Originally Posted by mountainman

The rebellion was not just against the Greek gods and paganism but also against the established pagan social order and its structures of power, authority, and hierarchy.

The rebellion was conducted by using subversion.

The question of twins is more complex. The heavenly twins were the Boanerges, the sons of thunder - twins born of Zeus and a mortal woman, one of whom was human, the other divine. There has been a lot written about this theme.

Originally Posted by Sheshbazzar

'Give me a word, any word, and I show you that the root of that word is Greek.'

"Kimono, kimono, kimono. Ha! Of course!
Kimono is come from the Greek word himona, is mean winter.
So, what do you wear in the wintertime to stay warm? A robe.
You see: robe, 'kimono'. There you go!" :facepalm:

Pass the Windex.

Originally Posted by Toto

I think it would be more accurate to say that the meaning of the term evolved.

Not to be picky but ... the OP is about the change in the (original) meaning of "daimon". Are you aware of much written about this?

The reason I mentioned it is because there appears to be a parallel between what Mani meant when he described his "heavenly twin" and what the Greeks meant when they described the "daimon" as a kind of "Guardian spirit"

Originally Posted by mountainman

...


The Platonists are also central to the story here. The gnostics are not yet properly defined yet probably include Platonists. Many of the Nag Hammadi texts exhibit late Platonist (i.e. Plotinus) ideas.

The rise of the integration of Platonic and Christian thought in the 4th century was meteoric.

Originally Posted by mountainman

Point taken Shesh.

But I think Acton may have been referring to fact that the earliest new testament bibles were authored and published in the Greek language and that the ideas there presented, whether original or simply "borrowed" from the [Greek classical] intellectual milieu of antiquity, are foundational in much of the English language.

Originally Posted by Toto

I doubt if it was daimon.

Originally Posted by W. R. Inge, Dean of St.Pauls

Section: RELIGION

p.26


"Greece for our purposes means not a race, but a culture,
a language and literature, and still more an attitude
towards life, which for us begins with Homer, and persists,
with many changes but no breaks, till the closure of the
Athenian lecture rooms by Justinian.

The civilization of the Roman Empire was not Italian but Greek.

It was lost to the West for nearly a thousand years. It was recovered
at the Renaissance, and from that time to this has been a potent
element in Western civilization. The Dark Ages and the early Middle Ages
are the period in which the West was cut off from Hellenism ... These
were the ages of the Catholic theocracy; and if we choose one man as the
founder of Catholicism as a theocratic system, we should have to name
neither Augustine not St.Paul,still less Jesus Christ, but Plato, who in
the Laws sketches out with such wonderful prescience the conditions for
such a polity, and the form which it would be compelled to take."


Hellenism then is not the mind of a particular ethnic type, not of a
particular period. It was not destroyed, though it was emasculated,
by the loss of political freedom; it was neither killed nor died a
natural death.

Its religion passed into Christian theology without any real break.
The early church spoke in Greek and thought in Greek.

p.29

It is quite unnecessary to look for Asiatic influences in a school
which clung close to the Attic tradition.

It should not be necessary to remind Hellenists that "Know Thyself"
passed for the supreme word of wisdom in the classical period,
or that Heraclitus revealed his method in the words "I searched myself".

"The teachings of Plato", says Justin, "are not alien to those of Christ;
and the same is true of the Stoics." "Heraclitus and Socrates lived in'
accordance to the divine Logos" and should be recognised as Christians.
Clement says that Plato wrote "by the inspiration of God".

Augustine, much later, finds that "only a few words and phrases" need
to be changed to bring Platonism into complete accord with Christianity.

The ethics of contemporary paganism, as Harnack shows,with special reference
to Porphyry,are almost identical with those of the Christians of his day.

Catholic Christianity is historically continuous with the old civilization,
which indeed continued to live in this region after its other traditions
and customs had been shattered. There are few other examples in history
of so great a difference between appearance and reality. Outwardly, the
continuity with Judaism seems to be unbroken, that with paganism to be
broken. In reality, the opposite is the case.


p.33

Further,too much is made of the conflict between the official cults of
paganism and Christian public worship. It is forgotten how completely,
in Hellenistic times, religion and philosophy were fused. Without under-
estimating the simple piety which, especially in country districts, still
attached itself to the temples and their ritual, we may say confidently
that the vital religion of the empire was associated with mystery-religions
and with the discipline of the "philosophic life".


p.42

Their sacrifices were for the most part of the genial type, a communion
meal with the god. But even in Greece, we must remember the gloomy chthonian
rites, and the degradations of Orphism mentioned by Plato in the "Republic".

"They persuade not only individuals but whole cities
that expiations and atonements for sins may be made
by sacrifice and amusements which fill a vacant hour,
and are equally at the service of the living and the dead;
the latter sort they call mysteries, and they redeem us
from the pains of hell, but if we neglect them no one
knows what awaits us."

