Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion that began shortly after the death of Jesus Christ in approximately AD 33. The followers of Christianity are known as Christians and believe that through Jesus Christ they receive eternal life.

Jesus

The one belief that all divisions of Christianity share is that Jesus is the Son of God and that he came to fulfill the messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. With the death and resurrection of Jesus, anyone who believes in Him will have eternal life in Heaven. The gift of Jesus is free and all one has to do is believe in Him.

According to Christianity Jesus led a sinless life which is what enables humans with a sin nature to be redeemed and allowed to be seen before God. Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary and conceived by the Holy Spirit so he did not inherit the 'original Sin' that all other humans possess.

Paul the Apostle, an early Christian convert, wrote:

"And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."
1 Corinthians 15:17-22

The death and resurrection of Jesus are the most important events in Christian Theology, as they form the point in scripture where Jesus gives his ultimate demonstration that he has power over life and death and thus the ability to give people eternal life.

The Bible

To Christians, the Bible is regarded as the book of life written by man, inspired by Holy Spirit. Because of this inspiration through the Holy Spirit it is highly regarded as the absolute truth towards eternal life.

The Bible is broken into two main sections: The Old Testament and the New Testament.

The Old Testament deals with the history of God's children, the Israelites, and outlines a number of stories and prophecies.

The New Testament is centered around Jesus and his teachings. It explains his word and how one may enter into the Kingdom of God, Heaven.

Heaven and Hell

Christians believe that after this life we are then judged and depending on our faith in Jesus, either go to eternal Heaven or eternal Hell. They believe that we are all have a soul that will move on to a place of eternal rest once our physical bodies die here on Earth.

Christians believe that Hell is ruled by the Devil, who is a fallen angel, and that he purposefully attempts to deceive and manipulate people into his ways and ultimately Hell.

Salvation through Faith

Christianity teaches that people are saved through their faith in Jesus Christ alone, rather than the works that they accomplish here on Earth. Contrary to most other religions and belief systems, they don't think you can work you way into Heaven by solely doing good deeds. The only way into Heaven, according to Christian theology, is through belief and faith Jesus Christ.

Quotes & References

Once we understand the hermetic devises used by the biblical mythographers to encode zodiacal symbolism we will finally find sanity in the testaments. We will see the metaphors for what they are and acknowledge the Druidical and astrological origins of Christianity.

— Michael Tsarion; The Irish Origins of Civilization, Volume 1

Christianity is patently a solar centric theology and whether its modern-day adherents know or accept this or not is unimportant.

— Michael Tsarion; The Irish Origins of Civilization, Volume 1

Indeed, the prowess of Christian magic was always overstated. The miracle-working prophets and saviors of Christianity had, after all, a lot to compete with. In our estimation, there is little doubt that the astonishing accounts of Christian miracle healings and banishings - from the wizardry of Moses in the wilderness to the raising of the dead talent of Jesus to the feats of St. Patrick and St. Columba - were deliberately concocted and added to the Christian canon in order to outdo the legacy of the Druids. The alleged healing powers of the waters at Lourdes is, for instance, about as pagan a motif as anyone might conceive. In the end we must be aware that the Druidism of post-Christian times, as well as the Druidism presented to us in official accounts, is not the same thing as actual Druidism. It is mere propaganda and distortion.

— Michael Tsarion; The Irish Origins of Civilization, Volume 1

Conventional histories presented a picture of early Christians as peaceable souls, unjustly persecuted. This picture could only have arisen because historical writing was monopolized by the church for many centuries, and there was no compunction about changing or falsifying records.

— Barbara G. Walker; The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets

It has been estimated that Europe was Christianized at a cost of about 8 million to 10 million lives.

— Barbara G. Walker; The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets

One of the erroneous notions that still keep Christian women shackled to their Bible-based "inferior" image is the notion that Christianity was founded on the New Testament, when in fact the early churches had no Gospels but rather created and produced their own. Not only did churchmen falsely pretend an apostolic origin for their scriptures; they also weeded out all references to female authority or participation in Christian origins. Only the forbidden Gnostic Gospels retained hints that Jesus had 12 female disciples corresponding to the 12 male disciples, or that Mary Magdalene was the leader of them all. Even women's scholarship was denied.

