SECTION IV
Chapter 2 - The Age of Hellenism--320 B.C.E. to 337 C.E.

"Among all the peoples of the ancient world, the one whose culture
 most clearly exemplified the spirit of Western man was the Hellenic
 or Greek.  No other of these nations had so strong a devotion to
 liberty or so firm a belief in the nobility of human achievement.
 The Greeks glorified man as the most important creature in the universe
 and refused to submit to the dictation of priests or despots or even
 to humble themselves before their gods.  Their attitude was essentially
 secular and rationalistic, they exalted the spirit of free inquiry and
 made knowledge supreme over faith.  It was largely for these reasons
 that they advanced their culture to the highest stage which the ancient
 world was destined to reach."         --Edward Burns (WESTERN CIVILIZATIONS)

  The Hellenistic Age may be broadly defined as that period when Greek
culture dominated ancient Western and Near Eastern regions of the
ancient world. The Age of Hellenism is generally agreed by historians
to have begun with the conquest by Alexander the Great in 320 B.C.E. of
much of the known ancient world--ending in 337 C.E., after Constantine
favored Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire.

   When Alexander the Great died at the early age of 32, the boundaries
of his empire stretched into what is today Germany, Russia, India, Persia
(Iran) and Egypt. The conquest by Alexander the Great established a Greek
culture that was successfully exported throughout his empire, and whose
legacy lasted many centuries after his death.  We saw how this culture
founded Greek cities and built centers of philosophy, literature and music,
and great libraries for international and Greek learning.

 During this time, Greek became the universal language for the ancient world--
especially in the areas of business, education and philosophy.  Indeed, it
was following this period that Egyptian hieroglyphics fell into disuse and 
became forgotten until the discovery of the Rosetta Stone in the early 
nineteenth century, which translated hieroglyphics into their Greek 
counterparts. Essentially all important works were either written in, or 
translated into Greek. The Jewish Old Testament was translated into Greek (c 200 
B.C.E.) into what is known today as the Septuagint. Josephus, from whom scholars
have studied the Jewish histories at the time of Jesus, wrote his histories
in Greek. Also, the books of the New Testament were either originally
written in Greek, or translated at an early date into Greek from Aramaic
texts.

  Prior to the conquest of Alexander, the ancient world was divided into
separate communities, each focusing on their local gods and customs.
After Alexander's conquest, Greek values and philosophies of Greek culture
were absorbed by most local cultures within the Alexandrian empire. This
process of taking in Greek values and culture was termed 'hellenization',
after the Greek name for their homeland, Hellas.  By the time Jesus was
born, Palestine had already been strongly influenced by Greek culture for
some two hundred years.


  Although a study of this area in ancient Greece is by its very nature
varied and complex, the following will attempt to focus on the relevant
areas that deal with those hellenistic thoughts and beliefs that were a
strong influence in the ancient world during the times of the early
Christians.  To begin, we shall first review how Greek philosophy and
mysticism developed out of their earlier mythology revolving around the
gods on Mt. Olympus.

Historical Development of Greek Religion and Philosophy

   Just as the Jewish religion evolved over a thousand years, Greek religions
and philosophies also changed, often dramatically  over the same period.

   The ancient Greeks were comprised of a mixture of races and cultures.--
Before 2000 B.C.E. the area was occupied by Mediterranean peoples, who worshiped
the Aegean mother goddess.  During the next thousand years, there were 
migrations and invasions from northern European tribes into Greece. The Ionian 
wave of migrations into the Greek peninsula ended around 1200 B.C.E. The Dorian 
invasions began in the 13th century, and were completed by the 10th century 
B.C.E. These European invaders introduced a strong male-Father god (Dyaus 
Pitar). He later became known throughout the ancient Greek world as Zeus, and in 
the Roman Empire as Jupiter.

   Homer is believed by most historians to have been one or more poets
living around the 9th century B.C.E. His epic stories, the ILLIAD and the
ODYSSEY are important not only for their entertainment value, but also as
a source of information on the prevalent belief systems of this period.
Historians believe that many of the Greek heroes that were portrayed in
the Greek mythologies were "borrowed" from similar mythical heroic stories
from the Orient.  Thus Hercules, the most popular of Greek heroes, probably
came from the Babylonian Bel, the conqueror of Tiamet the dragon. The twelve
labors of Hercules came from the stories of the sun god in the twelve months
of the year, the months being denoted by the Zodiacal signs.

  The religion of the ancient Greeks was polytheistic in nature. Zeus, was
the king of a pantheon of gods, who dwelled together in Olympus-- a heavenlike
abode located up high in Mt. Olympus.  There were other powerful gods who
dwelled in Mt. Olympus who were worshiped by a Greek city as their patron/
protector--such as Apollo the sun god, or Athena goddess of wisdom.

  The Greeks envisioned their gods in imperfect, HUMAN form.  Though
immortal and wielding tremendous powers, these gods also exhibited BASE human
characteristics--such as jealousy, passion, hatred, and love. This, in turn,
explained the presence of evil in the world. That is, sometimes the
virtuous could suffer, while the wicked prospered.  This unfairness in
life could be attributable to the imperfect nature of the gods themselves.
The Greeks never believed in a "devil" character--ie a god of "pure" evil-- as
evil was already explained away as selfish acts by the Olympian gods.

