Tolerance and the Rise of Paganism
As of late I have had a desire to learn more about the history of the Christian Church. I've been curious about the start and rise of Catholicism, the Reformation and even how the Crusades fit into everything. I am having a bit of trouble finding good reading materials on these subjects locally (I prefer a real book to electronic options), though I have not nearly exhausted my options yet.
In my quest for information I have found and have been reading "The Triumph of Christianity" by Rodney Stark. It has been a really slow start to read that book. I think the reason being that as Stark discusses Paul's ministry, as well as others, I feel his theology is off. He seems to minimize the works of the Holy Spirit in Paul's ministry in particular, and bestows onto Paul what seem to be modern day understandings and psychology regarding how to reach the unreached, how to plan your journeys and how to choose whom you will preach to. This all led me to question the validity of what Stark has written regarding Christianity. So what did I do?
Well I decided that I would jump ahead in the book, by about 80 pages. Even though Stark minimalized the work of God in the spread of the Gospel, when it comes to religious history as a whole, he seems to be sticking more to factual and historic information rather than theological dissemination. Now, given my concerns about earlier chapters I do not assume that Stark's handling of the other chapters in his book are entirely accurate, however I feel I can read these chapters with a certain amount of skepticism as to the authenticity of the information provided since I plan to read other books on this same topics and will hopefully come out with a reasonably accurate picture of the growth of the Christian Church and religious beliefs as a whole.
All of this to say that one paragraph in the beginning of the 11th chapter really caught my attention. Being a small "c" conservative, I have always viewed others through a lens of being a human being, a creation of God, first, and any further views of people have been based on their desire, but not necessarily their ability, to be a useful member of society. This is, of course, very much my position in a nutshell. Due to this point of view, the whole notion that is so prevalent in society these days of "tolerance" is familiar, yet foreign to me. If you believe other than what I do, so what! If you want to have a discussion with me about your beliefs versus my beliefs I will be happy to oblige, but I won't force my beliefs on you and if you attempt to force your beliefs on me, I will resist. Is this not the real meaning of tolerance? Tolerance can not be forced, it is ingrained through life experiences and personal views.
But our society has been beating us over the head with "tolerance" for years now, and has changed the meaning of the word in the meantime. I don't know if this change was intentional or incidental, but the meaning of modern tolerance seems to be not only the realization that others can hold a different view from your own, but also an acceptance that their view is accurate and correct and even that I am supposed to promote their view, even if it doesn't match up with my own.
This is how the progressives (Leftists) have been forcing their views on wider society. They claim to be "tolerant" of the beliefs of others, but if your beliefs are contrary, or even just dissimilar, to their beliefs, then you are a bigot, homophobe, Islamophobe, Nazi, etc. I have been called all of these things and more because I hold to the traditional Christian views on LGBTQ+ lifestyles, abortion, sex outside of marriage, child rearing, all the while progressives claim that I should be more tolerant of others.(!?!?!?!) The hypocrisy of their own positions seems to escape their perception.
This brings me to the first paragraph in chapter 11. The title of the chapter is "The Demise of Paganism" and the chapter describes how the spread of Christianity caused a decline and eventual demise of the paganism that was practiced by the peoples in the Roman Empire. The chapter starts out "Recently, it has become fashionable to admire the old pagans and to wish they had managed to withstand the rise of Christianity." It continues by quoting Jonathan Kirsch's book "God Against the Gods"; "it is tantalizing to consider how close he (Julian) came to bringing the spirit of respect and tolerance back into Roman government and thus back into the roots of Western Civilization, and even more tantalizing to consider how different our benighted world might have been if he had succeeded." Stark then quotes Glen Bowersock that "polytheism is by definition tolerant and accommodating", then Ramsay MacMullen's claim that paganism was "no more than a spongy mass of tolerance and tradition". (all emphasis mine)
While any true Christian will likely readily agree that we are in a Post Christian age, in light of the above views, is it safe to claim that we are entering a new age of paganism?
According to paganfederation.org, "Pagans may be trained in particular traditions or they may follow their own inspiration. Paganism is not dogmatic. Pagans pursue their own vision of the Divine as a direct and personal experience." As we look at society today, the dogmas that are gaining traction include personal choice, tolerance, respect, acceptance, "me" centric beliefs, if it doesn't harm anybody else... These are the justifications brought forth by the progressives in defense of everything from homosexuality, transgenderism, abortion, legalization of narcotics, pedophilia, beastiality, incest and the list goes on and on. These are all lifestyle choices spoken against in the Bible and should be resisted by Christians (that's a whole other article). These are all being pressed towards societal approval using by and large terms such as tolerance, respect and accommodation.
There is however no tolerance, there is no respect and there is no accommodation for the Christian beliefs that North American countries were founded upon. Christians are attacked and denigrated for having the gall to speak what they believe contrary to the ideological agendas being forced upon us. Are we witnessing the demise of Christianity and the rise of paganism? I believe that we are. I also believe that we are in the last days before the return of Jesus Christ and the final judgement of all of us. Make sure you know what side you are on because the line may not be as clear as you believe it to be.
