Reddit reviews The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World
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well for one, christian persecution at the beginning is something of a myth - there were some persecutions, but they were isolated events.
there's this idea that the romans just hungrily wanted all the christians dead because they were christians. however, christians at the time WANTED to be martyred - it was preached by bishops as a noble thing, it was played up in christian literature, and whenever christians were arrested they did everything they could to not co-operate so they'd be executed. (for more info, read Candida Moss' "The Myth Of Persecution", and Catherine Nixey's "The Darkening Age")
if the romans were so giddy to execute, and the christians happy to be nixed, there would be no christianity today. there woulda been no christianity by the time of constantine, to be sure.
if you want to talk about a religion that's been persecuted and survived, try judaism. compared to that culture, christianity is a wimpy crybaby.
The biggest reason is Christianity, which forcibly suppressed and destroyed many ancient religions.
A great book about it is The Darkening Age on Amazon. Here's a link: The Darkening Age
Really interesting book, and yes, the Christian mythology of their origins is pretty much crap.
This guy is a fucking asshole.
I say this because I just read this book The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World..
On one level, yes Christian mobs trashed shit and suborned the institutions of the empire. Meh.
On another level, a whole bunch of that stuff is eerily similar to events of the current day.
When they did it last time it was followed by 1000 years of shitty times that we had to recover from.
If anyone is interested in reading into this, I’d recommend this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Darkening-Age-Christian-Destruction-Classical/dp/0544800885
It’s all about how Christianity destroyed Ancient Rome and conquered Europe, it’s a great read.
It was a very specific religion for a very specific region of the world and cultures there (my take). It spread and the rationale behind had had to change as well. If you are interested, read "The Darkening Age" by Catherine Nixey. It's a fantastic read on the steps the early Christians went to when trying to destroy the older religions. So much was lost and there are so many lies about what actually happened.
https://www.amazon.com/Darkening-Age-Christian-Destruction-Classical/dp/0544800885/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+darkening+age&qid=1566505399&s=gateway&sr=8-1
You need to read The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World.
I'm currently reading The Darkening Age by Catherine Nixey, it's about the destruction of the Roman society and religion. Quite a fascinating book. https://www.amazon.com/Darkening-Age-Christian-Destruction-Classical/dp/0544800885
First, I will suggest a good book for your education.
The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World
by Catherine Nixey
Your answers
Last words:
Go find a local Wiccan group or "coven." Ask to speak to the Priest or Priestess. Look on witchvox.com for local listings, or Google "Wicca, mytown."
We recommend some books on our coven reading list, but we strongly recommend personal discussion.
This book is for you:
The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World
Something to think about.
Almost exactly 1,700 years ago, the Roman Emperor of Britain & Gaul (France), Flavius Valerius Constantinus, is said to have had a vision while on the road with his army – of a cross over the sun, and next to it the words “in this sign conquer” (in hoc signo vinces). In a different version, a writer of the time says this came to Constantinus in a dream. No one is sure what the sign referred to in the dream/vision was, but it was a Christian symbol of the time – probably not the cross we are all quite familiar with today.
The very next day, at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, Constantinus, and his forces routed the army of Roman Emperor Maxentius and the gates of Rome, the seat of the Roman Empire, were laid open to him. Constantinus, better known as Constantine the Great, became a Christian as a result of that vision or dream. It came to be seen as a capstone moment in world history.
The earliest version of the battle had no mention of a vision or a dream. But this was the 4th century CE, and such things as visions and dreams were much more saleable to the general public then. It was no doubt also convenient for Christian history-writers in the centuries after, as they worked to impose on diverse peoples monotheistic absolutism across what is now Europe, West Asia, and Northern Africa.
Constantine’s victory on Oct 28, 312 CE was a landmark moment in history. It resulted in the complete and utter destruction of the European civilization of that time over the following centuries. The period roughly between the 5th and the 11th century used to be known as the Dark Ages of Europe. That usage has fallen out of fashion of late, for obvious reasons. It is a story of incredible violence, and of the use of law to crush all existing forms of worship, rituals, customs and practices – and also in some cases the digested transformation of some of these rituals and customs.
