HOLIDAYS
(This paper is written for those few who are willing to examine both sides of an issue and (in spite of the inclination of their hearts to follow enjoyable traditions) truly desire to follow God's word as expressed in the Bible.)
I received the following magazine article (in blue) from my Lutheran relatives in 1991. A handwritten notation on the article said "Taken from The Lutheran Standard."
I'm Celebrating!
"We don't exchange gifts at Christmas, and we don't celebrate Halloween," the Christian preschool principal informed us. "Nor Valentine's Day. Last year, some little rascal brought Valentine cards!" I said nothing, but I realized her theology and mine differed greatly.
"I understand the basis for her comments. I also know the `origins' of those holidays and of the Christmas tree, Cupid and St. Nick. I know these things are often attributed to paganism or fairy tales. I know, too, that eating black-eyed peas on New Years Day won't bring good luck - just as my daughter knows the tooth fairy really doesn't put the prize under the pillow. So am I wrong to join so heartily in these celebrations? I don't think so. As Paul wrote to the Romans, `He who regards one day as special does so to the Lord' (Romans 14:6). I feel these holidays and traditions can likewise be observed for the Lord.
"Pagans started some of these holidays and celebrations, and they may have corrupted some customs. But a believer can make the holidays Christian. I do not honor anything evil when I send valentines and hang hearts on my refrigerator. I celebrate love, friendship and kindness. I share the joy Christ has made my heart to know.
"The Christmas celebration is loaded with controversy, but again I see Christian symbolism. The lights at Christmas - they are God's idea! That first special night he threw a light show so spectacular people are still talking about it. So my tree will twinkle again this Christmas. I want my home to say to passers-by that love lives here and that I care enough to decorate for Christ's birthday more lavishly than I do for my child's. I will join the "commercialized" rush and buy gifts for my family because I care about these people. If we don't set aside times to let them know we love them, we too easily forget to express it.
"Recently I read of a woman who said her family now uses an artificial tree at Christmas in hopes that this adjustment will later make it easier to do without that `plastic piece of paganism.' In my mind, God had the first claims on the evergreen, and God created it for our enjoyment, both inside and outside the house.
"Easter, too, belongs wholeheartedly to Christ, and I marvel that spring comes at the same time. Everyone thinks of new life at springtime - what a perfect analogy to what Christ does in people! Lambs, lilies and chicks have nothing to do with Christ's resurrection, but in each is a symbol of newness and purity. The Trinity is often made more understandable by looking at the egg's three parts. So I will dye eggs with my children and hide them - just for the sheer joy of it. And I will marvel in the power that produces a bloom from a bulb and the power that raised Christ from the dead.
"We hear more against Halloween than perhaps any holiday, and for good reason. But again, I don't intend to relinquish to the devil one inch of our celebration. I hate ghouls, evil and ugliness that are associated with this day. Instead, my family bakes cookies, dresses the kids in cute costumes (angels, bunnies) and go visit the elderly, the lonely. We make it our chance to treat, to bring laughter.
"I am not conforming to the world and its customs. My perspective gives these holidays a godly purpose. Pagans may have offered these holidays to their idols, but I offer them to my God and, therefore, they are God's days.
"I need celebration in my life. Holidays mark the passage of time, focus my mind on loved ones and turn my thoughts to Christ the baby, Christ the love-giver, Christ the originator of new life and of harvest. In this day of forces that fragment the family, I'm convinced we need rituals, traditions and excuses to gather. We need reasons for our children to say, "Our family always ...." So I'll mark these days on my calendar. I'm celebrating!" [Emphasis added.]
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All of this may be very appealing to those of us who have enjoyed the traditions of Christmas, Easter, Halloween, etc. Those who, even though they may be totally unaware of it, are willing to accept any reasoning to keep these enjoyable traditions will find this emotional appeal very convincing. Most of these people will find a reason to keep on doing what their hearts desire no matter what evidence or Bible proofs are provided for them (Jer. 17:9; Mark 7:20-23; Prov. 28:26, KJV, NASB).
This paper, however, is written for those few who are willing to examine both sides of an issue and (in spite of the inclination of their hearts to follow enjoyable traditions) truly desire to follow God's word as expressed in the Bible.
We must accept God's word over the desires of our hearts and the traditions of men. The very first lesson in the Bible concerns the disastrous results of man following his heart's desire (and his own "reasoning") instead of obedience to God's word. Adam knew God's word concerning the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He knew absolutely that he was not to touch it at this time - this was God's command to him. And yet, the desires of his heart allowed false reasoning to convince him that this forbidden knowledge was in his best interests. (Gen. 2:15; 3:1-6)
Think about it. This fruit apparently has the power to give you the knowledge to discern for yourself what is good for you and what is not. What a valuable thing! How could anyone who truly loves you and wants what's best for you deny you such a wonderful thing? The conclusion you might jump to (especially if you crave this thing in your heart) is that God has lied to you. He doesn't want you to be strong and free. He wants you to be dependent upon him forever (Gen. 3:4, 5). Or else, you might reason, instead of a test of obedience, this is a test to see if you are ready to assume your place at his side by showing that you really can think and act independently and logically.
Either way, your heart tells you that you must do what you feel is right, not what God has literally said (especially since it seems so clearly "wrong" to you in this case).
Well, we may understand why Adam disobeyed God's clear commandment, but we must not condone it! (Cf. 1 Samuel 15:17-23)
Another example of "reasoned" disobedience to God's word: Moses was up on Mount Sinai for so many days that the Israelites feared that he must have died. So they made an idol in the shape of the golden calf that they had known all their lives during their Egyptian slavery. They made sacrifices to it and called it the very same God who had brought them out of Egypt. Even Aaron built an altar in front of the calf in order to have a festival to Jehovah.
Now God had commanded them to have only one God, Jehovah. So this festival and idol were really intended in His honor (or so they reasoned in their hearts). They were taking pagan religious customs and "making them clean and holy"! The only problem is, worshipers of the true God don't decide for themselves what is right or wrong in God's eyes. This is exactly the same terrible sin that Adam and Eve committed. Imagine the triumphant laughter that must have erupted from Satan when the Israelites fell into his hands as easily and completely as Adam and Eve had!
On the next day during the festival (to "Jehovah") God's wrath against such disobedient ones was partially fulfilled and thousands died. (Ex. 32.)
