Post by maddogblues on May 21, 2010 13:21:56 GMT -5
The First Christians
The
Testimony
of New Testament Scholars
"The Jesus Movement"
Diversity of Early Christianity
Paul's Mission and Letters
Paul's Congregations
The Roles for Women
Wrestling With Their Jewish Herritage
The Collision with Paganism
Kingdoms in Conflict
In the Catacombs
also »
A Map of the Communities
which Paul founded in the Mediterranean basin.
Women In Ancient Christianity: The New Discoveries
Scholar Karen King examines the evidence concerning women's important
place in early Christianity. She draws a surprising new portrait of
Mary Magdalene and outlines the stories of previously unknown early
Christian women.
Jewish Scriptures
In his teaching, Jesus often quoted the Jewish Scriptures; after his
death, his followers turned to them for clues to the meaning of his life and message. Biblical scholar Mark Hamilton discusses the history of
these ancient texts and their significance for early Christians and
their Jewish contemporaries.
Audio Excerpt from the Documentary
On the archaeological findings at the ruins of Corinth and what they
reveal about who the early Christians were, and how they worshipped.
Types of Christianity in History
Who Were the First Christians?
Mithraism and
Early Christianity1st
Century Christian Ebionites: The Original Christians?Arian
Christianity (the Father is Greater than the Son): A Precursor to Modern ChristianityChristian Marcionites: 2nd Century ChristianityHow Modern Christianity Began: The Cappadocian-Nicene-Pauline Roman
Amalgamation
1. Christianity was Massively Varied
Christianity is not a single, ancient religion. It is a series of religions all given the
same name. Many assume that only modern Christianity to be what
Christianity is. Some historical forms of Christianity have made more
sense, and some have made less sense, than the Christian mythology that is common today.
“During the
>first three Christian centuries, the practices and beliefs found among
>people who called themselves Christian were so varied that that the
>differences between Roman Catholics, Primitive Baptists, and Seventh-Day
> Adventists pale by comparison. Most of these ancient forms of
>Christianity are unknown to people in the world today.
>In the second
>and third centuries there were, of course, Christians who believed in
>one God. But there were others who insisted that there were two. Some
>said there were thirty. Others claimed there were 365.”
>"Lost
> Christianities" by Bart Ehrman (2003)1
>
>
'Christianity' as a single religion is not 2,000 years old.
A series of varied
different religions, flowing on from one another, have all called
themselves "Christian". Rightly so. But the beliefs and form have
changed so much from time to time that it is best to consider
Christianity a series of religions and the word "Christianity" to be an
umbrella term for multiple faiths all of which have the same name but
different beliefs. Unfortunately for hundreds of years until the
Enlightenment, it was thought that modern-day Christianity in its
various forms, represented early Christianity. It hardly does.
Christianity now is quite varied, but in history the varieties
were much more exotic.
“The
>historian, in speaking of Christianity, has to be careful to recognize
>the very great changes that it has undergone, and the variety of forms
>that it may assume even at one epoch.”
>"History
> of Western Philosophy" by Bertrand Russell (1946)2
“In the first few centuries CE
>there really was no such thing as 'the Church', only competing
>factions, of which the Literalists were one.”
>"Jesus Mysteries" by Freke &
>Gandy [Book Review] (1999)3
So what were the original, ancient forms of Christianity like? What
happened to them? We will see!
2. The
Earliest Christianities
2.1. Mithraism
and Christianity (200BCE +)
Many
have realized that as Christianity copied, re-named and inherited many
Pagan myths, such as those of Mithraism, that it is hard to pin down a
"start" date for Christian ideas. If you go back far enough, Christian
history is actually pagan history.
“Jesus,
> son of the Hebrew sky God, and Mithras, son of Ormuzd are both the
>same myth. The rituals of Christianity coincide with the earlier
>rituals of Mithraism, including the Eucharist and the Communion in
>great detail. The language used by Mithraism was the language used by
>Christians. [...] The idea of a sacrificed saviour is Mithraist, so is
>the symbolism of bulls, rams, sheep, the blood of a transformed saviour
> washing away sins and granting eternal life, the 7 sacraments, the
>banishing of an evil host from heaven, apocalyptic end of time when
>God/Ormuzd sends the wicked to hell and establishes peace. Roman
>Emperors, Mithraist then Christian, mixed the rituals and laws of both
>religions into one. Emperor Constantine established 25th of Dec, the
>birthdate of Mithras, to be the birthdate of Jesus too. The principal
>day of worship of the Jews, The Sabbath, was replaced by the
>Mithraistic Sun Day as the Christian holy day. The Catholic Church,
>based in Rome and founded on top of the most venerated Mithraist
>temple, wiped out all competing son-of-god religions within the Roman
>Empire, giving us modern literalist Christianity.”
