Anthony stepped in it

[Nick]

Something I dont know... what did the Romans celebrate before Constantine I?

And can someone move this topic to non-cantr related? The initial topic shouldnt be answered anyway, as he has to find out IG, yet this convo is evolving into a topic that may catch a lot of heated debate.

[trage]

Actually Chritianity came from Bethlaham. All Christianity is are people who believed that Christ was the Messiah and that he came to forgive our sins. Constantine may have endorsed it, but it was not a cult and it was not originated from Rome.

[Nick]

Christianity, was and IS still a cult.
It wasnt "invented" in Rome, but it didnt really take off until then.
If Constantine never endorsed it, we would probably all be Jews.

[nitefyre]

Christianity, was and IS still a cult.
It wasnt "invented" in Rome, but it didnt really take off until then.
If Constantine never endorsed it, we would probably all be Jews.

Neither have they hearts to stay,
Nor wit enough to run away.

-Samuel Butler

This topic seemed worthy of this quote, you make the connection =D

[The Lurker]

@Nick: The Romans worshiped a pantheon of gods headed by Zeus (edit: Jupiter, rather) before the Roman Empire was converted to Christianity by Constantine. Christianity was gaining some worshipers as an underground religion of sorts, (not all that many because Christians were being persecuted by the Roman Empire) BUT then again, Judaism wasn't doing all that well in Europe either. In fact, in Europe it was probably doing worse than Christianity. The British and French (who colonized North America) were both largely pagan before Christian witch hunts attempted to wipe out pagan practices. So (assuming you are still bothering to read this, Nick) if the British and French had still managed to form organized kingdoms with the capacity to colonize North America even if Christianity had never gotten off the ground, then you can assume that we would probably all be pagan, not Jewish. Judaism was a fairly popular religion in its region, but even without the Christians persecuting the Jewish, it is unlikely that a Jewish kingdom would have formed, swept across all of Europe, then begin to colonize the same places that the Christian kingdoms colonized.
One question, Nick: What do you think the difference is between a religion and a cult?

[Anthony Roberts]

This post is extremely off topic, like, woah. My fault too, haha.

Anyway, someone mind splitting the message so that everything about Religion goes to the Non-Cantr forum. Merci.

[Sho]

@Last Laugh: The Romans called their gods different names. The Greek Zeus was identical to the Roman Jupiter. Otherwise, good.

@Everyone who was yelling at Anthony: Where's the harm in a little joke?

I think we're all suffering from the lack of a suitable punching bag. Where is Indio when you need him?

[trage]

I wasn't yelling at Anthony. I was just stating that, that one guy needed to calm down and yes there is only one god.

[Sho]

I didn't mean you in particular or anything. I just know that this thread got unfriendly and that I don't like that.

[trage]

Yes I don't either. I am just saying that I wasn't trying to be mean. I have to fill my ego balloon to make me feel like i am better than any of you.

[kroner]

how do you know? (ooh this gets fun )

[rklenseth]

Alright, everyone, lets move this on over to the Non-Discussion Board. Meh, can we have a topic split here and move this over to Non-Discussions?

[Sho]

My ego is bigger than yours!

[kroner]

I wasn't yelling at Anthony. I was just stating that, that one guy needed to calm down and yes there is only one god.

actually i was responding to this but apparently there were two more post sent between the last time i loaded the page and when i sent the post...

[west]

Nick, Christianity started as a sect of Judaism and became a 'religion' when it had differentiated itself enough from Judaism. It only ceased to be persecuted by the status quo when Constantine had a 'vision' --God supposedly appeard to him in a dream and showed him a picture of a cross and said "under this sign you will conquer". so he converted and made Christianity the state religion. Worst thing that ever happened to christianity, IMO. It thrives when persecuted and crushed--when it's on top and it's too easy to be a Christian, you get the people who manipulate it to their own ends--whence the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Church of England, etc.

Christianity doesn't fit the definition of a cult, which usually centers around one living person and involves some form of extreme brainwashing. Heaven's Gate was a cult. Raelianism is a cult. the Jonestown people were a cult. Christianity is not.