The Roman Cults that Rivaled Christianity

[@JazSemGrega]

Even the Teletubbies worshipped the sun ☀️

[@athaliapyzer3579]

Bravo! Regards, LadyToldinStone

[@Houthiandtheblowfish]

i think mithraisim a branch of unorthodox zoroastrian religions was growing fast

[@therealestg9]

Ave Sol Invictus

[@Houthiandtheblowfish]

light fire sun is one of the important holy pilars of aryan zoroastrian religion

[@gabrielalejandrodoldan4722]

Praise the sun

[@sooryanarayan4148]

"Mithra" is synonym for Sun god in Hinduism also. "Om Mithraya Namah" is an invocation of the Lord Surya , Hindu Sun God.

[@BaalFridge]

I was wondering if it was the same Mithra! Makes sense as the romans traded far enough to reach hinduist regions and bring back their beliefs.

[@ljerojce2111]

No, it's because of the iranian god mithra ​@BaalFridge

[@leaveme3559]

​@@BaalFridge I don't think that's the case......these gods were worshipped in central anatolia once ....they found some archeological digs for the god I can't recall much but I read it a long time ago So romans probably adapted that

[@malkomalkavian]

But Iran is even closer to India, how does that preclude them being connected?

[@pikachue602]

​@@BaalFridge nah! It could be the other way as the Romans and Indians had old trade culture .. The Babylonians are not different

[@aedesaegypti3129]

The thing is that these cults were not exclusive, a worshiper of Mithras or Elagabal was not expected to give up the other gods. So religious competition didn't really exist in the modern sense until the advent of exclusive religions like Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. And these religions tend to compete not only among each other but even more between the different sects they tend to split into.

[@TacticusPrime]

They weren't exclusive in terms requiring one to reject the worship of other gods, but they were competition for the time, money, and passion of worshippers. Those who venerated Mithras did so with all those things that they weren't devoting to any other cults or temple establishments. Obviously, they would still make an offering to Neptune to before a sea voyage or something, but they were putting a lot of personal resources into one particular patron deity.

[@aedesaegypti3129]

@@TacticusPrime Most temples of Mithras have altars and shrines to other gods as well so no, they weren't neglecting the other deities.

[@TacticusPrime]

@@aedesaegypti3129 What are you talking about? Catholics have shrines to saints in their churches. So what? Going to a particular place to primarily focus your religious life is the point. You couldn't be both an Isis cultist and a Mithras cultist. Not that you couldn't respect Isis or whichever Roman deity you conflated her with, but that there wasn't enough time in the day.

[@aedesaegypti3129]

@@TacticusPrime Again, mystery cults were not exclusive. And there are multiple examples of people who were members of multiple mystery cults simultaneously.

[@TacticusPrime]

@@aedesaegypti3129 OK, name them.

[@GnosticInformant]

I think the evidence shows that Sol was already on the rise during the Severan Dynsasty era and Aurelian is just the one who built a new temple and issued a new feast.

[@rodionromanovich449]

One of my favorite channels commenting on another one of my favorite channels, interesting times 🤘🤘🤘

[@theeccentrictripper3863]

@@rodionromanovich449 I've always asserted the internet is in reality 4 men and a goat and nothing about my time online has made me waver in that assessment

[@Boardwoards]

yo do you kno why it's called gnosis? gnomon are sun dials yeah and you use them to guage relations that are deeply connected like shadows. well then you start to say what is the shadow of form itself not just as light reflects and you see 4d shapes and so on. this also reveals true definitions of words like god as humanity across 4d and as reflected in the universe itself let alone our experience. etc.

[@Houthiandtheblowfish]

i think mithraisim a branch of unorthodox zoroastrian religions was growing fast

[@DS-Slug]

"On the Rise" nice

[@gregreeder828]

I was surprised you did not cover the cult of Antinous, the last Roman pagan god of antiquity. He was the lover of Hadrian and after he died by drowning in the Nile in 130 AD, Hadrian declared him a god and established his cult. He was a bit of a threat to the early church and one mentioned in church writings.

[@H0mework]

He wasn't the lover of Hadrian, he just got an elaborate mourning.

[@silverado9104]

@@H0mework an elaborate mounting, n'est-ce pas ?

[@johannessteinberg6869]

Or apollonius of tyana

[@milztempelrowski9281]

The 'lover'-part is contested, that his cult was significant is not.

[@saranicewan]

Me too, first one I thought of.

[@Navak_]

Stoicism Cynicism Sol Invictus Mithraism Manichaeism Cult of Jupiter Dolichensus Cult of African Saturn Cult of Isis Cult of Serapis Cult of Cybele Gnosticism

[@RuthvenMurgatroyd]

Stoicism and cynicism are philosophies and not necessarily competing with Christianity as, for example, stoicism and neoplatonism have and can be reconciled with the Faith.

[@biovalve1410]

@@RuthvenMurgatroyd Thats debateable, the classic stoics appealed to pagan Gods. Their idea of virtue functions completely different than Christian Virtue.

[@quentinsummers2531]

Why u spoil??

[@hieratics]

What about Apollonius of Tyana?

[@Enmerkar0fUruk]

The cult of Artemis Ephesia too.

[@Katze5335]

I saw your book naked statues etc at Barnes and noble the other day, had to get it. Love it. Thank you for your vids

[@billlynn8256]

Let us not forget Priapism.......

[@Katze5335]

@@billlynn8256what

[@theeccentrictripper3863]

Kevin is a great guy but on his most recent lots of semi-cleaned Greek and Roman provincial coins they were initially listed as all being false-desert patina and the listing has been updated to suggest only some of them are. This may have been an oversight but just a buyer beware for new collectors who don't yet have a good eye for an authentic sand-fill patina vs one glued onto the coin by random middle-eastern merchants. Beyond that I can vouch for his other stuff, I've gotten some pretty neat coins from him and he's always pleasant and helpful, his uncleaned coins from the Balkans can turn up neat stuff occasionally too, like an Imperator Victorinus.