>"Mithraism
> and Early Christianity" by Vexen Crabtree (2002)
2.2. The Therapeutae (10CE)
Early Christians were criticized for copying Pagan ideas and stories and
simply re-telling them. By the 4th century, the founders of the
Christian Church sought evidence and historical proof to back up their
mistaken opinion that Christianity was a new religion, derived from the
new revelations of Jesus. Eusebius failed to find much evidence at all,
except in the book of the first century author, Philo, who described a
group of people who were clearly practicing Christian rituals:
“Eusebius, the fourth-century Church propagandist,
>could find little evidence from which to construct a history of
>Christianity, so he eagerly seized upon a description in one of Philo's
>books, of a group of Jews called the Therapeutae. Philo's description of
> their spring festival is reminiscent of the Christian celebration of
>Easter and Eusebius, therefore, claimed that he had discovered the
>earliest Christians in Alexandria. [... but] the spring, of course, was
>also the time when Pagans celebrated their festival of the dying and
>resurrecting godman, so Eusebius is unjustified in his assumption. Philo
> wrote about the Therapeutae in 10 CE, which would be 20
>years before the supposed date of the crucifixion [...]. The Therapeutae
> are a group of Jews clearly practising a Jewish version of the Pagan
>Mysteries. [...] We can tell that the Therapeutae were Jews because they
> celebrated the Jewish festival of the Pentecost and kept sacred the
>Sabbath. [...]”
>"Jesus Mysteries" by Freke &
>Gandy [Book Review] (1999)4
Eusebius didn't know that Philo was writing 20 years too early, and he had
therefore uncovered additional evidence that turn-of-the-millennium
Jewish Paganism was almost identical to Christianity in terms of rituals and beliefs - if Jesus arrived and preached a New Testament, it seems
he really didn't have anything new to say that wasn't already being
practiced in a Christian way by pagans. The fact that "Philo can, in one sentence, compare the Therapeutae to both initiates of the Mysteries of Dionysis and the followers of Moses on the banks of the Red Sea shows
just how integrated Pagan and Jewish traditions had become". They lived
"near that great melting-pot pf Pagan and Jewish cultures, Alexandria".
Today when we trace the source of modern Christianity, we find that
Christianity was codified in the 4th century. But in the fourth century, they didn't know what the source of Christianity was although critics
said it was re-hashed paganism. So in the fourth century, they too
searched in history to find the source of Christianity. They found the
history of their religion to pre-date the actual founding of their own
religion. The ancient history of Christianity is merged with the history of Paganism and the Church Fathers in the 4th century, so much closer
to original Christianity than us, even mistook a group of pagans for
early Christians. It wasn't the only time that they done this either,
for when Bishop Melito in 160CE when in search of the ancient center
of Christianity, he discovered only a group called the Ebionites,
another ancient group that 4th century Christianity rejected as
heretical.
2.3. Ebionite Christians (1st-4th Century)
Ebionite Christians
believed that all the Jewish Laws had to be obeyed; including the
Sabbath and circumcision for all males. As such, they considered St
Paul to be the archenemy of Christianity as he taught that people did
not have to obey the Law in order to be saved. They believed Jesus was
Human, and adopted by God as a perfect sacrifice.
“The Ebionites were some of the original Christians:
> Jews who believed that Jesus was the Messiah. They populated the
>legendary Jerusalem Church. 'Ebionite' was sometimes used as a term to
>describe all Christians. Those who we now know as Pauline
>Christians opposed the Ebionites, after discovering them and realizing
>that their beliefs differed. Authors such as Tertullian, Origen of
>Alexandria, and many other intolerant "heresy-hunters" wrote at great
>length against the Ebionites. Many of the claims made against them were
> based on misunderstandings of their beliefs, and many anti-Ebionite
>claims were plainly ridiculous. [Ehrman, 2003]. Pauline Christians
>eradicated the Ebionites, burning all of their books (none survived)
>and harassing and arresting the people until none were left. They
>edited Luke 2:32 and 2:48 where Joseph was twice called the 'father' of
> Jesus so that it did not say so, and they also edited Luke 3:22 where
>it plainly stated, in accordance with Ebionite beliefs, that God adopted
> Jesus. Pauline Christians, as non-Jewish Romans, handily came across a
> mistranslated prophecy that said Jesus would be born of a virgin (like
> other Roman sons-of-gods), adding a whole two chapters to the
>beginning of Matthew to prove their point. These edits, now they are
>uncovered, show that the Ebionites were treated very cruelly and
>unfairly, and that the original readings of Matthew and Luke both
>support Ebionite Christianity, rather than the Pauline Christianity that
> the West has inherited.