— Barbara G. Walker; The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets

The antique unadulterated form of "Christianity" (Druidism) that existed in Ireland from the earliest times was a remnant of pre-diluvian theology. It was based on the observance and veneration of the stars, of the sun, the moon, and the zodiac. It was, from its inception a stellar religion. The bible, therefore, is not only based on Druidic philosophy, it is a sidereal testament disguised as a biography and history of physical personages who, for the most part, had no historical existence. How this antique Druidic philosophy was flagrantly appropriated and abused is a fascinating story that must be told. We are personally interested in the reasons why it was thought best to denude the ancient theology of its connection to the stars and why it was then foisted upon the world in its present contorted and preposterous form. To this day, the ancient mystery school subjects of Astrology and Kabala, etc, are still taught to the elites within the Christian and Judaic colleges, to those of the highest caliber and lineage. This secret is not known by the lower rank and file and great steps have been taken to downplay the Astro-Theological aspect of the major religions. Although innumerable books are now in circulation, attempting to shine light into Christianity's darker corners, the sidereal and sabean connections have rarely been exposed. This kind of revelation is, perhaps, too controversial even to most revisionists, especially to those of the "soft" variety. Obviously, should this gnosis reach the ears of the masses not much will be left of the vile edifice of Vatican-style religion.

— Michael Tsarion; The Irish Origins of Civilization, Volume 1

Our revisionist work is made somewhat more challenging because most Christians know very little about the true origins of their religion and do not realize that most of what they read and hear about from priests and potentates is pure fiction with little to no basis in fact. They are not aware of how the Roman Church has fostered and unleashed upon their unsuspecting minds a battery of lies and fables in order to disguise the actual origins of religion. Nevertheless, we seek to show in the course of this work that Christianity, and its so-called parent Judaism, have their roots in Egypt and Ireland. And this holds true for the language and cultural idioms. This fact was commonly known the world over before the rise of the present imposter Roman hegemony. It was known in ancient times that Christianity, in its purest and most antique form, was nothing more nor less than Druidism from Ireland.

— Michael Tsarion; The Irish Origins of Civilization, Volume 1

Judeo-Christianity, as we know it, is a creation of the Solar Cults of the ancient world. As an institution it is a construct of the Atonists, the renegade outcasts of Egypt’s eighteenth dynasty. After the termination of their dominion, the commanders of this powerful cult, seeking new empires, guided their people back to the place of beginning and subsequently set about erasing the archaic and sophisticated culture they found there. They overlaid their own corrupted traditions upon the more antique one that was soon forgotten.

— Michael Tsarion; The Irish Origins of Civilization, Volume 1

The vile Judeo-Christian institution and its inhuman ideology would not have been able to endure if the pristine marvel of Irish Druidism remained strong and bright in the world of men.

— Michael Tsarion; The Irish Origins of Civilization, Volume 1

Regarding the origin of the Church, Christianity moved to Rome by way of Byzantium and Britain and its roots are to be found in ancient Ireland. It certainly did not originate in Rome.

— Michael Tsarion; The Irish Origins of Civilization, Volume 1

The Christian Fundamentalist movement was to be a channel for strengthening the state of Israel by identifying with the Israel of the Bible and acceptance of the theory of "God's Chosen People," and by donating very substantial amounts of money to Israel, in what they sincerely believed to be a religious cause in the furtherance of Christianity. This view overlooks the fact that modern Israel was founded as a Zionist political state and not a religious state.

— Dr. John Coleman; The Committee of 300

Although the Ante-Nicene Fathers were aware of the inner mysteries of the Christian faith, a rising orthodoxy was content to disseminate the most literal possible explanations of the Christian mysteries. This is largely responsible for modern sectarianism.

— Manly P Hall; The Bible, the Story of a Book

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, 1983, between the years 1815 and 1975, some 2,500 million Bibles were printed either completely or in parts in 1,735 languages. These figures do not include sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth century printings of which there were large and numerous editions. It may reasonably be assumed, therefore, that nearly every literate, living person has had some direct contact with the sacred writings of Christianity.

— Manly P Hall; The Bible, the Story of a Book

As we have seen Christians were experiencing a withdrawal of the spirit worlds. The Church seemed unable to provide direct spiritual experience or personal contact with spiritual realities. The people demanded wonders and only the secret societies knew how to provide them.

