Paganism Surviving in ChristianityLewis, Abram Herbert
Religion
Paganism Surviving in Christianity
Lewis, Abram Herbert
Christianity and other religions; Paganism
The definite and systematic manner in which the corrupting process was
carried forward is clearly seen by the preparatory steps which opened
the way for paganism to thrust the sun’s day upon Christianity. We
have seen how the foundation of God’s authority was undermined by the
gnostic opposition to the Old Testament, and by the allegorizing of
both Old and New; how a false “baptismal-regeneration” theory filled
the church with baptized but unconverted heathens. These were not
enough to complete the corrupting process. While men still had regard
for the Sabbath, they could not entirely give up the law of Jehovah on
which it was based, and thus the fundamental doctrines of paganism were
still held in check.
The Simultaneous Development of Anti-Sabbathism and of Sunday
Observance.
Gnosticism was _antinomian_ from the core. All knowledge, and
hence all authority, was in the heart of the “true Gnostic.” The
“initiated” were divinely enlightened, were a law unto themselves.
This was doubly true when they came into contact with a law
promulgated by the “inferior God of the Jews,” the weak Creator of
matter, and hence a God in league with evil. Such opposition was
natural, was unavoidable, from the gnostic standpoint. Coupled with
the allegorical method of interpretation, it was an easy task for
this opposition to create a violent anti-Jewish prejudice, and a
combined no-lawism, and no-Sabbathism, which became the main factor
in sundering the Jewish and Gentile churches, and introducing the
reign of “_lawlessness_,” of which Paul wrote in the second chapter
of Thessalonians. This anti-lawism and anti-Sabbathism appear in
JUSTIN, the first pagano-Christian writer of whom we have sufficient
definite knowledge to gain a picture of the incipient results of pagan
influence on Christianity. He accepted Christianity after reaching
mature life, but retained his “philosopher’s cloak” as he did many of
his pagan ideas. His theories are a compound of pagan philosophy and
Christianity. He was furiously opposed to all that savored of Judaism.
His interpretations of Scripture and his religious opinions are all
strongly colored by this anti-Jewish spirit. His _Dialogue with Trypho
the Jew_, whether Trypho were a real or an imaginary character, is the
special exponent of anti-Judaism. The following examples show how he
confounded the moral laws and the ceremonial code of the Jews, and set
forth baneful no-lawism and no-Sabbathism, which grew in virulence and
destroyed the authority of the Old Testament wherever his influence
was felt. His special anti-Jewish treatise is entitled, _Dialogue
of Justin, Philosopher and Martyr, with Trypho, a Jew_. It opens as
follows:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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