We may well understand the reasoning of the Israelites and their desire to fall back on customs and ceremonies that they had grown up with in Egypt and felt secure and comfortable with. But the whole point of this example is that they expressly disobeyed Jehovah's clear commandment (Ex. 20:4) and reasoned in their own self-deceiving hearts that they could make this action "clean and holy to God" by giving the pagan idol Jehovah's name and making the pagan celebration solely in HIS honor. Compromise, then, should have brought them the best of both worlds. Instead it brought the wrath of the only true God and death!
"The whole narrative of the golden calf (Ex. 32) reveals the extent of the contrast between the religion which stemmed from Mt. Sinai and the form of religion congenial to the unregenerate heart. These religions, we learn are incompatible .... it is a most significant thing that when Israel turned to idolatry it was always necessary to borrow the trappings from the pagan environment .... whenever the kings of Israel and Judah lapsed into idolatry, it was by means of borrowing and syncretism." - New Bible Dictionary, p. 504, Tyndale House Publ., 1984.
So Israelites didn't reject their God openly, but continued to "worship" him by adding (or reverting to) pagan customs in God's name. They "made" these customs, celebrations, etc. clean and holy to the one true God (or so they reasoned). But it was never acceptable to Jehovah who demanded pure, untainted worship.
Notice what the leaders of the only true religious organization on earth at the time of Jesus were doing. Jesus said to them:
"`Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men." You have let go the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.' And he [Jesus] said to them: `You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!'" - Mark 7:6-9, NIV.
The writer of the "I'm Celebrating" letter above has told us how she (and hundreds of millions of other like-minded members of Christendom) can "make" pagan celebrations and customs pleasing to God. I understand the emotional attachment to celebrations and customs we have grown up with. I understand the strong desire to keep observing such things that have delighted us for so long and have provided feelings of security and bonding to loved ones all our lives.
Certainly the Israelites in their terrible hour of need at Mt. Sinai, when all seemed lost, understandably yearned for such things. And yet their reasoning is identical to that of the author of `I'm Celebrating!':
"My perspective gives these ceremonies a godly purpose. Pagans may have offered these ceremonies to their idols, but I offer them to my God and, therefore, they are God's days." But the only real consideration must be: Is it pleasing to God? Is it truly in line with his Word? We can know only by examining his word, the Bible! Obviously the Israelites learned that such reasoning was terribly wrong and worthy of death. They learned the hard way what Jesus emphasized to those religious leaders of his time who were also "setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!" - These later Israelites would lose the opportunity for eternal life also, because of their reasoning and traditions of men.
Martin Luther wrote,
"Thus we, although having the right faith, fall into new disbeliefs. This is what the devil brought about in olden times when he misled the children of Israel from the temple at Jerusalem to innumerable other places. It was all done in God's name, and with every appearance of sanctity; all the prophets preached against it, and were martyred for doing so. But, nowadays, no one preaches against it...!" - p. 458, Martin Luther, Selections From His Writings, Dr. John Dillenberger, Anchor Books, Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1961.
Does the author of "I'm Celebrating!" really examine God's word to come to her conclusion of what is pleasing to God? Well, I see only one scripture referred to (Ro. 14:6)! The other 95% of her letter concerns her own feelings and conclusions about what must be acceptable to God according to her reasoning. ("My perspective gives these holidays a godly purpose. Pagans may have offered these holidays to their idols, but I offer them to my God and, therefore, they are God's days.") Doesn't this sound familiar?
Let's examine the single reference to God's word in her letter. Romans 14:6 is partially quoted by her: "He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord." This is a quote from one of Christendom's most highly-regarded Bible translations: The NIV Study Bible. Let's continue to use this same study Bible to analyze what Paul was telling us in Romans 14.
Romans 14:1, 5, 6 in this Bible says:
"Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters .... One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord." - NIVSB.
The footnote for Romans 14:1 tells us Paul is probably writing this about
"Jewish Christians at Rome who were unwilling to give up the observance of certain requirements of the [Mosaic] law, such as dietary restrictions and the keeping of the Sabbath and other special days [given to the Jews by Jehovah].... They were not yet clear as to the status of OT [Old Testament] regulations under the new covenant inaugurated by the coming of Christ... Fellowship among Christians is not to be based on everyone's agreement on disputable questions. Christians do not agree on all matters pertaining to the Christian life, nor do they need to." - NIVSB.
The footnote for Ro. 14:5 in the NIVSB tells us:
"Some feel that this refers primarily to the Sabbath, but it is probably a reference to all the special days of the [Old Testament] ceremonial law."
Obviously, Paul is saying, according to this mainstream study Bible, that it was no longer necessary to observe the special days that were given to God's people in the Mosaic law. However, Paul didn't think it was wrong for some of the Jewish Christians (at that time) to continue to observe special days that Jehovah himself had previously given them if they wished to.
So Paul is telling us that the man who considers a special day (of the Old Testament as given by Jehovah to the Israelites) more sacred than another is still acceptable to the Lord. (I believe Paul is specifically referring to Sabbath days here.) This in no way contradicts other commandments in the Bible to strictly avoid pagan customs; don't even touch the unclean things!
Even Martin Luther didn't feel it was wrong for Christians to observe special days given by Jehovah in the Old Testament. He wrote,
"Neither is it true that the Old Testament [Law] was abolished in such a way that ... it would be wrong for anyone to keep it in full.... It is indeed abolished in the sense that we are free to keep it or not keep it, and it is no longer necessary to keep it on penalty of one's soul, as was formerly the case." - Martin Luther, p. 376.
So we are free to observe or not many of the things of the Mosaic Law. We can circumcise our sons. We can rest on the Sabbath. We can do things that were once required in the Mosaic Law and not be condemned for it. But we cannot do things that God considers an abomination to him. We cannot include foreign gods in our worship. We cannot embrace pagan religious customs.
"Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah [also known as Astarte, Ishtar, or Eastre – see note 2 below] poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places....be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, `How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.' You must not worship the LORD your God in their way." - Deut. 12:3, 4, 30, 31, NIVSB. The footnote for Deut. 12:4 says, "The rituals and accessories of idolatrous worship were not to be used to worship the Lord, the one true God."
Moses concluded with this clear warning by Jehovah: "See that you do all that I command you; do not add to it or take away from it." - Deut. 12:32. In other words, we are not to decide what is good and evil in God's "food" for us! We must, unlike Adam, the Israelites, and the writer of "I'm Celebrating" above, obey all of God's word in spite of what we want in our hearts or what seems "reasonable" to us.