>If we were to guess which group was the more
> austere, holy and godly, we would have to guess it was the Ebionites
>rather than the Pauline Christians who slaughtered, slandered and
>oppressed them. Unfortunately the victors get to write history, and it
>is Pauline Christianity that became the legacy of the Roman Empire.
>After the fourth century, the Ebionites were vanquished.”
>"1st Century
>Christian Ebionites: The Original Christians?" by Vexen Crabtree > (2006)
2.4. Arian Christians (2nd-8th Century)
As Jewish Christianity began to develop its
own character, Jesus was no longer considered to be just a man. He had a special relationship with god, and was perhaps conceived of by God
before anything was created. But he was not an eternal man nor a god.
“Arianism describes the pre-trinitarian doctrine of
> a holy, but not a godly, Jesus. It is not always adoptionism
>and not always monotheistic, either. It was defined by a negativeCE ). It was opposed by Athanasius, who
>became a Nicene Christian from 325CE . In the Roman Empire, Arian
>Christianity was supplanted by intolerant Nicene Christianity by the
>5th century, but remained the most popular form of Christianity amongst
> the tribes surrounding the empire, until the 8th century. [...]
> principal (that logically Jesus can't be God and still suffer on the
>cross). If Jesus was God (i.e., perfect), Arians realized, what chance
>would any Human have of imitating him? Although Arian-sounding
>theologies existed from the second century onwards, it only became a
>wide point of contention after the third century. In the third century
>Origen of Alexandria, the greatest theologian of his time, had declared
> that the Father was Greater than the Son. This principal was later
>named after its principal proponent and most articulate defender, Arius
> (256-336
>The
>eventual victory of the Cappadocian Nicene faith from 380CE meant that as the Empire
>collapsed, the Christianity that was left behind was the dark, violent,
> centralized type that did not tolerate dissent. By the late fourth
>century, a recognizable Roman Catholic Church had emerged. The doctrine
> of the Trinity had been created, and the vengeful violence of Nicene
>Christianity was in full, open, bloody view. Anti-semitism > was given its official sanction. The edited Nicene Creed was the only
>form of belief that was to be tolerated. Inquisitors began reviewing
>religious beliefs, condemning victims to imprisonment, torture and
>public execution for failing to believe the right things. This state of
> affairs persisted and plunged Christian societies into a 1000-year
>long dark ages. If the Arians had survived the onslaught and been the
>religion that the Empire left behind, we would have been left with a
>Christianity that would have left a glowing legacy of Jesus. Instead,
>the Nicene's violence and intolerance won out, and the 'ages of faith'
>that resulted darkened humanity from the fifth until the fifteenth
>century.”
>"Arian
> Christianity (the Father is Greater than the Son): A Precursor to
>Modern Christianity" by Vexen Crabtree (2008)
2.5. Marcionite Christians (2nd-5th
Century)
Marcionites believed that the God of the Old
Testament (wrathful and angry) was a different God to the New
Testament's mystical and forgiving one. Their reasoning was sensible and their knowledge of Christian texts of the time was the most involved.
Their collection of Christian texts into a canon was the first ever
collection and formed the template for what was to become the Bible.
“At one point, the early Christian writings that
>were collected by Marcion, along with his own writings, were all
>destroyed. A domineering early Catholic Church, the Pauline Christians,
> committed themselves to a long-term campaign against these early
>Christians. Tertullian produced five volumes attacking Marcionism and
>distributed them throughout the Roman Empire. The honest intellectual
>and rational approach of Marcion to the Old Testament and the saving
>grace of Jesus were lost, burnt and oppressed by the more violent and
>aggressive Pauline Christians. It is ironic that in the name of 'good
>works', Pauline Christians murdered and tortured those who believed
>differently to themselves... if it is true, as Jesus says and as
>Marcion pointed out, that good trees do not produce rotten fruit, then
>have we ended up with a rotten tree grown from a rotten fruit, instead
>of the real Christianity as espoused by Jesus?
