Jesus, Zeus, and the Romanization of Evangelicals

If I were to ask the typical Christian who the person is portrayed in this drawing to the left, the answer would be:

"That's Jesus Christ!"

It's amazing to me how many Christians have little or no understanding of history and blindly accept what others say about Jesus and the church.

The drawing to the left is not of Jesus.

It's a drawing of Serapis, the Egyptian Greco-Roman god representing Zeus, the god above all other gods. This ancient drawing now hangs in the British Museum in London.

But why would modern evangelicals identify an icon representing Serapis by the name Jesus?

Because when Constantine, Emperor of Rome, declared "Christianity" as the nation's religion, representations of Jesus were needed by Roman worshipers (or so Constantine and the bishops thought).

So eventually depictions of Serapis, who was the Greek god Zeus and the Roman counterpart Jupiter,  became the depictions of Jesus in the late 4th century Romanized Christian churches.

That's why Christians today think Jesus looks like Serapis.

Truth be known, Jesus was an average looking Hellenized Semitic man of the 1st century AD. He would have kept his hair very short and been clean-shaven and dark-skinned. Jesus might even have even been ugly, or at the very least, deemed unworthy physically by the culture of His day.

The ancient Hebrew Scriptures prophesied of the Messiah

"He has no form or comeliness, and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him." (Isaiah 53:2). 

Ironic is it not, that the modern church has turned Jesus into a Hollywood model with long, flowing hair, a beautifully kept beard, and the physique of a god?

Modern Christians have followed Rome and adopted the ancient Roman conception of the gods.

But that's not the only area where the modern church has followed ancient pagans.

1. Saturnalia and worship of "the birth of the Sun" in December became Christ Mass and  worship of "the birth of the Son." (Even modern Jews understand this historical fact). 

2. Roman pagan priests became Christian pastors, appointed by Constantine the Great.

3. Church order became Roman Temple order.

4. Women, who were so active in the early ekklesia, serving others as they were gifted by the Holy Spirit, were silenced by this appointed priesthood with "authority" over the people.

5. The catholic (universal) church became the Roman Catholic Church.

By the late 4th century AD, the ekklesia ("those called out by God's grace and gifted by the Spirit"), commonly called "the church," were now being led by appointed Roman powers who ruled "over" the "laity" with so-called "spiritual authority." These priests appointed by the Pontifex Maximus, the person who once held the highest position in the order of Jupiter, ruled over the ekklesia. 

Church ordination bestowed power over others to those ordained.

The Southern Baptist Convention has followed Rome with its concept of spiritual authority, and that is our major problem as a Convention. 

For the first three hundred years of Christianity, after the resurrection and ascension of Christ, Christians assembled in homes, catacombs, and anywhere else they could avoid persecution.

There was no "spiritual authority" in those days. Christ alone ruled over His people by the Spirit's indwelling presence in each believer. Ever believer served Christ's people as He gifted them.

Older men and women, humble in spirit and character, with years of faithful service behind them, became leaders in the early church. They were called "elders," which simply means "older" people.

That's why those gifted followers of Jesus Christ who are older and maintain a spirit of humility and an attitude of a servant should be in leadership positions in our churches today; regardless of gender.

Lydia in Philippi, Phillip's seven daughters in Caesarea, Phoebe, Priscilla, and many other women in the New Testament were early church leaders. The notion that you should silence a woman from teaching the Scriptures in the ekklesia is definitely more pagan and Roman than it is Christian.

Be a biblicist.

Be a follower of Jesus.

Don't follow Zeus.

And before you choose to take a stand on whether or not a woman with the gift of teaching should speak publicly in the ekklesia, ask yourself if you see Jesus in the photo above.

If you do, then you might need to evaluate your understanding of the church as well. Hierarchy of authority exists only where there are hearts of arrogance. 

Jesus explicitly taught in Matthew 23:8-11 (read it for yourself to see) that the only person who rules Christian communities is the Lord Himself.

Under Jesus, we are all equals. 

Jesus emphatically rejected the world's system of top-down governance by declaring, "It shall not be so among you" (Mark 10:43). "The greatest among you shall be your servant" (Matthew 23:11). 

There is no emphasis in the New Testament on authority that is derived from any "office" or position. 

Let me repeat that again: Nowhere in the New Testament does it say that a Christian, because of title or position, has moral authority over another Christian. The idea of an 'office' of authority in the church, like that of the office of 'President of the United States,' simply does not exist. Christ alone has the position of authority in the church and He has no vicar on earth but His Spirit, who resides in the life of every believer.

So, called out and gifted men and women are free to serve as Christ leads. 

If you want your further information that will rock your Christian world about men and women in true Christianity, then listen to this video.

It is, as one commentator wrote, "Insanely good!"