Ruins Testify To Greek Resistance of Christianization

We have recently discovered even more evidence that shows ancient polytheists resisted Christianization of their culture.

During my latest reading adventure, which I always love, I had the privilege of coming into contact with a magnificent work that I am enjoying very much, called The Complete Greek Temples by Tony Spawforth. In a nutshell, this amazing work details all forms of ancient Greek temples that have existed, and gives the wonderful architectural, religious, social and political histories behind them. I have not yet completed it, but at this point, I'd not only recommend it, but even place it in my temple's library. Indeed, the importance of temples to ancient Greek life and society cannot be overemphasized. Walter Burkert even calls the Greeks a "temple culture." The temple is as essential to Greek identity as the stars and stripes are to Americanism.

In the book, page 12 interestingly, the author talks about the fact that modern historians tend to think that the ancient Greeks began to lose faith in the Greek Gods around the 4th Century BCE and onward. However, the large scale on which they continued to build their temples during this alleged time frame, tells a far different story. Some were, of course, smaller and bigger than others, and had a range of functions, but they always retained a religious significance among all else. In other words, people who are "losing faith in their Gods," don't continue to build temples to them.

The truth is clear and present. The ancient Greeks, by and large, did not willingly accept Christianity, Monotheism, or lose faith in their Gods. They were forced to give them up and accept Christianity at the hands of a government of massive state pressure.

In the Goodness of the Gods,
Chris Aldridge.

Why Do So Many Pagans Get Upset With The Word "Worship?"

Talk to some modern Pagans about their Path, and they'll say things like, "I don't worship the Gods, I work with them." They came to Paganism, in part, because they wanted to have a more direct relationship with Deity. This is understandable, but worship simply means, to pay reverent (respectful) honor and homage to a God. Any time you do this, you are giving worship. So even something as simple as recognizing a God as a God, means you have given worship. Ritual, prayer, hymn, sacrifice, and art, if centered around a particular God or Gods, are all forms of worship and religion, because you have given respectful honor and homage to them.

It's similar to people who say that they are, "Spiritual but not religious." Religion is defined as having a set of beliefs or practices concerning theology. So even if your beliefs and practices are your own entirely, you are practicing religion. It doesn't have to be inherently tied to an organized group of people, denomination, or church to be religious.

Our Pagan ancestors were most certainly religious, and they most certainly worshiped, but that didn't mean that worshipers themselves didn't somehow have worth. The ancient Greeks, for example, loved, revered, and feared their Gods, and they didn't believe they were equal to the Gods, but yet they were still the beacon of light for the intellectual, physical, and societal advancement of the Western world. They saw nothing about religion and worship that demanded they be anything less than what a human could, or that they despise said fact. They simply realized that, even with all that humans could achieve, there were still Higher Powers to be respected, admired, and thanked for making life and the Universe possible in the first place.

In the Goodness of the Gods,
Chris Aldridge.

How I Explained Polytheism To A Young Christian

Yesterday, I held a literary signing at the Freeport Public Library in Freeport, IL to promote some of my latest publications in magazines and journals. I also brought some copies of my memoirs In The Presence of the Gods, which outlines my experiences with the Greek Gods throughout my life. It was originally intended to be an event to just promote my latest fiction, but I figured that the more stuff I could sell, the better, so I brought some of my non-fiction material as well, and it sold just as good as the opposite. 

But an encounter happened to me that I will always remember, and that I think is worth noting. A very friendly young man hung around me for a good portion of the day, being interested in my writings and what I was doing. When he picked up my memoirs and learned that I was a Polytheist, it became clear to me that he was a Christian, because he asked me, "Do you believe in Jesus Christ?" I told him that I did believe Jesus to be a real historical man, but that I didn't believe him to be a god or divine. The boy basically went on to ask me, "Why do you believe in many Gods instead of just one?" Being that he was a young man and more curious than anything else, I came up with what I thought was a good way to explain my theology to him on a level he could comprehend. I never, at any point, tried to tell or convince him that his beliefs were wrong. Instead, I taught him about my own.

I asked him, "Have you ever been outside?" He replied, "Yes." Then I asked, "Do you see one tree or many?" He replied, "Many." I went on to ask, "Are they all the same or different?" He answered, "Different." I continued my line of questioning. What of grass, is there one blade or many? What about clouds? Is there one or many? And what of other worlds? Does our Solar System have one or many? He replied, "Many" to all of my questions. Then in conclusion, I said, the nature of the universe dictates that everything exists in multiples, not singulars, so why should God be any different?

And yes, I know some people might ask, "Can there not be one painter who paints many things?" Of course there can be, but is there just one painter in the world or many? Is there only one who paints all paintings? No, there are countless painters. So once again, all things exist in multiples. 

He didn't have an answer for me. He just shrugged it off, but I would like to think that I encouraged him to think outside the box in his life, to come to his own beliefs and conclusions about things, instead of just blindly accepting what others tell him is truth. It's quite possible that I will never again encounter the lad, but I hope that I created another student of Socrates at least.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.