  The Greek gods did not issue any commandments on ethics or morality.
Neither did the people show any great love--or fear of them (although
improper worship might bring down their wrath in the form of storms, etc.)
Perhaps this was because the priesthood had never gained any real power
outside the local congregations of their temples.

Lack of Authoritarian Religious Creed and Hierarchy

  Probably the most outstanding feature of Greek religion was its LACK of
an authoritarian religious creed and hierarchy, which is so dominant
in many other religions around the world. According to CM Bowra, in his
book, THE GREEK EXPERIENCE, the ancient Greeks had:

  "no eminent prophet or law-giver who expounded the nature of the gods,
   no sacred books whose authority [was] final on doctrine or morals,
   no central organization for its hierarchy, no revealed cosmology,
   no conception of a dedicated religious life, no insistence on orthodoxy,
   no agreed eschatology,
   no accepted scheme of redemption.

  Greek religion shows its essential Greek character by not conforming to any
  plan and by its generous freedom and inclusive tolerance." (CM Bowra, THE
  GREEK EXPERIENCE, A Mentor Book, New American Library, 1957, p 54)

  The Greek countryside was instead characterized by the development of
autonomous, self-independent city-states which, though worshipping a common
set of gods, developed their own forms of religious patterns and worship.
Because it had no creeds or scriptures, this allowed the spread of a wide
variety of speculation on the nature and worship of the gods. Typically,
religious toleration was practiced, as long as fundamental assumptions (such
as the existence of the Olympian gods) were not questioned.

Homeric Greek view of Life on Earth, and the Afterlife

  Homer had played a fundamental role in shaping the oral traditions of the 
Greek character as a heroic, self-reliant individual who fought his battles 
against the powers of the universe using human imagination and intellect to 
their fullest degree. Perhaps this world outlook explained the boldness and 
originality of the Greek philosophers who so greatly affected Western 
civilization during the Renaissance.

   Take the story of Prometheus, for example, who defied the other gods, to
teach mankind the secret of fire (thus imparting knowledge that could give
mankind great powers--comparable to the gods themselves).  This bold spirit
is in contrast to the general obedience and submission themes found in the
Jewish Old Testament-- where evil itself is typically defined in terms of
disobedience to God. (Examples include:  Adam & Eve's disobedience in eating
from the Tree of Knowledge, obedience of Abraham, disobedience of Saul, etc).

  With no national creeds or dogmas, there was a vague uncertainty as to what 
form any life after death would take. Some believed that men were rewarded or 
punished after death according to how they had conducted their lives on earth. 
Others believed that only heroes were rewarded by being transferred to the 
Elysian fields where they lived in eternal springtime and happiness.  Homer, had 
presented the picture of a gloomy shadowy afterlife existence for both the good 
and bad (similar to how the earliest ancient hebrews conceived of the afterlife-
-see section VI, chapter 1 for a discussion of Sheol). For example, Odysseus was 
told by the ghost of his dead mother:

  "This is the law of mortals: whenever anyone dieth,
   Then no longer are bones and flesh held together by sinews,
   But by the night of the blazing fire they are conquered
      and wasted.
   From that moment when first the breath departs from the white bones,
   Flutters the spirit away, and like to a dream it goes drifting."
   (Odyssey XI 218-22)

  The dead spirit of Achilles declared that he would rather be a laborer in
a poor man's employ than ruler over the land of the dead.  The oldest myths did 
not mention any reference to a reward for the good--thus Achilles shared the 
same sad fate as all mortals. Punishments and tortures were described for the 
likes of Tantalus, the Danaides, and Sisyphus.

The Early Philosophers

  Greek philosophy emerged during the sixth century B.C.E., against a background 
of prosperity that was brought about by increased trade along the Mediterranean,
and a relatively free religious environment. Greek philosophers foreswore the
material comforts of this world, in search of the ultimate truths in nature.
In this pursuit, the early Greek philosophers had borrowed much from their
neighbors. For example, from Babylonia, its view of the stars and the science
of astronomy, and from Egypt its medicine and geometry.  From India, Buddhist
missionaries, pressing westwards into Asia Minor and Greece, stressed the
inner reflection of the individual in their search for truth.

  The contribution of the ancient Greeks, was to lay down a strong foundation
of philosophy in their search for the most fundamental principles that
govern the universe-- and with it, man's destiny. As we shall see, Greek
philosophy took on two basic forms in its search to unravel the secrets of
the universe--(1) rational inquiry of the physical world around us (on whose
foundation is built the sciences), and (2) mystical speculation into the
ultimate realm of meaning within the universe (which was to influence many
religions, including Christianity).

  When Greek philosophers began to inquire into the nature of the world using
rational inquiry, it is not surprising that some began to question the very
existence of the Greek gods. Most philosophers, of course, remained dedicated
to the tradition of the Homeric gods. Even the famous historian Herodotus (late 
fifth century) attributed past events in his HISTORIES to be from intervention 
of the Greek Gods.  However, others were troubled by the unflattering depictions 
of their gods by Homer, Hesiod and others, in all their petty jealousies and 
lusts.