>If it is Christian duty
> to 'turn the other cheek', 'resist not evil', 'love your enemies' and
>'love your neighbours as yourself', then it is clear that the Pauline
>Christians, who eliminated Marcionism and got to choose the books of
>the Bible, were not the true Christians.”
>"Christian
> Marcionites: 2nd Century Christianity" by Vexen Crabtree (2006)
>
>
2.6. Roman Christianity / Pauline Christianity (4th Century +)
"St Paul - History,
Letters, Influences and Instructions; Gnosticism and Mithraism" by
Vexen Crabtree (1999)
“The
> gnostic
> Mithraists and Jewish Ebionites > formed the very first Christians of the first century, with practices
>and beliefs based respectively on Gnostic and Judaistic rituals, symbols and
>practices. Pauline Christians dispensed with the difficult Jewish laws
>and became popular amongst gentiles, soon out-numbering the Jewish
>Christians, causing them to be secluded and eventually suppressed.
>Increasing literalism amongst roman converts then led the Pauline
>Christians to become obsessed with enforcing their literal
>interpretation of Christianities original stories, causing another huge
> rift with older gnostic-style Christians. With Roman power behind their
> printing press and the favour of Emperors, the Pauline-Nicene
>Christians wiped out the gnostics, annihilated the Arians > after long bloody campaigns, and murdered and burnt the Marcionites > and many other small sects, to leave themselves as the sole Christians
>within the Roman Empire, free to edit their own books to 'prove' how all
> their predecessors had been wrong. The three Cappadocian scholars
>promoted the Holy Spirit to the godhead to create a Trinity, which was
>codified strictly in to the Nicene Creed of 381, which went to careful
>lengths to disclaim against 'heresy'. Emperor Theodosius published a
>series of forceful edicts intolerant of all non-Nicene sects. This state
> of affairs persisted in the West for over a thousand years from the 5th
> century.
>Despite the number of denominations that now exist,
>Christian diversity has never again regained the richness it had in the
>first few centuries. Christianity has remained, in the West, the
>Pauline, Cappadocian, Nicene victor that emerged from the ashes of
>Christian groups within the Roman Empire and Judea. It is a shame that
>it appears the most worldly, least spiritual, most power-hungry, least
>tolerant, most violent and least honest form of Christianity is the one
> that survived those brutal battles of the first few centuries.”
>"How
> Modern Christianity Began: The Cappadocian-Nicene-Pauline Roman
>Amalgamation" by Vexen Crabtree (2008)
>3.
> What Was the Original Christianity?
>3.1.
> Who Were the First Christians?
>We have described the Ebionites,
> the Marcionites,
> touched upon the Gnostics, and the Pauline
> Christians. Who were the original Christians? The Pauline
>Christians, Greek-speaking and with Roman power, rose to power and
>eliminated the others in the most un-Christian way. These were the
>late-comers to Christendom of these four groups. The methodical
>historian Bauer has studied this question at great length:
>“Bauer
>> proceeds by looking at certain geographical regions of early
>>Christendom for which we have some evidence - particularly the city of
>>Edessa in eastern Syria, Antioch in western Syria, Egypt, Asia Minor,
>>Macedonia, and Rome. For each place, he considers the available
>>Christian sources and subjects them to the closest scrutiny,
>>demonstrating that contrary to the reports of Eusebius, the earliest
>>and/or predominant forms of Christianity in most of these areas were
>>heretical (i.e., forms subsequently condemned by the victorious party).
>> Christianity in Edessa, for example, a major centre for orthodox
>>Christianity in later times, was originally Marcionite; the earliest
>>Christians in Egypt were various kinds of Gnostic, and so on. Later
>>orthodox Christians, after they had secured their victory, tried to
>>obscure the real history of the conflict. But they were not completely
>>successful, leaving traces that can be scrutinized for the truth.”
