the Pagan Altar: How Eucharist Transformed Jewish Jesus into a Hellenistic Mystery

Believers consume bread and wine, maintaining that they receive the literal or spiritual body and blood of Jesus Christ.This practice did not emerge from the Jewish world of Jesus of Nazareth. It represents a radical departure from First-Century Judaism.Two competing visions shaped early Christianity:¿ The Jerusalem Church: Led by James the Just, the brother of Jesus. They maintained strict adherence to Jewish law (Torah) and viewed Jesus as the human Messiah.¿ The Gentile Mission: Spearheaded by Paul of Tarsus. Paul reinterpreted Jesus through the lens of Hellenistic mysticism, creating a new religion for the Greco-Roman world.This book traces how the simple Jewish fellowship meal became a sacramental mystery ritual. It explores how Greek philosophy, Roman civic religion, and Mediterranean mystery cults transformed the historical Jesus into a dying-and-rising savior god.