[@christophermbeattie3528]

Whenever I see a new video from toldinstone I just click on it without looking to see what it’s really about. Excellent

[@tecumsehcristero]

Except that by the early 2nd century Christians were already meeting on Sundays across the Roman empire instead of Saturday and the Didache written in AD52 by the Christians changes the sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. So Constantine almost 300 years later probably didn’t have any effect on which day the Christians held as holy. Well, Not “probably” he definitely didn’t unless he owned and used a time machine

[@StoneInMySandal]

The Sunday ekklesia remained the minority until well into the 4th century.

[@davidec.4021]

The internet’s recent interest with the “sun god” is very peculiar. Very nice video as always!

[@TDGCmote]

current state of the internet always makes me wish i was an anthropologist

[@shaolinotter]

it could be an influx of people accepting the state of climate change

[@evilsponge6911]

Now this is the kind of content I can Elagobble up

[@kevindoran9389]

Pfff....hahaha A prize cow for you......good sir 🐮

[@SkycladWanderer]

Gather round folks, and smasheth like on this.

[@jrdarby]

I got the 667th like in 😈

[@scoon2117]

How art thou? Thou lobby bottle of cheap stinking chip oil.

[@Goldlion973]

Smashethed.

[@maxsonthonax1020]

Pretty annoying, not to mention illiterate.

[@Unknown-jt1jo]

@@maxsonthonax1020I'm sorry to hear you're illiterate. You can always pursue high school equivalency degrees or some other form of remedial education.

[@zaco-km3su]

There's a reality that people don't get: Romans worshiped gods from different religion. They could worship a mixture of Egyptian and Roman gods for example. Basically just because one was a Christian, that didn't mean he wasn't worshiping other gods (pagan, as Christians called them).

[@trenthamboy]

1:13 what is the guy on the right doing?

[@h0rn3d_h1st0r1an]

HOLD ON A SECOND WAIT W H A T

[@Britishdarnlib]

Let a man edge in peace

[@dumoulin11]

Exactly what you think he's doing.

[@davidpineda9160]

Touching his willy

[@neilterry1726]

He's clearly pissing on a small overactive dog out of spite, if you've never owned one maybe you wouldn't understand. He's probably thinking "this little shit is gonna get crushed by a bull's hoof and I am entirely over it already..."

[@SonKunSama]

So basically even after thousands of years we still worship the sun. Which is honestly not a bad thing, seeing as the sun is the global bringer of life. All hail His radiance!

[@kmd9999]

Kool Vid! In the Loeb translation of his writings Emperor Julian Augustus refers to Helios, he considered himself a greek...

[@yahwea]

The cult of Mithras still exists. My friend's father is a Magi of Mithras. Los Angeles

[@EggShen905]

The earliest actual documentation we have sees mentions of Christmas well before any mention of the December Sol Invictus celebration. Thus it's much more likely that Christmas actually influenced Sol Invictus, rather than the other way around.

[@francescofilippi2824]

Jesus was not born in December by the way

[@CybermanKing]

@@francescofilippi2824John the Baptist was conceived in September, so he would have been born in June. He’s six months older than Jesus. Six months from June is December. Jesus was born in December.

[@jool5941]

@CybermanKing no he wasn’t

[@CybermanKing]

@@jool5941 In Luke’s Gospel, Zechariah is serving in the Temple offering incense at the end of Yom Kippur when the angel Gabriel visited him, telling him his wife will bear a son. 9 months from that is the nativity of John the Baptist. Six months from that is December 24. Christmas Day is the day Jesus was born.

[@idratherstayanonimous7020]

@@francescofilippi2824 When was he born?

[@gamingchinchilla7323]

that uncleaned coin lot sales page confuses me... do they sell coins in small lots for the $16 price tag or just one coin from a lot?

[@dodiswatchbobobo]

I doubt you could get more than one ancient coin for less than $16, even uncleaned $16 for one seems like a steal.

[@theeccentrictripper3863]

His semi-cleaned and un-cleaned are sold as singles, so it'd be $16 per coin. I'd spend a little more and stick with his cleaned & attributed stuff though, until you've got a good eye for things numismatic-wise.

[@gamingchinchilla7323]

@@theeccentrictripper3863 & ​ @dodiswatchbobobo thanks for the comments. yeah, I havent been in the hobby in some years. I remember when buying a few uncleaned coins were right around that price point, but that was like a decade ago :P

[@theeccentrictripper3863]

@@gamingchinchilla7323 I'm newer than some but I really hit the ground running and I'm pretty into it now, there's something magical as hell about holding something from 2000+ years ago, and the magic doubles when you clean a coin, it's like indirectly shaking hands with the last person to touch its bare surface.

[@plumtree1846]

In a couple weeks, there will be a total eclipse of the sun over my house in Ohio. I wonder how the Romans would have interpreted this event? Will anyone today act in a similar fashion as the Romans?

[@greatexpectations6577]

Many Romans thought that eclipses were bad omens

[@i-never-look-at-replies-lol]

all paths lead to ohio

[@druidriley3163]

We had the totality in my state - not Ohio -- as well. It was a stunning experience. No wonder our ancestors freaked out about it.

[@alhesiad]

I hope that new sponsorship is legit and not another scam like the nobility titles one...

[@theeccentrictripper3863]

Kevin is a stand-up guy, I've gotten quite a few coins from him and he's always pleasant and helpful. I will note however that his most recent lots of Greek and Roman semi-cleaned coins were initially listed as being all false desert patina and now have been updated to suggest only some of them are, so if you don't yet have a good eye for that sort of thing stick with stuff from the western provinces or the Balkans that aren't subject to that kind of commercial modification. It was probably an oversight but new numismatists should be aware of what they could potentially be getting.

[@nightsplurge810]

Thank you for the Noble Roman Coins shout out, I have been looking for something like this

[@Manuel421]

I'm not sure if you've uploaded one in the past but a video on Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius would be really interesting. Thanks for the content.

