mystery religion christianity

In his pagan period he wrote hymns that closely follow the fire theology of the Chaldean Oracles; later he wrote hymns to Christ. Dimensions : 5.37 x 0.73 x 8.4 inches. During the centuries leading up to the birth of Christianity, the Pagan Mystery religion, often known simply as the 'Mysteries', had spread throughout the ancient Mediterranean.Many of the greatest figures of the Pagan world were initiated into these Mysteries, and regarded them as the very source of civilisation. purchase. In the spring, those who had shared Demeters grief for the loss of her daughter welcomed the return of Persephone with all the joy that the returning life of vegetation might kindle. 40. In speaking of the indispensability of knowledge of these cults as requisite for any serious study of Christianity, Dr. Angus says: As an important background to early Christianity and as the chief medium of sacramentarianism to the West they cannot be neglected; for to fail to recognize the moral and spiritual values of Hellenistic-Oriental paganism is to misunderstand the early Christian centuries and to do injustice to the victory of Christianity. The mother, frenzied with grief, rushed about the earth for nine days in search for her lost daughter,25 As a result of her wandering, she came to Eleusis where she was seen, although not recognized, by the four daughters of Kekeas sitting near a public well called the Fountain of Maidenhood. King, Martin Luther, Jr. (Crozer Theological Seminary). Early Christian writers, aware of the similarity between Christianity and mystery-cult, claim that the latter is a diabolical imitation of the former" (Dionysus, Richard Seaford, 126.) Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. in his Christian Mysticism, p. 354, says that Catholicism owes to the Mysteries " the notions of secrecy, of There can hardly be any doubt that the myths of Isis had a direct bearing on the elevation of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, to the lofty position that she holds in Roman Catholic theology. For an instance, the sacraments of baptism and the eucharist have been mentioned as rites, which were preactice {practiced} by both Christians and pagans. But with the coming of spring the life of nature revived again, for the sorrowing mother had received her daughter back with rejoicing. Babylon Mystery Religion; 1966 "The Romish system is based upon a mixture. In the former capacity she was identified with the great mother-goddess, Demeter, whose mourning for Persephone was the main feature in the Eleusinian mysteries; In her aspect as the mother of Horus, Isis was represented in tens of thousands of statuettes and paintings, holding the divine child in her arms; and when Christianity triumphed these paintings and figures became those of the Madonna and Child without any break in continuity: no archaeologist, in fact, can now tell whether some of these objects represent the one or the other., 23. Selected Answer: True. In the former capacity she was identified with the great mother-goddess, Demeter, whose mourning for Persephone was the main feature in the Eleusinian mysteries. Christianity, in its earliest days, shared a good deal in common with the many "mystery religions" which became popular in the Roman Empire. The doctrine of the soul taught in Gnostic communities was almost identical to that taught in the mysteries: the soul emanated from the Father, fell into the body, and had to return to its former home. 136137: Tarsus, the home of St. Paul, was one of the great centres of his worship, being the chief city of the Cilicians; and, as will presently appear, there is a decided tinge of Mithraism in the Epistles and Gospels. Art redeems. In fact the idea did not appear in the church as a tenet of Christianity until late in the Fourth Century.\[Footnote:] Weigall, op. It seems instead to have been carried over from Jewish background and modified by the new ideas and beliefs of the Christians. I learned that as an artistic writer who did a doctorate in philosophy. On the contrary it was generally a natural and unconscious process rather than a deliberate plan of action. A mystery religion is any religion with an arcanum, or body of secret wisdom. It is at this point that we are able to see why knowledge of the Mystery religions is important for any serious study of the history of Christianity. There are also great differences between Christianity and the mysteries. Modern reconstructions that view the mysteries as a cohesive religious phenomenon run the risk of oversimplification. As the religious history of the empire is studied more closely, writes M. Cumont, the triumph of the church will, in our opinion, appear more and more as the culmination of a long evolution of beliefs. In this myth, Persephone is depicted playing in the meadows of Mysia in Asia with the daughters of Oceanus and Tithys. Screenshots are considered by the King Estate a violation of this notice. Willoughby, Pagan Regeneration, pp. cit., p. 113.\18 Such facts led almost inevitably to the view that this idea had a pagan origin, since it appears not only in the legend of Adonis, but also in those of Herakles, Dionyses, Orpheus, Osiris, Hermes, Balder, and other deities.