Ancient Greeks: Monotheistic?

Carcano:

I'm not sure we know what the Egyptian intellectuals had in terms of philosophy...as they were very secretive. There was a popular religion for the common people, and undoubtedly something more sophisticated lying below the surface.

Its possible that we would only know of it through the Greek influence???
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We do not need to postulate that the intellectual climate of Greece was made by the Egyptians. This is bordering into Hermetic nonsense.

If anything, Platonic philosophy was informed by Delphic influence. Diotima was the oracle at Delphi who taught Socrates about Eros (Love) and the Forms.

Also, from what we know of Egyptian mystery religion in the Roman period, the Platonic connections are simply not there. Nor do we find the Book of the Dead having similarities with Platonic philosophy.
 
Roman:

Actually, the Dionysus cult came from Egypt. Direct analogues with Osiris. Greek architecture is heavily influenced by Egypt. You've got to remember that the Greeks were filthy, heathen swine when they first started exporting and discovered the near east. They were in awe of the ancient and well developed civilization and borrowed heavily.
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Dionysus has nothing to do with Osiris. Dionysus is the mad God of wine, prophecy, and ecstasy. His cult goes back to the Minoan epoch. Osiris was the drunken rapist of his sister Nethys, slain by his brother Set, and married to his sister Isis. He ruled well as king of Egypt and then became the God of the dead while his son Horus avenged him by beating Set and taking back the throne.

Greek architecture works on entirely different principles from Egyptian. The Egyptians were glorified mound builders (pyramids). The Greeks developed a style that was architecturally more significant.
 
There was a book published by Dr. George James, a professor of Classical studies in 1954, which has proven to be wildly popular among african americans who think that Egyptians were the same people as Nubians. The art tells a different story.

Egyptians%20Canaanites%20Nubians%20and%20Lybians%20on%20fresc.gif


Called 'Stolen Legacy' its contention is that the majority of Greek philosophy was borrowed from Egypt.
 
OilIsMastery:

Well put. Although I know some Jews and Christians who consider the Bible to be allegorical and not literal or else allow for the possibility that God can anthropomorphize at will and back into something more mysterious again.
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Jews and Christians alike believe in the Greek God above the God of their own Bible.

Qabbalah is Neo-Platonism.

Christian religion is Neo-Platonism meets Aristotleanism.

The Greeks made modern Judaism (not Biblical Judaism) and Christianity what they are. Hell, even Islam is simply Islam + Greek philosophy.
 
Carcano:

Called 'Stolen Legacy' its contention is that the majority of Greek philosophy was borrowed from Egypt.
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Yes, it is very much Afrocentric nonsense. This is the kind of stuff which art and the attested affirmations of the Egyptians themselves refute.
 
Prince_James said:
If anything, Platonic philosophy was informed by Delphic influence. Diotima was the oracle at Delphi who taught Socrates about Eros (Love) and the Forms.
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Do we have any proof that she was a real person and not just some allegorical muse figure?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diotima_of_Mantinea

"Diotima of Mantinea plays an important role in Plato's Symposium. Since our only source concerning her is Plato, we cannot be certain whether she was a real historical personage or merely a fictional creation. However, it should be noted that nearly all of the characters named in Plato's dialogues have been found to correspond to real people living in ancient Athens.

In Plato's Symposium, Socrates says that Diotima was a seer or priestess who, in his youth, taught him "the philosophy of love". Socrates also claims that Diotima successfully postponed the plague of Athens.

Plato was thought by most 19th and early 20th century scholars to have based Diotima on Aspasia, the mistress of Pericles, so impressed was he by her intelligence and wit. This question is far from resolved, however, and some scholars have argued convincingly that Diotima was a historical figure."
 
Carcano:

We can't be sure if Diotima was a real person. It is unlikely we'll ever find out a list of Delphic oracle names. We do know, as your Wiki quote attests, that most Platonic dialogue characters were real. At the very least, she is real "enough". The influence is held to be Delphic, which would place Socrates and Plato in a Greek, not Egyptian, religious basis.

Official Catholic doctrine, as hammered out by Thomas Aquinas may be...but the most popular Christianity in America is TV evangelism.
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I know. It makes me sad. :(

Christianity has gone from being intellectually intriguing to "my farts prove God is talking to me". Have you seen that video? It is HILARIOUS.
 
Prince_James said:
Christianity has gone from being intellectually intriguing to "my farts prove God is talking to me".
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Salvador Dali also, believed that the musical tone of his farts were highly prophetic.

He writes about it in his book 'The Unspeakable Confessions'.

If it was simply a slow seepage of gas the day would be creatively flat.

But a trumpeting sound...would herald the dawn of a new inspiration!
 
Prince_James said:
Christianity has gone from being intellectually intriguing to "my farts prove God is talking to me".
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BTW, I understand that St.Patrick had to wait over a decade in a cow pasture for God to speak to him...and only twice!

Nowadays, this is a common occurence in America.
Half the population thinks God is speaking to them every day...including the president!
 
Carcano:

BTW, I understand that St.Patrick had to wait over a decade in a cow pasture for God to speak to him...and only twice!

Nowadays, this is a common occurence in America.
Half the population thinks God is speaking to them every day...including the president!
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God has started getting less exclusive. He's mellowed out.
 
Agt. Smith said:
Greeks? Monotheistic? No. The Romans were the ones who converted.
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The Greeks were right there with them. After all, the New Testament was written in Greek. By the 8th century the Greeks were so thoroughly Christianized that they split off from the Romans in the Catholic/Orthodox schism.
 
Plato cites (or claims to cite) words of Socrates. At the end of his life, Socrates was accused of heresy; so I wouldn't assume all Greeks shared Socrates's (or Plato's) beliefs, these guys were rather original.
 
Neither Plato nor Socrates are the originators of the Orphic beliefs, as far as I know.
 
But Orphism is not monotheism.

If Socrates was accused of heresy, the followers of his beliefs were in a minority.
 
"This is how it [the affidavit] runs: It says that Socrates is a criminal, who corrupts the young and does not believe in the gods whom the state believes in, but other new spiritual things instead." - From the Apology. Orphism does not cite new spiritual beings. Later on, Meletos says: "This is what I say, that you believe in no gods at all." And, in his defence, Socrates was showing that he indeed believes in the same gods as the state (majority), in the same way as they do. He also refers to Apollo and Hera.
 
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