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The Great Apostasy, according to some religious groups, is the perceived fallen state of traditional Christianity, especially the Roman Catholic Church, because it allegedly allowed traditional Greco-Roman culture (i.e.Greco-Roman mysteries, deities of solar monism such as Mithras and Sol Invictus, and idol worship) into the church. In short, in their opinion, the church has fallen into apostasy. They feel that to attract the pagans to nominal Christianity, the Catholic Church took measures to amalgamate the Christian and pagan festivals 〔Will Durant in The Story of Civilization, Volume 3, "Caesar and Christ":〕 so pagans would join the church; for example, bringing in the pagan festival of Easter as a substitute for the Pasch or Passover, although neither Jesus nor his Apostles enjoined the keeping of this or any other festival.〔Socrates, ''Church History'', 5.22, in 〕 They consider the Papacy to be in full-blown apostasy for allowing pagan rituals, beliefs and ceremonies to come into the church, having those who pointed out its apostasy persecuted and killed and never repenting of or fully admitting the true extent of its actions. ==Overview== Some modern scholars 〔See Alister E. McGrath, Iustitia Dei: A History of the Christian Doctrine of Justification, 2nd edition (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, reprinted 1998), pp.17, 19, 20.〕〔Also Heritage and Hellenism: The Reinvention of Jewish Tradition by Erich S. Gruen; U California Press, Berkeley Los Angeles London 1998〕 believe that the church in the early stages picked up pagan oral teachings from Palestinian and Hellenistic sources which formed the basis of a secret oral tradition, which in the 4th century came to be called the ''disciplina arcani''. Mainstream theologians believe it contained liturgical details and certain other pagan traditions which remain a part of some branches of mainstream Christianity (for example, the doctrine of transubstantiation is thought to have been a part of this by Catholic theologians).〔G.G. Stroumsa, ''Hidden Wisdom: Esoteric Traditions and the Roots of Christian Mysticism'', 2005.〕〔Frommann, ''De Disciplina Arcani in vetere Ecclesia christiana obticuisse fertur'', Jena 1833.〕〔E. Hatch, ''The Influence of Greek Ideas and Usages upon the Christian Church'', London, 1890, Chapter 10.〕 Important esoteric influences on the church were the Christian theologians Clement of Alexandria and Origen, the main figures of the Catechetical School of Alexandria.〔Jean Danielou, ''Origen'', translated by Walter Mitchell, 1955.〕 Protestants (most significantly starting with Martin Luther) and evangelical Christians have formally taught that the Bishop of Rome, along with the Catholic Church, greatly abused the original teachings and practices of the primitive or original Christian church. They teach that the Papacy slowly became corrupted as it strove to attain great dominion and authority, civil and ecclesiastical.〔"The Council of Chalcedon (415 AD) made the following declaration in Canon 28: 'The Bishop of New Rome (Constantinople) shall enjoy the same honor as the Bishop of Old Rome, for the former possesses the same privileges.'" (Disciplinary Decrees of the General Councils, Schroeder, p. 125).〕〔"He (Theodore I, bishop of Rome, 642-649 DJR) was the first Pope officially styled 'Sovereign Pontiff,' and the last whom the bishops called 'brother.' The preeminence of the first See and the extension of the Pontifical authority were becoming more necessary in proportion as the Church spread further her conquests." (Darras, Vol. II, p. 232).〕 For example, they say, it reinstated the ceremonies and obligations of the ''Collegium Pontificum'' and the position of ''Pontifex Maximus'' and created Christian religious orders to replace the ancient Roman ones such as the Vestal Virgins and the ''flamines''. It brought into the church the ancient pagan festivals and made them 'Holy Days', and allowed the celebration of the Pasch or Passover to continue till the following Sunday which was the day of the ancient pagan day of Easter so Christians could also celebrate the Spring Equinox festival as they had done before. It used Easter as a tool to bring more pagans into the church, but instead of having them shed their pagan ways and ceremonies, it allowed them into the church.