In my quest for information I have found and have been reading "The Triumph of Christianity" by Rodney Stark. It has been a really slow start to read that book. I think the reason being that as Stark discusses Paul's ministry, as well as others, I feel his theology is off. He seems to minimize the works of the Holy Spirit in Paul's ministry in particular, and bestows onto Paul what seem to be modern day understandings and psychology regarding how to reach the unreached, how to plan your journeys and how to choose whom you will preach to. This all led me to question the validity of what Stark has written regarding Christianity. So what did I do?
Well I decided that I would jump ahead in the book, by about 80 pages. Even though Stark minimalized the work of God in the spread of the Gospel, when it comes to religious history as a whole, he seems to be sticking more to factual and historic information rather than theological dissemination. Now, given my concerns about earlier chapters I do not assume that Stark's handling of the other chapters in his book are entirely accurate, however I feel I can read these chapters with a certain amount of skepticism as to the authenticity of the information provided since I plan to read other books on this same topics and will hopefully come out with a reasonably accurate picture of the growth of the Christian Church and religious beliefs as a whole.
All of this to say that one paragraph in the beginning of the 11th chapter really caught my attention. Being a small "c" conservative, I have always viewed others through a lens of being a human being, a creation of God, first, and any further views of people have been based on their desire, but not necessarily their ability, to be a useful member of society. This is, of course, very much my position in a nutshell. Due to this point of view, the whole notion that is so prevalent in society these days of "tolerance" is familiar, yet foreign to me. If you believe other than what I do, so what! If you want to have a discussion with me about your beliefs versus my beliefs I will be happy to oblige, but I won't force my beliefs on you and if you attempt to force your beliefs on me, I will resist. Is this not the real meaning of tolerance? Tolerance can not be forced, it is ingrained through life experiences and personal views.
But our society has been beating us over the head with "tolerance" for years now, and has changed the meaning of the word in the meantime. I don't know if this change was intentional or incidental, but the meaning of modern tolerance seems to be not only the realization that others can hold a different view from your own, but also an acceptance that their view is accurate and correct and even that I am supposed to promote their view, even if it doesn't match up with my own.
This is how the progressives (Leftists) have been forcing their views on wider society. They claim to be "tolerant" of the beliefs of others, but if your beliefs are contrary, or even just dissimilar, to their beliefs, then you are a bigot, homophobe, Islamophobe, Nazi, etc. I have been called all of these things and more because I hold to the traditional Christian views on LGBTQ+ lifestyles, abortion, sex outside of marriage, child rearing, all the while progressives claim that I should be more tolerant of others.(!?!?!?!) The hypocrisy of their own positions seems to escape their perception.
This brings me to the first paragraph in chapter 11. The title of the chapter is "The Demise of Paganism" and the chapter describes how the spread of Christianity caused a decline and eventual demise of the paganism that was practiced by the peoples in the Roman Empire. The chapter starts out "Recently, it has become fashionable to admire the old pagans and to wish they had managed to withstand the rise of Christianity." It continues by quoting Jonathan Kirsch's book "God Against the Gods"; "it is tantalizing to consider how close he (Julian) came to bringing the spirit of respect and tolerance back into Roman government and thus back into the roots of Western Civilization, and even more tantalizing to consider how different our benighted world might have been if he had succeeded." Stark then quotes Glen Bowersock that "polytheism is by definition tolerant and accommodating", then Ramsay MacMullen's claim that paganism was "no more than a spongy mass of tolerance and tradition". (all emphasis mine)
While any true Christian will likely readily agree that we are in a Post Christian age, in light of the above views, is it safe to claim that we are entering a new age of paganism?
According to paganfederation.org, "Pagans may be trained in particular traditions or they may follow their own inspiration. Paganism is not dogmatic. Pagans pursue their own vision of the Divine as a direct and personal experience." As we look at society today, the dogmas that are gaining traction include personal choice, tolerance, respect, acceptance, "me" centric beliefs, if it doesn't harm anybody else... These are the justifications brought forth by the progressives in defense of everything from homosexuality, transgenderism, abortion, legalization of narcotics, pedophilia, beastiality, incest and the list goes on and on. These are all lifestyle choices spoken against in the Bible and should be resisted by Christians (that's a whole other article). These are all being pressed towards societal approval using by and large terms such as tolerance, respect and accommodation.
There is however no tolerance, there is no respect and there is no accommodation for the Christian beliefs that North American countries were founded upon. Christians are attacked and denigrated for having the gall to speak what they believe contrary to the ideological agendas being forced upon us. Are we witnessing the demise of Christianity and the rise of paganism? I believe that we are. I also believe that we are in the last days before the return of Jesus Christ and the final judgement of all of us. Make sure you know what side you are on because the line may not be as clear as you believe it to be.
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