  One method for getting around these difficulties, while maintaining their
belief in the Greek gods--was to INTERPRET the Greek myths ALLEGORICALLY
to symbolize HIGHER truths! For example, when Zeus was said to have had sex
with his mother, philosophers claimed this had a deeper truer meaning, whereby
Jupiter represented rain, and his mother represented the earth.   Likewise,
in the story where the Greek god Krones swallowed his own children, this was
said to symbolize Chronos, the god of time who takes back that, which he
has brought into being.

   Sometimes, the search of some philosophers towards a more true religion,
led to a belief in monotheism--ie belief in one supreme God.  (There has
been some speculation as to whether the monotheism of the Zoroastrians or
the ancient hebrews influenced the Greeks.)

    A fragment of the writings of the Greek philosopher Xenophanes (who is 
believed to have lived in the 6th century B.C.E. in Colophon-- a city in
what is today Turkey) has survived, which shows that he deduced:

  "(1) God is one, supreme among gods and men and not like mortals in body or
in mind
   (2) The whole of God sees, the whole perceives, the whole hears.
   (3) Without effort he sets in motion all things by mind and thought.
   (4) Mortals suppose that the gods are born (as they themselves are) and
that they wear man's clothing and have human voice and body.
   (5) But if cattle or lions had hands, so as to paint with their hands
and produce works of art as men do, they would paint their gods and give
them bodies in form like their own--horses like horses and cattle like cattle.
   (6) Homer and Hesiod attribute to the gods all things which are
disreputable and worthy of blame when  done by men; and they told of them
lawless deeds, stealing, adultery and deception of each other."

   For some philosophers, the trend of critiquing the Greek gods led to a
period, whereby it was felt that mankind could use reason to comprehend
the nature of the universe-- with or without the help of any "gods". Thus,
for example, in the fifth century B.C.E., the Sophist philosopher Protagoras 
stated in his ON THE GODS:

 "About the gods, I am not able to know whether they exist or do not exist,
  nor what they are like in form; for the factors preventing knowledge are
  many; the obscurity of the subject, and the shortness of human life."

In his book entitled TRUTH, Protagoras also argued that: "man is the measure
of all things".

The Early Rational (Empirical) Philosophers

  Earlier civilizations than the Greeks--such as the Babylonians and the
Egyptians-- had engaged in engineering and scientific projects. Observations
on the positions of the stars and planets were carefully noted and
mathematically analyzed.  There were impressive engineering projects,
buildings, and monuments (the pyramids being one example).

  Still, prior to the ancient Greeks, much of these observations would not
be considered "scientific" according to today's meaning-- as they were closely 
intertwined with belief in the "supernatural".  For example, despite their 
impressive calculations forecasting eclipses, their main use was in astrology--
the mystical belief that stars and planets control the destiny of man. True, 
there were some ancient medical treatises, which appear to have taken a 
naturalistic view of the human body. Still, such attempts appear to have been 
mainly isolated cases--which did NOT represent a tradition that would ENQUIRE 
into the basic underlying nature of the world around us.

  These rational philosophies appear to have emerged first in Ionia, along the 
coast of modern day Turkey, on the other side of the Aegean Sea opposite modern 
Greece.  Greek colonists had established thriving cities on trade – such 

  Thales of Ionia (b. 624 B.C.E.) is often considered the FIRST Greek  
Philosopher (although the word philosopher or "lover of wisdom" had not yet come 
into usage). He is believed to have been the first to have used rational inquiry
and observation to explain the origins of the world through NATURAL, as opposed 
to SUPERNATURAL causes. Based on accounts by Aristotle and Plutarch, Thales was 
said to have developed the science of deductive geometry after visiting Egypt 
and observing empirical methods for land surveying. (These geometric rules would 
later be systematized by Euclid).

  According to one ancient source, after observing an eclipse of the sun in 585 
B.C.E., Thales correctly computed when the next eclipse was due. Some scholars 
are skeptical whether Thale's astronomical knowledge could have been this 
sophisticated.  Still, it is important to note that these accounts show Thales 
treated eclipses as a NATURAL account – from where we could study and learn – 
instead of a SUPERNATURAL event from the Gods like his Egyptian and Babylonian 
predecessors. (Finley Hooper, GREEK REALITIES, LIFE AND THOUGHT IN ANCIENT 
GREECE, Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 1978, p 127). In searching for 
the source of life, Thales supposed that all life had originated from the water—
an explanation apparently based on his discovery of fossil sea animals further 
inland on Asia Minor where he lived.

    Thales' student and successor was Anaximander (610-545 B.C.E.) who appears
to have been the first Greek to have made a map of the then known ancient
world. Anaximander viewed the Earth as positioned at the center of the universe. 
The sun and stars were believed to be attached to celestial spheres which all 
revolved around the earth. Anaxagoras (500-428 B.C.E.), the teacher of Pericles 
(leader during Athens' Golden Age), calculated the timeing of solar and lunar 
eclipses. He also discovered the respiration process within plants and fishes.