>>"Lost
>> Christianities" by Bart Ehrman (2003)5
>I
> will now summarize some contenders and explain if they could have been
>the true source of Christianity:
> 1. Ebionite
>Christians were the true Christians: Aramaic-speakers like Jesus and
> his apostles, they would have been the Jewish witnesses to Jesus'
>ministry and preaching. From this starting point, Jesus' teachings
>spread. They also, however, spread from Saul of Damascus, who renamed
>himself Paul and who preached an anti-Ebionite version of Christianity
>for the gentiles, which was much easier to follow and more popular.
> 2. The Marcionites > were converts to Christ, who believed truly that he had been adopted
>by God at his baptism, and that he had come to abolish the laws of the
>Old Testament, thereby defeating the evil god of the old testament.
>Such gnostic beliefs may be the original form of Christianity as we
>shall see, but Marcionism itself can only be a later re-expression of
>it, and no historian thinks that the Marcionites were the original
>Christians.
> 3. Gnostic Christians: With stories, myths and beliefs
>that are exactly the same as Christian ones in many of the little
>details, gnostic beliefs manage to pre-date Christians ones by over 200
> years. They understood what the stories of the NT really meant. Jesus
>didn't really exist, but was a collection of such earlier stories,
>rewritten in Greek, with Greek names. This is the approach taken by
>historians such as Freke &
>Gandy.
> 4. Pauline
> / Roman Christians: When the Roman-backed instance of Christianity
> went in search of the ancient centres of Christianity, they discovered
>to their horror that the Ebionites and Gnostics pre-dated them. Their
>un-Christian answer was to edit verses, burn books, invent doctrines
>such as the Trinity, arrest and harass the other poverty-stricken
>Christians until no opposition was left. The form of Christianity that
>we have inherited from the Roman Empire is far from what Christianity
>originally was, yet most modern denominations took Cappadocian-Nicene
> Pauline Christianity as their starting point (and few have moved
>far from it).
>3.2. The Progression From
>Paganism to Christianity
>Elements common to all types of the
>Christian religion that were common in previous Pagan mystery religions
>include much of the religious content of Christianity. All elements of
>Jesus' life such as the events around his birth,
> death > and ministry were already parts of the myths surrounding other god-men
> of the time. Peripheral elements such as there being twelve disciples were
>similarly present in other more ancient religions and sometimes with
> an astonishing amount of duplication. First century critics of
>Christianity voiced accusations that Christianity was nothing but
>another copy of common religions.
>
>
>All the actual sayings and
>teachings of Jesus were also not new, and much of the time speeches
>attributed to Jesus are more like collections of Jewish and Pagan
>sayings. Even distinctive texts like the Sermon on the Mount are not
>unique. If we remove all the content that Jesus could not have heard and
> repeated himself, there is nothing else left. If we remove the
>supernatural elements of Christianity that are copies of already
>existing thought and religion, there is nothing left which is unique!
>Even many of the sayings of subsequent Christians are not unique; Jesus
>appears to not have taught anyone anything that was not already present
>in the common culture of the time. This shows us that not only did
>Christianity follow on, as expected, from previous thought in history
>but that we do not even need to believe in God or supernatural events in
> order to account for the history of Christianity. Stephen Hodge studied
> the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were written some time between 170BCE and 68BCE6,
> and very usefully lists many of the similarities found in the Dead Sea
>Scrolls to the teachings and organisation of Jewish Christianity. He
>also concludes that these Jewish documents make the teachings and
>appearance of Jewish Christianity less revolutionary.
>“... the collection is really
>>an invaluable cross-section of religious material that reveals for the
>>first time just how rich and varied Jewish spiritual life was at that
>>time. The scrolls offer an intellectual and devotional landscape into
>>which Jesus and his movement can be placed. No longer does Jewish
>>Christianity seem an inexplicable, isolated occurrence. [...]
>>In other
>> words, the true value of the Dead Sea Scrolls is that they help provide
>> a genuine context for what was to become Christianity. For example,
>>they tell us just how widespread was the expectation and longing for a
>>saving Messiah among Jews at that time, and that there were a number of
>>competing theories about the expected role of this Messiah in the world
>>of Judaism.
>> The scrolls also reveal that the expectation found in the Gospels that
>> the end of the world was imminent was a dominant belief in many
>>quarters in Judaea.”
