Youtor
The Christianization of Mysteria
>> YOUR LINK HERE: ___ http://youtube.com/watch?v=89b3Y6R_eHo
https://gnosticinformant--pursuit4kno... • The Course for Mystery Cults by Professor Litwa is NOW AVAILABLE!!! Click the Link for more Details! (Link) • https://gnosticinformant--pursuit4kno... • • Mystery cults (or mystery religions) were a group of religions that existed in the Greco-Roman world and reserved their theology, practices and rituals to initiates. Many were formed by the merging of Greek ideas with a host culture to form a hybrid of both belief systems. • • Early Christianity has often been categorized a mystery religion, involving secret knowledge and ceremonies known only to initiates of the religion. With other mystery religions, Christianity shares the concept of a savior god that experiences sufferings often including death and resurrection, salvation through rituals, baptism to wash away sins to be reborn, and ritual meals. • • Often when scholars deny that Christianity was a mystery religion, they really mean it wasn't just one of the already-existing mystery religions superficially overhauled with Jewish concepts. Christianity wasn't 'Osiris Cult 2.0'. Which is certainly true. But that's all that anyone's evidence can prove. Even the earliest discernible form of Christianity emulates numerous cultic features and concepts that were so unique to the Hellenistic mystery cults And any theory of historicity that fails to account for it cannot be credible. - Richard Carrier, Ph.D • • Doctrines of Christianity were originally kept private to senior initiates. They were taught to junior followers only using parables and metaphor. • • Baptism as initiation, and the Eucharist as a Rite. These could easily be seen as Mystery Cult attributes and should not be seen as anything separate from other Magic Rites. • • We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. • • — 1 Corinthians 2:6-7 • The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. • • — Matthew 13:10-11 • Other writers argue that Christianity originated as an amalgamation of earlier pagan religions, often including the mystery cults. In contrast, other historians argue that while Christianity was influenced by the mystery cults, its origin was either a historical or mythical person. • • Romans 16:25 • Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, • • Mystery cults often merged concepts from neighboring cultures to arrive at their specific theology (i.e. syncretism). They also tended towards monotheism, an emphasis on individual (personal) salvation and allowed followers from all backgrounds rather then a single ethic group or gender. Rituals often including baptism to join the religion, and ritual meals. Mystery cults generally interpreted their scriptures allegorically to reveal hidden spiritual truths that were usually known only to the higher ranking initiates of the religion. • • Israel Go Fund Me: • https://www.gofundme.com/f/trip-to-is... • • / gnosticinformant • Please Consider joining my Patreon to help fund my research and finding scholars to bring on. Any amount helps me. Thank you existing Patrons. • • Course taught by: • M. David Litwa, Ph.D • Research Fellow • Biblical and Early Christian Studies • Areas of expertise: Greco-Roman religions; Philonic Studies; gospel and Pauline literature; heresiology; gnostic and Nag Hammadi studies; ancient philosophy; ancient mythology; deification (theosis); ancient esoteric movements (in particular, Greek mystery cults); ruler worship. • • I am a scholar of ancient Mediterranean religions with a focus on the New Testament and early Christianity. My current research question focuses on the development of earliest Christianities in Alexandria, Egypt. I plan to offer a future commentary on the Naassene Sermon as well as an annotated translation of Clement’s Stromata books 4-6. • Before joining ACU, I taught at Virginia Tech, the College of William Mary, and the University of Virginia (UVA). In 2012, I received my Ph.D. from the Religious Studies department at UVA. Prior to that I received an M.Div at Emory University and a Th.M. at Duke University. Currently I serve as unit chair of the Bible, Myth, and Myth Theory Group at the Society of Biblical Literature and as co-chair of the Biblical and Early Christian Studies Seminar at ACU. • • • • #mysteries #GnosticInformant #mysterycults
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