Pro-to orthodox Christianity today.What happened to the other groups?

Jump to Last Post 1-6 of 6 discussions (32 posts)
  1. cheaptrick profile image74
    cheaptrickposted 14 years ago

    In the first Century AD there were at least thirty varieties of Christianity.What did they believe and why are they not around today?
    Any one read "Lost Christianities" by Bart D Ehrman.I highly recommend it.

    1. classicalgeek profile image80
      classicalgeekposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      In fact, I know of at least three that are still around. The Orthodox Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church, and one other that escapes me.

      Some sects died out (such as the Gnostics); some were persecuted, such as the Arians, some like the Sabellians, just stopped making the news and, I guess, eventually died out. Most except the Copts recanted whatever their "heresy" was and were welcomed back into the Orthodox church. Will Durant covers this brilliantly in the second and third volumes of The Story of Civilization.

    2. kess profile image60
      kessposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      There is no need for the children of God to assimilate themselves into sects instead they should assimilate themselves into life.

      Where there is only one, Christ is able to supply the deficiency but where there is only two, then all things are possible.

      When the time for gathering comes, those Who posses His Spirit, will hear that inarticulate, inaudible call.

      We need not fear.

      1. Mark Knowles profile image57
        Mark Knowlesposted 14 years agoin reply to this

        Oh dear. What a kontradiktion we have. No need to assimilate into sects because jeebus will assimilate  the chosen few when he comes back. lol

        1. kess profile image60
          kessposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          It is good that you've read anyway...

          1. Mark Knowles profile image57
            Mark Knowlesposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Oh - I have read the biybel sweetie pie. I know what it says. And you are so incredibly wrong it would be funny if people like you had not been causing wars for the last 2000 years.

            Trust me - I have nothing to learn from you other than "how not to do it." wink

            And it is people who think the way you do that wiped out the other christian sects.

            Do you think fire cleanses the soul?

            1. kess profile image60
              kessposted 14 years agoin reply to this

              And Who made me your teacher?

              Who ask you to follow me or anyone else?

              Why are you dancing to a rythm that I did not play?

              Did my few lines say so much?

              Is there anything else?

              I also trust that you did not expect nor need my answer to your question.

              1. Mark Knowles profile image57
                Mark Knowlesposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                I see you are avoiding the question and now lying about the fact that you are preaching at me. At all of us in fact. The darkness does indeed present itself as a pretender to the light.

                Thank you once again. wink

                1. kess profile image60
                  kessposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                  Men have eyes to see what they want to see in everything and therefore all will stands on his two feet.

                  That The way it has been and will always be.

                  All I can do is speak the truth and leave the rest be.

                  You are merely receiving what you perceive is yours.

                  Why then blame me?

                  1. Mark Knowles profile image57
                    Mark Knowlesposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                    I reject it.

                    You are the one who said it. I hold you responsible for what you say and thank you for reminding me why I despise your religion and all it stands for. Quite disgusting actually. Just a few hundred years ago, people who believe what you believe were burning non believers. Simple. You have no truth to speak. Merely hate mongering and lies. Disgusting how you feel you can say what you like and then blame it on an invisible super being.

                    Be a man - be responsible for your own actions and words and do not lie and pretend you never said them. 

                    Not sure why you are lying about this. Scroll up.

                    Still did not answer - do you think fire cleanses the soul?

      2. profile image0
        chasingcarsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

        No, "fear not" was always the message of the angels.  How is it, then, that religions always manipulate their followers through fear?  Fear of dying without the sacraments;  fear of those other religions; fear of  apostasy or heresy. The main reason for  religion is the power of critical mass.  The tribe I belong to will have the power to bully all those others.  I am going to get raptured up, go to heaven where I get to screw x number of virgins and you are not.   The language is alway patriarchal.  A few centuries ago, priests exhorted men to beat their women to keep them in line.  New Sharia law, Christian though Muslim, is again the new norm for religions.

    3. profile image0
      chasingcarsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I am enjoying this forum a great deal; for the most part, it is fueled by knowledge and analysis.  Just a couple of thoughts on the issues discussed:  1) the current religious right  (Christian through Muslim) seem to share the same ironic twists--they don't even pretend to practice the basics of their religions, and 2) isn't religion just the brick walls we bump into on the way to the development of our own individual sense of responsibility and awareness because I am not seeing those things in religion.  Modern religions, as has always been the case, are more about limiting the actions of others than they are about developing the practioners' own moral behavior.  Religion is simply tribalism set to bad music.

  2. WriteAngled profile image74
    WriteAngledposted 14 years ago

    Gnostics were persecuted too, by Muslims as well as by conventional Christians. The fate of the Cathars in the middle ages is one of the prime examples of persecution of Gnostics by Christians.

    The Cathars did see strict asceticism and avoidance of procreation as a spiritual ideal, however this idea is not integral to Gnosticism.

    Gnostics believe that the divine spark is present in every individual. The personal, totally individual and private process of attaining full knowledge of this fact, and thus attaining union with Deity, is the goal of a Gnostic. This is a philosophy that is common to mystics arising out of all and no religious backgrounds.

    True Gnostics pose a threat to any organised religion because they do not need priests or sacraments. They also do not need any official interpretation of sacred texts or any religious dogma, because each person has to find his/her own truth.

    1. marinealways24 profile image59
      marinealways24posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Then they claim to be enlightened.

