mountainman

For some time I have restricted my posts to the BC&H Forum
however the scientific and archeological implications of my
thesis, may be of interest to discussions here.

My thesis is simple: did Constantine invent christianity.
I do not believe it can be easily answered with either
a simple yes or no.

I have outlined a series of salient issues at my website.
The address is: www.mountainman.com.au/essenes

The theory is falsifiable (a la Popper) and requires a scientific
and/or archeological citation for the existence of anything
whatsoever "christian" in the prenice epoch (ie: before the
rise of Constantine, whom btw we view as a supreme imperial
mafia thug, military supremacist and malevolent dictator).

I would be interested to receive comments from members
of this forum at their convenience.

Best wishes to one and all,



Pete Brown
EDITOR
MOUNTAIN MAN GRAPHICS
AUSTRALIA

Goathead

Ive actually heard this basic idea before, and i cant disagree with it.

Constantine needed a control mechanism, how better to do that than use a duality of noble spirit/corrupt physical and instill himself as sole arbiter of Divine Teaching - with all associated duties for sending peopel to hell or whatever.

Also the fact we dont seem to have anything left behind by Paul, and i for one am suspicious.

To clarify however, i believe it was a convenient enterprise for some of the more prominant families of ancient Rome in conjunction with the imperial powers.

GenesisNemesis

Very interesting. I'll need to look into this more. It would also explain more about why Jesus can be compared to so many pagan gods, besides the view that Christianity was simply "evolved" from pagan religions. But what about all the persecution of Christians?

youngalexander

G'day Pete!
How about we consider Ante Pacem: Archaeological Evidence of Church Life Before Constantine (or via: amazon.co.uk)

Scholars relying on literary evidence have little to say of daily life in the Christian church before the "peace" of Constantine halted the persecution of Christianity in the empire.

"It is only in nonliterary data that one can catch a glimpse of what actually happened."

and, Snyder

analyzes ... every piece of evidence that can, with some degree of assurance, be dated before the triumph of the emporer Constantine at the Milvian Bridge in 312 CE...

I am still working my way thru this, but your thesis is not looking good.

Cynthia of Syracuse

As the subject of this thread is off-topic for this forum, it's moving to BC&H.

skepticalbip

From what little I know of the subject, I don't think he invented the movement (there seems to be ample evidence of followers of Jesus before Constantine) but I do think that he had a big hand in shaping the direction the movement took. Constantine was AFAIK a high priest in the cult of Mithra or Sol Invictus and, by the time of Constantine's death, many of the tenants and canons of Christianity were almost indistinguishable from these cults.
.

mountainman

Some time ago I received advice to find and read two books.
The book that you refer to above, and another of the same ilk
entitled "The Christians for Christians Inscriptions of Phygia",
by Elsa Gibson. I was able to procure the latter and have read it
and have written a review of the critical data presented.

This review is located both in this forum and on my website.
I have had zero feedback from this review, and other reviews.
Here is the thread address:
Are the "Christians for Christians" Inscriptions of Phrygia really Pre-Nicaean?

I was not able to locate that book you have.
If you feel comfortable sending it by post up
the coast when you have finished it, I will look
after it and return it by post within a short period.

Alternatively, list a few of his citations.
That's all I am after.

Thanks again for the feedback.


Pete

mountainman

Fabricated propaganda and fiction invented between the years
312 and 324 CE, during the rise to supremacy of Constantine.

mountainman

I originally posted this thread in the science forum.
I wish tp formally request to hold this thread in the science forum.
There are a number of reasons for this request.

1) I have posted in BC&H for over a year, feedback is minimal.
2) The subject matter is inclusive of archeological citations.
3) I seek new ideas, new discussions, from a scientific perspective.
4) The appropriate field is ancient history and archeology.
5) I seek scientific and archeological citations to refute the theory.
6) Such citations have not been furnished in BC&H within a year.

Therefore I would like the moderators to please move this thread
back into the science forum, on account of the above reasons.

Thank you for your continued support and activity.


Pete

GenesisNemesis

Any more evidence of this besides the fact that Christians spontaneously report persecution whenever someone disagrees with them?