Transformation of National Religions

...must take a close look at the religions themselves. They should not be simply equated with the ancient national religions. A strong exchange of ideas original: Ideenaustausch had evidently already begun to make the Oriental religions resemble one another as early as the Persian period. We can now, to some extent, trace this in the concept of a deity sent down into matter; this deity is sometimes conceived of as masculine (the "inner man") and sometimes as feminine (the soul), and is identified with various national gods.⁵ The introduction of Greek terms for concepts or natural forces—which people had begun to search for generally within the gods—necessarily accelerated this equalization.

Above all, however, the intensive missionary activity original: Missionstätigkeit. This refers to the active spread of religious doctrines in the Hellenistic world. that now begins had to change the very character of these faiths.⁶ Every religion becomes different when it exists as propaganda In this historical context, "propaganda" refers to the systematic propagation of a faith among new populations. or within the diaspora The dispersion of a people or their religious culture beyond their original homeland.; it becomes infinitely more personal than it was within a closed national identity. In the old national setting, participation in religion was a matter of course and required no individual decision; in the diaspora, every religion must become more universal. Indeed, religions are pushed toward the attempt to present themselves as the original religion of humanity original: Urreligion. Even the external institutions and practices will have to adapt to these changed circumstances.

If we attempt to recognize this transformation of ancient nature- and folk-religions within the propaganda of the Hellenistic period, we find that the material for Egyptian religion is rich. In particular, the description of the Cult of Isis in the works of Apuleius Apuleius (c. 124–170 AD) was a Roman author; the final book of his novel The Golden Ass provides a vivid, firsthand account of initiation into the mysteries of Isis. allows us to clearly recognize its ritual, language, and emotional life. For the Phrygian religion, we possess at least one lengthy original document in the pagan portion of the Naassene Sermon An early 2nd-century Gnostic text that provides a philosophical interpretation of the myth of Attis., alongside two short descriptions of community festivals. For the Persian religion, the Mandaean A Gnostic sect from Mesopotamia that survives to this day; their texts contain ancient traditions regarding the soul's journey. and Manichaean texts and the tea...