Vatican City: Oh, the irony!

[Diagoras]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_country_name_etymologies#V
Vatican City:

"Vatican" from the Latin vaticinari, "to prophesy", by way of the name of the hill "Mons Vaticanus" of which the Vatican City forms a part. Fortune-tellers and sooth-sayers used the streets beneath in Roman times.
Is it just me, or is it extremely hilarious that the Vatican is named after pagan fortune-tellers and sooth-sayers?

[This Guy]

It actually sorta makes sense.

When you consider the Catholic have turned Pagan Holy days into Christian Holy days -

"Pope Julius I chose December 25. It is commonly believed that the church chose this date in an effort to adopt and absorb the traditions of the pagan Saturnalia festival."

http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=Minisite_Generic&content_type_id=1253&display_order=1&sub_display_order=2&mini_id=1290

Not knowing how the location of Vatican City was decided, I have no idea if "taking over" an area known for it's Pagan fortune tellers and such entered in to the choice of location. I would not be surprised to find out that there was a purposeful connection though.

[Diagoras]

You should listen to today's episode of the Truth Driven Thinking (http://www.truthdriventhinking.com/) podcast. Robert Price appears as a guest and they discuss various aspects of the Nativity, including the Christian adoption of pagan traditions. Real good stuff...

[This Guy]

You should listen to today's episode of the Truth Driven Thinking (http://www.truthdriventhinking.com/) podcast. Robert Price appears as a guest and they discuss various aspects of the Nativity, including the Christian adoption of pagan traditions. Real good stuff...

Work time now :(. But I'll try to listen in the morning :)

Thanks for the link.

[TX50]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_country_name_etymologies#V

Is it just me, or is it extremely hilarious that the Vatican is named after pagan fortune-tellers and sooth-sayers?

The site now occupied by the Vatican was dominated by Caligula's
chariot racing circus (started by Caligula, completed by Nero - both
of whom were huge chariot-racing fans). I believe the circus was
trashed by Constantine when he built a silly basilica/tomb complex
to some bozo called St. Peter.

Another irony is that the Vatican was built using a great deal of stone
from the Colosseum, and the money for building the Colosseum had
originally come from the loot from the temple in Jerusalem in 70 C.E. :rolleyes:

[Beerina]

Fortune telling and the like is a real phenomenon, officially recognized, if disclaimed as evil, by Christianity.

...except for the 3 Magi (same root word as magician), astrological fortune tellers who saw the sign in the sky and, properly, discerned it's supernatural meaning.