Pagan and Christian Creeds: Their Origin and Meaning

by Edward Carpenter

Book Overview

This is a comprehensive history that traces the development of various ancient religions and how they interlaced with Christianity. From the intro: "The subject of Religious Origins is a fascinating... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1482066262
• ISBN13: 9781482066265
• Release Date: January 2013
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.59 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Standard Reading for Born Again Pagans

This text is a classic work on the creeds of both Paganism and Christianity.Eventhough,it was first published in 1915,it still rings true today.It provides the 'Mythos' and the 'Logos' concepts for the topic of religion.The first cults were fertility cults,with spiral phallic monoliths erected to the heavens.Some are still active today,in the countries of Africa and Asia .Next mankind moved on to cult-worship of Magick and the divine earth-spirits.The next and final stage is the formation of God-figures (anthropodeism) that descended from the heavens.These Gods and Godesses were human-shaped and not animal-horned in structure.Lastly,the monotheistic concept progressed and the belief of mankind created in the image of a single supreme God-figure developed. The most interesting concept presented by Edward Carpenter is the 'Three stages of the Consciousness of Man'.The first stage being the 'Simple Conscious stage',where man's thoughts were instinctive and no different than the actions of a wild animal.The middle stage is the 'Self-Conscious stage',where modern man's actions are based on rational logic (logos),that rises above impulsive behavior.Where man developed language ,followed by laws,the passing of rules,and the ownership of property.Once the earlier two stages are secure then mankind can progress to the third stage,the 'Golden Stage of Enlightenment of Mankind".this lofty stage is false.Mankind is in a constant struggle between the first and second stage.Between the base 'Mythos' stage and the structured 'Logos' stage.The abandonment of the self-consciousness in favor of a global utopian pacificist world,has yet to be realised and perhaps impossible.Between ethnic warfare,religious beliefs,and scarcity of resources this final stage seems quite remote.Yet,it is these struggles that impell mankind forward towards that 'final stage' ironically.After all these years,the words of Edward Carpenter are still valid and quite prophetic indeed.

Should be required reading

After reading the first few chapters of this book online, I had to get an actual copy of the book, and I'm glad I did. Despite the age of the text, it still holds up great today. It reads well and the ideas come across rather easy. Ideas are presented w/ just enough examples and refrences (unlike Frazer's "Golden Bough" were it seems like there are fifteen examples of everything), however in acouple places I wish there were acouple more, but thanks to great footnotes and bibliogrophy it's not hard to do your own research (however, see the next paragraph about the footnotes). The only problem I have with this book though is the format that it comes in. Footnotes appear before the next available paragraph and ends up getting in the way of the actual text, Certain words are capatalized rather then in italics, and a few mispellings (which I don't really believe is the fault of the author). There is copy of the book online (it's public domain and no longer subject to copyright laws) and it seems like the publisher just found an online version of the book and copy and pasted it, as there are a few things...that look more like HTML code then actual words. Also the chapter on astronomy should have acouple of graphics that are missing but are still alluded too in the text. All in all, this is an amazing book on religion and the origins of christianity and is highly recommended to everyone. It has some very eye-opening ideas and well worth the time to read.

religion is allegory based on astrology

This book demonstrates how christianity and paganism are based on astrology and natural processes. It is truly astounding and is of the utmost significance to those wishing to debunk christian foolishness. Also check out "The Jesus Mysteries" by Freke and Gandy. For information on how the cross symbol was derived from astrology, see "Occultism Simplified or the Mystic Thesaurus" by Willis F. Whitehead. "Pagan and Christian Creeds" is greatly needed in the battle for truth in the face of christian literalism.

Fascinating reading uncovering some truths

I very much enjoyed reading this book, which, for its age, has held up rather well. I had always known that Early Christianity 'borrowed' from pagan religions some holidays and practices, but it was not until I read this book did I know the depth of theft. Almost like a plaigarism of faith intended to convert the masses (which it sadly succeeded in doing). The only part of the book I disliked was the final material, in which the author offers a new religion of sorts which is very metaphysical and a little dull. But the rest of the book is a keeper.