The Pagan Origins of Christianity Essay -- Exploratory Essays Research

The primary part of this base bequeath explore the mystery-religions, the reasons behind their popularity, and the Hellenistic valet de chambre in which they grew that began with Alexander the Great. Next, their characteristics and connections first with Judaism and later with Christianity will be more than deeply discussed. In the second part it will be shown that the mystery-religions helped to decipherable the pathway for the Christianization of the Greco-Roman domain by men such as Paul the Apostle. Finally, the Emperor Constantines role in this story will be mentioned, during whose reign the mystery-religions declined and Christianity became the major religion of Europe and the near east. The paper will conclude with a brief speculation about the implication of these ideas to modern Christianity.IntroductionThe place and time in which Christianity developed was characterized by change and confusion in all areas of life. Political, philosophical and especially spectral q uestions were being asked that had never been asked before, and traditional systems were not providing the answers. For nearly seven centuries, from the advantage of Alexander the Great to the establishment of Christianity as the state religion by the Roman Emperor Constantine, the ancient world sought these answers in the mystery-religions, case-by-case groups worshipping in new and experimental ways. Ancient religious tradition had failed to fill the needs of this evolving and expanding society and these mystery-religions were a cultural expression of that need. Christianity grew into the midst of this world and was in fact the end result of the experiment started in the mystery-religions.The term, mystery-religion refers to miscellaneous forms of worship popular in ancient t... ...d. Oxford Oxford UP, 1999.King, Martin Luther Jr. The Influence of the mystery Religions on Christianity. The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. Volume I Called to Serve. Clayborne Carson, Ralph Lu ker, and Penny A. Russell, eds. Berkeley University of atomic number 20 Press, 1992. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project. Clayborne Carson, dir. Stanford University. 1 Feb. 2002 .Pike, Albert. Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and authorized Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. Washington House of the Temple, 1966.Additional Works ConsultedJonas, Hans. The Gnostic Religion The Message of the Alien God and the Beginnings of Christianity. 2nd ed. Boston radio beacon Press, 1991.Murray, Gilbert. Five Stages of Greek Religion. New York Doubleday, 1955.