Commercialisation of Religion in Ancient Greece and in Cyprus

During the time of the Twelve Olympian Gods of the ancient Greek Pantheon, they used to say, “The priesthood is always a friend of money” (το ιερατείον αεί φιλοχρήματον) meaning that those who worked in temples liked and wanted money for philanthropic reasons or other purposes. Could that statement constitute the norm for a kind of commercialisation of religion in those times? This article will explore the relationship of ancient Greek religious institutions with economy and financial development. It will raise questions like how priests used to be paid in antiquity, whether were they allowed to sell things to earn some money for the construction or restoration of temples, how did Greek Philosophy view business in the name of the gods, etc., Jesus Christ drove the money changers out of Solomon’s Temple (John 2: 13–19), because they had made it a place suitable to be a tax department and not a house of prayer. In addition, they earned money from unlawfully changing the pilgrimages coins, something condemned according to Judaism. This article will also explore the issue of the commercialisation of religion in modern Cyprus in the Christian Orthodox environment. Furthermore, it will answer questions like how people suffering from the financial crisis of recent years view religious people owning hotels or how the Church uses its property and business for humanitarian purposes and what exactly these are.