Absorbing old religion

[watchamadoodle]

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.

[robvalue]

That's why the bible reads like a patchwork quilt, I presume

It makes sense. It's a win for everyone. Except people living in reality.

[Norman Humann]

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.

[vorlon13]

Call me old fashioned, I think they just need to kill everyone that ain't praying the right way to the right god.

[dyresand]

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.

[watchamadoodle]

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.

[Tonus]

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."

[Mudhammam]

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?

[AFTT47]

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.

[Minimalist]

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.

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.