). Any philosophy that declared Jesus as Christ (translation 'King') was immediately challenging Roman rule- and supposed sedition appears to be why execution was the process here.
The Greek cities had a whole network of assumptions about the city gods, which gave rise to hopes and fears both civic and personal. Along with many long cherished traditions and vested interests, when Paul rolled up and said that Jesus was to be worshipped as Kyrios, and the normal gods left out in the cold, people got angry. When the mob in Phillipi declared he was throwing the city into uproar by “teaching customs that it's illegal for us Romans to accept”, and a similar uproar breaks out in Thessalonica (Acts 16,17), that fits exactly with how we would expect the towns to react. There is plenty of evidence that those who denied the gods were banished or worse. (e.g. Diopeithes decree.)
The Jews even more so. By denying the role of the Temple, the Early Church were incurring the potentially lethal anger of the the Jewish authorities By denying the place of Torah, land and people, the Christians managed to alienate pretty much anyone else in Israel who wasn't already offended. The various accounts of persecution in the NT fit excellently with what we know about C1 Israel.
How did all this play out? Much like a modern tele-evangelist on tour, Paul is asked by the Corinthians to provide a 'biog', so they could big him up like a classic Greek hero. His reply? A stunning piece of merciless teasing (while making the serious point that suffering is a badge of being a member of this new family).
Here.
As to God Delusion- I think it's a classic case of someone who is brilliant in one sphere of learning being mediocre in another. Forums are useful, but are lacking in depth. One finds oneself trying to reduce an argument developed over 1000 pages of a book down to 3 lines.