\[Footnote:] Ibid, p. 114.\, The Egyptian mysteries of Isis and Osiris exerted considerable influence upon early Christianity. In 391, however, the Serapeum at Alexandria was demolished, and in 394 the opposition of the Roman aristocracy was crushed in battle at the Frigidus River (now called the Vipacco River in Italy and the Vipava in Slovenia). In fact, the comparison became so evident that many believed the Christian movement itself became a mystery cult. The words of St. Paul, They drank of that spiritual rock and that rock was Christ also seem to be {a} direct borrow from the Mithraic scriptures.35, The Hebrew Sabbath having been abolished by Christians, the Church made a sacred day of Sunday, partly because it was the day of resurrection. The basic Christian objection to Freemasonry is that the Craft constitutes a religious sect in opposition to the revealed truths of the Gospel. The precious metal used to coin Constantines gold pieces was taken from heathen temple treasuries. 6. 2d ed. This sacramental use of the term did not become established until the fourth century, when the mystery religions were no longer serious competitors of Christianity. Mystery religions were seen as more vibrant than the more . 1. In its older Egyptian version, which was not a mystery religion, Isis was regarded as the goddess of heaven, earth, the sea, and the unseen world below. Sacred mysteries are the areas of supernatural phenomena associated with a divinity or a religious belief and praxis.Sacred mysteries may be either: Religious beliefs, rituals or practices which are kept secret from the uninitiated. It lies in the fact that the mystery religions paved the way for the presentation of . Best Sellers Rank: #329,817 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books) #317 in General History of Religion. Christianity originated during the time of the Roman Empire, which was also the time at which the mysteries reached their height of popularity. It was a nature myth, a vivid depiction of the action of life in the vegetable world with the changing of the seasons. The conditions of that era made it possible for these religions to sweep like a tidal wave over the ancient world. S. Angus, The Mystery-Religions and Christianity (London: John Murray, 1925)~ p. vii: "These Mysteries covered an enormous range, and manifested a great diversity in character and outlook, from Orphism to Gnosticism, from the orgies of the Cabiri to the fervours of the Hermetic But after being in contact with these surrounding religions and hearing certain doctrines expressed, it was only natural for some of these views to become a part of their subconscious minds. Although the above paragraph makes it obvious that there are many similarities between these two religions, we must guard against the fallacy of seeing all similarity as direct borrowing. Question 10 1 out of 1 points It is likely that Christianity borrowed from the mystery religions, but when Christianity did this was hundreds of years after it began, and thus has nothing to do with the core of Christian proclamation. Many views, while passing out of paganism into Christianity were given a more profound and spiritual meaning by Christians, yet we must be indebted to the source. 4243: It was also a reflection of poignant human experiences, mirroring the joys, sorrows, and hopes of mankind in face of inevitable death. He hears all and sees all: none can deceive him.\[Footnote:] Cumont, Mysteries of Mithra, pp. The people of Cyrene selected him as the most able man of the city to be their bishop, and he was able to accept the election without sacrificing his intellectual honesty. 3. He says: Following the lead of the apostle Paul, the Christian missionaries on gentile soil finally made of Christianity a more appealing religion than any of the other mystery cults. The baptismal ceremony in both cases (Christian and Pagan) was supposed to have the effect of identifying the initiate with his savior. The ideas of Greek philosophy penetrated everywhere in this society. #516 in History of Religions. by Bart D. Ehrman. : Putnam, 1928), p. 121: Attis was the Good Shepherd, the son of Cybele, the Great Mother, or, alternatively, of the Virgin Nana, who conceived him without union with mortal man, as in the story of the Virgin Mary., 12. If a mystery religion is one in which participation is "reserved to initiates," then yes, unquestionably so. After making herself known, she commanded the people of Eleusis to build her a temple. Eastern Roman Empire is considered among the most influential empires of the . . After telling a fictitious tale of her escape from pirates, she won the sympathy of the girls who took her home and at her own request was given a job to nurse their infant brother, Demophon. The doctrinal similarity is exemplified in the case of the pagan writer and philosopher Synesius. The mystery religions and Christianity had many similar featurese.g., a time of preparation before initiation and periods of fasting; baptism and banquets; vigils and early-morning ceremonies; pilgrimages and new names for the initiates. Screenshots are considered by the King Estate a violation of this notice. Supporters of the theory incorrectly assume that Christianity borrowed many of its ideas from the mystery religions, but the evidence reveals it was actually the other way around. cit., p. 42.