  Thales had shown great statesmanship in urging the Ionian cities to unite
against the growing power of Persia.  Yet in the end, the power of Persia was
too great to defend against.   The Ionian city of Miletus fell to the Persians
in 494 B.C.E. Still the philosophic tradition of the Ionians did not end, and 
even traveled across the Aegean Sea to other Greek city-states, especially 
Athens.  Roughly a century later, Democritus of Abdera (c 410 B.C.E.) speculated 
that the world was comprised naturally of tiny elements too tiny to be seen--
"atoms" he called them.

Greek philosophy--Rational Inquiry into the Natural AND Supernatural

    Alongside the Ionian philosophers who stressed the RATIONAL side of nature, 
there developed other Greek philosophical schools that also stressed the 
MYSTICAL side of nature--such as the Pythagorean and Platonic schools of 
thought. It is important to maintain a proper perspective that during this time, 
the majority of the people were NOT philosophers--and attended many of the cults 
associated with the mystery religions.

  As the mystery religions are often believed to have strongly influenced
some of the outlooks of these MYSTICAL Greek schools of philosophy, we shall
first begin with a look at the background and beliefs of this diverse set of
religious cults.

  Mystery Religions (6th Century B.C.E. to 5th Century C.E.)

  Exposure to other cultures' belief in a hell-like existence had served to
make many Greeks greatly concerned about dying. Babylonian astrology had
taught that there was a divine connection between the heavens above and the
destiny of man--for man's soul was believed to be but a spark of the great
fire which glowed in the heavens. From this, there arose the terrible
Babylonian view of the Fate which rules the lives of both gods and men. The
Egyptians believed in a form of heaven, but only after a dangerous journey
and judgment scene, made easier through the use of special magic charms and
chants.  The Hindus believed that one must escape the suffering of the world
through an endless chain of reincarnations.

   Among the common people, the questioning of the existence of the Olympian
gods-- along with increased terrors from dying, led to a resurgence of older
magical rites and beliefs. Many of these were based on the recurring cycle of
death and rebirth--as could be seen occurring in nature from the planting of
crops. During this time, a large number of foreign religions were borrowed
from their neighbors--especially from Egypt--of which the mystery religions
proved the most popular.

   At least by the sixth century B.C.E., various mystery religions and rituals
had been introduced into the common mythology, and numerous temples were
built, dedicated to the worship of various gods/goddesses.  The Eleusinian
mysteries promised to protect its initiates from the horrors of a hell-like
existence and to instead prepare their souls for a journey towards an immortal
spiritual kingdom in the sky. For example, in the Homeric HYMN OF DEMETER we
find allusions to some of the secret religious rites that would prepare man
for the bliss of heaven, and prevent the terrors of a hell-like afterlife:

   "Happy is the man on earth who had seen these things.   But he who 
   has not been initiated in these holy rites, who has not shared in
   them, never has the same lot, when he has utterly faded away in
   the dark gloom."

  The Orphic mysteries spoke of terrible perils beyond death, and foretold
a terrible hell-like existence for the uninitiated.  But for its members,
great secrets would be imparted, as can be seen in the following literary
reference where the character Apuleius declared:

  "Hear, therefore, but believe what is true.  I approached the confines
  of Death and trod the threshold of Proserpina:  I was carried through all
  the elements and returned again: in the middle of the night I saw the sun
  gleaming in radiant splendor.  I approached into the presence of the
  gods below and the gods celestial and worshipped before their face."
  (Apuleius, METAM. XI, 23)

  Then he emphasizes the SECRET nature of the mystery:

  "Behold, I have told you things which, although you have heard them,
  you must not understand." (S. Angus, op cit., p 92 )

  Followers of the Greek god Dionysus drank, sang, and danced themselves
into an act of frenzy.  (One of their rituals included drinking the blood
of animals). Afterwards, in the height of their frenzy and intoxication,
they would collapse in complete exhaustion.  It was believed that Dionysus
entered their bodies during this ritual--both purifying them and conveying
immortality upon their souls in the afterlife.

  Philosophers (again, who were a minority among the population) were
critical of the vast superstition they saw in the mystery religions.
For example, Plutarch (b 46 C.E.) described in his work, MORALS, that the
superstitious were terrified by "their own imagination of an anguish that
will never cease". In describing their terrors of hell he wrote:

  "Wide open stand the deep gates of the Hades that they fable, and
  there stretches a vista of rivers of fire and Sygian cliffs; and all
  is canopied with a darkness full of fantasms, of spectres threatening
  us with terrible faces and uttering pitiful cries."

   Plutarch viewed such superstitions as a "disease" that are "full of
variations" and contradictions.  However, Plutarch warned against abandoning
religion altogether, saying that "some people, when running away from
Superstition, fall headlong into atheism, both rugged and obstinate, and
leap over that which lies between the two, namely, true Religion."
(J Oakesmith, THE RELIGION OF PLUTARCH, (London, 1902, p 200).

  Interestingly a study of tombstones in ancient Greece confirms the
presence of both religious mystery cults AND agnostics. For example, one
could find carved on the tombstones of a mystery believer such words as
"Reborn for eternity", or "Be of good cheer."

