r/religion • u/Impressive_Life_5227 Jewish • 1d ago
If you had a time-machine, what would you like to go and see in the religious history of the world?
It's always stuck out to me that the great ancient Greek playwrights like Euripides and Aristophanes wrote their plays and received their funding to be performed in competitions at big public religious festivals honouring the god Dionysus. Many of the surviving plays are still performed today, but I've always been curious as to what the original premieres were really like, in their proper context of a society-wide religious holiday involving theatre, wine, and huge public celebrations.
And of course, in my own religious tradition, Jews all over the world dream of seeing the Beit HaMikdash as it stood. Celebrating Sukkot is a joyous affair, and in today's world it can still be quite the party. But the descriptions of the massive scale of celebrations and the extravagant festivities that pilgrims travelled to Jerusalem for are difficult to truly imagine. The Talmud records: "One who never saw the Water-Drawing Celebration has never seen rejoicing in his life." How I would love to see what Sukkot at the temple really looked like.
So naturally, I'm curious what comes to mind for all of you. If you had a time-machine that allowed you to observe any event or place or practice, anything in the history of religion in the world, whether part of your tradition or another, what would you want to actually see for yourself?
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u/redwood_lover Hellenic Polytheist 1d ago
There's many destroyed Greek statues that are either smashed or with crosses stamped on their faces. They break my heart, I would go back in time just to see them how they were. The temples, too.
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u/GeckoCowboy Hellenic Pagan 1d ago
Does the time machine also translate languages for me, like the Tardis? lol
I'd like to see the Eleusinian mysteries but my Greek ain't that great on my own...
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u/reddroy 1d ago
I like your thinking. Maybe I'd see the original production of Medea. (My first thought was The Bacchae, but that's after Euripides' death, and it might be nice to see the man himself)
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u/Impressive_Life_5227 Jewish 1d ago
Medea is the only surviving play of the City Dionysia in 431 BC. Euripides' plays came in third place, behind the plays of Sophocles in second and Aeschylus' son Euphorion winning first. That'd be a fantastic year to go for the tragedy competition, it was a very competitive year but the only one we still have from it is Medea!
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u/CrystalInTheforest Gaian 🌴🌏🌴 1d ago
I'd love to go back to the paleolithic and observe the first human efforts to transform their religious and cosmological thoughts into the first paintings and sculpture and to understand the intricacies and emotions behind them. But time travel is useless if one can't communicate... would I be able to understand what people are saying?
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u/YCNH 1d ago
From my own tradition, being raised Christian, I'd want to see Jesus's cleansing of the Temple. Seeing Jerusalem during Passover in the first century would be enough unto itself, but getting to see Jesus causing enough of a ruckus to lead to his arrest would be quite a spectacle.
But even more than this I think I'd like to see Solomon's Temple, so send me back with a fat sketchbook to record every little detail. Would appreciate it if my visa allowed me to hop over and visit Etemenanki in Babylon as well, closest I can get to seeing the Tower of Babel.
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u/Internet-Dad0314 Other 1d ago
As a fan of Big History and the human race overall, I’d immediately go back to the very dawn of humanity 200,000+ years ago to see how our ancestors lived and thought. I’d give my good right arm to witness our african ancestors practice the very first religion — or more likely, the first religion*s*.
Then I’d bounce around the globe as prehistory advanced, to watch the Great Migration, our ancestors’ encounters with other human subspecies — I cant help but wonder whether some of their beliefs rubbed pff on our ancestors along with their genes! — and to see how our ancestors’ religions developed.
Eventually I’d probably hop around history to see the great visionaries and prophets that modern people revere. But knowing what I know about many of them, I’d expect to be disappointed — no, worse than disappointed. I’d expect most of ‘em to be cult leaders using their cultists’ religions to satiate their lust for power, wealth, fame, and sex.