— Mark Booth; The Secret History of the World

Well versed in the wisdom of Plotinus and Iamblichus she [Hypatia] explained in her lectures how Christianity had evolved out of the teachings of the Mystery schools, and she argued, like her father, that no single tradition or doctrine could have exclusive claim to the truth.

— Mark Booth; The Secret History of the World

[...] whether or not anything miraculous happened in that obscure corner of the Near East in the early years of the first century, its effect on the history of the world is unparalleled in its breadth and depth. It gave rise tot he civilization we now enjoy, a civilization of unprecedented freedom, prosperity for all, richness of culture, scientific advance. [...] Of course some of these ideas were foreshadowed by Krishna, Isaiah, the Buddha, Pythagoras, Lao-Tzu, but what was unique to Christianity, the 'mustard seed' planted by Jesus Christ, was the idea of the interior life.

— Mark Booth; The Secret History of the World

Christianity's most sacred texts are deeply occult:
The meek shall inherit the earth
Faith moves mountains
Ask and it shall be given.

— Mark Booth; The Secret History of the World

[...] the new Christian perspective was focused on the inner life. If we compare earlier moral codes, such as the law of Moses or the even older Code of Hammurabi, with the Sermon on the Mount, it is clear that they were only rules to regulate behaviour in the Outworld - do not worship idols, steal, murder, commit adultery etc. The moral teaching in the Gospels, on the other hand, is directed towards inner states. 'Blessed are the poor in spirit ... they that mourn ... the meek ... the pure in hear ...'

— Mark Booth; The Secret History of the World

The power of the early Church lay in its influence over the masses. It was not the faith of the noble during the first centuries, but the faith of the shopkeeper, and even the slave. Its power increased through the sheer weight of numbers, rather than through special favor by any group. Its early dogmas were uncertain; there was much groping. But after the Council of Nice, a certain integration was obvious; and this was the true foundation of the Church.

— Manly P Hall; How to Understand Your Bible

Christians have tortured more Christians and pagans for their beliefs than ever suffered martyrdom under the Caesars.

— Manly P Hall; How to Understand Your Bible

He [Julian] resented, furthermore, that a class of people within the boundaries of the empire - for the most part the poorest educated and of least estate - should fanatically expound a belief that they were the sole possessors of truth; that all other gods were demons; all other philosophers, frauds; and all other institutions, heretical. It is possible that the Emperor's annoyance was well founded. If the attitude of converts two thousand years ago resembled the attitude of certain modern Christian fanatics, one gains a greater degree of sympathy for the plight of Romans having a faith thrust upon them without the right to say nay.

— Manly P Hall; How to Understand Your Bible

Impersonal consideration would indicate that very few of the first Christian martyrs were actually killed for their beliefs. Most of them were arrested for sedition and executed for crimes against the solidarity of the state.

— Manly P Hall; How to Understand Your Bible

Many of the first converts to the Christian faith were men of Greek learning. Therefore, in the interpretation of Christian metaphysics, it will be useful to consider the substance of Platonic teaching concerning the nature of the LOGOS. It will then be obvious that the Christian teaching is but a thinly veiled re-statement of the Greek original.

— Manly P Hall; How to Understand Your Bible

To Peter, the Christian "mystery" was that of God made flesh. To Paul, it was flesh made God.

— Manly P Hall; How to Understand Your Bible

Out of the struggles of these men after truth, out of their prayers and meditations, out of debate and controversy, out of feud and schism emerged Christian theology - the product of fallible men, dreaming after the infallible, seeking with finite minds to probe the mysteries of the infinite.

— Manly P Hall; How to Understand Your Bible

For two thousand years the New Testament has been taken on faith, and upon the personal convictions of individuals not in a position to prove what they believe. No one will deny the sincerity and devotion of those hundreds of millions who have accepted Christianity. Nor is it of great spiritual significance whether their belief is based upon fact or fable, if they have lived well and have been induced into courses of tolerance, honesty, gentleness, and wisdom. All other factors are of secondary importance.

Where history impinges upon the moral life, however, has been in the matter of tolerance. It is the tolerance aspect which makes facts necessary. I think most will agree that the Christian church has not had a distinguished record for tolerance.

Intolerance is based upon a small certainty about things unknown. Yet intolerance can be the destroyer of religions and nations; hence the necessity for the statement of doubt, and moderation of theological enthusiasm.

