So, our discussion yesterday has prompted me to share some fun little facts that you may or may not have known regarding the extent of Pagan influence over Christianity. Despite the severe hatred which early Christians felt for the Pagans, as shown in Agora, some of their beliefs and much of their imagery, stems from outside sources. The book of Revelation, for instance, is a piece of apocalyptic literature which was written around 96 CE, but its influence is clearly rooted in Babylonian society, which existed around 586 BCE. The Babylonians were avid believers in astrology, and almost everything that they did was influenced by patterns within the heavens. The book of Revelation, which speaks of the number seven, stars, and a throne, is clearly a representation of the beliefs of the Babylonians. Revelation speaks of Satan's Throne and a man who was shaped "like a lampstand," which is a borrowed image of the throne of Zeus which resided in Rome. The images of monsters and demons, the sun as the eye of Zeus, the golden lamb, and the mountain as the throne of Zeus, which exist within Revelation, are also borrowed images from Pagan society. Clearly, then we are able to see that the Christians did not derive something out of nothing, which is a logical contradiction, but rather, they borrowed from what they already knew, regardless of how greatly they abhorred Pagan beliefs.
No comments:
Post a Comment