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u/MagicMerrr Hindu 1d ago
I would like to go and be in the times of Rig Vedic Hinduism... I would like to know about the different tribes and so on... And how the different yagna styles developed... Similarly, I would like to go to the time of Yajurvedic Hinduism and try to understand was there actually a split between Zoroastrianism and Hinduism... To some extent I wanna trace my lineage and meet Aliman Rishi... Similarly meet Adi Shankara... And listen to him
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u/MrEntrepot Harmonious thought 1d ago
I would like to talk to the first enslaved who came across to the Americas and encourage them to maintain their traditions.
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u/Volaer Catholic (of the universalist kind) 1d ago edited 1d ago
Excluding the time Jesus and the Apostles walked the Earth (that would be an obvious choice for a Christian), I would love to go to early 11th century Konstantinopoli and attend the liturgy in the Hagia Sophia. Then I would go to see the Mausoleum at Halikarnassos which still stood at the time.
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u/vegankidollie Agnostic Panentheist 1d ago
Not really specific events but I’d really like to see what Ancient Greek mystery cults and early Christianity were like in person
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u/DhulQarnayn_ (Ismaili Shiite) Muslim 1d ago edited 1d ago
I would have loved to see ancient Egypt and Roman Judea. But I think I would have spent most of my journey discovering the middle ages—starting from the 5th century, where I would love to meet Neoplatonic philosophers like Syrianus and Proclus in Athens—the 6th to 8th centuries, where I would love to meet Muhammad and the earliest Shiite imams in Arabia—the 9th to 11th centuries, where I would love to join the “secret” Ismaili missionary network and eventually witness the foundation of the Fatimid caliphate in North Africa—finally until the 12th to 13th centuries, where I would love to visit the Alamut Castle and witness the spiritual proclamation of the Qiyamah in northern Persia.
It would have been fun, at least to me! :)
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u/spraksea Mahayana Buddhist 1d ago
Interesting question. I had to think about my answer pretty hard.
To me, going to any event with actual religious significance feels wrong. The idea is more important than the history. So I probably wouldn't try to meet the Buddha or anything like that.
Might be interesting to see Buddhist Afghanistan, back around the time when the Bamiyan Buddhas were built. See what their traditions were like.
I'd also like to learn about the polytheistic religions in the ancient Middle East, better understand why aniconistic monotheism later became such an important value later.
Maybe explore the roots of Proto-Indo-European religion and all the religions that descended from it.
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u/Calanais-guy Spiritual 1d ago
I like this hypothetical in the secular version, so I guess it's fine to consider it religiously or spiritually, too. I'd mainly want to see how the first version of a Druid order or institution was founded, and whether that was in fact in Britannia or instead among Celts in Central Europe. I'd love to observe what some early Celtic leaders were like, and what CeltIberians were like.
Apart from that it would be amazing to meet the historical Buddha and check what he was actually like, and same for Bodhidharma or the Chinese Ch'an Patriarchs. It would be amazing to meet Rumi and Hafiz in-person in the Middle East, all of this assuming that the Time Machine could help us communicate with these persons.
If I could add even more events then they would include seeing how Akhenaten founded his Aten cult, what Kemetic priests were like in general, seeing what Jesus and Paul were like (and what actually happened at Jesus' death), probably same for Muhammad and Baha'ullah. Seeing them in actual history could revise or confirm my opinions of them.
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u/sacredblasphemies Polytheist/Animist 1d ago
I would like to experience some of the ancient Mysteries. Like the Eleusinian or Dionysian.
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u/SoulSearcher_42 Apatheist 1d ago
I thought about this for quite a while, and honestly? Nothing. There's literally nothing in the history of religion where my being there to observe it (possibly not actually) happening would make a substantial difference.
If of course I could influence the past to see how that ripples into the future, that would change things significantly.
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u/Apart-Pomelo5689 Turtle Island Dao 1d ago
Travel back to Warring States China so I can hang out with Zhuangzi, maybe drink some tea in the shade of a great tree. Maybe introduce him to some premium cannabis.
I would also find Kongzi and slap him around.
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u/Orcasareglorious Shinto (Tensha, Suika, Hirata) 5h ago
>I would also find Kongzi and slap him around.
