WI: Non-Exclusivist Christianity

What if, with a PoD before the First Council of Nicaea, Christianity developes into a non-Exclusivist religion that allows the people to continue worshipping their own native dieties?
 
In OTL, you had cases of Pagan gods being incorporated as Christian saints, you might be able to do something like that. But it would take major alterations to keep the worship of true gods up.
 
What if, with a PoD before the First Council of Nicaea, Christianity developes into a non-Exclusivist religion that allows the people to continue worshipping their own native dieties?

I don't think it could be done. If Christianity is changed in order to accomodate them it will be changed to the point it's not Christianity anymore.
 
What if, with a PoD before the First Council of Nicaea, Christianity developes into a non-Exclusivist religion that allows the people to continue worshipping their own native dieties?

Do you mean a situation where Christianity is officially tolerant of non-Christian religions and allows them to exist in parallel, or one where Christians are allowed to continue worshipping traditional gods whilst still calling themselves Christians? Because the former may just be possible, but the latter really isn't - as has been mentioned, it wouldn't be Christianty anymore.
 
Do you mean a situation where Christianity is officially tolerant of non-Christian religions and allows them to exist in parallel, or one where Christians are allowed to continue worshipping traditional gods whilst still calling themselves Christians? Because the former may just be possible, but the latter really isn't - as has been mentioned, it wouldn't be Christianty anymore.

More towards the former. Think of how someone can be Buddhist and other religions at the seme time as an example. Christianity doesn't have to change is core doctrines, just to allow its worshippers to simultaneously be a part of another belief system. So where OTL Gods of other religions would sometimes be made saints, TTL Christians should simply say something along the lines of that those gods are just another way that their God has revealed himself to the people
 
Alexander Severus has a more successful reign. Following their Emperor's example, many Romans begin to add Jesus Christ to their personal shrines.
 
Christianity doesn't have to change is core doctrines, just to allow its worshippers to simultaneously be a part of another belief system.

That would be changing its core doctrines.

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." --Matthew 7 : 13-14

"Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” --John 14 : 5-7

"How long will you people turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?" --Psalm 4 : 1-3

“You shall have no other gods before* me." --Exodus 20 : 3

*Sometimes "besides"
 
From the perspective of the OTL Jews and Christians, such a faith would be hopelessly heretical.

However, it might be possible to have some reverence of lesser deities, in a henotheistic system. You would have God the Father and Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit forming the supreme Godhead, but lesser deities (spirits in charge of, say, weather, or crops, or who have a special relationship with God and thus can intercede with him) who could also be respected and revered to a lesser degree. Basically, having the other deities serve a purpose similar to that of patron saints.

Basically, take the more Zeus/Jupiter-centric development of classical polytheism, chop off the head and replace Zeus/Jupiter with Yahweh and Jesus. It might be explained by TTL theologians as "So Athena, prophet of divine wisdom, was mistaken by your blind ancestors for a god herself. But you, brothers and sisters, see that there is only One God, and Athena His prophet and eternal servant. In His infinite wisdom, He gave her authority over the distribution of the Gift of Wisdom."

It would probably bear very little resemblance to OTL Christianity, except in some sacraments and the core belief that Christ rose from the dead and in so doing made eternal life in heavenly bliss possible. But it would probably require a more henotheistic Judaism to start with.
 
Christianity did incorporate lots of stuff from earlier creeds, such as the mother of god cult, and having bishops dress like the priests of Dagon and monks like the priests of Isis, and so on. The pope is Roman polytheistic high priest: pontifex maximus, and he wears the Egyptian Ankh, so is he really Christian?

Jesus preached against much of what historical Christianity has done, so does he have anything to do with Christianity?
 
That would be changing its core doctrines.

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." --Matthew 7 : 13-14

"Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” --John 14 : 5-7

"How long will you people turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?" --Psalm 4 : 1-3

“You shall have no other gods before* me." --Exodus 20 : 3

*Sometimes "besides"
Fine, only the exclusivism core belief, with as little changes beyond that as possible. Any thoughts on what sort of world a Christianity allowed to run paralell with Paganism would breed?
 
In OTL, you had cases of Pagan gods being incorporated as Christian saints, you might be able to do something like that. But it would take major alterations to keep the worship of true gods up.
Aside from Brigid, who do you have in mind? It's certainly true that Christianity took pagan popular forms and made them Christian (Christmas trees, Yule celebrations, Easter bunnies, summer solstice->St.John the Baptist, etc.), but the point is they took them over and made them Christian. They didn't leave them as any remnant of pagan practice, explicitly. Counting Zeus or more likely Apollo and Athena as 'pagan prophets' might have been possible, but keeping them as any sort of god, no way.

I don't think it could be done. If Christianity is changed in order to accomodate them it will be changed to the point it's not Christianity anymore.
Exactly
More towards the former. Think of how someone can be Buddhist and other religions at the seme time as an example.
But Buddhism isn't ABOUT gods, at all. So you can have many or none, and still be a Buddhist. Not true with Christianity, or any Abrahamic faith.

The Abrahamic faiths are very exclusivist by nature, and if you change one to be henotheist, it's not only no longer a recognizable Christianity (Islam or Judaism) but no longer even Abrahamic, really.

One of the huge advantages Christianity and Islam had throughout their histories was precisely their exclusivity. They were a one-way door. Once you converted, it was all or nothing, and there was no going back. (OK, so if you were King Canute, you could fiddle it a bit, but no one lower.) If either WASN'T exclusivist, they'd have been far less successful. (As well as being a different religion.)
 
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