The Pokey Finger of God

In recent months, I have grown exceedingly confident in the theory that Constantine was the originator of Christianity. Not only has it illuminated many elements of Christian history, it explains a lot about our culture. It explains the relatively late perspective of the Church Fathers, and how all of the Imperial political hierarchy became Church [...]

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Here’s something I’ve enjoyed greatly this last week: Stephen Williams’ Diocletian and the Roman Recovery. This book from 1985 was apparently one of the first biographies of the man written in English.
The genius here is the clear and concise comparison between the Empire under the “Good Emperors” and the Empire under “Crisis”. Williams provides several [...]

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Following are the assertions I currently use regarding the origin of Christianity. These will likely each be expanded upon over time.
1. Evidence: There is no physical evidence for the existence of a single, rapidly developed mystery cult whose theology or structure singularly informed the post 4th-century Christian church. There is no art, architecture, ritual gear, [...]

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At first, I could never understand the True Believers.
My first encounters with them was in Christian churches. My own, initially pedantic, attempts at Bible study repeatedly failed to illuminate the motivations or goals of True Believers. I could never understand just what was so exciting in the faith as I had ever seen it practiced.
Atheists [...]

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I’m starting to become overwhelmed (again) with revising my understanding of 1st-4th Centuries CE. On one hand, I can still clearly point to the council of Nicea in 325AD and say that this was the place at which Constantine (re-)created Christianity. On the other, I’m completely befuddled regarding which characters were real and which were [...]

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I have been dwelling further on Venus, the planet specifically, in its passage from Morning Star to Evening Star. I sense a deep pattern here, and placing myself within it may be the best way to quickly understand it.
On Sunday, June 8th, Venus-Solar conjunction will occur. There are three significant points to make about this [...]

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Question: So do you believe that there is a true divine being, or do you believe that belief in the divine is simply a carrot on a stick to help man strive for something better in life?
Answer: Divinity does exist, and it exists within each of us and in everything around us. Recognizing that divinity [...]

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Question: I just read DaVinci Code, and I liked the book a lot. What interested me was that there were other versions of Christianity, like the Gnostics, who sound like they were more Eastern, or pagan in their beliefs. I was brought up Catholic and never believed in everything they teach, but do still consider [...]

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Somewhere in this article is a phrase used by a Catholic cardinal to describe all non-Christian religions, both ancient and New Age: “spiritual auto-eroticism”. I’m almost certain this was intended to be derisive and dismissive, and it is quite surely an honest response from this prelate. What’s funny is that outside of the Catholic context, [...]

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Here is a good essay that does a pretty good job of untangling some of the theological issues surrounding 43’s simplified fundamentalist world view. It seems that our selected president recently said that he believed Christians and Muslims “worshipped the same God” as a means to counter accusations that the US government is anti-Muslim. Such [...]

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