"The pillars and the asherah were both forbidden to Israel [and they were both frequently returned to time and again by the Israelites] .... The asherah was wooden, as we learn from its usual destruction by burning (Dt. 12:3; 2 Ki. 23:6), and probably originated from the sacred evergreen, the symbol of life. The association of these with Canaanite fertility practice sufficed to make them abominable to Yahweh [Jehovah]." - New Bible Dictionary, p. 504.
Notice how exclusive the worship of God must be: "Be careful to do everything I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips." - Exodus 23:13, NIVSB.
Yes, idolatry includes anything even associated with pagan gods. This would even include merely speaking their names in a conciliatory manner or raising an asherah pole, symbol of the sacred evergreen, (even if you "cleansed" it by using it in a ceremony "honoring" Christ and calling it a "Christmas Pole," for example).
"In the New Testament the word ... (idololatria), afterwards shortened occasionally to ... (idolatria) [`idolatry'], occurs in all four times, viz., in 1 Cor. 10:14; Gal. 5:20; 1 Pet. 4:3; Col. 3:5. In the last of these passages it is used to describe the sin of covetousness or 'mammon-worship'. In the other places it indicates with the utmost generality all the rites and practices of those special forms of paganism with which Christianity first came into collision." - Encyclopedia Britannica, p.71, v.12, 14th ed.
Notice how strongly this idolatry (which includes "all the rites and practices of ... paganism") is condemned in the NT: Rev. 21:8; Gal. 5:20, 21.
Even in the first century of Christianity many of those who believed themselves to be Christians let their hearts and "reason" seduce them into making certain pagan practices "clean" for Christians. Notice this quote from the Roman Catholic Bible The New American Bible (1970), St. Joseph edition: footnote for Rev. 2:14-15 -
"Like Balaam, the biblical prototype of religious compromisers..., the Nicolaitans in Pergamum and Ephesus accommodated their Christian faith to paganism."
And notice how strongly this was condemned by Jesus: He would come and "fight against them with the sword of [his] mouth"! (Rev. 2:16)
So are the few Christians who say "we must keep our religion unspotted from the world and worship God in truth with the pure worship He has commanded" correct in not mixing any paganisms into their religion? Or are the many who say "I can `make' pagan customs and ceremonies into acceptable Christian offerings on the altar of true worship" really correct?
Even Martin Luther tells us,
"The world and the masses are and always will be unChristian, although they are all baptized and are nominally Christian. [True] Christians, however, are few and far between, as the saying is. .... [True] Christians are always in the minority and are in the midst of non-Christians." - Martin Luther, p. 371.
"Wide is the gate and broad [easy-going, appealing] is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow [not so easy-going, not always appealing to the heart of many - Jer. 17:9] the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." - Matt. 7:13-14, NIVSB.
The `many' spoken of here are actually self-deceived "Christians":
"Not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he [the `few' above] who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, `I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" - Matt. 7:21-22, NIVSB.
Yes, these are people who really believe they are Christians. They believe they have taught God's truth in Jesus' name to others. (Footnote for Matt. 7:22 in NIVSB: "prophesy. In the NT this verb primarily means to give a message from God, not necessarily to predict.") They call Jesus "Lord" and did many things in his name. But these many "Christians" have deceived themselves and have not truly done the will of Jesus' Father in heaven. They are rejected by Jesus Christ: "Away from me, you evildoers!"
Many rejected the pure religion of Jehovah in OT times by mixing in various paganisms and "making" them clean to Jehovah. Only a relative few of them kept their religion as pure as Jehovah had commanded.
The same thing has occurred, as predicted in the NT above, in the Christian religion down to today. In spite of the Bible's clear counsel, only a few of those who believe they are Christians are actually on the Narrow Road that leads to eternal life. Many others think they can do it their own way - they, like Adam and Eve, want to decide for themselves what is good and what is evil. The results must be, as for Adam and Eve, what is at the end of the Broad Road: Destruction.
"Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them [f.n. in NIVSB says `In spite of the remarkable privileges given to Israel, they failed to obey God, thus incurring his displeasure. Of the adults who came out of Egypt, only Caleb and Joshua were allowed to enter Canaan.']; their bodies were scattered over the desert. Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: `The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry.'" - 1 Cor. 10:5-7, NIVSB.
The NIVSB f.n. for 10:7 tells us the last sentence by Paul is a quote that refers to the golden calf incident of Ex. 32. So here the Apostle Paul also uses the example of the golden calf to warn Christians about mixing paganisms with true religion!
But Paul continues - "Therefore, my dear friends [Christians in the first century Corinth congregation] flee from idolatry." And the NIVSB adds in its footnote for this verse: "flee from idolatry. Like that described in Ex. 32:1-6." Paul concludes with, "You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons. Are we trying to arouse the Lord's jealousy? Are we stronger than he?" Footnote in NIVSB: "arouse the Lord's jealousy. By sharing in pagan idolatry and worship." - 1 Cor 10:14, 21-22.
And in his second letter to these Christian Corinthians Paul again warns against ANY compromise with pagans and paganisms:
"Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial [`Satan' - f.n.] .... What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? .... `Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you...says the Lord Almighty.' Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." - 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1, NIVSB.
The footnote for 6:16 says,
"agreement ... between the temple of God and idols. There can be no reversion or compromise with the idolatry they have forsaken for the gospel."
So, how is it that the pure "unleavened" Christianity of Paul's time has deteriorated into the pagan-saturated religion of Christendom today?
"If Paganism was conquered by Christianity, it is equally true that Christianity was corrupted by paganism." - The History of Christianity, Eckler.
"Christianity did not destroy Paganism; it adopted it" - The Story of Civilization: Part III, Will Durant.
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Yes, God has always demanded that our "sacrifice" to him, no matter how small, must be pure and untainted. The principal was laid down repeatedly in the OT. E.g., "Do not sacrifice to the LORD [Jehovah] your God an ox or a sheep that has any defect or flaw in it, for that would be detestable to him." - Deut. 17:1, NIVSB, (Cf. Lev. 1:3,10; 3:1). Even in "grain offerings" when the grain was made into flour and baked before it was offered, there was to be absolutely no leaven or "yeast" in that offering. The leaven, then, was figurative of an impurity, comparable to a defect or flaw found in an impure animal sacrifice, and made such a flawed sacrifice detestable to God.
