By Jove

Acts 14:1-18

When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in human form!" Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates; he and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifice.

Paul and Barnabas roll into a town in Asia Minor, perform a miracle and the locals figure they must be gods, and in that precinct it means the Greek gods. They try to explain, but the folks there still want to make sacrifices to them.

I don’t think there are a lot of other references to the Greek or Roman gods in the Bible, and this is kind of surprising. The Old Testament is filled with references to other people’s gods, generally in the context of a story that showed the superiority or reality of the Hebrew God (I’ve posted earlier on the oddness of passages that seem to acknowledge the reality, but weakness, of other gods). The New Testament takes no time to debunk the Roman and Greek gods. It’s focused on the drama internal to Judaism, showing that Jesus is the Messiah and that He represents the new way forward for the old religion. The apostles never have a divine power bake-off with the Romans and Greeks. It’s as if those gods are below contempt. Not worthy of the slightest consideration.

Roman religion put up very little resistance to the new religion. In less than 300 years the emperor converted, and by 380 Christianity was in as the state religion. Sometimes it surprises me that there is so little interest in reviving the Greek or Roman religion today, unlike the old religions of Northern Europe. A quick search of Wikipedia uncovered references to movements to revive the Greek pantheon, but you just don’t hear that much about it. Unlike Wicca, which is a very big presence in my circles. It’s strange, because unlike Wicca, Roman and Greek religion and religious practices are pretty well documented in contemporary sources. Of course that may be a disadvantage.

Part of it may be that these religions were state religions, especially in Rome. And as such, maybe they lost their deep roots in the lives of average people and local communities. The Northern religions were integral to small, rural communities, and survived in some form there. It gives them a continuing resonance. Unlike a religion that got attached to big temples, armies of priests, and civic festivals.

Which could be a cautionary tale, at least for a certain way of doing Christianity and doing church.