- The Triumph of Christianity Over Paganism, Gustave Dore
I've had a bunch of mini-thoughts lately centered around Christianity as the telos of all human religion and I want to string them together here.
The first one of these is the idea of a Christian as a redeemed nymph. Now, I'll admit, this sounds weird, but hang with me. So the nymphs were a sort of animistic spirit, these spirits of a given tree or body of water with much more power than humans but with less power than the gods. If we see how Christians are described in the Old Testament, we see vibrant natural imagery:
'He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. ' Psalm 1:3
'How lovely are your tents, O Jacob, your encampments, O Israel! Like palm groves that stretch afar, like gardens beside a river, like aloes that the Lord has planted, like cedar trees beside the waters. Water shall flow from his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters; his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. ' Numbers 24:5-7
'my roots spread out to the waters, with the dew all night on my branches, my glory fresh with me, and my bow ever new in my hand.’ ' Job 29:19-20
And what's more, if we look at how the priests are described, they too are put in a very arboreal light. In the temple itself, the lamps look like trees, the walls are decorated with fruits and other kinds of things, and even the priests put pomegranates on their garments because they, too, were trees in the midst of the garden of God. This picture also doesn't end in the New Testament, as our Lord tells us,
"I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5
In this way, Christians are identified as trees, ingrained members of the garden whose life is connected to Christ, our tree of life. The nymphs of old often were connected to their trees and their health depended on the tree's, and the same is true for us. Though those nymphs died as their trees died, we Christians cannot die because the true Vine will never perish, since He is Life itself. And though the nymphs of old often were transformed into trees themselves to flee the gods' advances (looking at you Apollo), we are connected to the trees so that we may come into the Lord's presence rightfully.
That got me thinking about Matthew 16-17 with the scene in Caesarea Philippi. So many have made the connection, and I think rightfully so, that Caesarea Philippi was a site of frequent pagan worship, and the name of the area at the time was called Paneas, and it was dedicated to the god Pan, a deity of nature, revelry, and fear (we get the word "panic" from his name). His depiction is actually remarkably similar to many of the modern depictions of Satan - a large, goat-legged, horned and hairy man. The only difference is that Pan plays the flute, not the fiddle (let the reader understand). What's more, Pan's shrine is actually at the base of Mt. Hermon, a mountain heavily associated with the Caananite giant clans, often mentioned as one of the borders that the Israelites captured. Song of Songs 4:8 calls it the "den of lions and mountain of leopards," and the book of Enoch has it as the Watchers' home base. That is why Christ's elevation of Peter's confession as "the rock" on which the Church is built is significant. Just as Hermon was the mountain of the wicked giants, the Church is Zion, the mountain of God where the Lord descends to man to give His good gifts and destroy the wicked, and this mountain cannot be overcome by the gates of hell. After this beautiful exchange, there's even more in the area. Christ calls Peter Satan, followed by an explanation of His death, which would also take place on its own mountain, Golgotha, the new Hermon where the wicked kill the Son of God. However, directly after this, Christ ascends a nearby high mountain. Hmm, I wonder what that could be. And what's more, it is this mountain which Christ chooses to manifest His power and glory to the apostles. It is on this place, the place where the wicked spirits convene to plan the fall of mankind, that Christ chooses to meet with His own council, Moses and Elijah, to discuss His own salvation. And then, after descending the conquered mountain of His glory, He casts an evil spirit out of a boy, one of chaos and self-destruction, fitting of the area which Pan claims to rule. But that spirit cannot help but be overcome by Christ's great faith, for Christ is the faithful one who casts the wicked mount Hermon, with all of Satan's plots, into the sea.
Another brief scene I want to mention is when the Holy Spirit takes Apollo's claim to the defeat of the great serpent. In Acts 16, there is a slave girl who is possessed by what the ESV calls a "spirit of divination." However, the Greek text calls this a "Python" spirit. This title is a reference to Puthos, where Dephi is located, and it is a holy place to to god Apollo. The area is named after a massive serpent named Python that lives in the earth and has the gift of prophecy. While Apollo was a child, his coming-of-age story culminated in his rising to the top of the mountain at Delphi and killing the monster, taking the gift of prophecy for himself. However, the name Python remains a theme in the ideas around the god, and thus the spirit which possessed the slave girl was said to be associated with Python. This is significant, as the idea of a slave girl with such a spirit not only questions Apollo's victory, but also seems to diminish the spirit, as it was simply being used by men for wealth and inhabiting a slave girl. What's more, this mighty prophetic spirit couldn't help but affirm the gospel, just as Balaam the warlock couldn't help but bless the children of Israel. And then, by the simple one-sentence prayer of a single man, this great serpent was cast out, showing Apollo to be the petty "god" that he is.
These aren't the only place where Christ conquers the pagan gods. I made a list of places where Christ defeats an olympian, either by taking his job or defeating his threat. I tried to make one for each book of the bible, but it really wasn't a major theme in any epistle, though it did feature:
Zeus: Calms storm; voice from heaven affirms His majesty
Hera: Wedding at Cana, Christ is the one who blesses Holy Matrimony; marriage is a type of Christ and the Church, not domain of goddess
Poseidon: Walking on water, literally treading his domain underfoot; earthquake at his crucifixion, the earth follows Christ's will alone; giving Apostles good haul of fish
Hades: raising people from dead; raising people from dead with His own death; casting out spirits of men from the tombs; blessing of Peter, literally the gates of "Hades" will not prevail against Church
Demeter: killing of fig tree; perhaps feeding of 5000, since earthly fertility is her domain
Artemis: Christ's blessing of virginity (Matt. 19:10-12); moon disappearing at His crucifixion and turning to blood at His coming
Apollo: True Light; Christ is sun in new creation; healing people; prophecy and prophetic spiritual gifts
Hermes: Good Shepherd; thief who binds the strong man
Dionysus: Wedding at Cana, Christ makes the best wine
Athena: Christ as the Logos and Wisdom of God
Ares: blessing of the peace makers; bringing of the sword
Hephaestus: able to call fire down from heaven; Christ as carpenter
Aphrodite: God is love
Hestia: Christ prepares a place for us, not Hestia
So with that, may Christ also conquer the idols in our lives and the wicked spirits which seek after our souls, for He promised that the gates of hell will not prevail against His body, the Church. Amen.
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