Why do Christians worship the Egyptian Sun God “Amen Ra?”?
There are many similarities. In the days of the Roman Empire, the Mediterranean was a melting pot of ideas, especially in Egypt. You had the Egyptian gods, especially Isis whose iconography is reflected in the iconography of the Madonna. Then you had the Greek mystery cults, the Roman temples, and the Jews. Then, there was this new Jewish cult that came out of Jerusalem. All of these things mixed together, and gave rise to the Gnostic movement, which was like the “New Age” movement of the First through Third centuries. The Gnostic writings surviving from Egypt — the Nag Hammadi Library, and some of the Greek Magical Papyri — show a syncretism of Christian, Jewish, Egyptian, Greek, and Roman ideas. Christianity developed in this bubbling pool of ideas, and the Catholic Church was born. Much of the symbolism and iconography of Christianity, as well as some of the rituals (baptism, Eucharist), sacred calendar (see the debates over the date of Christmas), and even some of the stories sur