 In contrast, a common saying found on the gravestones of the followers of 
Epicurus (who was skeptical of an afterlife) was:

 "I was not, I became: I am not and I care not." (S. Angus, THE MYSTERY-
RELIGIONS, p 64). 

The Promise of Salvation by the Mystery Religions

  By far, the vast majority of the people in ancient Greece--indeed
throughout the ancient world, were very religious, and the general climate
for religious tolerance allowed for a large number and variety of cults to
evolve. By the time of Jesus, historians estimate that there were hundreds
of religious cults, possibly even thousands of sub-cults operating throughout
the ancient hellenized world. Essentially ALL of these mystery religions
promised PERSONAL salvation through procuring for the believer forgiveness
of sins by a god (or gods) and/or providing mediation for the spirit of the
believer after death. Believers were taught how to protect their spiritual
soul from outside evil forces (often by imparting the correct name of the
deity or through special incantations to ward of evil spirits). In this way,
they believed that upon death, they would experience a spiritual journey
into the realm of the High One, afterwhich they would live forever in
eternal bliss.

  According to S. Angus, in his book THE MYSTERY-RELIGIONS:

  "The mystery ritual supplied for distressed consciences a cathartic
  to remove the stain of sin.  The 'mystes' did not die without hope.
  He believed that in some mysterious way he was brought in initiation
  into fellowship with the eternal life of his god; he not only saw in the
  death and resurrection of the cult-deity a symbol of his own deathlessness, 
  but also experienced a real inner 'henosis' [rejoining with the Oneness 
  of God]" (S. Angus, PHD, D.LIT. DD, THEY MYSTERY-RELIGIONS--A Study in 
  the Religious Background of Early Christianity, Dover Publications,
  Inc., New York, p 52)

  Most mystery cults were also based around a concept of a belief in an
immortal heroic god-savior. According to the world famous Egyptologist and
scholar E.A. Wallis Budge, adherents of the Osiris cult believed that he had
risen from the dead, and that they themselves could share in his resurrection:

  "[B]eing the son of god...[they] believed that he died on their behalf
  and rose again in order that they also might rise from the dead.  Every
  worshipper of Osiris based his own hope of resurrection and immortality
  upon the fundamental fact of the resurrection of Osiris."
  EA Wallis Budge, OSIRIS; THE EGYPTIAN RELIGION OF RESURRECTION).

  The god Serapis, probably originated from the ancient Egyptian Osiris,
and was introduced into hellenic culture during the time of Alexander
the Great. This cult believed snakes to be divine. (Snakes were worshipped
in the Orient and India, where they symbolized health and immortality--
because the snake molting his skin appeared to be reborn. Many therefore
attributed supernatural-like powers to the snake. According to the Christian
Eusebius (I.,7), "The serpent never dies naturally, but only when injured
by violence." The sacred symbol of the cult of Serapis was the cross.

  Although different rites were employed by the adherents, basically the
religious themes and feelings were the same.--They expressed faith in a
divine being (Mithras, Serapis, Isis, Osiris, etc), who had descended from
the heavenly realm to become man, experiencing suffering on earth at the
hands of the unjust and wicked, and then was resurrected. The believer
could, through various mysterious sacraments, symbolically re-enact the
resurrection of the savior, and in this way escape from this life into a
fantastic and marvelous beyond and live in eternity with the Creator.
(Christianity: Some Non-Christian Approaches. the ed. published by
McGraw-Hill, New York, p 162)

  Marvelous traditions told of these redeeming saviors and their mysteries--
Mystical and fantastic rites and plays, set the mood for a twilight,
other-worldly state of mind, whereby the believer could "feel" himself
getting in touch with the divine powers of the universe. Afterwards, the
believer would realize his distance from the Creator, and long to join it,
in an afterlife of eternal life and bliss. Some historians have speculated
that hypnosis and hallucinogenic drugs were sometimes a part of the rituals
to induce a religious/mystical religious state in the believer. (Ibid)

  Many of the members of the mystery religions were initiated into their 
sects through baptisms or lustral purifications, through which they 
experienced rebirth and the remission from sin: According to Tertullian, 
'In certain Mysteries, e.g. of Isis and Mithra, it is by baptism that members 
are initiated...in the Apollinarian and Eleusinian rites they are baptized, 
and they imagine that the result of this baptism is regeneration and the 
remission of the penalties of their sins." (Tertullian, DE BAPT. 5, as 
referenced by S. Angus, op cit, p 81.)

  Various forms of religious practices were also conducted by the mystery
sects--such as prolonged fasts, public confessions, abstinence from sex,
pilgrimages to holy places to atone for sin, self whippings, and of course
monetary contributions to the sect. Pilgrimages, public confessions, and
self-inflicted beatings were seen as a form of penance to prove the believer's
desire to be uplifted into a new spiritual experience.  Sometimes a sacred
meal was conducted, whereby eating the flesh of some special animal was
believed to connect the believer to the mystery god, whereby he "shared" in
the his substance and qualities. In some of the more frenzied sects, "devout"
members could prove themselves worthy by beating, slashing, or even mutilating
(ie castrating) themselves-- in the belief that they were "sharing" in the
suffering of their redeemer and "purifying" themselves symbolically from
materialistic influences (identified with sin.)