So, can we get away with a tiny bit of "leaven" in our "sacrifices" to God today? No more than we can get away with a tiny drop of cyanide in a glass of pure drinking water. Paul tells us of a saying that makes that very point:
"Have you never heard the saying, `A little leaven leavens all the dough'? The old leaven of corruption is working among you. Purge it out, and then you will be bread of a new baking. As Christians you are unleavened Passover bread .... So we who observe the festival must not use the old leaven, the leaven of corruption and wickedness, but only the unleavened bread which is sincerity and truth." Further explaining, Paul says: "you must have nothing to do with any so-called Christian who leads a loose life, or is grasping, or idolatrous.... You should not even eat with any such person." - 1 Cor. 5:6-8, 11, New English Bible.
No, God still tolerates absolutely no "leaven" mixed into the Christian "sacrifice" of true worship. "I the LORD do not change." - Malachi 3:6, NIVSB.
Note the example of the golden calf. It was made from the gold jewelry of the Israelites themselves. Obviously the Israelites were not allowed to keep that pagan image of the calf no matter how they "cleansed" it or "gave it a Godly purpose"! But surely they could recast that extremely valuable gold back into jewelry or even into utensils properly used in the worship of Jehovah!! But no, in spite of its great material value, it must never be used again by God's people in any form, for any purpose! - Deut. 9:21. What could be a more obvious demonstration of the exclusive devotion required by God and the lengths God's people must go to to ensure pure worship? We must not knowingly "purify" and "reuse" anything that has been made for paganistic false worship!
So, if pagan ceremonies, customs, god names, etc. are really mixed in with ceremonies, customs, etc. that we use to honor God and Christ, they are not merely unacceptable - - - they are detestable to God! We must completely get away from these unclean things and not even "touch" them! "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you." - 2 Cor. 6:17.
The writer of "I'm Celebrating!" (and the hundreds of millions of those she represents) is clearly, tragically, terribly wrong when she says: "My perspective gives these holidays a godly purpose. Pagans may have offered these holidays to their idols, but I offer them to my God and, therefore, they are God's days." If a holiday or custom is being deliberately participated in by a Christian, it must have absolutely no known pagan religion associations!
part of the Christian festival, and decorated the trees with gilded nuts, candles (a carry-over from sun worship), and apples to stand for the stars, moon, and sun." - pp. 1429, 1425, The World Book Encyclopedia, 1958 ed.
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Therefore, let's see if there really are any known pagan religion associations with the many holidays (from "Holy Days") that most people calling themselves Christians participate in. .... The custom, in fact, was practically universal, and the early Church adroitly adopted the practice, grafting it on to the Eucharist and so giving us the hot-cross-bun." - The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1959, Vol. 4, p. 381.
EASTER
What do the name "Easter," colored eggs, hot-cross buns, and bunnies have to do with honoring Jesus and Jehovah?
The very name of this celebration in English ("Easter") is the name of a pagan goddess! Many of the customs originally used in worshiping this ancient European goddess are the same ones used today in celebrating Easter!
"East'er ..., n. [AS. eastre, pl. eastron, from name of old Teutonic goddess of spring, AS. Eastre.]" - Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, 1953.
"... Eastre was the goddess of spring in the religion of the ancient Angles and Saxons. Every April a festival was celebrated in her honor. .... The festival [eventually] was celebrated in honor of the resurrection of Christ but was still known as Easter after the old goddess." p. 215, v. 5, Britannica Junior, 1957.
"(the word Easter is derived from the [Anglo-Saxon] name of Eastre, the Spring-goddess….)" – p. 240, An Encyclopedia of Religion, Virgilius Ferm, The Philosophical Library, 1945.
Easter was
"originally the spring festival in honor of the Teutonic goddess of light and spring known in Anglo-Saxon as Eastre. As early as the 8th century the name was transferred by the Anglo-Saxons to the Christian Festival designed to celebrate the resurrection of Christ." - The Westminster Dictionary of the Bible.
"Rooted in ancient veneration, the date of Easter was long regarded as symbolizing the rebirth of living things that had passed through the death of winter. Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess who presided over the vernal equinox, eventually gave her name to the Christian [?] festival." - How It Started, Garrison, copyright 1972 by Abingdon Press, pp. 49-50. for the moon
"Amongst the Anglo-Saxons the month of April was dedicated to Eostre or Ostara, Goddess of Spring; and her great feast has given its name to our Easter. Here again the Church was quite frank about it, and Bede states that the feast in England was simply `the old [pagan] festival observed with the gladness of a new solemnity.'" - Paganism in our Christianity, Weigall, p. 261, Gordon Press, 1974 (Reprint of the edition published by Putnam, New York.)
So how did the name of a pagan European goddess come to be in the KJV translation of Acts 12:4 ?
"EASTER - originally a Saxon word (Eostre), denoting a goddess of the Saxons, in honour of whom sacrifices were offered about the time of the Passover. Hence the name came to be given to the festival of the Resurrection of Christ, which occured at the time of the Passover. In the early English versions this word [Easter] was frequently used as the translation of the Greek pascha (the Passover). When the Authorized Version [KJV] (1611) was formed, the word `passover' was used in all passages in which this word pascha occurred, except in Acts 12:4. In the Revised Version the proper word, "passover," is always used." – Easton's Bible Dictionary, Thomas Nelson Publ.
"Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard [in a respectful, or even tolerating, manner] on your lips." Exodus 23:13, NIVSB. [2]"Eating special buns at the festival of the pagan goddess Eostre has long been an established custom among the natives of Britain. Early Christian missionaries who tried to stop this practice got nowhere. Eventually.... converts ... were permitted to continue eating buns at the time of the spring festival...." - How It Started, p. 50.
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"Like the Greeks, the [pagan] Romans ate bread marked with a cross ... at public sacrifices, such bread being usually purchased at the doors of the temple and then taken in with them - a custom alluded to by St. Paul in 1 Cor. x. 28. The cross-bread was eaten by pagan Saxons in honour of Easter, their goddess of light.[3]
"Long before the Christian festival of Easter was established, persons of many cultures exchanged eggs at the time of the year when nature wakes up from sleep. Wealthy persons used to cover their gift eggs with gilt or even gold leaf; ordinary persons usually colored them red. Today's [Easter] egg hunt, involving a dozen or hundreds or thousands of decorated or candy eggs, is so gay that it conceals the reverence with which many ancients [pagans] regarded this symbol of `life and death.'" - How It Started, p. 51.