[@HandyMan657]

Can't help but wonder how many of those "good" christians have threatened the creator of this content simply because they're just too brainwashed to see the lie.

[@EbonySaints]

I've been on an Esoterica binge lately (Really great channel for anyone interested in Western Mysticism and the occult.) and this is a perfect compliment to that.

[@archieames1968]

If you like religion origin/development videos from the perspective/interpretation of an obvious atheist/secular skeptic reaching for things to deconstruct maybe.

[@johnross5368]

​​@@archieames1968 excuse me are you able to clarify. Are you saying Justin Sledge from the esoterica channel is an atheist/skeptic?

[@EbonySaints]

@@archieames1968 While I don't believe that Dr. Justin Sledge is the most pious and Orthodox Jew to ever live, I find it hard to believe that someone who is a partner to a rabbi and wears a yamaka almost all the time to be a hardcore atheist. I don't think a dyed-in-the-wool atheist could be bothered to do a doctorate in his field without losing their minds.

[@archieames1968]

@@EbonySaintsiirc he is reconstructionist which are basically at least for a significant portion if not majority, atheists/antitheist/secular with yalmukes.Also there is believe it or not an admittedly small faction of atheists and even antitheists that subscribe or at least appear to subscribe to the reverse of conventional wisdom and value the pageantry and trappings of religion over its substance. They usually are found in sects like the unitarians among the christian derived branches. If you're asking what the point is, masking atheism or even in some cases virulent antitheism with religious terminology and ritual.I personally agree there doesn't seem to be any but a few people seem to enjoy the exercise.

[@ryanpoe3696]

@@EbonySaintsHe is though. There’s a video where he says so. There are atheist rabbis. They find value in the teachings and traditions of the religion even though they don’t believe the god of the religion literally exists. Jordan Peterson has essentially the same relationship with Christianity that Sledge does with Judaism.

[@flamencoprof]

When on a driving and camping tour of Britain in 1996, I was surprised to find, and visit, a temple of Mithras at Hadrian's Wall, on the very edge of the Roman Empire.

[@diannewheatleygiliotti8513]

Thanks!

[@toldinstone]

Deeply appreciated!

[@SlapShotRegatta22]

What is the origin of the pointed "sun crown"? I've definitely seen this motif on many Roman emperors. Even prior to the era depicted on the Constantine coin in the video.

[@giampieroilbello5373]

Sol invictus was the 21st of December

[@xavierpaquin]

Very cool topic and mind-blowing visuals, thank you

[@jameswoodard4304]

The Gospels and the traditions they record, as well as the rest of the New Testament, had already been around a long time before Constantine showed up. These portray Christ having risen from the grave, and His followers regularly meeting to commemorate the event afterwards, on "the Lord's Day," the first day of the week, which the Romans called Sunday. Does it seem more likely that the Christianizing Constantine selected Sunday because it was part of his attempt to appeal to the growing Christian element in a way that would also not be too offensive to Pagans, *or* that he chose to set aside the day out of actual reverence for the Sun god? Yes, it was Sun-day, but it was also the Lord's Day, a day of Christian reverence, and Constantine was a massive patron of Christianity.

[@theeccentrictripper3863]

This belies a Christian-centric worldview that had not yet come into being, and would not be fully ushered in until after Constantine's death. It's okay to have been influenced by paganism, you won, take the W and stop trying to rip the bones right out of your religion.

[@Keskitalo1]

Lord's Day is Sabbath which is Saturday. In latin Sunday was called "dies Solis", later as they adopted christianity they replaced the name with "dies Dominicus".

[@jameswoodard4304]

@Keskitalo1 , Yes, the seventh day was the sabbath. The Bible never calls the first day of the week the sabbath. The only thing in the Church Age referred to as the sabbath is Jesus Christ. Hebrews tells us that *He* is our only sabbath rest. The first day of the week simply became the accustomed day for meeting to celebrate Christ's saving work for us because He rose on that day. The Bible never uses the New Testament term "the Lord's Day" to refer to the sabbath/seventh day. If the Bible is talking about the sabbath, it just says "sabbath." The earliest days of the Church saw believers meeting every day, but this quickly changed to an emphasis on the first day. (Acts 20:7 and 1 Cor. 16:2) And it was well after this change that John writes in The Revelation that the vision came to him on "The Lord's Day." If he had meant "on the sabbath," that's what he would have said. The Lord's Day was a distinct concept from the sabbath. Also, Paul instructed believers not to be concerned with such things as feast days, new moon rituals, *and sabbaths* (Col. 2:16) The New Covenant Church did not keep to the sabbath (especially the gentile contingent, which the vast majority of us are and who are freed from such things as sabbath observance by the decree of the Apostles in the Jerusalem Council as depicted in Acts). They *did* meet on the first day of the week, but not as a sabbath rest (which we have the fulfillment of in Christ), but as a celebration. The first day of the week was referred to as The Lord's Day by Christians long before the Roman Empire adopted Christianity. The Romanization of Christianity did impose several accretions onto the faith that would require a Reformation to pry back off, but neither Constantine nor Justinian *invented* Christianity, nor did they invent calling the first day of the week The Lord's Day.

[@miloscarapic4502]

​@@jameswoodard4304In our church teachings (btw i am orthodox christian) Lord died on cross on friday that's why we call it Veliki petak (the great friday), next day is saturday/subota/šabat so it's called Velika Subota (the great saturday/šabat), and with old testament šabat was that seventh day for resting but Lord came to fulfill old testament so now new day for resting is sunday, so on sunday Lord arise from grave and that day we call Vaskrs, Uskrs (and today is that day in our Orthodox church) so from that day we don't celebrate sabbat as day of rest, now it's sunday, and in our tradition we don't connect it with any sun diety or any other sun shit, because in our language name for sunday is nedelja (day on what something cannot be separated) and what can't be separated is Holy Trinity (God Father, God son (Lord) and Holy spirit (the one you catholics do not believe exist) so i hope i cleared things a bit.

