Is it true that during the roman empire, early christians practised cannibalism and used donkeys during rites?

Question

"used" as in prayed to, or had alot of reverence or them, as well as putting the head of a donkey on a crucifix then worshipping it?

This is a serious question. I know during the roman empire many early christian sects were accused of cannibalism and extreme acts of self torture, however how much of this is true?

Also to all modern christians who will simply say "no, ofcourse that is untrue" please research or have a good understanding of early christianity first.

I would like to thank all in advance who answer this question.

Answer 1

Sounds like you were reading a lot of Roman propaganda that was bandied about at that time.

Answer 2

well, there were the gnostics, who practiced self-torture, but they all weren't christian and christianity didn't agree with them. i;ve never heard of the donkey thing, but it sounds weird

Answer 3

gee. this is new to me. i find, however, it to be kind of suspect since the early christians originally were jews and to the jews, donkeys were too rare to eat & use as sacrifice. they viewed beasts of burden the same as we see cars. we use but not abuse unless we want to see our cars 'give out'.  the donkey was kind of like the cadillacs of beasts during that time. if you had one, you were rich.  the more animals of domestication available to you? wow! you were a person of importance. in fact, for a daughter's offering at marriage, these animals were given as a brideprice. now as for cannibalism?  in extreme times, this would be the last resort but by then, ALL people would consider this to survive regardless of religion. again, though, go back to the torah and read the earliest entries. what was allowed then would also find its way into the new testament or christian texts.  the romans said many damaging things about the early christians - they were fearful of them 'cause while the roman jews placated the romans , somewhat, the early christians - already separated from their jewish brethern - had little or no fear of roman authority.  not scared  of the romans?  if you had no fear of roman & roman authority, you were feared & suspect.  early christians had their hands full trying to stay alive, keep their faith & one step ahead of the roman prelate i kind of doubt they would risk further wrath by practicing donkey death & eating one another. hey! you're not confusing the eating of the host (symbolic) to the real eating of human flesh, are you?  no way, jose!  wine substituted for blood & the disk of small unleaven bread substituted for body/flesh.  it's all ritual & totallyt symbolic but at no time was the 'real' thing eaten or drank. ask any priest or ladies of the cloth, ok?

Answer 4

Well, as you may or may not know, early Christians were persecuted for their practices as they were very different from traditional Roman beliefs.  One example of this is the disposition of the recently deceased.  Romans cremated their dead and with the underground nature of the early Catholic church; i think it's fair to assume that cannibalism was an acceptable alternative given the circumstances.

Answer 5

This reminds one of the idea of what makes a Christian a Christian. "Christians" in their earliest form were mostly members of the Jewish community that thought Jesus was the Messiah. Only after later "church" (at the time more a movement that an established hierarchy we think of today) did leaders such as Paul come to try and include Gentiles. During this period there was a lot of room for open interpretation of what Christianity meant, and, as an earlier poster noted, their were groups such as the Gnostics. I am not arguing there legitimacy or lack thereof, but they were just one of many such groups. While the "Church" as wee know it today eventually won out there is still evidence of these other groups in much of their writing, and they were diverse in practices and beliefs. (I am not talking about in crazy DaVinci Code bad history here, but legitimate splinter groups.) The point that I am setting up here though, is that there is no evidence that even these other early groups practiced anything as bizarre as cannibalism or donkey worship.

As a side note, some archaeologists reject the idea that there have ever been societies that truly practiced real "cannibalism" as portrayed in popular culture (excluding endocannabalism) and that it was actually a way of one social or cultural group labeling another as Pariahs.

Answer 6

The majority of them did not, but Christianity is prone to wackjob cults (Branch Davidians, People's Temple) so it is possible a minority of them did.

Answer 7

During the Hebrew revolt against Rome and the Roman siege of Jerusalem, there are reports of starving Jewish defenders eating the dead bodies of those that died. Not a part of any ritual or religious practice, just a survival mechanism. Same as the Donner party in American history or the Soccer players that crashed in the Andes.

As far as worshiping Donkeys, never heard that one at all.

Answer 8

Well the way things like that work is that some enemy of the Christians said that Christians did such nasty things, and then some sick and twisted individuals probably decided to become Christians because they heard that Christians did such nasty things and it sounded cool. Its called a self fulfilling prophecy, or the dookie-in-dreadlocks argument. So what!?!?

Answer 9

All true christians, even the early ones, were schooled in the ten commandments: "Thou shalt not have any other god before me, for I thy god, am a jealous god". Although I am an atheist, I strongly suspect the Romans of making up rumours about christianity, and they went so far as to make it punishable by death, regarding it as a threat to their warlike and aggressive culture (the Etruscans, the Sabines, the Volsci, the Gauls, the Greeks, the Egyptians; all succumbed to the might of the Roman legions).