ABSTRACT
From our perspective it can seem that Christianity was a sudden revolution, the unpreventable explosion of something entirely new into the world. In fact of course Christianity derived much from Judaism and from Greek religion. And it was established through long-lasting and often violent conflicts, in the course of which it was confronted with rival religious beliefs and practices. One such rival was the cult of Dionysos. As we have seen, the widespread popularity of Dionysos ranged from the simple practices of peasants to the abstract speculations of intellectuals, and he could save mortals from the terrors of death. He was therefore a serious rival to Jesus, whom in some respects he resembled.