[@jameswoodard4304]

@miloscarapic4502 , 1) I am not a Roman Catholic. I am a Baptist. 2) All Chritians, east and west, believe in the Holy Spirit. Why in the world do you think Catholics don't believe the Holy Spirit exists?! 3) Your tradition is as much descended from the church of Constantine as is the Roman Catholic. All of the Eastern Orthodox communions are descended from the Byzantine culture and religion of Constantinople, founded and ruled by the first Christian Roman Emperor Constantine. The scriptures and liturgies then had to be translated from the Greek and Latin that Constantine spoke into your Slavic language. My point is that the history I am talking about is shared by all Christian traditions whose history traces back through Constantine, which includes both yours and mine. 4) Western, including English-speaking, Christians don't connect the first day of the week or the celebration of the Resurrection with "any sun sh!t" either. We just never changed the pagan *name* of the day of the week and the time of year. Most non-English-speaking western Christians use more Christian names for both. Resurrection Sunday is often referred to by words based on Pesach, the Jewish festival of Passover which Christ's death and resurrection fulfilled and replaced. In Spanish, for example, the seventh day of the week is called Sabado (Sabbath) and the first is called Domingo (the Lord's). The pre-Christian tradition of your culture was just as pagan as mine or any in the west. Some cultures kept older names for things while forgetting their pagan meanings and dedicating them to Christ, while others gave them new names. One is not inherently better than the other.

[@ericcloud1023]

always a pleasure seeing you've uploaded

[@neon-kitty]

I get that the video itself mainly focuses on solar cults but from the title I really expected the cult of Isis to be included, as well.

[@richardglady3009]

Thank you so much for your take on this story. Your objectivity was very enjoyable. Thanks.

[@sevelofficial2696]

Never been here so early! Hello Told In Stone!! I love your videos as they bring back the joy I had taking college courses specifically about The Roman Republic and another about the Empire!

[@MrHogarth45]

The Sabbath moved to the first day if the week because it was the day Christ resurrected, was the day he appeared to apostles in the following 40 days. Wad observed by Paul when having communion. And is a statement about how we can now rest in Christ before doing our works, opposite of the Jewish religion.

[@caseycardenas1668]

I understand what you're saying but that is a common articulation that is technically not correct. The early Church did not move the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. Instead “The Sabbath, which represented the completion of the first creation, has been replaced by Sunday, which recalls the new creation inaugurated by the Resurrection of Christ” (CCC 2190). Sunday is the day Catholics are bound to keep, not Saturday.

[@druidriley3163]

Only one gospel says Jesus hung around for 40 days. Paul only saw Jesus in a vision not in real life.

[@Kyle_Schaff]

I thought the religious significance of Sunday to Christianity predated Constantine? Perhaps Christ was associated with the Sun god by early Christians, but I didn’t think Constantine conceived of that relationship himself

[@caseycardenas1668]

It does pre exist Constantine. This can be seen from early church patristic writings as well as the bible itself.

[@MushrooMilkshake]

1:13 what's with dude taking a leak?

[@FMonou]

I would love to see more on Roman religious practices. Maybe in a broad video on major gods their commonalities and differences. I know they had temples but did they daily worship. What symbols, colors or offerings came with that etc I enjoyed this video though. Thanks Garrett!

[@jimc.goodfellas]

Shew thank goodness, I hadn't thought about ancient Rome in days

[@aglassofmilk5779]

It’s only been 2 minutes

[@cowymtber]

So Mithras was Roman guys retreating to the man cave to watch NFL.

[@pc239]

Pretty close, as I understand it. It was very popular with the Roman soldiers, wasn't it?

[@professorsogol5824]

Does the Elagabalus meteorite still exist? If so, where is it and how big is it? What is its composition? If not, do we know how big it was and what happened to it?

[@theeccentrictripper3863]

Side-eyes funny black stone in the Kaaba

[@kaloarepo288]

There may be a connection with the Kaaba as a lot of Islam was codified and elaborated by the Ummayad dynasty who put an end to a long series of inter -Islamic wars known as the Fitna wars. The Ummayad capital was in Damascus in Syria not very far from the city of Emesa or Homs where the emperor Heliogabalus' ancestors came from. In Emesa the black stone was worshiped with rituals similar to those in the Mecca Kaaba. There are even coins of this holy black stone. Just google "Images" - the black stone of Emesa and you will get pictures of this black holy rock.@@theeccentrictripper3863

[@professorsogol5824]

@@theeccentrictripper3863 I searched on the internet and found an article published in a journal published by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. Here is the relevant quote [Tne stone] was probably smashed to pieces when the temple was converted into a Christian church, some time in the 4th century. The site, now occupied by a mosque, has never been excavated. All that remains of the mysteri- ous black stone are ancient texts and a collection of iconographic documents, mostly coins.

[@theeccentrictripper3863]

@@professorsogol5824 My comment was a tongue-in-cheek joke but that's quite fascinating, learning stuff every day. It doesn't surprise me that was its eventual fate though

[@shaolinotter]

I wonder what future historians will have to say about our worship of captain america and goku, the god of good sportsmanship

[@uuhhhmicrotone2435]

WHAT ABOUT HADRIAN'S TWINK CULT????

[@yYSilverFoxYy]

TWINK CULT?! Now I gotta look it up. Sounds like my kind of religion.👀

[@aglassofmilk5779]

WHAT DA HELLLLL

[@druidriley3163]

Antinous' cult. It actually took off and got very popular. It was another rival cult against Christianity.

[@Peyto23]

Just visited rome, and one thing that stood out is the amount of mithras statues, paintings, sculptures, etc. Very near to see the knowledge hat. However, more conspiratorially and probably very wrong is when you associate the 8 pointed star to sol, and you will see it present in architecture from today back to ancient time in the roman forum. It was explained to me that the 8 pointed star was a family crest of Papel nobel family. However, my guide was very unsure and dodged the question hard. I'm not sure if the symbolic element is understood or if people just love pointy stars.

