"Christ" is also the name of an Egyptian snake-god

[villager]

Just FYI:

On the other hand, some have pointed out that Chrestus (Christus) was another name for the Egyptian god, Serapis. Chrestus may be translated as "Messiah", though the term need not apply to any specific Messiah, such as Jesus. It therefore could have simply been applied to "Lord Serapis", so that in fact, there was never any connection at all between the early Christians and the worshippers of Serapis.

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/serapis.htm

[Inland]

1. Well, it's a Greek word

So you could find it anywhere Greek was used: for example, in the early christian church or among the Ptolemy dynasty in Egypt.

[Kraklen]

4. Greece was heavily influence by Egypt.

Do Christians know they worship a snake god? Somebody should tell them.

[villager]

9. they should know the "Christ" name isn't exclusive with them!

Might be a mind-blower...

[Inland]

10. Greek was the common language, that's all

Christ is a TITLE, meaning anointed in Greek. Any god deserving the title gets it, and since Greek was the common language of the eastern roman empire, it wouldn't surprise me that there are greek titles in common.

Egypt's Ptolemaic dynasty was Greek from Alexander's time right up to Cleopatra, whose birth languague was greek although, unusually, she also learned the native egyptian tongue. And the earliest christian communities outside of Israel were greek speaking, Pauls letters were in Greek, and the first written gospels were in greek.

I suggest that any use of the word "christ" in both christianity and egypt comes from the fact that greek was the language of the eastern roman empire, not any identity of religions.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

11. Yes, "christos" is related to "chrism," which is the name of the oil

with which kings are anointed.

People who join the Eastern (Greek, Russian, etc.) Orthodox Church as adults are anointed with oil, and the ceremony is called "chrismation."

[Maat]

13. Yes, in my faith (Religious Science) ..

we call Jesus 'Jesus,' as opposed to Jesus Christ, or Jesus the Christ, because we want to emphasize that he is no more divine than the rest of us, each of whom is divine.

So, I know this topic has been discussed (the meaning of 'Christ' as 'king' or 'annointed').

[LiberalEsto]

15. Unitarians say Jesus instead of Christ also

It makes me wonder if it wouldn't make sense to celebrate Jesusmas instead of Christmas.

[Maat]

17. It would! (n/t)

[applegrove]

2. Jesus was a liberal and a compassionate. He taught not to judge

people on the size of their linen, drawstring bag of tradeable coins.

[villager]

3. hardly the case with the alleged Jesus-followers in

the White House, eh?

[wli]

5. there was an antagonistic connection, actually

The Christians lynched Hypatia and the Serapis-worshippers in Alexandria in the late 4th or early 5th century or some such.

IIRC "Christus" means "anointed one," not "messiah". "Messiah" itself is supposed to literally mean "anointed one" with the implication of "anointed by God," IIRC. So it's sort of a false confluence (I think).

I'm not an expert on these matters, so grain of salt and all that.

[villager]

7. well, no, there was a religious civil war in Alexandria....

...which may have led to the torching of the great library there...

[NoodleBoy]

6. many non-christians called them "chrestians" at first and said they were

followers of "chrestus," which the early christians really resented.

[MisterP]

8. Serapis was a hybrid of Osiris (User) and the bull-god Apis, who grew

after Alexander conquered Egypt in the 300s, leading to a unified Hellenistic culture across the eastern Mediterranean--with a strong Oriental subcurrent that makes Daniel Pipes cry to this very day (Persephone, Adonis, Cybele, cornucopias, and other things "dangerous" to the swell-headed Peloponnesian white people Enlightenment supermen, or whatever neocons dream about)

[onager]

16. Serapis was a wholly invented god...

...by Ptolemy Soter I. I've just spent a month working in Egypt and staying in Alexandria.

The Graeco-Roman Museum in Alexandria has a lot of info on this fascinating subject (not surprisingly). According to the museum displays (and books), Ptolemy I literally made up the whole Serapis cult. Ptolemy had somewhat better luck than an earlier religious innovator in the same neighborhood, Pharoah Akhenaten.

(Ancient conquerors often used religion to make sure the conquered stayed conquered. The Aryans did exactly the same thing when they ruled India, and invented Hinduism. Even modern conquerors sometimes have to re-arrange the religious thinking of the conquered. Think of the Allies in 1945, forcing the Japanese emperor to publicly admit he was mortal and not a god.)

Serapis had nothing to do with ancient Egypt, except for the features Ptolemy borrowed from the old Egyptian religion and combined with Greek religious notions. One of the largest and most impressive statues in the Museum is a mammoth bull depicting the god in his "Apis" form. Ptolemy did make sure his new god married well. Serapis' wife was Isis, the ancient Egyptian female deity.

Being a Grumpy Atheist, I had a ball touring that museum.

Another exhibit is a bigger-than-lifesize statue of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius. Centuries ago, someone hacked the Roman imperial eagle off of his breastplate armor and carved a crude Xian cross into the area. The vandals didn't bother with any of the other "pagan" trappings on that statue, like the head of Medusa on the breastplate.

The outline of the Roman eagle is still highly visible after 2000 years or so.

If I inclined toward the mystical, which I happily do not, I could probably do something woo-wooish with that information...

[Igel]

12. Chrestus, Christus.

What difference could a single sound muck?

I moan, really. What's the difference?

[Maat]

14. Interesting history and analysis, in any case (n/t).