What If Judas Iscariot is made/canonized as a holy saint in Christianity, especially by catholicism and/or other denominations?

[mrmandias]

Why? Greek and Roman gods were far from being perfect yet it didn't made them unpopular, polytheist religions don't have a perfect supreme being most of the time.

Roman Empire cultural and intellectual elites pretty much all believed in some kind of infinite and perfect supreme being (or force or whatever). They saw the Greek and Roman gods as either fairy tales or else as manifestations or avatars or aspects of the supreme ground of being. Christianity partly succeeded because it was amenable to these kinds of philosophical concepts.
So a Christianity that rejects this philosophical version of God is a Christianity that is going to remain the religion of lower class people and foreigners. It won't take over the Roman world as in OTL.

 

[mrmandias]

Most recent comments are just arguing religion, not discussing alternate history. Take it to chats, friends.

 

[EasternRomanEmpire]

Roman Empire cultural and intellectual elites pretty much all believed in some kind of infinite and perfect supreme being (or force or whatever). They saw the Greek and Roman gods as either fairy tales or else as manifestations or avatars or aspects of the supreme ground of being. Christianity partly succeeded because it was amenable to these kinds of philosophical concepts.
So a Christianity that rejects this philosophical version of God is a Christianity that is going to remain the religion of lower class people and foreigners. It won't take over the Roman world as in OTL.

If you consider Destiny to be this supreme being you are right, however the main base of support for Christianity were the poors who care little about theological details so I don't see why this would influence Christianity's spread.

 

[mrmandias]

If you consider Destiny to be this supreme being you are right, however the main base of support for Christianity were the poors who care little about theological details so I don't see why this would influence Christianity's spread.

The main base of support for Christianity was not "the poors." Historical sociology of religion is a well-established field and the rise of Christianity has attracted a great deal of scholarship.

My argument, which I believe is supported by the historical record, is that Christianity's rise to dominance in the Roman Empire required interpenetration with Roman Imperial elites. It is also quite clear that this process included a lot of interpenetration between high-status elite philosophical concepts and Christian beliefs.

 

[Evil Crusader]

If you consider Destiny to be this supreme being you are right, however the main base of support for Christianity were the poors who care little about theological details so I don't see why this would influence Christianity's spread.

By the time of Diocletian's persecutions, Christianity had well escaped the confines of the poors and started gaining adherents in the upper classes.