[@Nadia1989]

1:00 I visited the London Mithraeum last year. It was a short visit, but definitely worth it.

[@druidriley3163]

I went as well, and left an offering.

[@captainhomie6156]

If some features of Sol Invictus were attributed to Jesus, is it possible that early christianity (now modernised with the new testament) was also inspired by elements of other religions and beliefs?

[@kaloarepo288]

Not a new idea at all -the great early Christian historian Eusebius of Caesarea discusses the similarity of many pagan myths and legends with the Christian narrative and he explains that this was part of God's plan - to prepare mankind for the coming of Jesus -his treatise is known as "Preparatio evangeli' -the preparation for the Gospel.

[@WayfaringStranger1420]

No elements of how other Gods were depicted were used as a visual language to aid in conversion.

[@shaunkerr8721]

A lot of Christians seem to believe Christianity is this singular pure religion which sprang forward from Judaism as its logical and righteous inheritor of the title of "God's Chosen People." In grad school I took a class in comparative religions of antiquity and several Christians were amazed to learn the cross pollination between a god like Dionysus and a god like Jesus (both being sacrificed and resurrected, born on 25 Dec, god whose blood is wine, etc.) A lot of the cults and the philosophical traditions which sprang forth from Plato/Socrates (stoicism, realm of the forms, subversion of the given moral paradigm, rationality uber alles, etc.) of ancient Greece and Roman had a tremendous influence on early Christianity. Even the early name for the Holy Spirit was "Defender" in ancient Greek and for Satan was "Accuser" both in the legal sense and the idea of their battle was often portrayed as a battle between Roman litigants in court. Christianity is a human construct and comparing and contrasting it with other cults can bring this into great clarity.

[@PomazeBog1389]

lol no.

[@shaunkerr8721]

@@PomazeBog1389This is the sort of response I thought I would get in opposition, free of anything of merit or substance.

[@s3v3n3]

I have to disagree with you. As Orthodox Christians, we firmly believe that Orthodoxy is the inheritor of 2nd Temple Judaism, but no one said we are the inheritor of the title "God's Chosen People", nor is there any substantial evidence that Dionysus and Jesus are even remotely related, which has been debunked by Inspiring Philosophy, other apologists, and anyone willing to look at what evidence is really being presented. It is likely all of the claims they made are made up and are not definitive, and the fact that was taught at your grad school is very deceptive, irresponsible, and intellectually dishonest with whoever your teacher was, seeing as these claims are questionable or faulty. These are the things people are taught but never actually look deeper into it themselves, it's taught in a lecture, therefore take it as 100% fact and it must be true. Don't get me wrong, Christianity IS influenced by other religions in the sense that specifically Roman Catholicism reflects the Roman architecture and Babylonian religions. After all, since the Great Schism and Protestant Reformation, Christianity has been significantly watered down and changed in Theology by many heretical sects. Still, Orthodoxy reflects only Judaism because it is the inheritor of 2nd Temple Judaism, Jesus being the superior Temple, Jesus being fulfilled in all of the prophets, and Jesus prophesying about the destruction of the Temple which did happen in history. Jesus Christ is different, the majority of historians and scholars, both atheists and theists, agree Jesus was a historical figure, whatever your teacher listened to by mystics strangely all seem to be the same and are either foraged and are not definitively true, or a part of it is somewhat similar and was taken out of context and pushed as narrative. So far, Jesus was a real historical figure who was really born and died by crucifixion in the 1st Century AD. A lot of evidence in history points to that, including the Shroud of Turin which many speculate to be the authentic burial Shroud of Jesus and has many anomalies that would prove the reliability and authenticity of the resurrection account in the gospels. There is no other person like Jesus despite the so-called claims that "every God and every religion is the same or influenced by other religions, including Christianity" by the mysticists. Despite not being proven 100% and the claim being totally ludicrous when we take into account the culture around AD 1st Century Judea and their sentiment towards the Romans, there are so many arguments against it. You know what's strange? There is no other historical figure that other religions will try to pervert, claim, or give credit to other than Jesus Himself because He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is exclusive, He said it Himself, and that's why the world is against Him. Islam, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Egyptian paganism, Roman paganism, Greek paganism, what have you, all these claims coming from people in their respective fields not holding any definite truth in them. "Jesus is Horus", has been debunked. "Jesus was a Muslim" has been debunked. "Jesus learned the teachings of Hinduism" has been debunked. "Jesus is an offshoot of Greek or Roman gods" has been debunked. "Jesus is actually referring to the Sun" has been debunked. Why do you think that is?

[@s3v3n3]