— Manly P Hall; How to Understand Your Bible

All sincere Bible students must be mindful of the words of Synesius, Bishop of Alexandria: "Therefore, as a bishop of the church, I will continue to disseminate the fables of the church, but in my private capacity I shall remain a philosopher to the end."

— Manly P Hall; How to Understand Your Bible

[...] the founders of the Christian faith had a religious tolerance quite beyond the comprehension of their modern successors.

— Manly P Hall; How to Understand Your Bible

The evangelical movement was sponsored by the same British Intelligence leader, Lord Shelburne, who had directed the French Revolution.

— Eustace Mullins; The Curse of Canaan

Most people would naturally assume that Christianity allows the existence of only one Devil - the Devil - in other words that Satan and Lucifer are the same entity.

In fact we need only a quick, fresh look at the texts to see that the authors of the Bible intended something quite different. Again, this is something biblical scholars accept, but which hasn't filtered down to congregations.

— Mark Booth; The Secret History of the World

Modern churchmen are often quick to condemn astrology, but none can deny, for example, that the great Christian festivals are all astronomically derived - Easter being the first Sunday following the full moon that falls on or follows the vernal equinox, or that Christmas is the first day after the winter solstice when the rising sun begins to move visibly back in the reverse direction along the horizon.

— Mark Booth; The Secret History of the World

But Christianity has roots in older religions of the region in which it arose and all of these were naturally polytheistic and astronomical. The beliefs of early Christians reflected this. For them spirituality meant commerce with actual spirits.

— Mark Booth; The Secret History of the World

No purer and simpler doctrine, no greater knowledge of the communion possible between God and man had ever been given. Yet, within a very short time after the death of Christ, Christian ritualism began to appear. A theological system of dogmas and beliefs was devised, modes of worship elaborated and a hierarchy arose with all its attendant evils. However, the Christian faith, under the lash of persecution, had shown the world the power of Faith and Charity.

And against this power the forces of evil have ever been unfurled. Blow after blow was dealt to the rising church. Both its beliefs and practices were attacked by those who professed other views and worshipped other gods and who designed all schemes to subvert and pervert Christianity. Henceforth, as it has ever been with all religions, the history of Christianity and of Gnosticism will develop side by side, the perversion and destruction of the former being the aims of the latter.

— Lady Queensborough; Occult Theocrasy

There were fifteen major theological religious movements before Christianity that taught the same identical story. Of a messiah who came to the earth, who was born in a manger, who died on a cross, who had twelve apostles, who died with a crown of thorns. Were you aware that there were fifteen major religions that had the same identical teachings of Christianity? Most people aren't. And I'm very suspect of a sixteenth religion which is copied off of fifteen previous religions, and I am told that this one is the truth. I become very suspect.

— Jordan Maxwell; Matrix of Power

When we came out of the Dark Ages into the Age of Enlightenment, the leaders of The Enlightenment were eventually put to death by the church. And the church always put to death anyone who would go against church or government. I believe the two greatest enemies of all free people in the world are government and religion, both. They are both equal partners in tyranny and have sold us out. The government fleeces us, the church fleeces us. That's why Christians are called sheep. Because with sheep, you fleece them. And then you eat them. And sheep, of course, are the dumbest animals in the world, and any farmer will tell you that. It's true. Anyone who knows anything about animals and animal husbandly will tell you that the most incredibly stupidest animal the world has ever known is a sheep. They cannot find their way out of a paper bag, and they will follow anybody.

— Jordan Maxwell; Matrix of Power

Christianity is a Freemasonic concept. Many Freemasonic concepts originated in Egypt. Freemasonry did not officially exist yet during early Christianity in the way we know it today, but Christianity is based on Freemasonic concepts and ideas established partly by Egyptians and partly by the old Essenes that lived in Middle East. That is why, incidentally, that we had so many problems getting the Dead Sea Scrolls out, because, in my opinion, there is material in the Dead Sea Scrolls that can cause some very serious problems with Christianity and Judaism. Much of the Scrolls have been released, but few people are studying what they really say. And contrary to what you might think, not all of the Dead Sea Scrolls have been released. As of this writing, one book, The Angel Scroll, remains under lock and key in monastery Germany. What remains hidden could be damaging to those belief systems, and there may be a vested interest in keeping it locked away.