How Monotheists Created Make-Believe History

We all know the stories of the persecution of Polytheistic cultures at the hands of Monotheism, but what I want to talk about is something rarely noticed, and because it's so easily missed, the campaign against Polytheism continues to gain ground in the academics even of today.

As followers of ancient religions, one thing that puts us at a disadvantage today is the fact that our ancient literature is translated not by people like us, but by Christians or other forms of Abrahamic religion. Not only was there an attempt to wipe the old cultures from the Earth, there was and still is a revision of history by the conquerors.

Yesterday, I came across a copy of Plato's dialogues, a book of "complete works." This copy, however, was quite old, published in 1960. I picked the book up and started looking through the pages because I simply adore old literature, especially if it's from my religion and culture. I thought I would have a nice morning with some light reading of The Apology from this particular publication. For those of you who don't know, this dialogue is the defense of Socrates against the false charges levied against him by his prosecutors. It's certainly one of the most noted of Plato's writings. Any student of Socrates no doubt has this dialogue come to mind when his name is mentioned.

I didn't even get a few pages into it before I noticed clear religious errors in the translations. These were repeated, which means they were not mistakes. Of course, as per usual, it centered around the continued insistence that Socrates was a Monotheist and didn't believe in the Greek Gods, something we now know is a lie but that some continue to propagate even now. When Socrates talked about his mission from Apollo as given to him by the Delphic Oracle, the text kept omitting from Socrates' speech the word "the" before "God." So for example, the text quoted him as saying, "only God is wise." When in actuality, he said, "only the God is wise," meaning Apollo. That simple omission by modern writers and translations is something few people really notice, but it's one of the simple ways that modern mainstream theology sways history into its worldview, thus continuing to hold rule over the religious and theological minds of the people.

Monotheism counts on people being too simple to research what they see at face value. Socrates was a devout Hellenic Polytheist. He declared himself to be on a mission from Apollo to enlighten the Greeks, and that he would NOT give up this mission even at the cost of his own life. That doesn't sound like someone who doesn't believe in the Greek Gods. That sounds like someone who has the utmost devotion and dedication, as well as assurance in his belief. Just because he may have rebelled against some of the social norms of his time, doesn't mean he renounced the Gods of his people and culture. For example, the American colonists completely rebelled against England, but many of them were still Christians just like the British soldiers marching against them. The Americans didn't consider themselves to be fighting against Jesus even though they routinely shot at the flag that displayed his symbol. Theology and social ideal are not necessarily dependent on each other. Needless to say, I placed a post-a-note on the cover that said, "Inaccurate Translations."

History, it is often said, is a craft of the presenter. There's a lot of talk these days about "fake news." I don't know about all that, but I do know there is certainly "fake history."

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris.

Dogmatic Dilemmas: Reclaiming Religion

Not so much in the Hellenic community, but far too often in the general Pagan community, I see the words "religion" and "worship" met with sour faces and cold shoulders. I think that far too many of us still have the dogmatic programming in our heads from certain people and places, and we associate these terms with it. We think that, to say we are religious or that we worship, is to say that we beg, plead and cry to a God for forgiveness for being human, that we follow rigid, dogmatic structure, and that we're all grouped together under a church or group authority and nothing more. We think these practices leave no room for personal truth, practice or understanding, and that we are reduced to nothing more than drones. However, nothing could be farther from the truth. Certainly, some people in these categories may use the words "religion" or "worship," but if we look to our ancient ancestors, the origin of our spirituality, we find another story. 

Our ancestors were very much religious people and they very much worshiped their Gods. They did not see themselves as being equals to the Gods, but rather as their servants and beings to respect. To be religious is to have a practice, and to worship is to give reverence to your Gods, and I think it's a mistake to dismiss these terms and practices simply because we think we have to be inhuman and grovel. We also do not have to abandon our individuality and force ourselves into a group category just because we use these terms. Religion and worship is literally an umbrella category, holding all the many spiritual beliefs and practices within humanity. I myself have no problem using these terms to describe my practices. I don't even consider myself to have a word for religion or worship because they are part of everything I do in life.

We all practice religion and worship in one form or another. I know there are people out there who like to call themselves, "Spiritual but not Religious," but the two can rarely be separated. If you have any kind of regular practice, that's religion. If you've ever given offerings, prayers, or done a ritual, you are religiously practicing. If you give honor and reverence to your Gods, that is worship. Anytime you have any kind of structure whatsoever to your practice, you are being religious, even if it's your own structure entirely, and anytime you recognize Deity as worthy of your respect, admiration, reverence and service, you are engaging in an act of worship.

No matter what one's religion is, or what their practices and beliefs are, they can use these terms without falling into dogmatic and personally oppressive categories.

In the Goodness of the Gods,
Chris.