  One gets a flavor for the nature of some of these practices, by reading a
satirical reference written by Juvenal. In this passage, Juvenal is poking
fun at "fanatical" women believers of the cult of Isis:.

  "In the middle of winter, at dawn, she'll [the woman devotee of Isis will]
  go down to the Tiber, break through the ice, and piously immerse herself
  three times to purify her body, and then she'll crawl on her bleeding knees
  halfway across Rome--to atone for having slept with her husband the night
  before: this is the ritual prescribed by the deity in favor THIS month.
  If some Egyptian goddess instructs here to make a pilgrimage to the Nile,
  she'll leave at once, follow the river to its source, and return with a
  phial of sacred water to sprinkle on the temple...She actually believes
  that Isis speaks to her! As if any god would bother to talk with such
  a fool."

  "Women like this revere any Egyptian priest who cons his followers with
  elaborate rituals and meaningless taboos.  He has them convinced that he
  has the power to obtain forgiveness for their sins.  If they fail to
  abstain from marital relations on holy days, or if they owe a penance
  for violating the goddess' prohibitions, the goddess will reveal her
  displeasure by shaking her head; the priest in tears, mumbling an
  empty litany, will intercede with the gods so that Osiris, bribed by a
  fat goose and a piece of cake, will forgive them."
  (Juvenal, VI, 523ff)

  There were  different levels of piety that one could strive for--with the
most severe and burdensome of these designed to gain one the status of
priest or saint within the Mystery religion.  (Footnote: S. Angus, op cit, p 
84.)

  According to S. Angus:

  "Those of Phrygia and the related Anatolian cults were among the bloodiest;
  next came the Syrian cults, but these were gradually refined by the
  development of a solar monotheism.  That of Isis was the most respectable,
  while that of Mithra was the most sober."

Angus goes on to contrast these with Christianity, which he deems the most
humane religion of all, because of its "means whereby man can most securely
enter into union with God."   (Angus, op cit, p 87)

  Animal sacrifices were conducted in many of the cults, despite later
protests by Greek philosophers against these.  Still, these protests were
not successful because of the prevailing ancient view that "without shedding 
of blood there is no remission of sin." (Ibid p 83)

Relevance of the Mystery Religions to Christianity

  There are various interpretations regarding the relationship of the
mystery religions to Christianity. According to some religious writers,
the mystery religions laid down the foundation for monotheism and a
belief in redemption--thus making it easier for Christianity to come in
and replace paganism. S. Angus, was a proponent of this view, writing,
"The Mystery-Religions offer a fascinating study for those who believe
that 'through the ages one increasing purpose runs', and that the march
of mankind is Godward." (Ibid, p 43)

  Other religious writers (including most early Christian Orthodox fathers,
such as Justin and Tertullian) believed that ALL paganism was evil, and
that any similarity with Christian practices such as the sacraments--were
due to the work of the Devil!  For example, according to Tertullian
when discussing the similarity of pagan and Christian sacraments:

  "Satan imitates the sacraments of God." (DE EXH. CAST., 13.).

  Other religious scholars (primarily PROTESTANT) contend that many of the 
sacraments and rites of the early Catholic Church WERE indeed adapted from 
those of the mystery religions. As proof, they point out that there is no 
BIBLICAL reference to these, so they must have arisen out of the hellenistic, 
pagan culture in which the early Catholic church developed.  (Protestants 
believe they have cleansed their sects from most, if not all, of these pagan 
trappings).

  Others, (including many nonChristians) have argued that it was MORE
than just the rites and practices of the mystery religions, that had an
impact on early Christianity. They believe that many early Christian
DOCTRINES were also strongly influenced by hellenistic religions and
philosophies.--Examples would include the cosmic, spiritual view of
heaven and hell; and the belief in Jesus as a divine god from heaven
(as opposed to the Jewish Christian view of a man who was appointed
by God to be his agent on earth).  That is, this group interprets the
above to mean that Christianity originally started off as a Jewish sect,
but became transformed, from its encounter with hellenistic views into a
new religion--ie "another" mystery religion.

  Unfortunately because of the limited source material that exists on the
mystery religions, it is difficult to piece together many of the exact beliefs
and practices of the mystery religions with any real degree of certainty to
know who influenced whom.-- First of all, many of the mystery rites were
secretive, and members were strongly urged not to divulge them.  Secondly,
most  writings from the mystery religions were destroyed in the late fourth
and fifth centuries C.E.-- when Christian Orthodox leaders commandeered the
leveling of all pagan temples and shrines-- and effaced, as much as possible,
all traces of their literature and liturgy. (See Section V, Chapter 3).
Sources on the mystery religions have thus come down to us from ruined
temples, mutilated inscriptions, and surviving fragmentary writings and art.
As we have seen there are also references by Orthodox Christian writers, such
as Tertullian-- which although antagonistic to the pagan mystery religions,
still give us SOME information about their practices.