— Jordan Maxwell; Matrix of Power

Christianity has always labeled these ancient religions as being pagan, which gives a negative connotation. The word pagan actually means someone who lives in the country, a mountain dweller, or someone who lives outside of a city. That name was given to someone who lived up in the mountains, because in Rome, after Christianity was adopted, the religion was thought to be sophisticated. There was little sophistication to be found outside of the cities. Once Caesar became a Christian then everybody could be a Christian, so therefore, it became the State religion. So it was in high style to be a Christian. Consequently, you were considered very intelligent if you became a Christian at that time, you were very in, you were modern if you were a Christian in Rome. Once it was accepted fully, and then it became the thing to be. Of course, the people out in the hills, the farmers, the poor people out in the country, on the outside of Rome that have lived the same way for ten thousand years, well, those were pagans. They didn't understand a new "take" on things. So it became a disparaging remark about poor people of the soil, people who were farmers, people who didn't know all of this high-fangled, new religious thing that Rome had come up with as a new belief system. The cross with the circle of the sun is a very common symbol, in both ancient and modern times. They were just people, and the working class people were called pagans. That is where the word came from in ancient times. Anybody who wasn't with the "in" crowd in Rome, with the new religion, was considered a pagan.

— Jordan Maxwell; Matrix of Power

...a man hanging on a cross was never pictured in the first four hundred years of Christianity. They never had a symbol, or an emblem, or a picture anywhere in Christianity of a man hanging on a cross. It was always pictured as a lamb or a sheep carrying a cross. It was not until the sixth century at one of the great ecumenical councils that it was decided that we should have a man hanging on the cross. That's where the concept of a man hanging on a cross was begun.

— Jordan Maxwell; Matrix of Power

Christianity, like Judaism and Islam, was designed to achieve another vital part of the reptilian Agenda: the suppression of the female energy, the intuitive connection to higher levels of our multidimensional consciousness. Once you suppress your feminine energy, your intuition, you switch off your higher consciousness and become dominated by your lower consciousness.

— David Icke; The Biggest Secret

...the Piso family who wrote the Gospel stories and Constantine the Great who, in effect, was to create the Christian religion as we know it today, were the SAME bloodline!

— David Icke; The Biggest Secret

What harm would it do, if a man told a good strong lie for the sake of the good and for the Christian church … a lie out of necessity, a useful lie, a helpful lie, such lies would not be against God, he would accept them.

— Martin Luther; Cited by his secretary, in a letter in Max Lenz, ed., Briefwechsel Landgraf Phillips des Grossmuthigen von Hessen mit Bucer, vol. 1

Christian churches all over the world recognize that Christianity is a Piscean religion.

— Jordan Maxwell; http://jordanmaxwell.com/articles/religion/religion2.html

If any religion has truly corrupted the original concept of Jehovah and the pantheon, then that religion is materialist Christianity. This is not the honest first century Nazarene faith of Jesus, James and the Celtic Church, but the State religion contrived by Roman imperialists in the fourth century, from which there are now many competitive offshoots.

— Laurence Gardner; Genesis of the Grail Kings

The Christian church blindly follows ancient customs, and when asked for a reason gives superficial and unsatisfactory explanations, either forgetting or ignoring the indisputable fact that each religion is based upon the secret doctrines of its predecessor.

— Manly P Hall; The Secret Teachings of all Ages

Many early priests and prophets, both pagan and Christian, were versed in astronomy and astrology; their writings are best understood when read in the light of these ancient sciences. With the growth of man's knowledge of the constitution and periodicity of the heavenly bodies, astronomical principles and terminology were introduced into his religious systems. The tutelary gods were given planetary thrones, the celestial bodies being named after the deities assigned to them. The fixed stars were divided into constellations, and through these constellations wandered the sun and its planets, the latter with their accompanying satellites.

— Manly P Hall; The Secret Teachings of all Ages

This Egyptian deity [Isis] under many names appears as the principle of natural fecundity among nearly all the religions of the ancient world. She was known as the goddess with ten thousand appellations and was metamorphosed by Christianity into the Virgin Mary, for Isis, although she gave birth to all living things--chief among them the Sun--still remained a virgin, according to the legendary accounts.

— Manly P Hall; The Secret Teachings of all Ages

From a consideration of all these ancient and secret rituals it becomes evident that the mystery of the dying god was universal among the illumined and venerated colleges of the sacred teaching. This mystery has been perpetuated in Christianity in the crucifixion and death of the God-man-Jesus the Christ. The secret import of this world tragedy and the Universal Martyr must be rediscovered if Christianity is to reach the heights attained by the pagans in the days of their philosophic supremacy. The myth of the dying god is the key to both universal and individual redemption and regeneration, and those who do not comprehend the true nature of this supreme allegory are not privileged to consider themselves either wise or truly religious.