      1. Mark Knowles profile image57
        Mark Knowlesposted 14 years agoin reply to this

        Now - I agree with you about people like Deborah and Mo. They had a glimpse of something larger than themselves, erroneously jumped to a conclusion as to what it was, and arrogantly believe they understand it and give it a name. LOL

        But - because they cannot actually define it, and do not actually know what it is, they are forced to tell you that you would not understand or speak in gobbledegook in an effort to persuade you they have some esoteric knowledge that makes them special.

        Which is why I despise religion - it always - throughout our entire history - ends up this way.

        Those few cultures that developed with a respect for nature and the equilibrium needed were wiped out as soon as they came into contact with a monotheistic religion.

        But - you are not happy either way Marine.

        I say "I don't know," and you accuse me of religiously defending science when all science says is, "these are the facts and this is the best explanation we have so far."

        You will even attack proven facts as not absolute enough for you.

        And you do not like it when the LOL enlightened ones LOL who were "gifted," convikted or "saw the light," whatever, tell you that your intellectual capacity is too small to grasp the secrets they have been given with out having to do any work.

        So - where do you stand?

        All I see you do is argue with everyone. Clearly you are not looking for an answer because as far as I can tell, you prefer to ignore any you do get, but you never do anything but take the contrary position.

        1. marinealways24 profile image59
          marinealways24posted 14 years agoin reply to this

          I really appreciate you writing this Knowles. Excellent thoughts, questions, and feedback. I also enjoy seeing that I guessed right that Deborah believes she is an enlightened prophet just as Mohit that claims her belief is too "vast" for the "unenlightened" to understand. lol

          I agree that religion is built on deceit, it is hard for me to say that all religion is ignorant as absolute. Sometimes deceit is better than the truth to some. If everyone realized it as deceit, what would bring people together to go beyond themselves if they didn't believe they had a purpose beyond themselves? Do some not need a motivation outside of themselves to feel important or of importance?


          When you say that I am not happy with any to few answers, I think you are right. In my personal philosophy, I see happy as content. If I am happy with the answers I get, I will often stop asking questions. If I am unhappy, I will keep asking questions and keep learning. I enjoy you or anyone else that is honest enough with themselves to admit not knowing rather than trying to lie about knowing something. I think when you can get to the bottom of something to find out someone admitting to not knowing, it exposes whether they have honesty or they are lying simply to justify their belief. I think it also exposes dependency on a belief when someone will lie in protection.

          On the absolutes, I agree with little to nothing as absolute simply to keep learning and expanding the questions and ideas. I see absolute as happy and content with the answers. If I am absolute, I stop asking questions. I think absolutes leave little to no room for error, they require every aspect to be explained without room for interpretation.

          Where do I stand? I guess on my own because I am not content with standing as someone else. I do not always argue, I agree with many people and have often agreed with you on many things. There is nothing wrong with disagreeing, I think truth is found through disagreement and debate. Just because I don't respond to all comments doesn't mean I am ignoring them. Maybe it means I am taking the ideas in without writing an argument on impulse.

  3. Flightkeeper profile image66
    Flightkeeperposted 14 years ago

    I think early christian history is fascinating.  I'm going to check out those books. thanks.

    1. profile image54
      (Q)posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Good idea, pay particular attention to the Crusades and the Inquisition to see just how cruel Christianity can be.

      1. Disappearinghead profile image61
        Disappearingheadposted 14 years agoin reply to this

        Oh and pay attention to what the Taliban are up to in Pakistan, and the Shites and Sunis do to each to other, then see how cruel Islam can be.

        1. profile image54
          (Q)posted 14 years agoin reply to this

          I couldn't agree with you more, we are at the mercy of the Abrahamic religions and what they're doing to destroy us all. Then, they want us to respect their destruction.

  4. marinealways24 profile image59
    marinealways24posted 14 years ago

    If religion and government didn't create religion to govern, what would keep some humans from acting like animals if they believed they weren't of more importance than other animals? Possibly the deceit holds some to morals that otherwise wouldn't be strong enough to have morals without religious belief. Some are dependent on others for morals.

    1. profile image54
      (Q)posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Hmmm... how about simple trial and error method?

      Let's say you decided to act like an animal within the group of people you relate to each day. How long will it take you to figure out how quickly you'll be all alone trying to survive?

      Or, let's say you decided you were going to work together with others for the benefit of both your survival needs?

      Hmmm...

    2. profile image0
      chasingcarsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Nothing, because those "governing" under those religious principles see no problem with torture, murder, theft of public property, and debauchery of the public good for personal gain.

  5. Cagsil profile image71
    Cagsilposted 14 years ago

    Morals are not natural or instinctive. Morals are taught or passed down from generation to generation. smile

    1. profile image0
      chasingcarsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      So, chicken or egg.  Who were the first teachers?  Morality is an inherent knowledge to tribalism:  the greater good serves the individual as well as the tribe.  Who taught that incest destroyed the tribe?

  6. Cagsil profile image71
    Cagsilposted 14 years ago

    Hey Kess, what's wrong? You seem like you cannot handle adversity. smile

    1. kess profile image60
      kessposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Adversity, that what you refer to this exchange of words.

      This is life for me, and in here this is nothing.

      1. Cagsil profile image71
        Cagsilposted 14 years agoin reply to this

        Well, I would say that is your first problem. You lack real understanding for the words you use in public. Oh well, on to bigger and better things. Have fun. lol

        1. kess profile image60
          kessposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          Not surprising knowing the nature of words, they are meant to be misunderstood.



          .

 
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)