(This is my last attempt, if YT keeps deleting my comments I'm done, lol.) I have to disagree with you. As Orthodox Christians, we firmly believe that Orthodoxy is the inheritor of 2nd Temple Judaism, but no one said we are the inheritor of the title "God's Chosen People", nor is there any substantial evidence that Dionysus and Jesus are even remotely related, which has been debunked by Inspiring Philosophy, other apologists, and anyone willing to look at what evidence is really being presented. It is likely all of the claims they made are made up and are not definitive, and the fact that was taught at your grad school is very deceptive, irresponsible, and intellectually dishonest with whoever your teacher was, seeing as these claims are questionable or faulty. These are the things people are taught but never actually look deeper into it themselves, it's taught in a lecture, therefore take it as 100% fact and it must be true. Don't get me wrong, Christianity IS influenced by other religions in the sense that specifically Roman Catholicism reflects the Roman architecture and Babylonian religions. After all, since the Great Schism and Protestant Reformation, Christianity has been significantly watered down and changed in Theology by many heretical sects. Still, Orthodoxy reflects only Judaism because it is the inheritor of 2nd Temple Judaism, Jesus being the superior Temple, Jesus being fulfilled in all of the prophets, and Jesus prophesying about the destruction of the Temple which did happen in history. Jesus Christ is different, the majority of historians and scholars, both atheists and theists, agree Jesus was a historical figure, whatever your teacher listened to by mystics strangely all seem to be the same and are either foraged and are not definitively true, or a part of it is somewhat similar and was taken out of context and pushed as narrative. So far, Jesus was a real historical figure who was really born and died by crucifixion in the 1st Century AD. A lot of evidence in history points to that, including the Shroud of Turin which many speculate to be the authentic burial Shroud of Jesus and has many anomalies that would prove the reliability and authenticity of the resurrection account in the gospels. There is no other person like Jesus despite the so-called claims that "every God and every religion is the same or influenced by other religions, including Christianity" by the mysticists. Despite not being proven 100% and the claim being totally ludicrous when we take into account the culture around AD 1st Century Judea and their sentiment towards the Romans, there are so many arguments against it. You know what's strange? There is no other historical figure that other religions will try to pervert, claim, or give credit to other than Jesus Himself because He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is exclusive, He said it Himself, and that's why the world is against Him. Islam, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Egyptian paganism, Roman paganism, Greek paganism, what have you, all these claims coming from people in their respective fields not holding any definite truth in them. "Jesus is Horus", has been debunked. "Jesus was a Muslim" has been debunked. "Jesus learned the teachings of Hinduism" has been debunked. "Jesus is an offshoot of Greek or Roman gods" has been debunked. "Jesus is actually referring to the Sun" has been debunked. Why do you think that is?

[@RuthvenMurgatroyd]

Comparative religion is such a dubious field of study I'd be cautious about taking it too seriously. For one, it tends to predispose people to mythiscism which has been widely discredited by now.

[@TheBreadB]

PLEASE PUT SOME SOURCES IN THE DESCRIPTION I WANT TO KNOW

[@MatthewRandazzoV]

Very effective ad for Noble Roman Coins. Good investment on their part. Great video.

[@StuartAnderson-xl4bo]

First came mother goddess as depicted in clay sculptures 1000s of years before any recorded history

[@peterjaimez1619]

What about Apollonius of Tyana? Cheers

[@VViatro]

are there any good vendors for roman coins in Europe?

[@thevisitor1012]

Theodosius I: "What rivals?"

[@PatchGuitar1]

I love these videos with all my heart and Sol

[@SuperPsychoSheep]

Anyine know the painting depicted at 6:41 or who it's by? Really love it

[@scorpions7153]

The martyrs at the catacombs Christian religious assembly at the funeral of the first Christians in Rome. Painting by Jules Lenepveu

[@scorpions7153]

The martyrs at the catacombs Christian religious assembly at the funeral of the first Christians in Rome. Painting by Jules Lenepveu

[@robertberatheon4213]

What paintings were in the video?

[@robertberatheon4213]

Helios on a chariot allegory is one of them

[@fredsmyth449]

The figures of Sol Invictus and another, starting at 2:00, look like they were done by Robert Crumb

[@wouefn]

According to Adrian Goldsworthy, the rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire was not as traumatic to its people as it may seem to us nowadays. 1) the Romans didn't find Christianity anomalous because it was monotheistic, but because they saw it as atheistic; the popular narrative that Christianity was persecuted for being monotheistic is modern-era propaganda -- probably against the rise of secularism and non-religiousness of the post-WWII period; 2)for practical purposes, the average pagan pretty much only adored two gods in his or her daily life: usually the local god and the empire's god (in Rome's case, Jupiter Optimus Maximus); so paganism in the High Empire already seemed to be de facto bitheistic, borderline monotheistic in the daily routine of the common person; 3)in this transition to “bitheism”, there was a convergent evolution of paganism to adore the Sun as the “universal god” - it was simply common sense to unite the plethora of local religions to what they all have in common, i.e. the Sun; 4) it seemed early adherence to Christianity was very “pagan”, i.e. votive, that is, commoners wanted to have an afterlife, something the pagan religions didn't believe (the only way to have an afterlife was to be deified, which was a privilege of the emperor and the empress), so rich middle class folk from Rome converted to Christianity later in life just to become immortal; in other words, there wasn't a dichotomy between being pagan and christian: God as really just another god; To which I think it would be worth it to add other points: a) the rise of Christianity in Rome is clearly linked to the collapse of the Empire. As the local economies started to crumble and, with them, their local elites (therefore, the local gods), in order to keep Rome in one peace, the emperors instinctively realized a centralizing religion, with one single god, was necessary. Elagabalus and Sol Invictus are merely failed iterations before the consolidation of Christianity (and Julian's isolated policy a desperate, very late attempt to restore the status quo ante); b) the rise of Christianity in this economic and political context seemed to have happened against the will of the Roman elite as a whole, including the imperial office. Archaeological evidence from Rome itself of the Constantinian period indicates Christianity rose organically, occupying the (mainly economic) void of the self-destruction of the Principate system. The (old) Roman elite simply abandoned its citizens, and Christianity -- which seemed to have spread from the rich urban classes -- was the only source left of material goods to co-opt the Roman people. The story was completely different in the Byzantine era, when pagans were actively and systematically persecuted and exterminated with the open purpose of spreading and consolidating Christianity.

[@fromrawn9303]

What is the thumbnail, does anyone know?

[@theeccentrictripper3863]

Helios on the chariot. Allegory with the coats of arms of Trąby (Woyna) and Nałęcz (Górski) Wikimedia doesn't attribute the artist, they're anonymous I suppose

[@fromrawn9303]

@@theeccentrictripper3863 thank you sir

[@i-never-look-at-replies-lol]

You forgot to cover the cult of Littelus Caeserus, a group of people who worshipped & primarily ate small discs of baked bread covered in a type of sauce, perhaps made of tomatoes, and melted cheese. It was said that they had lost their minds to such madness & devotion to this food that the only word they could utter was the name of their beloved dish twice.

[@hieratics]

Isn't tomato 🍅 a New World plant?

[@RogerTheil]

Lmao

[@byz2482]

​Woosh​@@hieratics

[@Soppsleven]

whats that painting in the thumbnail?