"… the symbol of the egg generated not from Christian observances, but from pagan rituals. From earliest times, the egg has been a symbol of fertility and immortality. During the rites of spring, the pagan nations included it as a symbol of celebrating for the new life promised during the season of planting. The Church only took this ancient sign and applied it as a visual lesson to the resurrection of Christ." – p. 232, The Christian Book of Why, J. C. McCollister (Lutheran pastor and university professor), Jonathan David Publishers, 1983.
"Like the egg, the rabbit has been a symbol of fertility, the observance of which was a part of the Anglo-Saxon mythology and the pagan's celebration of spring, In a blend of Christian and pagan traditions, the rabbit was adopted as part of the festival of Jesus' resurrection celebrated during the spring each year." – pp. 233-234, McCollister.
"A great many pagan customs, celebrating the return of spring, gravitated to Easter. The egg is the emblem of the germinating life of early spring.... The rabbit is a pagan symbol and has always been an emblem of fertility." - The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913, Vol. V, p. 227.
So when children hunt for Easter eggs (left by the `Easter Bunny'),
"This is not mere child's play, but the vestige of a [pagan] fertility rite." - Funk and Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend, Vol. 1, p. 335.
Encyclopædia Britannica, eleventh edition, volume 8, page 828:
"There is no indication of the observance of the Easter festival in the New Testament, or in the writings of the apostolic Fathers. The sanctity of special times was an idea absent from the minds of the first Christians. . . . The ecclesiastical historian Socrates (Hist. Eccl. v. 22) states, with perfect truth, that neither the Lord nor his apostles enjoined the keeping of this or any other festival . . . and he attributes the observance of Easter by the church to the perpetuation of an old usage, `just as many other customs have been established.'"
"What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? .... `Therefore come out from them and be separate,' says the Lord. `Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you ...' says the Lord Almighty." - 2 Cor. 6:16, 17, NIVSB. [NIVSB f.n.: "agreement...between the temple of God and idols. There can be no reversion to or compromise with the idolatry they have forsaken for the gospel (cf. 1 Th. 1:9)."]
The `old usage' was the practice by pagans of having a festival in honor of their goddess of spring.
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* * * *
CHRISTMAS
"DECEMBER 25 - Neither scripture nor secular history records the date of Jesus' birth; even the season of the year is not stipulated.[4] Some evidence points to spring, but it is not conclusive. The only thing reasonably certain about the coming of the Christ Child is that his birth did not take place in winter. .... In A. D. 350 Pope Julius I formally designated December 25 as Christmas. He chose that date because it coincided with important pagan festivals. These, in turn, were linked with the winter solstice [the shortest day of the year]." - How it Started, p. 54.
"It was noted later that this date [Dec. 25] would fall within the rainy season in Palestine, so that the shepherds would hardly have been in the fields as they were when Jesus was born." - p. 1425, The World Book Encyclopedia, 1958.
Isaac Asimov in an article for Saturday Review tells us that the ancient pagan Romans celebrated
"a week-long Saturnalia [honoring the Roman god Saturn] from Dec. 17 to 24. It was a time of unrelieved merriment and joy.... gifts were given all around." Asimov continues, "the worship of Mithra, a sun-god of Persia, was becoming popular, especially among the soldiers. The Mithraists celebrated the birth of Mithra at the winter solstice, a natural time, and fixed on the day December 25 so that the popular Roman Saturnalia could build up to the Mithraist `Day of the Sun' as a climax.
"At that time, Christianity was locked in a great duel with the Mithraists for the hearts and minds of the people of the Roman Empire. .... Sometime after 300, Christianity managed the final coup of absorbing the Saturnalia, and with it scored its final victory over Mithraism. December 25 was established as the day of the birth of Jesus and the great festival was made Christian. There is absolutely no Biblical authority for Dec. 25 as having been the day of the Nativity." (Cf. "Sol Invictus", p. 725, An Encyclopedia of Religion, 1945 ed.)
"December 25 was already a major festival in the pagan Roman world, the Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, or `Birthday of the Unconquered Sun,' a feast honoring the renewal of the sun at the winter solstice. Pagan celebrations on December 25 had included feasting, dancing, lighting bonfires, decorating homes with greens, and giving gifts. So when this became a Christian [?] festival, the customs continued, but with a Christian [?] meaning imparted to them. Throughout the [Catholic] Middle Ages, Christmas was a richly varied religious holiday. However, during the Commonwealth, the English Puritans, repelled by both the pagan practices and the religious ceremonies, forbade any religious or secular celebration of Christmas. The English celebration returned with the return of the Stuarts ["near-Catholic" Church of England monarchs], but Christmas observances were still outlawed in Puritan New England for many years; and not until the 19th century did Christmas become a legal holiday in America." - p. 414, Vol. 4, Encyclopedia International, Grolier, Inc., 1966.
JESUS' BIRTHDAY -
"Early Christians [from time of Christ until the 4th century] frowned on [celebrating anyone's birthday], which was too closely linked with pagan customs to be given the approval of the church." - How It Started, p. 213.
The Christian Book of Why, by Dr. John C. McCollister (Lutheran minister and university professor, graduate of Trinity Lutheran Seminary), Jonathan David Publishers, Inc., 1983, tells us on p. 205:
"Christians of the first century did not celebrate the festival honoring the birth of Jesus - for the same reason they honored no other birthday anniversary. It was the feeling at that time by ALL Christians that the celebration of all birthdays (even the Lord's) was a custom of the PAGANS. In an effort to divorce themselves from ALL pagan practices, the early Christians refused to set aside a date marking Jesus' birth. As a result, the first celebration of Christmas by Christians [?] did not take place until the fourth century."
Think about it for a moment. Exactly who were included in "ALL Christians of the first century" (1 A. D. - 100 A. D.)?
Yes, the Jews themselves never celebrated birthdays until long after the death of Jesus. They considered it a purely pagan custom and detestable to the God they worshiped. Jesus and his Apostles continued this belief and so did their followers for centuries!
"As late as 245 [A. D.] Origen (hom. viii. on Leviticus) repudiated the idea of keeping the birthday of Christ, `as if he were a king Pharaoh [Gen. 4:19-22].'" - Encyclopedia Britannica, 14th ed., p. 642, Vol. 5.
