To reconstruct 2nd century cultural literature context of Roman satire in Early Christian texts, it is useful to form a hypothesis of why Christianity started as a polytheistic religion and became monotheistic.
The hypothesis of how Christianity became a monotheistic religion, is that Constantine the Great felt threatened by the goddess Zoe of Early Christianity. By forging evidence of Jesus' historicity, Constantine killed Zoe and purged the records for her existence.
In detail, to test this hypothesis one must explain in more detail how the dynamics of divine family relationships worked in general, how they evolved for Early Christianity specificially and what happened when they ended and what the motivations were for ending them.
In general, the rule of Constantine the Great marks the transition from Early Christianity to Late Christianity. Most scholars like to use the first council of Nicaea, but this is hiding the fact that it was a political motivated transition that was directly related to the personal interest of Constantine the Great to secure power. Since I do not want to talk about what most scholars believe, but the hypothesis I find most likely, I will highlight the role of Constantine the Great in the transition.
- Constantine the Great's lack of sufficient royal bloodline to secure power in the Roman empire
- Forging evidence of Jesus' historicity under Constantine the Great's rule
- Early Christianity as a diverse polytheistic religion
- Late Christianity as an oppressive monotheistic religion
Yahweh was a deity adopted into the Canaanite pantheon. His mother was Asherah and his father was El. Over time, some sects claimed Yahweh was equal to El, possibly in competition with Ba'al, Yahweh's brother, who claimed the heritage to the divine throne with Asherah as his consort.
It was common for divine heirs to marry their mother goddess, but this happened gradually over time. For example, in the Osiris myth, Horus is reborn from Osiris' dead body, which was how ancient people thought about semen. Semen was thought of as the seed for a whole person and the woman's womb was just a place for the seed to grow. This is also why ancient people thought about tombs as wombs: Tombs were just a place people were buried for rebirth, just like with crops. The semen of Osiris which contains the whole of Horus, impregnates Isis, the consort of Osiris and Horus gets born. Since Horus is seen as a rebirth of Osiris, some sects marry him to Isis, his own mother.
It is possible that Mary of Magdala was a goddess that came from the tradition of Asherah worship. Prior to John the Baptist baptizing Jesus, which is forged history, Jesus was appointed by Mary of Magdala in a hypothetical Q source. The gospel of Mark is a rewriting of Q with a different theology of Jesus. So, Mary of Magdala could have arrived before Jesus and been worshiped on her own as a goddess. When the temple of Jerusalem was destroyed, a tragic hero, Jesus, might have been born by Mary of Magdala. Like Achilles, Jesus was a mortal man and he meets his faith before he ascends to heaven. Jesus is used as a character to explain why Yahweh leaves the temple in Jerusalem, which when translated into politics opens up the city to be invaded by the Romans. However, Jesus promised to come back and bring the kingdom of heaven with him (all its servants and weapons etc. against the Romans).
Like Yahweh was made equal to El due to insufficient access to a royal bloodline, Constantine the Great makes Jesus equal to Yahweh for the same reason.
Constantine perceives Mary of Magdala as a potential threat to the throne, since she might give birth to new deities that can be used by his political opponents.
Another name for Mary of Magdala in Early Christianity is the Greek philosophical concept Zoe, which means "life". Life in the ancient world was intimately related in language to fertility. In The Gospel of John, Zoe is mentioned besides Logos, but is translated with a lower capital "life" in most bibles. The most important woman and who meets Jesus first after resurrection in The Gospel of John, is Mary of Magdala. Jesus also meets an anonymous woman by the well, which at the time was a tradition to find a wife, since only women went to the well on a regular basis and men only went there looking for a mate. This would be a proper introduction to Mary of Magdala in this gospel.
Virgin Mary carries the same first name as Mary of Magdala, because originally Mary of Magdala gave birth to Jesus. In the complex political environment of the 2nd century, a ruling goddesss was perceived as a threat to the elite. Therefore, Mary of Magdala was demoted from a goddess to a virgin and hence causing a split into two characters: Mary of Magdala as known in Late Christianity and Virgin Mary. As a compensation, Virgin Mary was said to have been born without sin. There is no reference to any Mary in Paul's letters, so he could have written to people who already knew about her. This suggests that Mary of Magdala, or Zoe in the more general context, was established where Paul traveled, as a goddess being worshiped prior to Jesus.