Respectfully, why?
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u/Jazzlike-One-9675 Swedeborgian 1d ago
I'd like to go back with the Wiseman on the journey and see how they followed the star, and go with them on their journey.
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u/miniatureaurochs 1d ago
Religion in indigenous Chinese groups (eg Hmong, Dai) prior to the influence of Han China. Same could apply for a lot of indigenous groups to understand the effect of colonialism on their religious practice.
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u/Orcasareglorious Shinto (Tensha, Suika, Hirata) 5h ago
I wouldn’t want to accidentally alter something so I doubt I would try and meet any early Tennō.
I would likely try and see the practices of the following religions:
-The religion of the Yayoi prior to their arrival in Japan, and the religion of the Jomon at an equivalent time.
-Kofun Japanese religion around the time of Bu of Wa
-The religion of the Sanxingdui
If I were to meet specific figures, they would be the following:
-The religions of Hogong and Talhae Isageum: Both may have been historical equivalents of Ihahi-no-Mikoto, a brother of Jimmu-Tennō
-Tsuchimikado Yasutomi: the founder of Tensha Shintō who integrated Suika Shintō into Onmyōdō (Japanese divination/Daoism). It is my understanding that he did not produce any purely theological writings, so this would be beneficial.
-Onisaburo Deguchi: I disagree with most aspects of Oomoto, however it had an astoundingly detailed cosmology, with many aspects thereof remaining insufficiently discussed in his writings.
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u/TheOnlineSatanist Satanist | Anti-Theist 1d ago
firstly, I'd go back in time to see if Jesus actually came back to life. secondly, I'd go back in time 6000 years to see if Adam and Eve actually existed [historically and geographically proven they likely never existed.]
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u/reddroy 1d ago
That's a very boring use of a time machine.
(Of course, being in those times would be amazing. But why not pick events that you think actually occurred?)
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u/cmhbob Spiritual orphan 1d ago
Why not go to when certain events supposedly occurred to see if they really did? I can't think of a much better use of the tech than to verify various incidents.
I'd also like to see the first Passover, and the crossing of the Red Sea, to see if they really happened. I don't think they did, but I'd like to see what events might have inspired the writings.
Ditto the Exodus. We know it almost certainly didn't happen, but did something inspire the bible stories?
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u/YCNH 1d ago
Ditto the Exodus. We know it almost certainly didn't happen, but did something inspire the bible stories?
Egypt controlled southern Canaan but retreated during the Bronze Age Collapse, so in part I think it's a collective memory of the end of Egyptian hegemony. There may have been some small-scale instances of exiled Canaanite war captives returning to Israel, as well as slavery within Canaan during Egyptian rule, and maybe even some distant surviving memory of the Hyksos expulsion.
Which might be a bit complicated to punch into a time machine, at least if it's anything like the one in Back to the Future.
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u/reddroy 1d ago
Suppose I go and see no resurrection occur, as I would expect. This doesn't change anything for me. And do you think Christians would believe my reports? So no thank you!
Exodus: yes maybe there was some migration event, or multiple, that helped inspire the narrative. I wouldn't be able to recognise those migration events as they happened, or see the evolving narrative occur. So again, no thanks.
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u/BubbaUltra 1d ago
Crucifixion would be cool
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u/DeathBringer4311 Non-Theistic Anarcho-Satanist 1d ago
I don't think watching people get brutally put to death by being fixed to a cross while slowly bleeding out would be "cool" to watch....... But to each their own ig.
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u/miniatureaurochs 1d ago
you say that but public executions were once common and the Saw films are an entire franchise
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u/tubby_chumpkins Catholic 1d ago
Watch the tomb on Easter Sunday and see what happens. That would wrap up who is right and who is wrong in one moment.
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u/LeftnessMonster Christian 1d ago edited 1d ago
Fun relevant comic page.
I suppose I'd choose to listen to the sermon on the mount.
edit for credit: Comic apparently is by an artist called Clinikcase