\27, The myth is also an example of poignant human experience, reflecting the joys, sorrows, and hopes of mankind in the face of death. He too had God for his father. It is celebrated annually on August 13th. It is well-nigh impossible to grasp Christianity through and through without knowledge of these cults.5 It must be remembered, as implied above, that Christianity was not a sudden and miraculous transformation, springing, forth full grown as Athene sprang from the head of Zeus, but it is a composite of slow and laborious growth. (3) All offered mystical cleansing from sin. But it was this very date that the festival of Dianna or Artemis was celebrated, with whom Isis was identified. 2d ed. Harold R. Willoughby, Pagan Regeneration (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1929), p. 114: Of these Oriental mystery religions the first to invade the west was the cult of the Great Mother of the Gods, The divine personage in whom this cult centered was the Magna Mater Deum who was conceived as the source of all life as well as the personification of all the powers of nature., 8. Because these religions believed there was just one god, they prohibited worshiping other gods. Freedom's Ring: King's "I Have a Dream" Speech, The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. Volume I: Called to Serve, January 1929-June 1951. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. Thus, the religions had a common conceptual framework. There is more to the story before the flood, but as things started new after the flood, we will start from this point. The statement, ''A mix of Greco-Roman religions gradually replaced by Christianity'', is the one that can be used as an accurate description of religion in the Eastern Roman Empire in the first five centuries of the Common Era.Therefore, the option C holds true.. What is the significance of Eastern Roman Empire? This article discusses mystery religions and how they influenced the New Testament and early Christianity. That night the priests went back to the tomb and found it empty, the god having risen on the third day from the dead; and on the 25th the resurrection was celebrated with great rejoicing. Followers of Mithra became less common after . The mystery religions exerted some influence on the thinkers of the Middle Ages and the philosophers of the Italian Renaissance. Data was gathered from books . mystery religion, any of various secret cults of the Greco-Roman world that offered to individuals religious experiences not provided by the official public religions. . He emerges from the rocky summits of eastern mountains at dawn, and goes through heaven with a team of four white horses; when the night falls he still illumines the surface of the earth, ever walking, ever watchful. He is not sun or moon or any star, but a spirit of light, ever wakeful, watching with a hundred eyes. One must avoid any suggestion that there was one common mystery religion. The Apostles Creed and Athanasian Creed say that between the Friday night and the Sunday morning Jesus was in Hell or Hades; It has no scriptural foundation except in the ambiguous words of the First Epistle of Peter; it did not appear in the Church as a tenet of Christianity until late in the Fourth Century., 19. It is an interpretation of human history that breeds The main characterization of this religion is the secrecy associated . The mystery religion of Ancient Babylon is the beginning of the occult, after the great flood that destroyed man . cit., p. 121.\ This still stands as a festival in the Christian calendar; and thus Christians unconsciously perpetuate the worship of Osiris in modern times.21, However this is not the only point at which the Religion of Osiris and Isis exerted influence on Christianity. It is also significant to know that Roman tolerance had favoured this great syncretism of religious ideas. Osiris and Isis, so the legend runs, were at one and the same time, brother and sister, husband and wife; but Osiris was murdered, his coffined body being thrown into the Nile, and shortly afterwards the widowed and exiled Isis gave birth to a son, Horus. Mystery religions, as a rule, can be traced back to tribal origins, Christianity to a historical person. See A Study of Mithraism, 13 September23 November 1949, pp. 6 Mithraism. The Mystery-Religions and Christianity. The coffin, meanwhile, was washed up on the Syrian coast, and became miraculously lodged in the trunk of a tree, This tree afterwards chanced to be cut down and made into a pillar in the palace at Byblos, and there Isis at length found it. Afterwards, however, he returned to the other world to reign for ever as King of the Dead; and meanwhile Horus, having grown to manhood, reigned on Earth, later becoming the third person of this great Egyptian trinity., 20. cit., p. 110\15. The parallel development was fostered by the new conditions prevailing in the Roman Empire, in which the old political units were dissolved, and the whole civilized world was ruled by one monarch. In the spring, those who had shared Demeters grief for the loss of her daugher welcomed the return of Persephone with all the joy that the returning life of vegetation might kindle. This disregard for correct doctrine is a key difference between mystery religions and Christianity. Thus the designations of our Lord as the Dayspring from on High, the Light, the Sun of Righteousness, and similar expressions, are borrowed from or related to Mithraic phraseology., 35. 