Development of the Schools of Greek Philosophy
Greek Philosophy -- Rational vs Supernatural Inquiry into the Nature of
   the Universe.

  Greek inquiry, was driven by a belief that through boldness of spirit and
keenness of mind, one could learn truths of the universe.   Some ancient
Greek mythologies taught how through human ingenuity, men could strive to
attain the level of the gods themselves. The Greeks praised not only their
leaders and philosophers--but also their inventors. (Interestingly, in other
ancient cultures, the names of inventors frequently remained anonymous). This
attitude or paradigm towards acquiring human knowledge was shared by both
the rational and mystical schools of philosophy.

   As noted above, some Greek schools of thought (such as the older Ionian
schools) stressed observation and rational inquiry as method for obtaining 
knowledge. The foundation for science is thus often traced to this rational 
outlook, as formulated by the Ionian philosophies.

 However, it was the mystical, more inward-driving schools of philosophy--
that became most popular in later Greek thought. Both Pythagoras and Plato
belonged to schools of philosophy that stressed the nature of the DIVINE.
These philosophies held a cosmic view whereby spirits after death would
ascend to dwell with the "One" in the highest level of the universe. (Not 
surprisingly, MOST Greek philosophical schools contained within them, to 
different degrees, elements of BOTH the natural and supernatural outlooks
of the universe.)

The Mystical School of Pythagoras

  Many Greek schools of philosophy were believed to have been influenced
early on, by the presence of the popular mystery religions. Pythagoras of
Samos (who was born around 560 B.C.E. on the island of Samos), apparently 
combined some of the mystical afterlife visions from the mystery religions, 
along with more rational elements from the Ionian natural philosophies, to form 
a philosophical school and religious brotherhood known as Pythagoreanism.

  Pythagorans emphasized inner experience and revealed truths, which were
taught only to those initiated to the sect. The belief in the transmigration
of the soul provided the basis for much of their doctrine. Pythagoras claimed
to have "remembered" earlier incarnations, and to have held some semi-divine
status with his followers, in association with the cult worship of the god
Apollo. Adherents to the sect were taught to wear white robes, to observe
sexual purity, and to focus on purification of the soul through music and
mental exercises. Salvation through ultimate union of one's soul after death
with the divine cosmos, was believed to have been the ultimate objective of
the sect.  Pythagorans held a humanitarian belief in the "kinship of all
things", allowing even women and slaves for example to be members.

  Pythagorean thought was mathematical and scientific as well as metaphysical,
combining both the elements of the rational as well as the mystical in their
philosophy.  Important contributions were made by Pythagoreans in the realms
of arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy.  Numbers were held to play a
mystical role in the universe. The famous Pythagorean theorem on the squares
of the triangle was one of the discoveries made in mathematics. From
experimenting with sound, the Pythagoreans discovered that the lengths of
strings producing a note, with its fifth and its octave were in the ratio
of 6:4:3.

   The Pythagoreans also made some impressive deductions in the area of
astronomy. True, they held some outmoded mystical notions of the universe--
such as holding that the distance of the planets from the Earth must conform
to a musical progression--and resonate in sound to produce "the music of the
spheres".  However they also held views that were very advanced for their time.
They believed that the earth was a sphere, and it was recognized that the
apparent movement of the stars at night could best be explained by a revolving
earth. A Pythagorean, Philolaus of Croton, proposed a model of the universe
whereby the earth, sun, and stars revolved around a distant, central fire--
the Altar of the Universe. (This view is closer to more modern theories, as
opposed to the common ancient view, that the earth lay at the center of the
universe.)

  Other philosophical schools came into exisence after the Pythagoreans.  
To best understand them, we shall first review the social- political
background from which they developed.

Athens and the Invention of Democracy

  The founder of Athenian democracy has often been attributed to Cleisthenes.
After being ruled in previous centuries by tyrants, Cleisthenes suggested
a democratic government for Athens which would help stop the feuds, and at 
the same time, attempt to make life equitable between nobles and commoners
alike.  Following Cleisthenes plan,  Athen's citizenry was divided into ten
clans, each which had an equal vote in the city council.  Every official of
the polis--the councilmen, judges, etc--were chosen by the votes of all the
citizens.  Any citizen could be elected.

  To prevent tyrants from taking over the clans, Cleisthenes proposed that an
election be held once a year, whereby every citizen would be called in the
marketplace to write down the name of the citizen who was most likely to
abuse his power to be a tyrant.  Called "the ostracism", the citizen who
received the most votes had to leave Athens for ten years. For the election
to be legal, there had to be at least 6,000 ballots cast. (Following this
edict, no Athenian wanted to be viewed as a tyrant.)

  There were a large number of wars that were engaged in during this time--
both internally for control, and externally against foreign aggressors,
especially Persia.  The Ionians had been conquered by the Persians under
Cyrus the Great, and successive revolts by them were put down harshly
by the Persians. The Athenians came to the aid of their Ionian kinsmen
in Asia Minor in their struggle for freedom.  The Persians retaliated by
sending a powerful army and fleet against the city states of Athens and
Sparta in 493 B.C.E.  Athens won an upset victory against the Persians
at the battle of Marathon in 490 B.C.E.