— Manly P Hall; The Secret Teachings of all Ages

The fraternal and democratic spirit of the first communities, and their humble origin; the identification of the object of adoration with light and the sun; the legends of the shepherds with their gifts and adoration, the flood, and the ark; the representation in art of the fiery chariot, the drawing of water from the rock; the use of bell and candle, holy water and the communion; the sanctification of Sunday and of the 25th of December; the insistence on moral conduct, the emphasis placed on abstinence and self-control; the doctrine of heaven and hell, of primitive revelation, of the mediation of the Logos emanating from the divine, the atoning sacrifice, the constant warfare between good and evil and the final triumph of the former, the immortality of the soul, the last judgment, the resurrection of the flesh and the fiery destruction of the universe--[these] are some of the resemblances which, whether real or only apparent, enabled Mithraism to prolong its resistance to Christianity.

— Encyclopedia Britannica

That I do not, however, accuse the Christians more bitterly than truth compels, may be conjectured from hence, that the cryers who call men to other mysteries proclaim as follows: 'Let him approach whose hands are pure, and whose words are wise.' And again, others proclaim: 'Let him approach who is pure from all wickedness, whose soul is not conscious of any evil, and who leads a just and upright life.' And these things are proclaimed by those who promise a purification from error. Let us now hear who those are that are called to the Christian mysteries: Whoever is a sinner, whoever is unwise, whoever is a fool, and whoever, in short, is miserable, him the kingdom of God will receive. Do you not, therefore, call a sinner, an unjust man, a thief, a housebreaker, a wizard, one who is sacrilegious, and a robber of sepulchres? What other persons would the cryer nominate, who should call robbers together?

— Celsus

Yet Christianity has been used quite brilliantly as the major vehicle for removing vital knowledge from the public domain. Whenever Christianity and other religions took control of a country or region, the ancient texts and records were removed or destroyed. This took out of circulation the very knowledge the reptilians have used and still use to manipulate an ignorant population. It was also in the name of Christianity that most of the accounts of the true history of humankind have been destroyed, along with knowledge of the influence on human affairs of extraterrestrial races, positive and negative. This allowed an alternative invented ‘history’ to be written which has delinked humanity from its origins. Controlling history is so important because if you manipulate how people see what we call the past, you will influence massively how they see the present.

— David Icke; The Biggest Secret

The early Church, patterned after pagan Mysteries, sought for a little time to perpetuate the arcana, but such a procedure would doom the Church to a humble and obscure existence, ministering only to a devout and dedicated few. The bishops of the Church were mortal men instinctively desiring power and authority, and they sacrificed the spiritual doctrines of Christianity to temporal ambitions. The majority of mankind neither desires to improve itself nor to support an organization which demands a high degree of integrity. The outer body of the Church increased to the degree that the standards of Christian living were lowered, until at last, promising everything and demanding only temporal support, the Church gained temporal power at the expense of spiritual authority. It is for this reason particularly that the Christian thinker must never confuse the Jesus of Nazareth with the Christ of the modern church. Nor must the Christian thinker permit the clergy to interpret for him spiritual matters of which the clergy itself is ignorant.

— Manly P Hall; Twelve World Teachers

The Christian religion is a parody on the worship of the Sun, in which they put a man whom they call Christ, in the place of the Sun, and pay him the same adoration which was originally paid to the Sun.

— Thomas Paine

It was the honest conviction of the Patristic Fathers that the deeper mysteries of Christian dispensation were beyond the understanding of the laity. In order, therefore, not to 'cast pearls before swine,' they devised a cycle of fables which have come to be accepted as literal historical facts. From various causes the same general condition has arisen in most religions. Spiritual matters can not be understood by those not spiritually enlightened. Again, enlightenment can not be bestowed; it must be evolved. To be serviceable, a religion must be comprehensible to the mass of its followers. The result is inevitably a compromise with truth. In serving the uninformed many, theology leaves the enlightened few without adequate spiritual food.

— Manly P Hall; How to Understand Your Bible: A Philosopher's Interpretation of Obscure and Puzzling Passages