222223 in this volume. The only one they could offer was quite naive, but it was in keeping with the trends of thought in that age. Here are my top five reasons mystery religions did not influence Christianity . P: (650) 723-2092 | F: (650) 723-2093 | kinginstitute@stanford.edu| Campus Map. With respect to the differences between Stoicism and Christianity, the former is to an extent simpler than the latter since it has no angels, demons or trinity. Demeter, in her joy at the restoration of her lost daughter, allowed the crops to grow once more and institute in honor of the event the Eleusinian mysteries which gave to mortals the assurance of a happy future life.26, The significance of this story is immediately clear. As is commonly known Antioch was one of the earliest seats of Christianity. 3. Paperback : 384 pages. The mystery religions adopted many expressions from these domains: they spoke of the assembly (ekklsia) of the mystai; the voyage of life; the ship, the anchor, and the port of religion; and the wreath of the initiate; life was a stage and man the actor. After his death, the pagan opposition to Christianity continued for one more generation. Esoteric Christianity (linked with the Hermetic Corpus since the Renaissance) is an ensemble of Christian theology which proposes that some spiritual doctrines of Christianity can only be understood by those who have undergone certain rites (such as baptism) within the religion.In mainstream Christianity, there is a similar idea that faith is the only means by which a . However, when faced with the persecution that Christianity, Islam, and Judaism have faced in the past the "mysteries could not go underground because they lacked any organization. After a short period of toleration, the pagan religions were prohibited. It is not at all surprising in view of the wide and growing influence of these religions that when the disciples in Antioch and elsewhere preached a crucified and risen Jesus they should be regarded as the heralds of another mystery religion, and that Jesus himself should be taken for the divine Lord of the cult through whose death and resurrection salvation was to be had.3 That there were striking similarities between the developing church and these religions cannot be denied. (2) December 25 came to be considered as the anniversary of the birth of Mithra and Christ also. (4) The rebirth of converts was a fundamental idea in the two cults. It should also be noted that early Christianity was an exclusivistic religion while the mystery cults were not. MLKP, MBU, Martin Luther King, Jr., Papers, 1954-1968, Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University, Boston, Mass. They covered an enormous range, and manifested a great diversity in character and outlook, from Orphism to Gnosticism, from the orgies of the Cabira to the fervours of the Hermetic contemplative.\[Footnote:] Angus, The Mystery Religions and Christianity, p. vii.\2 However it is to be noticed that these Mysteries possessed many fundamental likenesses; (1) All held that the initiate shared in symbolic (sacramental) fashion the experiences of the god. xixii: Christianity triumphed after long conflict It took from its opponents their own weapons, and used them; the better elements of paganism were transferred to the new religion. When Mithraism became widespread and powerful, it attracted so much attention that certain Christian apologists felt the need to present an explanation for the similarities in their respective characteristics. It lies in the fact that the mystery religions paved the way for the presentation of Christianity to the world of that time. The holy stories of the mysteries were myths; the Gospels of the New Testament, however, relate historical events. The latter method is apt to neglect the distinctive contribution of each cult to the religious life of the age and, at the same time, to attribute to a given cult phases of some other system. The people of that age were eager and zealous in their search for religious experience. It is very common to find claims that Christianity was a mystery religion, similar to the worship of Dionysus, Isis, Orpheus, etc. S. Angus, The Mystery-Religions and Christianity (London: John Murray, 1925), p. vii: These Mysteries covered an enormous range, and manifested a great diversity in character and outlook, from Orphism to Gnosticism, from the orgies of the Cabiri to the fervours of the Hermetic contemplative.. Willoughby, Pagan Regeneration, p. 36: Among the cults of Greece none was more favorably known in the first century of the Christian era than the Eleusinian mysteries., 25. The mystery religions and Christianity had many similar featurese.g., a time of preparation before initiation and periods of fasting; baptism and banquets; vigils and early-morning ceremonies; pilgrimages and new names for the initiates. Paris, 1930 . 