  In revenge, the Persians under Xerxes defeated the Greeks at the battle of
Thermopylae in 480 B.C.E. Xerxes sent a massive Persian army towards Athens
itself. Seeing that they were hopelessly outnumbered, the Athenians consulted 
an oracle at Delphi for advice.  The oracle prophesized defeat, but offered 
hope by saying, "The wooden wall shall not fall, but will help you and your 
children." The Athenians interpreted the wooden wall to mean a barricade of 
ships. The Athenians next evacuated their city into boats and sailed towards 
the island of Salamis.

  The Persians burned Athens to the ground. The Athenian fleet of ships, under
Themistocles, devised a plan to defeat the Persians: Themistocles wrote a
letter to Xerxes, stating that his fleet would abandon the other Greek
city-states, and fight for Persia. Xerxes fell for the trap. As a result, he
ordered his admirals to set sail through the narrow Bay of Salamis.  (This
made the Persian ships easy targets for Greek warships, which could easily
pick them off one at a time.) At the end of the day, over two hundred Persian
ships had been easily sunk by the Greeks. The rest fled in defeat.

  The Spartans subsequently defeated the land army of the Persians.
Afterwards, the Athenians carried on the battle against the Persians, by
freeing and protecting other Greek cities on the islands and in Asia
Minor. Themistocles organized a league of Greek states to join in the
Athenian navy, as a common means of defense in the future.

The Golden Age of Athens (480 B.C.E.-430 B.C.E.)

  When Themistocles and the people of Athens returned home from Salamis,
they found Athens in ruins. Under the leadership of Pericles (c 495-429 B.C.E.)
who was the grandnephew of Cleisthenes, the Athenians rebuilt their city
on a even grander scale than ever before.  This period under Pericles, when
Athenian democracy and the arts flourished, came later to be called the
"Golden Age of Greece".

 Pericles hired the finest architects and artists to rebuild Athens.
The famous Parthenon was built during this time. The great sculptor Phidias
designed the carvings and statues.  He and his co-workers studied human
anatomy, to make their statues appear as real as life.  It was said that
when people saw his statues, that they were reminded of the tale of
Pygmalion. (In this tale, a sculptor had fallen in love with a beautiful
female statue he had created, and had prayed to Athena to bring her to life,
so that he could marry her.) The beautiful buildings and statues in the
Parthenon were so well constructed, that they remained standing as late
as the mid-17th century. (After Muslim Turks had captured Athens in 1456,
they converted the Parthenon into a mosque. Centuries later, the Parthenon
was heavily damaged by an explosion of gunpowder which had been stored there
by the Turks.)

  It was around the period of the Golden Age that some of the greatest
Greek plays were written. Aeschylus, who had served in the previous wars
against Sparta, stressed how the gods would see that justice would prevail.
Sophocles set out to show his audience that life is not always just, but
that one must accept it anyway.  Decades later, as Athens began losing the
Peloponnesian wars with its rival Sparta, another playwright, Euripides,
emphasized how suffering was cruel and unjust, and that it was up to
man to improve his own destiny.  (Aristophanes accused Euripides of being
a closet-atheist because he de-emphasized the divine.)

Defeat of Athens in the Peloponnesian War by its Rival City-State, Sparta

  Commercial inter-rivalry between Athens and Sparta resulted in twenty five
years of wars between the two Greek city states.  Lasting from 431-404 B.C.E.,
these Peloponnesian Wars eventually saw Athens losing to Sparta. During this
period of defeat, the intellectual mood in Athens swung to one of criticism
and pessimism. 

  Protagoras (484-414 B.C.E.?) had founded the school of wise men (called 
Sophists) who traveled the countryside teaching that humans should use reasoning 
instead  of blindly accepting what one hears.  Sophists went around proclaiming 
that philosophy was a waste of time--as it in itself, could never find real 
answers to great questions.  Morality was a set of arbitrary rules agreed by 
society, not necessarily absolute values. Sophists proclaimed all wars to be 
folly,  and ridiculed conservative members of Athenian society.  Many condemned 
slavery and questioned the racial exclusiveness of Athenian society. They 
championed the rights of the common man, and the extension of rationality 
towards politics.

  The development of democracy had increased the importance of public
speaking and rhetoric. Greek critics charged that the Sophists spoke in
clever but empty words--although proponents countered that the Sophists
also encouraged serious thinking. By questioning the traditional religious
beliefs and its moral consequences, the Sophists stirred up animosity
among conservative religious forces who were still strong within Athenian
society. (Even during the Golden Age of Pericles, the common belief in
the Greek gods and magic was still the majority view, as can be seen by
such works as Aeschylus' PROMETHEUS BOUND.)

  The general environment that brought forth the Sophists, also produced
Socrates. Socrates reportedly berated the Sophists, because they seemed
more interested in their fees that they charged their students, than in the
actual striving for truth. Arguably, Socrates was himself a sophist.  He is
often held out as the model for the "true" philosopher. One of Socrate's
most memorable sayings was that "the unexamined life is not worth living."