Blogs by Pastor Boggs

Greek Mythology can come across so much more alluring and fantastical than the often typically preached Christian’s salvation message of Love Jesus or burn.

I have known many who got deeply involved in Roman and Greek Mythology and it ultimately led many of them to denounce Christ as some sort of lesser than story.

These are the created things, gods and myths that Homer the author of the Iliad wrote about in the 7th century B.C. and that The Apostle Paul was writing about in Romans chapter one in 57 A.D. when he said:

“Although they claimed to be wise they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles and therefore God gave them over to the sinful desires of their hearts to be sexually impure and for the degrading of their bodies with one another and they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and they worshipped and served created things rather than the creator who is to forever be praised. Amen. Because of this God gave them over to their shameful lusts… “

– Romans 1: 24-26.

Paul was saying that it was these “Created Things” and their worshiping of these fake Gods that led to the rapid sexual immorality, dishonesty and many other ungodly things that were very prevalent and happening among the citizens of The Roman/Greco world.

Stuff like Pagan temple prostitutes offering their services to passerby’s and the Roman bath houses where orgies with strangers would take place.

The Apostle Paul was saying that all of that was a result of their worshipping these false gods.

Even his own Jewish brothers and sisters were falling prey to this great deception and he was merely stating in his letter that all of these created characters and stories that had become the objects of their worship, idols and temples were all nothing but lies…

Stories that we all know now were made up in a book by homer a Greek poet that had been written some 700 years earlier…

It would be similar to if we had people building temples and sacrificing animals to Iron Man 700 years from now.

Very unlikely with our present days access to knowledge and truth but none the less the continued plight of Paul’s own people and many of the gentiles he was traveling about and sharing The True Gospel of Christ with.

Many of Paul’s own disillusioned Jewish brothers and sisters in the 1st century who had been scattered abroad after Christ’s crucifixion and who may have felt let down personally by what the levitical priesthood had become began turning their hearts to these Roman and Greek Gods as well.

These strong chiseled mythological beings and characters with powers and stories of similar shakespearean betrayal, war, deception and love… Homers characters and stories were stuff people could and still do relate too and as life often does imitate art, many would have and still do derive their inspiration, direction and moral compass from such created things.

The Temple of Zeus was one of the largest in Greece.

It was known as one of the 7 great wonders of the ancient world.

So what Paul was saying in Romans chapter one was that these made up characters (similar to our own day and age Marvel Comic super hero’s) who had become so alluring and attractive that they were in time, turned into the peoples objects of worship…

Paul was saying that that in and of itself was The Lie that they had exchanged The Truth for and that that was what had led so many of them astray and down the immoral path of debauchery and greed that had become so prevalent in the world when he wrote his letter to The Romans in 57 A.D..

Let me add, I have read and enjoyed both Homers IIiad and Shakespeare as a child and enjoyed them both for their poetic creativity and entertainment but have never worshipped or sought personal guidance and direction from either.

~ Stay in Love Church