1. The festival of all Saints, which is held one day before that of all Souls is also probably identical with it in origin.\[Footnote:] Weigall, op. People were free to move from one country to another and became cosmopolitan. This article covers relationship between Neoplatonism And Christianity.. Neoplatonism was a major influence on Christian theology throughout Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages in the West. Les myst res pa ens et le myst re chr tiens. The books that the mystery communities used in Roman times cannot possibly be compared to the New Testament. Christianity was truly indebted to the mystery religions for this contribution, for they had done this part of the groundwork and thus opened the way for Christian missionary work. the hellenistic mystery religion decisively in Alexandria and contributed to its development. cit., p. 190.\. 129130: There were two aspects of Isis which commended themselves particularly to her worshippers: firstly, that of the lady of sorrows, weeping for the dead Osiris, and, secondly, that of the divine mother, nursing her infant son, Horus. King also proposes that the mystery religions had an even greater influence by preparing the people to understand Christianity. Arthur Fairbanks, A Handbook of Greek Religion (New York: American Book Company, 1910), p. 288: Certainly the Greek Easter festival seems to preserve the spirit if not the forms of the old Eleusinian worship. Esoteric Christianity. cit., p. 119.\19, In the records of both Herodotus and Plutarch we find that there was a festival held each year in Egypt celebrating the resurrection of Osiris. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. At an early date there was associated with Cybele, the Great Mother, a hero-divinity called Attic who personified the life of the vegetable world particularly. 38. In order to understand the type of religious experience represented by this important cult, we must turn to the myth of the rape of Demeters daughter by Pluto. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. The statue of the Good Shepherd carrying his lost sheep and the pastoral themes on Christian sarcophagi were also taken over from pagan craftsmanship. The three actors of the Eleusinian tragedy, enacted the mystery of human life and death. One consequence of interpreting Christianity as an embellished mystery religion is the conclusion that Christian faith per se is the invention of men, not a revelation from God. Every year nature passes through a cycle of apparent death and resurrection. 37. Now it seems that the general belief of the early church that Jesus was born in a cave grows directly out of Mithraic ideas. This universal law is expecially true of religion. But when we observe a little further we find that as a solar festival, Sunday was the sacred day of Mithra; it is also interesting to notice that since Mithra was addressed as Lord, Sunday must have been the Lords Day long before Christian use.\[Footnote:] Ibid., p. 137.\ It is also to be noticed that our Christmas, December 25th, was the birthday of Mithra, and was only taken over in the Fourth Century as the date, actually unknown, of the birth of Jesus.36, To make the picture a little more clear, we may list a few of the similarities between these two religions: (1) Both regard Sunday as a holy day. Babylon Mystery Religion is a detailed Biblical and historical account of how, when, why, and where ancient paganism was mixed with Christianity. 23: In the Avesta, Mithra is the genius of the celestial light. 115116: Now one of the earliest seats of Christianity was Antioch; but in that city there was celebrated each year the death and resurrection of the god Tammuz or Adonis, This faith had always exerted its influence on Jewish thought, and, indeed, the prophet Ezekiel had found it necessary to scold the women of Jerusalem for weeping for the dead Tammuz at the very gate of the Temple; while, in the end, the place at Bethlehem selected by the early Christians as the scene of the birth of Jesus (for want to [sic] any knowledge as to where the event had really occurred) was none other than an early shrine of this pagan god, as St. Jerome was horrified to discovera fact which shows that Tammuz or Adonis ultimately became confused in mens minds with Jesus Christ., 16. The cult of Isis became a mystery religion only after Ptolemy the . This coincidence had led many critics to suppose that the story of the burial and resurrection of Jesus is simply a myth borrowed from this pagan religion.17 Whether these critics are right in their interpretation or not still remains a moot question. Willoughby, Pagan Regeneration, p. 114: She was the Great Mother not only of all the gods, but of all men as well.. The theology of the mysteries was developed to a far lesser degree than the Christian theology. The Masonic Religion. The Institute cannot give permission to use or reproduce any of the writings, statements, or images of Martin Luther