Jesus as a son of Yahweh and Asherah/Mary/Holy Spirit is adopted into an earthly family, which earthly mother became Virgin Mary to give James', Jesus brother, appearance of evidence for historicity.
The Holy Spirit impregnates Virgin Mary, which is a collision in gender since the Holy Spirit in Hebrew came from the same root as Asherah. Asherah also shares same symbolism as the Holy Spirit in form of a dove, a lioness or a tree of life. So, the Holy Spirit looses its gender and thus the demoted Virgin Mary is no longer a threat to the power of Constantine the Great. While Virgin Mary might have been modeled upon Isis in the Osiris myth by Early Christians, the preference of this character above other versions serves the purpose of Constantine the Great. There is no longer any Zoe in Early Christianity.
Zoe was killed by Constantine the Great.
1.1. Ancient religions and politics put great weight on a female bloodline as divine right to rule
1.2. Goddesses sometimes have problematic family relationships with the ruling male deity
1.3. A ruling goddess besides a ruling god was a potential threat due to the ability of giving birth to new deities as heirs to the throne
1.4. Mysogeny in changing mythology is often related to political insecurity of gaining access to a royal bloodline
Helen, the mother of Constantine, travels to Israel and locates the tomb where Jesus was supposedly buried. She also returns with the cross that Jesus was crucified on.
This is clear evidence that Jesus' historicity must be "proven" to the people in the Roman empire.
2.1. Claiming to find the tomb of Jesus or his cross by miracle would normally be sign of insanity
2.2. Forging evidence of Jesus' historicity is part of a conspiracy that includes executing leaders of competing theology
2.3. Eusebius of Caesarea is tasked with the responsibility to forge historical records
Early Christianity evolves out from Yahwism, which is a multi-national religious movement connected to the deity Yahweh. There are many sects in Early Christianity and they have very different views on what is correct doctrine. Early Christianity evolves alongside Judaism and they influence each other, where Early Christianity in general lends more toward Hellenistic culture, but also could include Jewish sects that practiced circumcision.
In these sects, Zoe and Sophia are worshiped as goddesses. Zoe, meaning "life", is usually seen as a consort of Logos, meaning "reason". Sophia, meaning "wisdom", is sometimes seen as a twin sister of Logos/Jesus. In some cases, Zoe and Sophia get mixed.
It is possible that Jesus became married over time when fewer sects saw Mary of Magdala as Jesus' mother. Some polytheistic Early Christians might have attempted to restore the divinity of the consort of Jesus, after the demotion of the mother goddess to a virgin. Such changes in mythology can happen slowly over time and vary between sects.
3.1. There are polytheistic sects in Early Christianity
3.2. Normal people could be elevated into divine status
3.3. There is no universal agreement of the nature of Jesus's body
3.4. Dynamics in divine family relations can happen slowly over time
When Constantine the Great seized power over the Roman empire, he made Christianity the official religion. In the beginning, building more polytheistic temples and shrines were encouraged, but soon Constantine started to pillage these places.
The motivation to attack polytheism could be for multiple reasons, such as a source of income and to exterminate political opposition. Constantine might have felt insecure and this could have been the reason why Christianity was made the official religion. After a while, when people accepted the new official religion, they were more likely to accept the outlawing of any competing religious tradition.
The primary purpose of outlawing all forms of polytheism is to kill goddesses. Goddesses were the major threat to Constantine the Great, since they could give birth to new heirs and used by political opponents. Constantine was not theologically or personally spiritually motivated at all, but used religion to control and oppress people.
4.1. Christianity was made the official religion in the Roman empire
4.2. Polytheistic temples and shrines were pillaged for riches by the emperor
4.3. It became unlawful to criticize the official Christian doctrine
4.4. Other religions than Christianity became outlawed
4.5. No more room for dynamic family relationships in Christianity to produce new heirs