This exploitation of sacramentalism was common enough in Greece; but the
characteristic Caesaro-Papism of Byzantium and modern imperium was wholly
foreign to Hellenism. It was introduced by Constantine as part of the
Orientalizing of the empire begun by Diocletian. As Seely says:

"Constantine purchaced an indefensible title by a charter.
He gave certain liberties and received in return passive
obedience. He gained a sanction for the Oriental theory of
government; in return he accepted the law of the Church.
He became irresponsible to his subjects on condition of
becoming responsible to Christ."

The Greeks never had a book religion, in the sense that Judaism became, and
Islam always was, a book religion. But they were in some degree of treating
Homer and Hesiod as inspired scriptures. To us it is plain that a long
religious history lies behind Homer, and that the treatment of the gods
in Epic poetry proves that they had almost ceased to be the objects of
religious feeling. Some of them are even comic characters, like the devil
in Scottish folklore. To turn these poems into sacred literature was to
court the ridicule of the Christians. But Homer was never supposed to
contain "the faith once delivered to the saints"; no religion of authority
could be built upon him, and Greek speculation remained far more unfettered
that the thought of Christendom has been until our own day.


p.45

Nothing can be further from the truth than to call the Greeks "intellectualists"
in the disparaging sense in which the word is now often used. The object of
philosophy was to teach a man to live well, and with that object to think
rightly about God, the world and himself. This close union between metaphysics,
morals and religion has remained as a permanent possession of the modern world.


The Hellenistic combination of Patonic metaphysics with Stoic ethics is still
the dominant type of Christain religious philosophy.



Asceticism has a continuous history within Hellenism. Even Homer knows of the
priests of chilly Dodona, the Selli, whose bare feet are unwashed, and who sleeps
on the ground.

The worship of Dionysus Zagreus in Thrace was accompanied by ascetic practices
before Pythagoras. Vergetarianism, which has always played an important part in
the ascetic life, was obligatory on all Pythagoreans.

Originally Posted by Sheshbazzar

The Hellenic hubris could never allow that heritage of other nations might be in some matters be superior to, or the equal that of the Greeks.
It was Hellenic pride to look down upon every other human culture as being inferior and barbaric.
Nothing originated in other cultures could possibly be as good as the Greek, and anything that could be learned or accepted from these inferior cultures could only be improved upon by Greeks using the Greek language, philosophy, and wisdom.

Thus it was not only the new testament, but long before that, The TaNaKa in being 'translated' into Greek underwent the 'improvements' of Hellenization.
And because it was adapted to Greek tongue and thought, the LXX was considered to be an improvement upon the ancient barbaric Hebrew language text.
Hebrew names were regarded as barbaric, being difficult to write with the Greek alphabet and hard pronounce, so the first thing was to swap out those barbaric Hebrew names and replace them with 'civilized' and easier to pronounce Greek forms.

Then there were all of those 'foreign' religious terms that were in these Hebrew texts, words like 'El' and 'Elohim', so uncivilized and barbaric sounding, The Greek 'Theos' must be superior, because Greek is superior. (or so they thought)
The Hebrew Sheol 'the grave', got 'improved' upon by becoming the much better known Greek Hades (with all of the Greek connotations of fiery torture) But that didn't bother Greek religious philosophers and leaders a bit because it allowed them to make even further Greek 'improvements' upon that old 'barbarian' Hebrew religion.
And on and on and on in a thousand subtle ways the proud and arrogant Hellas 'Gus Portokalos's' of that age created for themselves a strange new Hellenistic 'christos' mystery religion.
One that despised everything that was Hebrew or 'Jewish'.

And the next step was to demonise anything that favored Jewish words, thought, expression, or practice as being 'Judaizing'. Then came the issuing of draconian 'Official Decrees' and 'Laws' requiring the immediate execution of, and the confiscation of their property by the church, of anyone caught being a 'Judaiser'.

This how the catholic christian religion got to where it is today. Hellenism was the Beast from the Pit that the Great Whore of Babylon rode upon then, and still is today.

Originally Posted by Acton

SOURCE



LETTER II.

Advice to persons about to write History: Don’t. Visit the Monte Purgatorio, as Austin called the Magnesian rock that yields Epsom Salts; or: Get rid of Hole and Corner Buffery.

In the Moral Sciences Prejudice is Dishonesty.

A Historian has to fight against temptations special to his mode of life, temptations from Country, Class, Church, College, Party, authority of talents, solicitation of friends.

The most respectable of these influences are the most dangerous.

The historian who neglects to root them out is exactly like a juror who votes according to his personal likes or dislikes.

In judging men and things, Ethics go before Dogma, Politics or Nationality.

The Ethics of History cannot be denominational.

Judge not according to the orthodox standard of a system, religious, philosophical, political, but according as things promote or fail to promote the delicacy, integrity and authority of Conscience.

Put Conscience above both System and Success.

Originally Posted by Toto

http://www.plotinus.com/the_daemon_copy.htm

Originally Posted by WIKI

A demon is a paranormal, often malevolent being prevalent in religion, occultism, literature, and folklore. The original Greek word daimon does not carry the negative connotation initially understood by implementation of the Koine δαιμόνιον (daimonion),[1] and later ascribed to any cognate words sharing the root.