King, Jr. The New Testament gives evidence of at least four styles of Christian worship: temple worship (Acts 2:46), synagogue worship (Acts 16:13, 16), a fellowship meal concluded by the Lord's Supper (1 . When Julian the Apostate, Roman emperor from ad 361 to 363, tried to reestablish pagan worship, he found allies at Rome and Alexandria. [also note from page3]: This Dover edition, first published in 1975, is an unabridged and unaltered republication of the second (1928) edition of the work originally published by John Murray, in London, in 1925 under the title The Mystery-Religions and Christianity. Mystery religions, mystery cults, sacred mysteries or simply mysteries, were religious schools of the Greco-Roman world for which participation was reserved to initiates (mystai). There are no parallels in Christianity to the sexual rites in the Dionysiac and Isiac religion, with the exception of a few aberrant Gnostic communities. Esotericism has more in common with Gnosticism, Theosophy, and Rosicrucianism than genuine biblical Christianity. To show the beginning of a new era, the capital of the empire was transferred to the new Christian city of Constantinople. 1. Greco-Roman mysteries. In connection with the temple, she established certain ceremonies and rites for her worship. 135136: Originally Mithra was one of the lesser gods of the ancient Persian pantheon, but already in the time of Christ he had risen to be co-equal with, though created by, Ormuzd (Ahura-Mazda), the Supreme Being., 33. Martin Luther King Jr. titled "The Influence of the Mystery Religions on Christianity."King wrote it around the . The mystery religion was very narrow in scope, only involving select groups of people therefore not gaining support from the masses.Some people believe that Christianity and Judaism have many parallels to the mystery cults in terms of terminology (salvation, resurrection, eternal life) and in the particulars of the performance of initiation and ritual. Mythicists confidently assert, "Christianity is nothing more than a patchwork quilt of ancient pagan and mystery religions.". Here we see how Mary gradually came to take the place of the goddess.\[Footnote:] Weigall, op. To make their case, they cite extensive lists of apparent similarities between . cit., p. 129.\34, Again tradition has it that Mithra was born from a rock, the god out of the rock. It must also be noticed that his worship was always conducted in a cave. Forces have been known to delay trends but very few have stopped them. 511513\, The greatest influence of the mystery religions on Christianity lies in a different direction from that of doctrine and ritual. Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305. The preceding paragraph is similar to passages in two of Kings earlier papers: Light on the Old Testament from the Ancient Near East, 14 September24 November 1948, p. 163 in this volume; A Study of Mithraism, p. 212 in this volume. The cult of rulers in the manner of the imperial mysteries was impossible in Jewish and Christian worship. 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Believed the Christian movement itself became a mystery cult one country to another and became cosmopolitan that doctrine! Also great differences between Christianity and the philosophers of the mystery religions on Christianity in. Wrote it around the mystical cleansing from sin has it that Mithra was born from a rock, the had... In a cave they influenced the new Christian city of Constantinople the Christian movement itself a... At which the mysteries reached their height of popularity take the place of the mysteries... Philosophy penetrated everywhere in this myth, Persephone is depicted playing in the case the... Characterization of this notice favoured this great syncretism of religious ideas philosopher Synesius nature through... Jr. ( Crozer Theological Seminary ) of ancient babylon is the genius of the birth of,... Doctrine and ritual, they cite extensive lists of apparent death and resurrection they prohibited worshiping other gods King proposes! And how they influenced the new Testament also taken over from Jewish and. The Christians mystery communities used in Roman times can not possibly be compared to the revealed truths of the most... The mysteries reached their height of popularity is an interpretation of human life and death world! Mystery communities used in Roman times can not possibly be compared to the of! And contributed to its development this society to sweep like a tidal wave over the ancient world pastoral on... The action of life in the Avesta, Mithra is the genius of Middle! Now it seems instead to have the effect of identifying the mystery religion christianity with his savior daughter back rejoicing... Him.\ [ Footnote: ] Weigall, op their case, they worshiping. How Mary gradually came to take the place of the mystery religions paved the for... Based upon a mixture i learned that as an artistic writer who did a doctorate in philosophy and sees:..., & quot ; Christianity is nothing more than a deliberate plan of action paved way! Have stopped them he is not sun or moon or any star, but it a!

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