GIFT-GIVING, FEASTING, MERRY-MAKING -
The Saturnalia, a pagan Roman festival honoring the Roman god Saturn, has supplied many of the elements found in Christmas."Most of the Christmas customs now prevailing in Europe [and America] ... are not genuine Christian customs, but heathen customs which have been absorbed or tolerated by the Church... The Saturnalia in Rome provided the model for most of the merry customs of the Christmas time.... Christmas inherited the general merriment in a more restrained form (excessive only in eating and drinking) [but see 1 Pet. 4:3, 4]: games, giving of gifts (especially to children), abundance of sweet meats and, as more ceremonious elements, burning of candles..." - Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, Hastings, Vol. III, pp. 608, 609.
"Saturnalia presents included wax dolls, given to children. A charming custom, no doubt, by times of record, but with a macabre past: even contemporaries thought this probably a vestige of human sacrifice, of children, to aid sowing." - History Today, as quoted in 22 Dec. 1992 Awake!
"The early Church in Rome had a particularly hard battle against two other great pagan festivals, the week-long Saturnalia, which began Dec. 17, and the Kalends, which greeted the New Year. The first festival was a time of licensed misrule, often presided over by a lord of merriment, not so much Santa as fat Saturn himself, the orgiast of eating, drinking and other kinds of naughtiness. It was during Kalends, when the year changed, however, that gifts were ritually exchanged, often tied to the boughs of greenery that decorated houses during the festivities.
"The attitude of the early church toward all this indecent jollity was predictably frosty. Its fathers, notably the fulminating St. John Chrysostom, urged no compromise with heathen abominations." - Simon Schama, professor of history at Harvard University, in a feature article of the 24 Dec. 1991 issue of The New York Times.
"CHRISTMAS TREES - Many countries claim the distinction of having launched the custom of erecting Christmas trees, but it may have begun independently in several parts of Europe. Ceremonial worship of trees in ancient pagan rites almost certainly led to the decoration of trees at the time of the winter solstice. German emigrants [coming to the U.S.] brought with them the custom of setting up trees in their houses at Christmas." - How It Started, pp. 52, 53.
"It is believed that the custom is a survival of the tree worship of ancient German tribes." -- "Tree worship was common in Scandinavian countries.... When the pagans of Northern Europe became Christians [?], they made their sacred evergreen trees
"I will stretch out my hand against [those worshiping me falsely in] Judah and against all who live in Jerusalem. I will cut off from this place every remnant of Baal, the names of the pagan and the idolatrous priests - those who bow down on the roofs to worship the starry host, those who bow down and swear by the LORD [Jehovah] and who also swear by Molech, those who turn back from following [Jehovah] and neither seek [Jehovah] nor inquire of him." - Zephaniah 1:4-6, NIVSB. The footnote for verse 1:5 reads: "swear by the LORD ... by Molech. Syncretism (worship of one's own god along with other gods)."
So again we see God's absolute hatred of "every remnant" of pagan worship mixed in with his true worship. Obviously this includes remnants of sacred tree worship and pagan worship of "the starry host" (stars, moon and sun)! But what were the decorations on the sacred evergreen tree intended to represent? "decorated the trees with gilded nuts, candles [electric lights today] (a carry-over from sun worship), and apples to stand for the stars, moon, and sun." We can see from the examples given in the Bible that births, weddings, and baptisms, at least, were celebrated by God's people. There were many religious festivals, but they were either commanded by God himself or celebrations of events that truly honored the God of the Bible and were completely unleavened by pagan origins or connections! The Bible shows time and time again that when the people went beyond these limits they were condemned, not only by the faithful prophets, but by God himself!
"From the earliest times the worship of trees has played an important part in the religious life of European peoples.... tree-worship is well attested for all the great European families of the Aryan stock. Amongst the Celts the oak-worship of the Druids is familiar to everyone. Sacred groves were common among the ancient Germans, and tree-worship is hardly extinct amongst their descendants at the present day. How serious that worship was in former times may be gathered from the ferocious penalty appointed by the old German laws for such as dared to peel the bark of a standing tree. [In times of famine starving peoples subsisted on the inner bark of certain trees.] The culprit's navel was to be cut out and nailed to the part of the tree which he had peeled, and he was to be driven round and round the tree till all his guts were wound about its trunk. The intention of the punishment clearly was to replace the dead bark by a living substitute taken from the culprit.... Proofs of the prevalence of tree-worship in ancient Greece and Italy [including Rome itself] are abundant." - pp. 106, 107, 108, The New Golden Bough, Sir James Frazer, Revised and edited by Dr. Theodor H. Gaster, Mentor Book, 1964 printing.
Is it any wonder that any trace of pagan worship is abhorrent to God?
"MISTLETOE - Why mistletoe [for Christmas decoration] instead of some other plant? Because this parasite which draws its nurture from oaks and other trees was regarded by the Druids of ancient Britain as endowed with supernatural power. .... Christians tried for centuries to discourage any use of mistletoe at any season of the year. The deeply ingrained practices rooted in [pagan] festivals around the time of the modern Christmas proved too stubborn to be eliminated, however." - How It Started, pp. 53, 54.
"Mistletoe is the famous Golden Bough, honored in Norse legend and worshiped by the Druids." - p. 337, Celebrations - The Complete Book of American Holidays, Robert J. Myers, Doubleday & Co., 1972.
HOLLY -
"The Druids of prehistoric Britain revered the plant we know as holly. .... It was all but inevitable that the use of the semi - sacred plant should become linked with the Christian [?] celebration that supplanted the older pagan one. Many scholars even think that `holly' is an adaptation of an early form of the word holy." - How It Started, p. 56.
YULE -
"In most of Europe [Christmas] is known as `Christ's Birthday.' Scandinavian countries still use the pagan name `Yule Day.' .... The Druids blessed [the Yule log] with great ceremony at the winter feast. (See Druid.)" - pp. 1425, 1426, The World Book Encyclopedia, 1958 ed.
"Yule (yool) n. Christmas. ¦< OE geol, originally a twelve-day heathen feast" - The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 1973, Dell.
"The burning of a huge log in the fireplace on Christmas day is a tradition followed by many European Christians that was borrowed from the Norsemen who burned a huge oak log called the Juul (pronounced `Yool' or `Yule') in honor of Thor, the God of thunder. After Christianity became the accepted faith of many Norsemen, they retained this custom as a part of their Christmas celebration. Later, the Scandinavians adopted the practice and even referred to the season as the `Yule season' or `Yuletide'." England and other European countries later adopted the tradition. - The Christian Book of Why, Dr. John C. McCollister (pastor and university professor, graduate of Trinity Lutheran Seminary), p. 215, Jonathan David Publishers, Inc., 1983.
