Ancient mystery religions and the possible psychedelic roots of Christianity

I have not listened yet. I'm going to leave by the description. But if he is reporting to find some type of previously undisclosed link behind various Christian rituals and pre-existing pagan practices, that's not exactly new. And it doesn't deny the agency of the Holy Spirit, at least theologically.

I may give it a listen but I've only listened to a few hours of podcasts since the 17th so I'm a bit behind

 

Therein lies the explanation. As my former brother-in-law said to his boys - not sending you to Jesuit - don't want you f'ed up like your uncle.

 

Thank you for an interesting link. I have been "cracking on" catching up with Bart Ehrman, Aaron Ra, Graham Hancock, and "Myth Vision" on this subject matter, among other podcasters. Early Christian worshipping habits, the "flood" myths from other cultures, Good ole "Ayahuasca Hancock" (Was Moses "hittin that thang" when he saw the burnin bush)? The relationship of Greek culture to Christianity - Hey ALL the gospels and early translations were written in Greek, NOT Latin or Hebrew, and the many inter-relationships of Abrahamic Religons is very fascinating subject matter for the secular mind.

 

I have read several of Bart Ehrman's books (more in the queue) and soon to begin Albert Schweitzer's book on historical Jesus. It is an intriguing subject to me and given me a lot of insight.

 

Brian Muraresku graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Brown University with a degree in Latin, Greek and Sanskrit.

 

Bart is my favorite homey right now. The "holmes" knows his shyatttt.
Seriously - I am going to subscribe to his paywall - Basicly purchase his visual course work.

I have learned more about Christianity in 3 months of watching the occassional podcast he gives as compared to 50 years
sitting in the pews listning to the same old speal and shtick, repeated endlessly with no debate or counter dialouge.

It is a fascinating subject and Bart reveals much about the reality, of not only the Christian Religon, but all the Abrahamic Religons.

Bart does it without insult as well, he will give out the occassional "chuckle" when he debates Christian Nationalists from time to time,
and he will engage in debates with that side.

 

Bart is a lightweight.

 

Sunday, day of the sun, a day of rest in honor of Sol Invictus as decreed by Constantine (a deathbed convert):

 

A lot of people would argue he’s where the Christian faith went off the rails.

 

I met Jesus once whilst on shrooms

 

I read Schweitzer’s book probably close to 40 years ago. It was strange. In his quest for the historical Jesus, he found no true evidence and then used his lack of evidence as a need for faith. Therefore proving the divinity of Jesus. I was not impressed.

 

So I guess we both would have liked it to remain on obscure cult that died out centuries ago

 

Or metasticized.

 

Bertrand Russell’s Why I’m Not a Christian had the net effect of shoring up my faith.

 

I too have problems with miracles. They say “a miracle happened”. I hear “Magic happened” and, of course, magic is an illusion and not real.

 

Blame Constantine is one of my favorite Facebook pages. Check it out!

 

Reaching the conclusion Jesus was /is not God, nor conceived in the womb of a virgin, or literally rose from the dead resulted in an increase in my faith. The Bible is rich in metaphor. It is not a book to be taken at face value. It has multiple levels of interpretation for the discerning student.

Julius Caesar was deified after his death.
Becoming a God: The Deification of Julius Caesar

"From a politician belonging to a patrician family, to general and finally the dictator of Rome: Julius Caesar was an ambitious man who steadily advanced his career until he was mercilessly murdered in 44 BC. But even a brutal death could not halt his progress. Upon his death he received an honor that rarely any man in Rome had achieved before him: apotheosis.

"The official deification of Julius Caesar in Rome took place in 42 BC when the senate had him deified posthumously. But his divine status had been accepted by the people of Rome soon after his death when a comet appeared in the sky during the funeral games held in his honor by Augustus in 44 BC. Known as the Sidus Iulium or Caesar’s Comet, this was hailed as a sign that Caesar had taken his place amongst the gods.

"The deification of Caesar is recounted by Suetonius: “He died in the fifty-sixth year of his age, and was numbered among the gods, not only by a formal decree, but also in the conviction of the common people. For at the first of the games which his heir Augustus gave in honour of his apotheosis, a comet shone for seven successive days, rising about the eleventh hour, and was believed to be the soul of Caesar, who had been taken to heaven; and this is why a star is set upon the crown of his head in his statue.”

Julius's nephew, adopted son Augustus later gained control of the Roman empire.

"Statue of the deified Caesar in the Pantheon
The Pantheon is also an important building connected with the deification of Julius Caesar. It contained a statue of the deified Caesar in one of the niches, in the midst of the statues of other gods. Cassius Dio recounts that according to Agrippa’s original plan, the Pantheon was to be named after Augustus and the emperor’s statue was to be placed in it. But when Augustus didn’t accept either of these honors, Agrippa placed a statue of the deified Caesar in the main room of the Pantheon while his and Augustus’ statues were placed in the anteroom."

The article goes on to state, "The deification of Julius Caesar made it commonplace for consequent emperors to be instated as gods by the senate and worshipped after their deaths."

Though Augustus (Octavian) apparently never claimed outright to be a god, he was regarded as such and proclaimed to be the "son of god." Divi filius - Wikipedia.
Then Tiberius foillowed by Caligula who proclaimed himself 'god.'

The gospel of Jesus was spread throughout the Roman empire after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE and the resulting diaspora. The story of the lowly carpenter's son from the region of Galilee and his teachings were likely told and retold before being recorded. I think there can be little doubt those stories would have been embellished and contrasted with the religious accolades attached to the Caesars who were rulers in that era.