[@jool5941]

Elagabal- Syrian god represented by a black meteorite. I wonder if that is the same black stone that the muslims kiss in Mecca and they just adopted the pagan rituals.

[@aaron6178]

As a veteran injured during my service, the invocation of Sol Invictus as a patron of people like myself has been a really interesting insight into the durability of ancient beliefs and customs. Its excites me how they evolve over time, yet often retain key elements at their core that reflect the continuity of ancient ideas.

[@Houthiandtheblowfish]

i think mithraisim a branch of unorthodox zoroastrian religions was growing fast and influnced abrahamic religion thought heavily

[@theeccentrictripper3863]

Thanks for your service, the Unconquered Sun applauds your valor

[@signoguns8501]

Why do uncleaned coins sell for more than cleaned coins?

[@theeccentrictripper3863]

They don't generally, if you find a guy upcharging on uncleaned coins on the off-chance you might get some silver run for the hills, it's a scam. The cheapest I've gotten stuff that still looked alright, having already been cleaned, is around $20-30, and uncleaned lots can go for as little as $5-10 a coin at times.

[@chirhoaten3220]

It is no coincidence that the sun starts to rise again on Christmas after being in the proverbial Tomb for three days when the sun stands still after the winter solstice, the sun is also in the southern cross during that time. Its all related to the motions of the heavenly bodies. One can not say such evidence is ambiguous.

[@andrewcarpenter687]

Bi Bull...

[@druidriley3163]

*when the sun stands still* Um, you do know the sun isn't standing still, right? It's the earth that's moving.

[@m.e.345]

Was there an equivalent of "the ten commandments" in other ancient religions?

[@JennieKermode]

Wasn't Aten more Nefertiti's thing that Akhenaten's? I mean, he was the boss, but I don't think he was the one doing the work, especially in light of his illness and frequent periods of exhaustion.

[@ChrisRowe]

It’s interesting to note that Elagabal is essentially a version of the Near Eastern god El, so basically, the God of Abrahamic religions and that just like the Kaaba for Islam, a black meteorite was involved in the worship

[@MrJMB122]

Yes, he gets attributes, but that goes back to Camouflage iconography. What would early Christians use a fusion of Greek symbolism with Jewish typology? Before Constantine, Christ is represented as a good shepherd and a philosopher, as grapes and bread, or as a sheep. Once Constantine took power, they started to show Christ as the king of the gods. And also taking on the iconography of the emperor. Before, the Christians could only show him as a healer and a redeemer; now, they can show him as king of the universe. The image we think of Christ now is the image of him as a philosopher from the style of tomb paintings in Hellenistic alexandria. But it became important because this iconography would Become a theological representation of his dual nature. This is done to combat the Arians

[@Houthiandtheblowfish]

i think mithraisim a branch of unorthodox zoroastrian religions was growing fast and influnced abrahamic religion thought heavily

[@kaloarepo288]

I think the genius of Christianity which made it light years ahead of its rivals was how it integrated the lives of ordinary people into the whole cosmic set up. All the figures in the Christian narrative are people that everyone can relate to -ordinary human beings selected by God to fulfill certain roles as part of a divine plan and they all demonstrate traits of empathy and compassion that the ordinary populace can strive to emulate. The whole nativity story is an excellent exemplar of this -an ordinary woman chosen to fulfill a divine plan -the whole narrative of the birth of Jesus - it all sounds so plausible and on a human level. Contrast this with the rival cults whether of Isis or Mithras or whatever and it is all to vague and obviously mythic with figures that are obviously such archetypes that they are difficult to relate to. Christianity too had such a marked ethical component which "pagan" ideologies often totally lacked. I don't think the devotees of Dionysus or Isis or Mithras after their respective rituals and rites were eager to go out to help the poor and to right the wrongs of the world. These cults were just about stroking the egos and demands of the divinities involved and not on improving the world, of consoling the slave or helping the distressed and underpriviliged. Christianity was qualitatively different. The meek and poor would inherit the earth! Almost universally in paganism the status quo of this world would be repeated in the after life- the slave would remain a slave and serve the master. Christianity reversed all this - a mere fisherman St Peter holds the keys to the pearly gates. A mere humble Jewish woman Mary not proud Athena or Hera becomes the queen of heaven.

[@kaloarepo288]

Just ignore the lines that come through my message - I just don't know how that happens!

[@Evanderj]

@@kaloarepo288well said. Thank you. A tree is known by its fruit. The strikethrough occurs when a dash “-“ is placed before and after a string of words, so two dashes can inadvertently trigger them.

[@druidriley3163]

Are you saying compassion didn't exist before Christianity? Uh, don't think so. Nativity story is ridiculous on at least 3 levels. Mary wasn't a woman, she was at most 13-15 the age at which most girls got married in early Hebrew society. She was in no mature mental state to make any kind of important 'choice'. She was still a child. NO administrator in his right mind would make people go back to the place of their ancestors for a census. You do know WHY census' are held, right? And NO ONE would put a nearly full term pregnant woman on a donkey to take a road trip.

[@AA-wc3tw]

I just read the book "The Greatest Lie Ever Told" by WH Uffington. SUPER interesting, especially as a former evangelical christian........

[@jamespoynor9511]

Rad! having a beer at the pizza place waiting for my togo and this gem pops up! AVE TOLDINSTONE!

[@christopherevans2445]

I am a Christian, but there always been something about Helios/Sol to me. If you lived in that world, the Sun was certainly the god whose powers you could see. You could argue that the Sun is still sort of a god, with it's massive power and size, and importance.

[@reelDonaldTrumpExperience]

as a christian, do you pretend to never masturbated once in your Jesuit life?

[@PomazeBog1389]

*Son

[@sterrnerdeem4979]

@@PomazeBog1389No. The SUN*. Praise Sol Invictus

[@andrewcarpenter687]

Mithra= statute of liberty...holding the sun in its right arm...