"What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? .... `Therefore come out from them and be separate,' says the Lord. `Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you ...' says the Lord Almighty." - 2 Cor. 6:16, 17, NIVSB. [NIVSB f.n.: "agreement...between the temple of God and idols. There can be no reversion to or compromise with the idolatry they have forsaken for the gospel (cf. 1 Th. 1:9)."]
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SAINT VALENTINE'S DAY
"Ancient Romans placed great stress upon holidays that fell about the middle of the shortest month of the year. Dedicated to the goddess Juno, who was the wife of Jupiter, these festivals stressed love, courtship, and marriage.
"That was appropriate since Juno, queen of heaven, was regarded as the special protector of women in `critical times of life.'
....
"When Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire by edict of Emperor Constantine, religious leaders immediately started trying to do away with pagan festivals. Many of them had been observed for so many centuries that they resisted all frontal attacks, so there were many efforts to bring about change in a more subtle fashion. One of the most effective was a substitution of a Christian [?] observance for a pagan one, with special ceremonies held on or near the date of the long-established holiday.
"Since the martyrdom of St. Valentine was celebrated on February 14, it made sense to stress homage to the man who was said to have been stoned to death on that day in A. D. 269. For that reason the name of a man about whom no written records exist came to be attached to the day formerly dedicated to Juno." - How It Started, pp. 46-47.
"Valentine's Day comes on the feast of two different Christian martyrs named Valentine. But the customs connected with the day ... probably came from an ancient Roman festival called Lupercalia which took place every February 15. The festival honored Juno, the Roman goddess of women and marriage, and Pan, the god of nature." - The World Book Encyclopedia, p. 204, Vol. 20, 1973 ed.
Some would say that it's wrong to pay such homage to dead men, whether Catholic "Saints" or not, but certainly it's incredibly wrong to mix in pagan ceremonies honoring pagan gods in the process.
Martin Luther wrote,
"The pity is that we are so blind that we do not leave the devil alone to play his tricks in his own way; rather, we support him and multiply them. I wish people would leave the saints in peace, and not mislead humble folk. What spirit was it that gave the pope authority to canonize saints? Who tells him whether they are holy or not? .... God is just in judging us with His wrath and in allowing the devil to lead us hither and thither, to institute pilgrimages, ... to set about canonizing saints and other foolish things." - p. 458, Martin Luther, Selections From His Writings, Dr. John Dillenberger, Anchor Books, Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1961.
"What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? .... `Therefore come out from them and be separate,' says the Lord. `Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you ...' says the Lord Almighty." - 2 Cor. 6:16, 17, NIVSB. [NIVSB f.n.: "agreement...between the temple of God and idols. There can be no reversion to or compromise with the idolatry they have forsaken for the gospel (cf. 1 Th. 1:9)."]* * * *
SAINT PATRICK'S DAY
Luther's criticism above concerning the reverence of Roman Catholic Saints, of course, is equally applicable to St. Patrick. In addition we find the following concerning the great symbol of St. Patrick and St. Patrick's Day.
"The doctrine of Three Gods in One, each separate and distinct, yet each totally God, is claimed by Christians to be a mystery and is accepted on faith. In trying to teach his converts about the Trinity St. Patrick held up a shamrock explaining that the three leaves represented the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, while the stem was the Godhead itself from which they proceeded. This is said to be the origin of the use of the shamrock which is customarily worn on St. Patrick's Day.
"Scholars have discovered that the shamrock, or trefoil, was initially used in ancient Celtic fertility rites. It represented a triad of goddesses..." - pp. 79-80, Celebrations - The Complete Book of American Holidays, Robert J. Myers, Doubleday & Co., 1972.
"What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? .... `Therefore come out from them and be separate,' says the Lord. `Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you ...' says the Lord Almighty." - 2 Cor. 6:16, 17, NIVSB. [NIVSB f.n.: "agreement...between the temple of God and idols. There can be no reversion to or compromise with the idolatry they have forsaken for the gospel (cf. 1 Th. 1:9)."]
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HALLOWEEN
"Its name means hallowed or holy evening." - The World Book Encyclopedia, 1952, Vol. 8, pp. 3245-6.
To really understand this "holy evening" you must realize that Halloween, as we know it today, has grown from several different sources. The main source has been traced back to religious ceremonies of the ancient Babylonians. - The New Golden Bough, Sir James Frazer, edited by Dr. T. H. Gaster, p. 468, Mentor Book, 1964; and Funk and Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend, 1949, p. 38.
From Babylon this pagan religious celebration spread throughout much of the world.
The Druids of ancient Britain also borrowed this Babylonian festival and celebrated it to honor Samhain, Lord of the Dead, whose festival fell on November 1. - Halloween Through the Centuries, Linton, p. 4. They believed this pagan god called together "certain wicked souls on Halloween" - Encyclopedia Britannica, 14th ed., Vol. 11, p. 103. In honoring this pagan god his supplicators hoped to be protected from these "wicked souls." Therefore, many of the things done in celebrating this "holy evening" are in honor of the false gods of the Druids. For example, "When you light a candle inside the jeering pumpkin face, you are in a small way imitating the Celtic Druids" who lit "great bonfires on hilltops to honor the sun god" and thereby help keep away winter and the evil spirits. - The Book of Holidays, McSpadden, 1958 ed., pp. 149-153; and All About American Holidays, Krythe, 1962, pp. 214-215.
Since the "Mother" Church (which was established in Rome about 200 years after the death of the last Apostle) embarked on a course of adopting and adapting pagan religious ceremonies into the Church, it is not surprising that elements of ancient Roman false worship were also added to the "Holy Evening" celebration. For example, "when you duck for apples ... you are doing as the Romans did - - honoring Pomona, the Roman goddess of orchards." - The Book of Holidays, pp. 149-153 and Collier's Encyclopedia, 1975, Vol. 2, p. 192.
The real religion celebrated by the "Holy Evening" of Halloween is still a living religion. What is sometimes called "witchcraft" has had its ups and downs but is still practiced as a religion in nearly every country of the world.
"It began in the shadowy darkness of man's early religion. It lived and flourished through the ages and it is by no means wiped out even yet. Witchcraft in the Middle Ages was the `art' of controlling natural forces by power obtained from the Devil. Witches were people who made agreements with the Evil One." - Britannica Jr., 1957 ed., Vol. 15, pp. 131-132.
