Jesus vs. Sol Invictus: Who Won?
From a Christian perspective Christianity is good and Paganism is evil. From a Pagan perspective Paganism is good and Christianity is evil. Christians deride the institutions that existed in the ancient world as primitive and barbarous. Pagans deride medieval institutions as primitive and barbarous. Are both sides wrong, or is one side right and the other wrong? Both sides cannot be right.
From the modern Pagan perspective the cult of Sol Invictus is an infantile institution. The principle symbol of the cult is a golden sphere referred to as the imperial orb. Folk literature portrays it as a child's toy. This reflects its immaturity in the progress of human development as well as the immaturity of those who desperately cling to it. People who have yet to outgrow the cult of Sol Invictus cannot think of themselves as underdeveloped. After all, they assume the mature responsibility of maintaining imperial stability in the name of civilization. If we subscribe to a Christian point of view, the cult of Jesus triumphed over the cult of Sol Invictus to usher in a medieval period of sweetness and light. The imperium of Sol Invictus was replaced by the imperium of the vicar of Jesus. The pestilential snake was trampled under foot and the glory of Jesus was made manifest. The Dark Ages were not as dark as the heathens would have us believe. After all, economic prosperity flourished.
From the Pagan perspective material wealth is a poor indicator of human development. The imperial orb is traditionally associated with palace culture which has existed since the birth of civilization. Jesus could hardly be considered a vector of palace culture since the palace was the seat of his antagonists in Rome and the Levant. If anything, Jesus was a threat to the primitive rat race aspects of palace culture.
The Christianity of the medieval period promoted palace culture to an extraordinary extent. Christians assured the glory of Jesus by building an incomparable palace in Rome to house the vicar of Jesus. The imperial orb continued to exist, crowned with the symbol of the death of Jesus. The material evidence indicates that the cult of Sol Invictus triumphed over the cult of Jesus. Destruction and corruption of early Jesus cult literature also points in this direction, as does the persecution of people considered to be heretical enemies of Constantine's Church. The continued celebration of the solar rebirth in the fourth week of December puts icing on the cake.
From the Pagan perspective medieval Christianity, and its modern remnants, form the continued existence of the cult of Sol Invictus by another name.
From the modern Pagan perspective the cult of Sol Invictus is an infantile institution. The principle symbol of the cult is a golden sphere referred to as the imperial orb. Folk literature portrays it as a child's toy. This reflects its immaturity in the progress of human development as well as the immaturity of those who desperately cling to it. People who have yet to outgrow the cult of Sol Invictus cannot think of themselves as underdeveloped. After all, they assume the mature responsibility of maintaining imperial stability in the name of civilization. If we subscribe to a Christian point of view, the cult of Jesus triumphed over the cult of Sol Invictus to usher in a medieval period of sweetness and light. The imperium of Sol Invictus was replaced by the imperium of the vicar of Jesus. The pestilential snake was trampled under foot and the glory of Jesus was made manifest. The Dark Ages were not as dark as the heathens would have us believe. After all, economic prosperity flourished.
From the Pagan perspective material wealth is a poor indicator of human development. The imperial orb is traditionally associated with palace culture which has existed since the birth of civilization. Jesus could hardly be considered a vector of palace culture since the palace was the seat of his antagonists in Rome and the Levant. If anything, Jesus was a threat to the primitive rat race aspects of palace culture.
The Christianity of the medieval period promoted palace culture to an extraordinary extent. Christians assured the glory of Jesus by building an incomparable palace in Rome to house the vicar of Jesus. The imperial orb continued to exist, crowned with the symbol of the death of Jesus. The material evidence indicates that the cult of Sol Invictus triumphed over the cult of Jesus. Destruction and corruption of early Jesus cult literature also points in this direction, as does the persecution of people considered to be heretical enemies of Constantine's Church. The continued celebration of the solar rebirth in the fourth week of December puts icing on the cake.
From the Pagan perspective medieval Christianity, and its modern remnants, form the continued existence of the cult of Sol Invictus by another name.