there are many brian ...
you should be more aquainted with Justin Martyr and have read his apologies...they form a unique and insightful picture into the early persecution and slanders that were brought down upon the early Christians of the 2nd century Rome . And the new "idea" of Christianity and the person of Jesus as the Christ.... that was also seen already rising in the consciousness of the pagan poets and men of wisdom seeking perfection of their own beliefs and cosmology , which did form a basis for what followed for it is all connected brian.
wikipedia.org
CHAP. XXI.--ANALOGIES TO THE HISTORY OF CHRIST.
And when we say also that the Word, who is the first-birth(1) of God, was produced without sexual union, and that He, Jesus Christ, our Teacher, was crucified and died, and rose again, and ascended into heaven, we propound nothing different from what you believe regarding those whom you esteem sons of Jupiter. For you know how many sons your esteemed writers ascribed to Jupiter: Mercury, the interpreting word and teacher of all; AEsculapius, who, though he was a great physician, was struck by a thunderbolt, and so ascended to heaven; and Bacchus too, after he had been torn limb from limb; and Hercules, when he had committed himself to the flames to escape his toils; and the sons of Leda, and Dioscuri; and Perseus, son of Danae; and Bellerophon, who, though sprung from mortals, rose to heaven on the horse Pegasus. For what shall I say of Ariadne, and those who, like her, have been declared to be set among the stars? And what of the emperors who die among yourselves, whom you deem worthy of deification, and in whose behalf you produce some one who swears he has seen the burning Caesar rise to heaven from the funeral pyre? And what kind of deeds are recorded of each of these reputed sons of Jupiter, it is needless to tell to those who already know. This only shall be said, that they are written for the advantage and encouragement(2) of youthful scholars; for all reckon it an honourable thing to imitate the gods.
he goes on to point out that Jupiter was wicked sometimes and visited earth to ravish women to produce these sons , but I see no difference of this and the evil misdeeds of Jehova that paralled Jove in the timeline . God changed as men's perception and civilization and experience moved on & changed . There is no alpha and omega , beginning or end to this , and it would be exceptional to say that all truth was cohered in Jesus Christ . He is just the latest Hero/Messiah , in a long line of them as men imagined and dreamed them up assigning more and more lofty description of virtue and of their powers ....
another you will like
ccel.org |