[@luisfigueroa604]

Is the intro "the lick"?

[@fenecrusader]

Great video

[@mznxbcv12345]

Fun fact: December 25th was the day of Sol Invictus.

[@HeliodromusScorpio]

Mid video, Solar cults were most widespread and worshipped that is why christian emperors out right banned pagan worship. And there are even letters between bishops from the 6th century arguing about the issue of people kneeling under the Sun after leaving church on sunny days.

[@pedrollex3308]

shut up

[@TheDanEdwards]

And today we have churches that hold sunrise services on Easter (the name and meaning itself stolen from 'Eostre'.)

[@wes00chin]

​@@TheDanEdwards The celebration of Jesus' ressurection is called Easter only in English because it fell in the Anglo-Saxon month named after Eostre. Everywhere else it's called Pascha. Also it's a sunrise service to reflect the women going to the tomb during first light as stated in the gospel, nothing to do with the sun itself.

[@Tofuey]

I like that Judaism, christianity, Islam, hinduism seem like a logical religon to believe in in their time periods. Their rules and general teachings appealed to a lot of people at the time. Its easy to see how these religions grew to be so dominate and survived to our modern times despite splitting up and changing over time (especially Christianity)

[@druidriley3163]

It's exactly the opposite. Judaism did not appeal to Gentiles. Too many food rules, circumcision, needing to only marry in the faith, conversion. Christianity appealed to the oppressed and those in dire circumstances. Which is why Christianity did not dominate when the Roman empire was still in good shape. Things were good, people were happy, things were peaceful, why did they need any savior god? Then things went south for the Romans in the 4-5th centuries. Then Christianity starts to take hold, however, and this is a big however, people were still worshipping their pagan gods. Christians finally had to outlaw the other faiths - close academies, temple, shrines, destroy writings, commandeer holidays to stop people from worshipping their old gods. Islam took the same route.

[@MariaMartinez-researcher]

03:56. The globe of the world.

[@_natureisgod]

Glory to ☀️sun.

[@crmesson22k]

Sol invictus

[@oogusboogus2748]

PRAISE SOL!

[@RotneybotOfficial]

Sol is a nice cerveza.

[@degolaskoma8607]

Hail Mithra

[@aglassofmilk5779]

Hail Christ the king

[@ilovemesomme]

Aurelian is also responsible for all of the sun iconography that we see in Medieval Christianity, especially Byzantine iconography.

[@BlueBaron3339]

Sun worship is both ubquitous throughout history and the only rational, by our standards, religion. Unlike gods, its existence cannot be questioned. And it enables all life on earth. And if that was simply that, fine. But, yeah, it gets tied up with all sorts of other nonsense. As for orgiastic sun worship, there were orgiastic Christian cults too as John Romer covered in both his book and documentary series, Testament. Recounting some of its rituals...uh...not in the best taste 😂 Another fine video, Garrett!

[@paulkoza8652]

Every morning when I get up, I make a sacrifice to the sun. It gives me warmth, it gives me light, it provides countless benefits. And I can see the sun (ha, ha). So I don't blame the Romans for worshiping it. They were ahead of their time. Somewhere over the last 2000+ years, we have lost that.

[@theeccentrictripper3863]

Found the man who suns his balls lol jk that's neat

[@theeightbithero]

You mean lost to Christianity?

[@druidriley3163]

Well, when Christianity comes at you with a sword and says worship me or else. Is that really a competition to win or lose?

[@jasonf8883]

​@@druidriley3163I mean. We played by their rules "might is right", "war is cool", and won

[@Colddirector]

@@druidriley3163 I'm an atheist so I don't really have a dog in this race. The pagans were doing the exact same thing to them. You can argue that shows they're no better, but the pagans weren't poor little birthday boys who were bullied by Christians.

[@druidriley3163]

@@jasonf8883 *We played by their rules "might is right", "war is cool", and won* In total violation of all the teachings of Jesus. Yes, hypocrisy won.

[@druidriley3163]

@@Colddirector *The pagans were doing the exact same thing to them* Except they weren't. That's just a story spread by the church to demonize the pagans. In 300 years, there was maybe 12 years of prosecution/persecution of Christians, and it wasn't enforced rigorously or equally across the empire.

[@creepinwhileyousleepin]

Seeing as how we'd be absolutely boned without the sun, actually probably not exist at all. I can get behind some sol worship.

[@realkekz]

BLOOD CREEPIN WHILE YOU'RE SLEEPIN STEADY CREEPIN BLOOD CREEPIN

[@i-never-look-at-replies-lol]

everything on this planet has lived & died under the sun and moon

[@user-tm8jt2py3d]

Good stuff

[@_natureisgod]

MITHRA in sanskrit is SUN ☀️❤

[@tealnexttimebond8859]

Thing I think is the old days for one thing they took a lot of effort and time to worship some kind of god. Romans, Egypt, Mayans, Incas , Greeks, they built massive buildings for some god. Do they not get credit for that?

[@BaalFridge]

It might be told in stone, but I really appreciate having it told by you. I don't speak stone anyway 😂

[@merryjingles]

Ave, true to toldinstone

[@Unknown-jt1jo]

You really should state more clearly when you're getting into the sponsored part of your video. You used to do that.

[@m33tballa]

Theres many motifs of solar worship linked to Abrahamic religion. Jesus and all divine figures depictions of halos are simply the sun. Jesus himself is a heliocentric figure and it's no coincidence that he's the son of god, sun / son. The last week of December was indeed the celebration of Sol, end of December is the winter solstice, all cultures worshipped it, it's a farewell to the sun and a prayer that he will return from the dead and bring new life in the spring. Just like Jesus died and came back from the dead and we celebrate his resurrection on Easter which is the spring solstice.

[@phoule76]

the halo imagery in Christian art seems to come from Roman art

[@Houthiandtheblowfish]

i think mithraisim a branch of unorthodox zoroastrian religions was growing fast

[@saranicewan]

Surprised to see no mention of the cult of Antinous.