I was amused to read your report (Evening Advertiser, August 28) of the concerns expressed by the Rev Derek Smith of St Michael's Church, Melksham, regarding the implicit evils of yoga and the malign influence of "pagan" Hinduism, ie that in some unspecified metaphysical sense it might contaminate the spiritual purity of his faith.
The Rev Smith need not worry, as Christianity is not a unique religious system. It is worth remembering that the Christian Church originated as a breakaway Jewish cult of middle-eastern origin, and that Constantine I for purely political considerations later imposed it on the Roman Empire. The composite core beliefs and rituals of Christianity, eg baptism, reflect a long syncretistic process borrowed from the many pre-Christian religions of antiquity, eg Mithraism. This process of accretion included the ancient myth of the dying and reviving saviour god.
The Christian church is steeped in pagan mythology. For example, the dates of the core Christian festivals that celebrate the "life of Jesus" (Christmas and Easter) are founded on fixed solar, and moveable lunar, cycles not historical data. Other similarly derived Christian feasts are Lent, Pentecost, and Trinity (lunar), and Advent, Epiphany, and Saints Days (solar).
Why the anguish, Rev Smith? Surely a little Hinduism won't hurt? After all, your church has plundered almost every other religion of antiquity why stop now?
Larry Wright
Kent Road
Swindon
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