>>“All
>> biblical scholars agree that, apart from their intrinsic value, the
>>sectarian scrolls are of tremendous importance as background information
>> to the social and religious conditions in Judaea that led to the rise
>>of Christianity. [... There are] subtle implications that can be derived
>> from the Qumran texts, for they not only provide interesting parallels
>>to Christian concepts and practice but tend to reduce the uniqueness of
>>the Yeshua movement. It is reasonable to assume that there was perhaps
>>not that much direct contact between most members of each community,
>>but that there was a pool of religious language and beliefs shared by
>>many other Jewish groups which have long since disappeared.”
>>"Dead
>> Sea Scrolls" by Stephen Hodge (2001)7
>3.3. Christian Arguments Defending the
>Similarities of Christianity to Paganism
>The fact that many pagan
> religions had many of the same dates, beliefs and practices as
>Christians led later Christians to denounce them as 'satanic
>imitations'. Theologians made the famous argument that the Devil had
>created these pagan religions so that people would think that
>Christianity was just a developed copy of them. The Cardinal Newman
>argued that (be it God or Satan's fiat) these pagan religions merely
>prepared people to accept Christianity. In other words, god made pagan
>religions in order to teach people Christianity, before revealing actual
> Christianity.
>“To
>>Newman, 'Pagan literature, philosophy and mythology were but a
>>preparation for the Gospel.' His Protestant counterpart, Bishop Westcott
>> of Durham, praised Greek thought for representing several stages in the
>> unfolding of divine purpose. Gladstone determined 'to prove the
>>intimate connection between the Hebrew and Olympian revelations', and
>>told the House of Commons that Greek mythology had prepared minds for
>>some of Christ's teachings. Kingsley agreed that it contained essential
>> lessons in the human relationship with the divine.”
>>
>>
>>"The
>> Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft" by
>>Prof. R. Hutton (1999)8
>Unfortunately,
> it seems that all such arguments are only half-truths. If there is a
>progression of human belief, then it implies that Christianity is itself
> not the final truth. Islam, for
>example, claims to be host to the teachings of the prophet that
>followed on from Jesus. If this progressive march continues, then
>Christianity itself may well just be a stepping-stone for another
>religion.
>4. Literal Christianity: The Loss
> of Symbolism by the Fifth Century
>Jesus may well have started
>out as the creation of Gnostics, who were telling a symbolic story with
>many parables, much mysticism, and little historical truth. But this
>story paired well with the Jewish community who were expecting an actual
> Messiah to arrive. Whether or not Jesus existed as an actual person, it
> soon transpired that the generations after his supposed existence came
>to believe in him has an actual person. Although St Paul wrote exactly
>like a gnostic in all his early writings, Greek authors forged seven
>epistles with a strong literalist slant, which they then included in the
> Christian Bible. The sanction of an official canon of Christian
>texts at the expense of all others was the first major step towards
>literalist Christianity. By the 4th century, the Pauline Christians had
>violently enforced their vision of a real, historical Jesus.
>Christianity has become increasingly literalist, and recent centuries
>have seen the rising of fundamentalist Christianity, which takes nearly
>all Biblical stories at literal face value.
>“Paul's epistles make up 7 of the Books of the
>>Bible. Also, six more were written in Paul's name at later dates (in
>>some cases some believe the text was written over 80 years after Paul's
>>death). There are 13 epistles (epistles) which were canonized into the
>>Bible under the name of Paul. The authentic writings are gnostic,
>>whereas the later pseudonymous texts are more literalist and
>>misogynistic.”
>>"St Paul - History,
>>Letters, Influences and Instructions; Gnosticism and Mithraism" by
>>Vexen Crabtree (1999)
>>“The history of Christianity -
>>from the death on the cross onwards - is the history of a gradual and
>>ever coarser misunderstanding of an original symbolism.”
>>"The
>> AntiChrist" by Friedrich Nietzsche >>(1888)9
>5. Lost Christianities of Later History
>5.1. The Cathars / Albigenses
>The Marcionites
> of the 2nd century were lost to oppression, however, their form of
> Christianity was not completely eradicated. The Paulicians (followers
>of Marcion) and Manicheans fused to form the Bulgarian Bogomils,
>who like their founding sects, were oppressed. But the Bogomils were
>carried by Crusaders to Italy and France, where their gnostic-seeming
>beliefs flourished and were widely accepted.
>“The
>>most interesting, and also the largest, of the heretical sects were the
>>Cathari, who, in the South of France, are better known as Albigenses.