To make matters worse for the old gods of Europe and Western Asia, in the early 7th century, a new monotheistic religion erupted out of Arabia: Islam – which had been forged on the caravan routes between Arabia and the Levant, where Christianity was born. This set the stage for a clash of absolutism, which persists to this day. But, caught in the crossfire, the polytheists of the area were defenseless. Their practices were rendered illegal and often the penalty of non-conversion was sub-citizen status or death. The legislative pen and the divine sword were used in the service of the expanding monotheisms.
In any case, you will be hard pressed to find a temple to Apollo or any of the Greco-Roman gods built in the last 15 centuries, anywhere in the regions where the Greco-Roman and the Judaic civilizations used to thrive. The Jewish people, monotheists themselves and in many ways the source of both Christianity and Islam, have just about managed to cling on, and are still on an existential cliff-hanger. Their predicament, in this writer’s view, can be whittled down to a single predominant factor: The Jews did not actively proselytize and try to increase their numbers.
Edicts and laws are much more effective than violence in forcing change on a people because they carry the implicit threat of violence by the state. And that violence is regarded by the general public as worthy, exemplary and legitimate – because it has a state behind it.
That is how Christianity spread through Europe after Constantine, through edicts and laws which steadily and incrementally legitimized violence by the state against all who believed in other gods. (For more detail, read this book, the latest in a small list – The Darkening Age, by Catherine Nixey)
While everyone knows about the persecution of Christians between 200-400 CE (mainly), few know about the violent suppression of the “pagan” gods in the 15 or so centuries thereafter. This is why no one even bothers to ask “why were no temples to Apollo, Jupiter, or Athena built in the last millennium?” Faiths that sustained civilizations have been rendered museum memories, often with their heads, hands, noses chopped off. Sounds familiar? And while we, along with the world, mourn at the fiery collapse of the Church of Notre Dame in Paris, a monumentally beautiful edifice, let us also remember that underneath it was a temple to many gods, including Jupiter, Mercury, Castor and Pollux, and Vulcan, the old Roman god of fire.
The scrubbing out of civilizations was not just in Europe, but in the Americas, in Australia, Africa and parts of Asia. Wounds of the Goan Inquisition are still raw, and the ancient temples converted to churches may be far between, but not few. The impulse of the Abrahamic faith systems to gain access to legislative power is powerful, pragmatic and persistent. At the time of Constantine, Christianity was no more than 10% of the total population. It was political power, followed by edicts, laws and subtle amendments over decades that changed the world.
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TLDR:- While we, along with the world, mourn at the fiery collapse of the Church of Notre Dame in Paris, a monumentally beautiful edifice, let us also remember that underneath it was a temple to many gods, including Jupiter, Mercury, Castor and Pollux, and Vulcan, the old Roman god of fire.
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PS:- I copied it from somewhere and pasted it here as is to make sure I do not distort the facts.
Well we know by 64 AD, that Christians were in Rome. Maybe a 100+ at the time.
By late 200 AD, Diocletian was persecuting Christians in all parts of the Empire. So the movement had spread far and wide over the 150+ years. I read that by Constantine, the Empire consisted of around 25% Christians. They had risen in the ranks of Imperial administration and even Constantine's Mom was a Christian. (Helen).
I don't think they held a majority in any given part of the Empire.......but were a presence that was large enough to justify wide spread persecution across the Empire. I would probably guess that the Greek and North African side of the Empire had the largest concentration.
This was a decent read on the conversion of the Empire from Paganism to Christianity: https://www.amazon.com/Darkening-Age-Christian-Destruction-Classical/dp/0544800885
It was more like a conquest or a revolution which spread across Europe, often accompanied by destruction and ignorance. Many libraries, shrines, statues etc were destroyed. I learned a lot from this book, “The Darkening age - The Christian Destruction of the Classical world”
https://www.amazon.com/Darkening-Age-Christian-Destruction-Classical/dp/0544800885