Hristiyanların pazar Günü: Güneş Tapınması

[Natan]

İngilizceden türkçeye çevrilip, ya yeni bir başlıkta yada Hristiyan İnancı'nın Temelleri adlı başlıkta yayınlanacak dökümanlar

I. KISIM - GÜNEŞ GÜNÜ

The Day of the Sun

We have reached a critical, defining moment in our story. By isolating the weekly holy day from its biblical roots, church leaders cut off the Sabbath from its source of spiritual meaning. It would become a hollow formality, a political hot potato, a test of authority, and a pawn in a centuries-long power struggle.

Sunday was an attractive replacement for Sabbath because Sunday was beginning to draw to itself a certain amount of aura because of new developments in the pagan religion that made Sunday the day of worshipping the sun and thinking of the sun.

I suppose it was inevitable that elements of pagan worship would find their way into Christianity. Christians were, after all, a small minority in a distinctly pagan world - a world that worshipped mythical gods, dead emperors, and the “invincible sun.”

Historians commonly date the beginning of the Roman Empire as 31 BC. That’s when Octavian defeated the forces of Antony and Cleopatra and came back to Rome to rule as the first Caesar, Caesar Augustus. And it was at that time that he shipped back to Rome two great obelisks.

One of those he set up in the circus maximus. You know, it was not only that it was dedicated to the sun god, but was also a very visible sign that Rome had conquered Egypt. That the dedication on it said “Ceasar Augustus dedicates this as a gift to the sun,” - but it also says “because Egypt has been conquered.” So the people who came to the circus maximus to see the games could see not only this dedication to the sun, but also the realization that the Roman sun god had prevailed over the Egyptian sun god.
Reports from the mid first century provide additional evidence of the popularity of sun worship. The notorious Emperor Nero commissioned a sculptor to create a statue nearly 115 feet tall – topped with the likeness of his own head in the style of the sun god.

When Vespasian built his great amphitheater—which we call today the colosseum—he took that enormous colossus—colossus is the ancient word for statue—that enormous colossus of Nero—changed the features on the face and dedicated it to the sun god.

Emperor Elagabalus was so devoted to his eastern sun god that he took the deity’s name. He brought his god, in form of a black meteorite, all the way from Syria to Rome and adopted an eastern lifestyle.

And so his eastern dress, and his eastern orgies, and his eastern behavior, brought Elagabalus to grief after four years. And even though his god was sent back – the black stone was shipped back to Syria – that sun worship continued.

The ancient historian, Plutarch, reports how the Roman General, Pompey, went to the eastern Mediterranean to deal with the problem of pirates attacking commercial shipping. This is about 50 BC. Well, he conquered the pirates, captured them, brought them back to Rome. Turns out the pirates were worshippers of Mithras, the sun god, and from those pirates, the worship of Mithras became very popular in Rome, especially among the military.

I think that Roman military men would find Mithras a particularly attractive divinity. He was a warrior himself, fighting for the forces of good. It was a hierarchical religion, and one could progress from grade to grade—there were seven grades of Mithraism—much like in an army. And thirdly, it was a religion of brotherhood and fellowship. They would meet together not only to worship their god but to eat a meal in common.

We hear about Roman soldiers having come back from the east, who pray at dawn, facing the east, facing the sun. And this is when we begin to get in Rome the mention of deus sol invictus, that is to say the unconquerable sun god. Unconquerable because the night tries to conquer the sun in each 24 hour period, but at dawn the sun has survived—the sun has vanquished the night.

The importance of sun-worshipping cults in the Roman Empire is shown during the reign of Aurelian, who was emperor from 270-275 AD. He established a state religion that included the worship of both the emperor and Sol Invictus, the invincible son. He tried to unify all religions under the sun god. Diocletian, who came to power in 284, was also devoted to the sun god. He maintained Aurelian’s principle of a state religion and even declared himself to be a god. Eventually, he ordered the persecution of Christians.