No, that wasn't my point. Merely that we have a better example than the FSM (which was an outright parody, you know: never a real cult.) The Bible shows that Jesus called himself "The Good Shepherd", ergo relevant here!
I suppose that in the beginning (c.25 BC?) Xianity grew as a parasite upon a number of other existent cults. I'm not sure why the Chrestoi couldn't have followed a Christos at some point, either. A chain of 'Useful' presbyters after an 'Anointed' founder; one group hijacked by another; a domineering faction assimilating ideologically-proximate Minim synagogues; etc. I believe it started and "morphed" organically (as cults typically do), over decades, not birthed overnight as some tweaked out, late night AM radio conspiracy theory: your mileage may umm vary.
btw Philo DOES use synonyms for the same (i.e. identical) concepts, quite often. So perhaps SG's confining pedantry will be his blinders also: I don't find a "morphing" Christos/Chrestoi cult so paradoxical nor impossible at all. Like most things, it was just a muddle.
Let's get back to what's relevant, and Liddle's point in 1895: could the Historia Augusta have included a doctored letter, where a Roman official reports Jews, Samaritans and Chrestoi all followed some Chrest mania in Alexandria?
I suppose that in the beginning (c.25 BC?) Xianity grew as a parasite upon a number of other existent cults. I'm not sure why the Chrestoi couldn't have followed a Christos at some point, either. A chain of 'Useful' presbyters after an 'Anointed' founder; one group hijacked by another; a domineering faction assimilating ideologically-proximate Minim synagogues; etc. I believe it started and "morphed" organically (as cults typically do), over decades, not birthed overnight as some tweaked out, late night AM radio conspiracy theory: your mileage may umm vary.
btw Philo DOES use synonyms for the same (i.e. identical) concepts, quite often. So perhaps SG's confining pedantry will be his blinders also: I don't find a "morphing" Christos/Chrestoi cult so paradoxical nor impossible at all. Like most things, it was just a muddle.
Let's get back to what's relevant, and Liddle's point in 1895: could the Historia Augusta have included a doctored letter, where a Roman official reports Jews, Samaritans and Chrestoi all followed some Chrest mania in Alexandria?
(Vita Saturn. 8): Aegyptum, quam mihi laudabas, totam didici levem pendulam et ad omnia famae momenta volitantem. illic qui Serapidem colunt CHRESTIANI sunt et devoti sunt Serapidi qui se CHRESTI episcopos dicunt ; nemo illic archisynagogus Judaeorum, nemo Samarites, nemo CHRESTIANORUM presbyter, non mathematicus, non haruspex, non aliptes. ipse ille patriarcha cum Aegyptum venerit, ab aliis Serapidem adorare, ab aliis cogitur CHRESTUM. unus illis deus nummus est; hunc CHRESTIANI, hunc Judaei, hunc omnes venerantur et gentes"
Statistics: Posted by billd89 — Mon Feb 05, 2024 8:19 am