〔"The church took the pagan philosophy and made it the buckler of faith against the heathen. She took the pagan, Roman Pantheon, temple of all the gods, and made it sacred to all the martyrs; so it stands to this day. She took the pagan Sunday and made it the Christian Sunday. She took the pagan Easter and made it the feast we celebrate during this season. Sunday and Easter day are, if we consider their derivation, much the same. In truth, all Sundays are Sundays only because they are a weekly, partial recurrence of Easter day. The pagan Sunday was, in a manner, an unconscious preparation for Easter day. The Sun was a foremost god with heathendom. Balder the beautiful, the White God, the old Scandinavians called him. The sun has worshippers at this hour in Persia and other lands... Hence the church in these countries would seem to have said, "Keep that old pagan name. It shall remain consecrated, sanctified." And thus the pagan Sunday, dedicated to Balder, became the Christian Sunday, sacred to Jesus. The sun is a fitting emblem of Jesus. The Fathers often compared Jesus to the sun; as they compared Mary to the moon, the beautiful moon, the beautiful Mary, shedding her mild, beneficent light on the darkness and the night of this world - not light of her own; no Catholic says this; but - light reflected from the sun, Jesus." Source: PASCHALE GAUDIUM, by William L. Gildea, D.D., in The Catholic World, Vol. LVIII., No. 348., March, 1894., published in New York by The Office of the Catholic World., pages 808-809.〕 Catholics as well as the Reformers pointed to the office of the Papacy as responsible for the fallen state of the church as they considered the conduct of those in power had grown so spiritually or morally corrupt to the point that it was called the Antichrist power by those within as well as outside of the church.〔Every Reformer, without exception, spoke of the papacy as Antichrist" -R. Allen Anderson, Unfolding the Revelation, p.137〕〔Arnulf Bishop of Orleans (Roman Catholic) "deplored the roman popes as "monsters of guilt" and declared in a council called by the King of France in 991ad that the pontiff, clad in purple and gold, was, "Antichrist, sitting in the temple of God, and showing himself as God" -Phillip Schaff, History of the Christian church, 8 vols., reprint of the 3d (1910)ed. (Grand Rapids Mich.: Wm. B Eerdmans Publishing Co., n.d.)〕〔Martin Luther states, "We here are of the conviction that the papacy is the seat of the true and real Antichrist...personally I declare that I owe the Pope no other obedience than that to Antichrist." (Aug. 18, 1520) Taken from The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, Vol. 2., pg. 121 by Froom. (In response to a papal bull (decree )): "I despise and attack it, as impious, false... It is Christ Himself who is condemned therein... I rejoice in having to bear such ills for the best of causes. Already I feel greater liberty in my heart; for at last I know that the pope is antichrist, and that his throne is that of Satan himself." --D'Aubigné, b.6, ch. 9.〕 Following the Protestant Reformation, the denominations spawned from the Reformation have considered their own teachings to be restorative in nature, returning to the basic tenets of Biblical Christianity and ''sola scriptura''. These views are taught in the modern descendant denominations and these doctrinal stances account for their continuing separation from the Catholic Church. Although Protestant Christianity, as a whole, rejects the overall concept that the original church was thrown into complete anarchy and chaos through Catholicism, it does assert that there was gross abuse of Biblical authority (especially by the Papacy) and a wandering from clear Biblical teachings prior to the Reformation. Some groups see themselves as uniquely restoring original Christianity. In their case, the term "Great Apostasy" is directed in a sweeping way over all of Christianity beyond their group, indicating that true Christianity has not been preserved, but rather restored. These various groups differ as to exactly when the Great Apostasy took place and what the exact errors or changes were, but all of them make a similar claim that true Christianity was generally lost until it was disclosed again in themselves. The term "Great Apostasy" appears to have been coined in this narrower, technical sense, by "Restorationists". The term may sometimes be used in this sense by other groups claiming their unique position as representing Christianity. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Great Apostasy」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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