What qualities in
Christianity made it appear different from Judaism to the Romans?
The earliest of the
Christians appeared to Romans as no more different than the followers
of Judaism. It was only the fact that they believed Jesus to be a
prophet appointed by the same divine authority who had ordained Moses
as a prophet, for the sole reason of establishing the truthfulness of
the religion which was profaned over the centuries by its followers.
Followers of Judaism mainly kept to themselves and were unsocial
towards the Roman society and their customs. This was purely because
of the reason that Judaism, as its followers believed, was for the
posterity of Abraham, Jacob and Judah. They were of the opinion that
this was their special pass to heaven and they did not want to share
it with strangers. Whereas, for the early Christians, though
following the strict laws of Judaism was necessary but every
individual and especially the proselytes were encouraged to preach
their religion to those closest to them. The early Christians or the
orthodox followers of Jesus formed the first Church after forty days
of Jesus and it was directly supervised by the apostles of Jesus for
the next forty years. They had united the Mosaic Law with the
teachings of Jesus. It was but natural under these circumstances that
first fifteen of the earliest bishops of this church were all
circumcised.
As the followers of
Jesus grew in numbers there came into existence many churches in
different cities which became somewhat liberal to attract proselytes
and were not always under the direct control of the Orthodox Church.
The objections, if ever, raised by the main body, the Orthodox
Church, were subsequently subsided by offering of alms. In the
meantime, Judaism remained confined within the closed society of its
followers while displaying no signs of change. Their laws were
observed to be stricter and they would not heed even to minor
changes. Even to help a gentile on humanitarian ground was prohibited
in Judaism, whereas Christianity prospered, or rather attracted the
common people by the slogan of Love thy neighbor. But as the
numbers grew, and unlike Judaism, people from many different
religions began to assemble under the emblem of Christianity, it
became almost impossible for the masses to practice the Mosaic
religious ceremonies. The Jews and the early Christians, the
Nazarenes, had adapted themselves to these rituals by practicing them
for centuries but for the masses of proselytes it was impossible and
for the Church the thought of a huge number of proselytes turning
apostate was inconceivable. The laws of Christianity were thus
relaxed and those responsible for the integrity of Christianity who
had themselves allowed to bear the burden of Mosaic Law because of
the direct involvement of the apostles of Jesus, now in the absence
of apostles, allowed their newly converted brothers, the proselytes,
to do away with the yoke of Mosaic Law.
To the Romans there
seemed a little difference between the Jews and the Nazarenes. It was
under the reign of Hadrian, that the Jews were once again subjected
to the wrath of Romans and as the Nazarenes were not considered, in
the early days of Christianity, any different from the Jews, the
Nazarenes retired from Jerusalem to a small town of Pella. Their
Church remained secluded and hidden in the town of Pella for almost
sixty years but the Nazarenes often visited their holy city of
Jerusalem. In the meantime, due to intolerable activities of Jews,
Hadrian made a new colony Aelia Capitolina
in Jerusalem on Mount Sion and gave strict orders to deal severely
with any Jews who tried to approach it, and thus the Nazarenes too
were restricted to visit their holy city. This is when the Nazarenes
established themselves as distinct and different from Jews. It was
the truth itself and the liking for the worldly gains as well that
the Nazarens, but not all of them, just to break away from the
common condemnation they were facing along with the Jews denounced
the Mosaic Law and appointed Marcus as their bishop. They succeeded
in their goal and gained a passage to Hadrian’s colony.
With the passage of
time the honors of Mount Sion were restored and the Christian Church
re-established itself in Jerusalem, it was the Nazarenes this time
who were blamed of heresy and schism. Blamed of apostasy by one
religion and of heresy from the other, they went down into oblivion
with a degrading name of Ebionites. The question that now faced the
Church was that how could a man who believes Jesus to be the Messiah
can adhere to Mosaic Law and still expect salvation. The answer to
that question set a seal on the fate of Ebionites and thus
strengthened the foundations of Catholic Church. For the Romans, the
Jews and the Ebionites, both were not be the ways they would adapt
to.
What is a cult and
how is a cult different than a religion?
It is derived from a
Latin word Cultus which means worship. In practice it is used
negatively for a smaller group of people who follow their own
transient and informal system of beliefs, generally regarded by the
mainstream religion and its followers as misguided and orthodox. It
is often portrayed as extreme admiration of something or somebody,
including a philosophy as well. Generally, it is a small group of
people who distinguish themselves from the mainstream religion by
adoring, admiring or appreciating just a small portion of religion to
the extreme, often modified to suit their own needs. There are fewer
cults active openly as opposed to religions. Cult is itself not a
religion but only a very small portion of some prevailing religion or
idea. It does not offer salvation as almost all religions offer but
it only offers a means of temporal satisfaction or enjoyment. BBC
News e-Cyclopedia defines a group of people to be a cult if it:
Uses psychological
coercion to recruit, indoctrinate and retain members
Forms an elitist
society
Founder leader is
self-appointed, dogmatic, messianic, charismatic and unaccountable
Believes ‘end
justifies the means’, in raising funds and recruitment
Its wealth does
not benefit its members and society
(Cult
Information Center, London)
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