Clivedurdle

A few problems here!

Mysteries are not meant to be for everyone, for the hoi poloi, the unwashed masses to get their dirty fingers on!

A proper mystery has a highly trained priesthood to protect it, with arcane rituals and years of practice and study! Druids had twenty years of training!

And what do we find in the history of xianity, one very large group believing in the priesthood of all believers, and allowing anyone to read and interpret the holy scriptures, and another lot saying, we need professionals, and various intermediate forms - like the Anglican Church.

But these ways are not new concepts - the Greeks and the Persians were arguing the pros and cons of priesthood as a particular specialist group or for anyone in 500 BC. It was one of the major differences that led to the Battle of Marathon.

Now someone - let's for brevity call him Paul, who sounds like a diasporic Jew so would have experience of mystery religions, has a vision, and instead of, as was the proper way, creating a specialist cult, creates an ipod religion, that everyone can have.

Roll up! Everlasting life, veil of temple rent, washed in blood of lamb, enter freely into the holy of holies! Those with foreskins welcome!

Cut out the middleman - the priest!

Major economic implications - oi, these xians are not attending the temples - affecting trade, treachery not worshipping the gods.

Another effect, some bright kids ask their mums the dreaded why questions.

How did this Christ die? Oh leave me alone, I dunno, on a cross like everyone else.

Mummy mummy, I can't get to sleep, tell me about Jesus. Well when he was little he made some clay model sparrows and made them fly away, now go to sleep and say your prayers or he will do to you what he did to a little boy that bashed into him.

Mummy mummy, was he married? Yes, not only that but at Cana he turned water into wine.


Mummy mummy, what did he teach? Blessed (Nicked from another mystery religion!)

Mummy mummy, who was his dad? Ah the Holy Spirit.



Cannot xianity be the direct effect of letting a mystery religion become common property, and then the hoi poloi filling in the greatest story ever told?

Why does anyone think of starting with a real Jesus? The whole thing is a result of letting the cat of a mystery religion out of the bag!

dog-on

Clive, there is a certain amount of logic in your little fable. Was the "Cult of Personality" in antiquity what it is today? I think it probably was. It seems likely that early congregations, as they expanded beyond the religious intellectuals, would have wanted some meat with their potatos. So the church gave it to them.

Clivedurdle

I can definitely see the beginnings of the concept of "I" around then. But it did not need to be that strong, all I have related is exactly what can be found around any hero story.

The individual standing alone before God may be traceable back to the greek idea of anyone can be a priest.

yalla

I suspect that Paul reserved a position of authority and rank for himself thus filling the role of priest as hander down of divine wisdom and authority as in other religions,
Note the power and authority he claims when he curses those who fail to follow him as he wishes, the punishment he unilaterally issues against the lustful.
In short I think he is setting up as, not a middleman, but, to coin a concept, an upperman.
Same old thing, different clothing.

darstec

I think both his and your points are possible. Paul is setting himself up as the arbitrar of authority. In essence he is saying, "I am right, believe what I tell you." While at the same time he is saying, "You don't need those other authorities. Just think for yourselves and you will see that I am right in what I am telling you what to believe about this oily one."