Hypsistarians: Pagan Monotheists at the Threshold
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Hypsistarians: Pagan Monotheists at the Threshold
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About this listen
There’s a tendency in religious history to draw hard lines — between gods and idols, orthodoxy and error, insiders and others. But in reality, belief is often fluid, and not always easy to categorise.
In the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire, particularly around Asia Minor and the Black Sea, inscriptions and writings reveal a fascinating phenomenon. People — perhaps Gentile sympathizers with Judaism, or disillusioned pagans influenced by Stoic and Platonic thought — began to worship a singular, supreme deity. They rejected idols, observed Sabbath-like customs, and honored dietary restrictions, yet never underwent circumcision or adopted Jewish law. Nor did they convert to Christianity...
Who were these worshipers of the Most High ("Hypsistos")? What did they believe — and why did their faith vanish into obscurity?