Editing Great Apostasy (section)

==Overview==
{{See also|Roman imperial cult|Hellenistic philosophy|Neoplatonism|Gnosticism|Hellenistic Judaism}}
[[File:Bronnikov gimnpifagoreizev.jpg|thumb|right|Pythagoreans celebrate sunrise]]

Some modern scholars<ref>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; Erich S. Gruen, ''Heritage and Hellenism: The Reinvention of Jewish Tradition'', U California Press, Berkeley, 1998.</ref> believe that the Christian Church in the early stages picked up pagan oral teachings from Jewish 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 [[Nicene Christianity|mainstream Christianity]] (for example, some Catholic theologians thought that the doctrine of [[transubstantiation]] was a part of this).<ref name="Stroumsa">G. G. Stroumsa, ''Hidden Wisdom: Esoteric Traditions and the Roots of Christian Mysticism'', 2005.</ref><ref>Frommann, ''De Disciplina Arcani in vetere Ecclesia christiana obticuisse fertur'', Jena 1833.</ref><ref>E. Hatch, ''The Influence of Greek Ideas and Usages upon the Christian Church'', London, 1890, Chapter 10.</ref> Important [[Western esotericism|esoteric]] influences on the church were the Christian theologians [[Clement of Alexandria]] and [[Origen]], the main figures of the [[Catechetical School of Alexandria]].<ref>Jean Danielou, ''Origen'', translated by Walter Mitchell, 1955.</ref>

Restorationists teach that the [[Pope|Papacy]] slowly became corrupted as it strove to attain great dominion and authority, both civil and ecclesiastical.<ref>"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).</ref><ref>"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).</ref> For example, they say, it reinstated the pagan ceremonies and obligations of the ''[[College of Pontiffs|Collegium Pontificum]]'' and the position of ''[[Pontifex Maximus]]'' and created Christian [[religious order]]s to replace the ancient Roman ones such as the [[Vestal Virgin]]s and the ''[[Flamen|flamines]]''. It brought into the church the ancient pagan festivals and made them 'Holy Days'.<ref>"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., pp. 808–809.</ref> 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 that it was called the [[antichrist|Antichrist power]] by those within as well as outside of the church.<ref>Every Reformer, without exception, spoke of the papacy as Antichrist" – R. Allen Anderson, Unfolding the Revelation, p. 137</ref><ref>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 991 AD that the pontiff, clad in purple and gold, was, 'Antichrist, sitting in the temple of God, and showing himself as God'" – Philip Schaff, ''History of the Christian Church'', 8 vols., reprint of the 3d (1910) ed. (Grand Rapids Mich.: Wm. B Eerdmans Publishing Co., n.d.).</ref><ref>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., p. 121 by Froom. (In response to a papal bull [official 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.</ref>