>>[Their beliefs] were widely held in Northern Italy, and in the South of
>> France they were held by the great majority [...]. The cause of this
>>wide diffusion of heresy was partly disappointment at the failure of the
>> Crusades, but mainly moral disgust at the wealth and wickedness of the
>>clergy. [...] The Church was rich and largely worldly; very many priests
>> were grossly immoral. [...] The more the Church claimed supremacy of
>>religious grounds, the more plain people were shocked by the contrast
>>between profession and performance. [...]
>>It seems that the Cathari
>>were dualists and that, like the Gnostics, they considered the Old
>>Testament Jehovah a wicked demiurge, the true God being revealed in the
>>New Testament. They regarded matter as essentially evil, and believed
>>that for the virtuous there is no resurrection of the body. The wicked,
>>however, will suffer transmigration into the bodies of animals. On this
>>ground they were vegetarians, abstaining even from eggs, cheese and
>>milk. They ate fish, however, because they believed that fishes are not
>>sexually generated. All sex was abhorrent to them [...]. They accepted
>>the New Testament more literally than did the orthodox; they abstained
>>from oaths, and turned the other cheek.”
>>"History
>> of Western Philosophy" by Bertrand Russell (1946)10
>5.2. The Waldenses (12th Century)
>“These were the followers of Peter Waldo, an
>>enthusiast who in 1170, started a 'crusade' for observance of the law of
>> Christ. He gave all his goods to the poor, and founded a society called
>> the 'Poor men of Lyons', who practised poverty and a strictly virtuous
>>life. At first they had papal approval, but they inveighed somewhat too
>>forcibly against the immorality of the clergy, and were condemned by the
>> Council of Verona in 1184. Thereupon they decided that every good man
>>is competent to preach and expounded the Scriptures; they appointed
>>their own ministers, and dispensed with the services of the Catholic
>>priesthood. [...] All this heresy alarmed the Church, and vigorous
>>measures were taken to suppress it. [Pope] Innocent III considered that
>> heretics deserved death, being guilty of treason to Christ. He called
>>upon the king of France to embark upon a crusade against the Albigenses
>>[which affected the Waldenses also], which was done in 1209. It was
>>conducted with incredible ferocity; after the taking of Carcassonne,
>>especially, there was an appalling massacre. [...]”
>>"History
>> of Western Philosophy" by Bertrand Russell (1946)11
>6. Modern Christianity is Still Very Varied
>“One major aspect of Christianity can be said to be
>> the cause of its success: That there is a lot of widespread difference
>> in belief across Christian denominations. As perhaps the most
>>fragmented and violent religion in history, Christianity has become
>>broken into countless different Churches all of which call themselves
>>Christian. Many denominations are intolerant of each others' beliefs.
>>It can be said that as all these denominations cover such a wide range
>>of beliefs that it is obvious that many people can call themselves a
>>Christian. But, merely knowing that they call themselves a Christian
>>gives us very little actual information about their beliefs, as
>>Christianity is such a diverse religion. [...] In this way all major
>>religions that exist for long period of time (thousands of years) come
>>to be more of an umbrella term for a vast array of beliefs and
>>practices.”
>>"Institutionalized
>> Religions Have Their Numbers Inflated by National Polls" by Vexen
>>Crabtree (2009)
>Professor Bart Ehrman opens his
>book Lost
> Christianities with the statement that "it may be difficult to
>image a religious phenomenon more diverse than modern-day Christianity"
>(excepting, he explains, that ancient Christianity was even more
>diverse)
>
>
> Spread of Christianity
>
> Spread
> of Christianity to AD 325 Spread of
>Christianity to AD 600
>
>
> Early centres of Christianity
>Early Christianity spread from city to city in the Hellenized Roman
>Empire and beyond. Apostles traveled extensively and
>establishing communities in major cities and regions throughout the
>Empire. The first communities, outside of Jerusalem, appeared in Antioch,
> Ephesus,
> Corinth,
> and the political center of Rome. The original church communities were founded by
>apostles (see Apostolic see) and numerous other Christians
>soldiers, merchants, and preachers
> in northern Africa, Asia Minor, Arabia, Greece, and other places.[ > Over 40 were established by the year 100,[118][119] > many in Asia Minor, such as the seven churches of Asia. By the end of the first
>century, Christianity had already spread to Rome, India,
>and major cities in Greece, Asia Minor and Syria, serving as foundations for
> the expansive spread of Christianity throughout the world.
>.
>