If the Flavians invented Christianity, they were the greatest geniuses in the history of Western thought.
Using a religion as a political tool, for leverage?
“Catholicism is the original form of Christianity. The word Catholic simply meant the universal Church, in Greek I katholiki ekklesia. Ignatius of Antioch was first on record to use the term Catholic”.
So followers of Christ, becoming Christians… some worshiped Mary, some Mary Magdalene, others the saints… a case of, choose your own deity.
The Flavian hypothesis seems to be basically a conspiracy theory.
…probably why I could only find one or two articles about it, online…
But what I said about the choosing of which RC deity to worship, is true… The Lord, Mary, and Mary Magdalene, are standard… with St. Christopher also recommend because: “Christopher offered protection to travelers and against sudden death, many churches placed images or statues of him, usually opposite the south door, so he could be easily seen. He is usually depicted as a giant, with a child on his shoulder and a staff in one hand”.
Everyone and his dog, had a St. Christopher’s medal around their neck… or in purse, or wallet, or bag, or pocket.
…but having said that: [b][i]“Why is Saint Christopher no longer a saint?
Among Catholicism’s most popular saints, Christopher was listed as a martyr. Legend had it he carried a child who grew increasingly heavy across a river – the child was supposed to be carrying the weight of God. But there wasn’t enough historical evidence the man ever existed, so Pope Paul VI dropped him”.[/i][/b]
I never knew that…
Saint Christopher is also depicted with a dog’s head.
He is a monster from the liminal world who serves Christ and thereby becomes a saint.
I think the “child” in the picture is Jesus. According to legend the giant Christopher carried him across the water.
If every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, then the monsters must confess it too.
The fable portrays that proposition to the visual imagination.
…just how many Saints are there, that haven’t been verified as having ever existed?
…and they tell Us to not pray to false idols.
This is a highly speculative idea.
You should not get too carried away with it.
If the Flavians invented Christianity you have to ask why they did not write the Gospels in their own language, and why one of Rome’s greatest families would participate in a religion castigated for its intolerance of state religion dishonouring the very Casear’s who were principle members of their own family?
It is doubly puzzling that Christianity was notable enough before the Flavians got their pens out; notable enough in failing to honour the emperor to achieve the status of persecuted.
My third objection is that the three supposed “Flavians” mentioned in the WIki article were not true members of the Falvian family but three Jewish slaves of the Flavians.
It’s all a bit dodgy really.
_
Felix did say… “The Flavian hypothesis seems to be basically a conspiracy theory”, which then led me to question the validity of (some) Saints… not that I thought that the two were correlated, of course.
Who’s getting carried away? I agree with your arguments. I have a couple friends who seem persuaded by the hypothesis despite the obvious counterfactuals.
You called them “geniuses” - were you being ironic?
I was sayin if they invented Jesus. I don’t think Jesus was invented per se. I think he was a real guy. Of course, he was interpreted according to the thinking of the time.
Jesus was probably a simple mortal person.
But Jesus “Christ” is many things, the result of many inventions and re-inventions, not attributable to anyone in particular.
If you ever gave serious consideration to the evidence of the resurrection and early record of his words and what people said about him, you wouldn’t say that.
You are speaking from shocking ignorance, typical of your kind.
Let me tell you that belief in God and the baby Jesus does not give you any kind of insight into the knowledge of another person’s life. You do not know me, nor my history.
But I can tell you this. Your comment is based on nothing and that assumption is dead wrong. I have given and, even once beleived in all of it to a very strong and potent degree.
So jog on!
What evidence?
The readily accessible kind you can easily find if you look.
All ears.
I have not invited you to listen
Then it should be easy for you to present.
I contributed this previously, but there are many more sources for serious study:
ilovephilosophy.com/viewtopic.p … 7#p2232070
I’m super excited I found it because Jayson quoted from one of the sources that is no longer available online. I’m going to snatch that and paste it somewhere for keeps. Then I’m gonna come back here and edit this reply to include the work I’ve done since then. I say work but I just did it in my spare time. I’m not a scholar so don’t expect anything crazy good.
(tomorrow)