Alvin Boyd Kuhn said it this way, “It is evident that, like most events in human history, the Christian movement developed into something quite different from what was intended from the beginning.” The original Christianity, under Constantine and other demanding church fathers, was developed into yet another ISM- thus more schisms!
Christianity began as a PAGAN religion. Such a description would scare the beejeebees out of most mainline Christians. Simply put Paganism meant “country dweller”, and it was a blanket term used to refer to various non-Abrahamic religious traditions. In other words, they were BAD, and they were OUT, because “they” weren’t like “we”.
You know how the game is played, right?
In a wider sense, extended to contemporary religions, it includes most of the Eastern religions, and the indigenous traditions of the Americas, Central Asia, Australia and Africa, as well as non-Abrahamic folk religion in general. Today, ethnologists avoid the term “paganism,” with its uncertain and varied meanings, in referring to traditional or historic faiths, preferring more precise categories such as polytheism, shamanism, pantheism, or animism (all four of course being BAD words).
Tom Harpur in his book, The Pagan Christ, wrote, “There was one primal, central myth- originating undoubtedly from Egypt- and all the rest flowed from that. In Christianity, however, the myths were eventually literalized. Jesus was historicized. The consequences of this were to prove very damaging over the centuries to come. A believer had to put his or her trust in Jesus ALONE to know both divinity and resurrection. That’s the kind of religion on which I, like many of you, was rasied. The pre-Christian Christianity spoken of by St. Augustine had become ‘Christianism’ instead”.
Here’s a big difference in case you got lost in Harpur’s musings.
In the pre-Christianism Christianity, it was believed that the coming of the Messiah (or Christos if you will) was taking place in the life of all persons at all time. In other words, “Christianism” is an exclusive club open only to those who subscribe to a set of dogma and doctrines of which there are thousands of varying animals. Original Christianity (pre indoctrination of Christianism) was innocent, free flowing, loving, and one with all.
That’s where I AM.
Where are you?
That’s definitely where I’m headed. Must confess to not totally being there yet. This “undoing” of bad beliefs is slowly disapating, but slowly, but steadily. I want to know what was the message in Christianity of the pre-Constantine era that so radically changed people and caused them to become such “love-niks” apparent in their nature immediately? I sincerely yearn for that kind of transformation. Nobody knows me better than me, how I am still making the choice to behave out of my new information rather than my old habit. No magic bullett I think is how you used to word it, but then what shot the early believers light years ahead of where we still are? The healing gifts …… anything gift in fact that demonstrated the power of Christos within? I still think we’re missing something and I think many do as well. I fight the “dullness” constantly. It’s like I can’t settle into “consciousness” even without the constant work of it all.
Jane you and Karen demonstrated the power of Christos within the day you two just loved on my feet without asking you to do that!
Healing came out of that in more ways than you realize!!!
I like the simplicity of “….innocent, free flowing, loving, and one with all.” That just sounds and FEELS right and WHOLE!