Our server costs ~$56 per month to run. Please consider donating or becoming a Patron to help keep the site running. Help us gain new members by following us on Twitter and liking our page on Facebook!
Current time: November 30, 2024, 3:45 am

Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Absorbing old religion
#1
Absorbing old religion
Imagine you conquer some pagans and force them to become Christians. How do you accomplish that when people are very attached to their old religion? Apparently a popular method was to absorb the old religion into Christianity. If the people worship a fertility goddess, then convince them that St. Mary is the same goddess. Some of the mythological stories about the fertility goddess become stories about St. Mary.

This process of absorbing the old religion probably happened on a smaller scale too. When a new political group became dominant in a religion, they would not be able to force their new orthodoxy on the masses. Instead they would try to absorb the old traditions into the new traditions.

Probably the oddities in religious texts and traditions would provide clues to earlier traditions.

Sorry if this is boring. Smile
Reply
#2
RE: Absorbing old religion
That's why the bible reads like a patchwork quilt, I presume Tongue

It makes sense. It's a win for everyone. Except people living in reality.
Feel free to send me a private message.
Please visit my website here! It's got lots of information about atheism/theism and support for new atheists.

Index of useful threads and discussions
Index of my best videos
Quickstart guide to the forum
Reply
#3
RE: Absorbing old religion
Easter and Christmas both came from pagan holidays in an effort to draw the people from their original cult to christianity.

What's funny is, I was told that by a priest. He didn't seem to be bothered at all.
Reply
#4
RE: Absorbing old religion
Call me old fashioned, I think they just need to kill everyone that ain't praying the right way to the right god.
Reply
#5
RE: Absorbing old religion
i told my parents that jesus wouldn't have born december 25th and celebrating it would be pissing him off because its a Pagan holiday even Easter. Can't wait for Easter cheap chocolate.
Atheism is a non-prophet organization join today. 


Code:
<iframe width="100%" height="450" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/255506953&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;visual=true"></iframe>
Reply
#6
RE: Absorbing old religion
Another thing to consider: who is aware of the deceit? Are the leaders within Christianity aware that they are absorbing the myths about pagan deities into the stories of saints so that the pagans can continue to practice their old religion while appearing to practice Christianity? This would imply that the church leaders know they are peddling nonsense (to some degree). Or is this a bottom-up process where the Church destroys all the idols of the fertility goddess, but the oppressed pagans find that icons of St. Mary can substitute for the idols? Then gradually the traditions of the fertility goddess percolate upwards into Christian tradition?

Church tradition says that St. Mary relocated to Ephesus which coincidentally was a major center of worship for the fertility goddess Artemis. I believe much of the reverencing of St. Mary originated in Ephesus.

Or take the Exodus story being discussed in Drich's thread. Isn't that story weird? Imagine you're a Jewish religious person composing or editting the Torah just before you return from Persia to Judah. How do you convince the Jewish exiles and the indigenous Jews that this Torah with its traditions is legit? Maybe you are trying to repackage Zoroastrianism that is popular in the Persian government into a form suitable for Jews.
Reply
#7
RE: Absorbing old religion
(January 28, 2015 at 2:48 pm)watchamadoodle Wrote: Imagine you conquer some pagans and force them to become Christians. How do you accomplish that when people are very attached to their old religion?
The threat of force. Even if it's just used as a background factor. "We'll accommodate your religion as best we can, but if we can't come to an agreement where our god is supreme, we will stamp out your god."
"Well, evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts don't go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's in this century, but apples didn't suspend themselves in midair, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from ape- like ancestors whether they did so by Darwin's proposed mechanism or by some other yet to be discovered."

-Stephen Jay Gould
Reply
#8
RE: Absorbing old religion
Nobody actually thought that the story of a hero falling and suffering only to be exalted over his enemies ("the bad guys") in the end was an original or exclusive development to their religion, right?
He who loves God cannot endeavour that God should love him in return - Baruch Spinoza
Reply
#9
RE: Absorbing old religion
If you believe Archarya S/Dorothy Murdock, there isn't a single thing in Christianity that wasn't taken from prior religions. For those of you who don't know who she is, her views are controversial. I don't know what to make of her or her claims. On one hand, she's a fruitloop who embraces silly conspiracy theories. On the other hand, she's a tireless researcher who seems to make honest attempts to answer her critics. Some respected scholars admire her while others think she's a crackpot.

Regardless, there is no denying Christianity's Borg-like assimilation strategy. The Christmas and Easter thing are the most obvious but I'm pretty sure the Noah's Arc story was floating around long before Christianity was thought of too.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.

Albert Einstein
Reply
#10
RE: Absorbing old religion
(January 28, 2015 at 2:48 pm)watchamadoodle Wrote: Imagine you conquer some pagans and force them to become Christians. How do you accomplish that when people are very attached to their old religion? Apparently a popular method was to absorb the old religion into Christianity. If the people worship a fertility goddess, then convince them that St. Mary is the same goddess. Some of the mythological stories about the fertility goddess become stories about St. Mary.

This process of absorbing the old religion probably happened on a smaller scale too. When a new political group became dominant in a religion, they would not be able to force their new orthodoxy on the masses. Instead they would try to absorb the old traditions into the new traditions.

Probably the oddities in religious texts and traditions would provide clues to earlier traditions.

Sorry if this is boring. Smile

This was the ancient Roman model. Conquer an area and incorporate its religion into the state pantheon. Xtianity had a much simpler method. They would look to convert the king to at least call himself a xtian - didn't matter if he believed their bullshit or not...just like now - and tell the rest of the tribe that they had to be xtians too.

Xtianity was always about power. "Religion" is just the product it sells.
Reply



Possibly Related Threads...
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  Religion hurts homosexuality but homosexuality kills religion? RozKek 43 12185 March 30, 2016 at 2:46 am
Last Post: robvalue
  Terrorism has no religion but religion brings terrorism. Islam is NOT peaceful. bussta33 13 5523 January 16, 2016 at 8:25 pm
Last Post: The Grand Nudger
  Religion's affect outside of religion Heat 67 21421 September 28, 2015 at 9:45 pm
Last Post: TheRocketSurgeon
Rainbow Gay rights within the template of religion proves flaws in "religion" CristW 288 58903 November 21, 2014 at 4:09 pm
Last Post: DramaQueen
  Religion Vs Religion. Bull Poopie 14 5624 September 8, 2010 at 9:02 pm
Last Post: Oldandeasilyconfused



Users browsing this thread: 3 Guest(s)