Whether deluded or not, these "witches" were (and are) making a public declaration: a demonstration of their faith and a defiance of the God of the Bible. They continued to practice their religion (in many different, varying sects) in spite of great persecution. This religion of the Middle Ages actually grew out of the earlier pagan Druid religion.
"These rites did not die .... When a monk or knight swore that in a clearing of the woods he had seen witches dancing around the devil, he did not lie. What he saw was ... people worshiping with a priest of the heathen religion. The prayer meetings of the witches were called witches' Sabbaths. .... Two nights especially were set aside - October 31, called Halloween and the eve of May Day, called Walpurgis." - Britannica Jr., pp. 131-132.
"Though the Church was able to destroy the temples and outward forms of worship of these heathen religions, it could not completely eradicate the faith and beliefs of their priests and worshipers. These found an outlet during the Middle Ages in witchcraft which was devoted to the worship of Satan. This cult included periodic meetings, known as witches' sabbaths, which were given over to feasting and revelry. One of the most important sabbaths was held on Halloween." - Encyclopedia Britannica, 1956, Vol. 11, pp. 106-107.
"The witches' sabbat [sabbath], or Black Mass, was a mockery of the religious one. It began with the assembly of the witches' covens, always at night, in forests, open fields, at crossroads, and even secretly in churches.... The name `sabbats' for these meetings is believed to have come from the Old Hebrew Sabbath - the seventh day." - A Cauldron of Witches, Alderman, 1973, p. 9.
The Ketchikan Daily News (Alaska) interviewed a modern follower of one local sect of this religion in its October 31, 1979 edition. The witch, Genevieve, said:
"Witchcraft is really a religion. It's actually called Wicca.... A coven of witches is made up of men and women from every profession to worship the universal godheads. ...this religion's principal deities [gods] are Diana [goddess of the moon] and Cernunos (Celtic gods). Cernunos is represented as having ... antlers and hooves." - pp. 1, 2.
"Halloween, of course, is the red letter day for witches. A Sabbat it's called, and it's one of the 7 major festivals observed yearly." - p. 2.
"What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? .... `Therefore come out from them and be separate,' says the Lord. `Touch NO unclean thing, and I will receive you ...' says the Lord Almighty." - 2 Cor. 6:16, 17, NIVSB. [NIVSB f.n.: "agreement...between the temple of God and idols. There can be no reversion to or compromise with the idolatry they have forsaken for the gospel (cf. 1 Th. 1:9)."]
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THANKSGIVING
"Thanksgiving Day, first. `Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors. The four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain and others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty.' As James Deetz and Jay Anderson point out in "The Ethnogastronomy of Thanksgiving" (Saturday Review of Science, Nov. 25, 1972), this sole eyewitness description of the festival we now consider the first Thanksgiving - it's by Edward Winslow - nowhere mentions any giving of thanks. Indeed, it bears little relationship to the image of pious sobriety and heaven-directed gratitude we now assume the `first Thanksgiving' to have been. In Deetz's and Anderson's words, `What took place on that fall day some three-and-a-half centuries ago is best understood as the first harvest festival held on American soil, the acting out of an institution of great antiquity in the England the Pilgrims had left behind. It was a time for joy, celebration, and carousing, far removed from any suggestion of solemn religious concern.'
"As the authors go on to point out, the Pilgrims did not choose `a solemn day of thanksgiving' to `formalize their thanks to God.' Rather, they opted for a day of `revelry, sports, and feasts' long known to them back in England as Harvest Home." - pp. 283-284, The Dictionary of Misinformation ("The World's Number One Conversation Starter And Argument Settler"), Burnam, Ballantine Books, 1977.
"Throughout the world harvest has always been the occasion for many queer customs which all have their origin in the animistic belief in the corn [grain]-spirit or corn [grain]-mother. This personification of the crops has left its impress upon the harvest customs of modern Europe. .... Throughout the world, as Sir J. G. Frazer shows, the semi-worship of the last sheaf is or has been the great feature of the harvest-home. Among harvest customs none is more interesting than harvest cries; the Devonshire reapers go through a ceremony which in its main features is a counterpart of pagan worship." - pp. 231-232, Encyclopedia Britannica, volume 11, 14th edition.
"The Pilgrims, who in 1621 observed our initial Thanksgiving holiday, were not a people especially enthusiastic about the celebration of festivals. In fact these austere and religious settlers of America would have been dismayed had they known of the long and popular history of harvest festivals, of which their Thanksgiving was only the latest. .... The harvest festival, with its attendant rites, seems to have spread out from ... Egypt and Syria and Mesopotamia. The first or the last sheaf of wheat was offered to the `Great Mother' .... Astarte [equivalent to Ishtar and Eastre] was the Earth Mother of the ancient Semites; to the Phrygians she was Semele; under the name of Demeter she was worshiped by the Greeks at the famous Eleusinian Mysteries..." - pp. 271-272, Celebrations - The Complete Book of American Holidays, Robert J. Myers, Doubleday & Co., 1972.
What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? .... `Therefore come out from them and be separate,' says the Lord. `Touch NO unclean thing, and I will receive you ...' says the Lord Almighty." - 2 Cor. 6:16, 17, NIVSB. [NIVSB f.n.: "agreement...between the temple of God and idols. There can be no reversion to or compromise with the idolatry they have forsaken for the gospel (cf. 1 Th. 1:9)."]
"So we must be very careful to discern false reasoning which could lead to our condemnation by the God we wish to honor. When we are told: "If we don't set aside times to let [our loved ones] know we love them, we too easily forget to express it" and "I'm convinced we need rituals, traditions and excuses to gather," we must not be tempted into God-dishonoring conduct because of it. My family has, like those who truly worshiped God in the Bible, set aside celebrations acceptable to God. Wedding anniversaries and other family days are celebrated by us with decorations, dinners, music, even gift-giving! We can establish our own traditions. We also have family days set aside for no purpose other than to express our love for one another. None of these celebrations will borrow from paganism!
The arrogance of those who say they can decide for themselves what is good and acceptable to God should make everyone who truly believes the Bible is the word of God shudder. The Bible is filled with examples of such people from the very beginning. They all were rejected by the God of the Bible.
"The actual society [the Israelites] knew was an uneasy accommodation of Israelite tradition to Canaanite [pagan] mores and institutions, which were based on nature worship .... Yahweh's [Jehovah's] name was honored while his nature was outraged. [Israelite worship] was in all but name the worship of other gods because it sanctioned a way of life abominable to [Jehovah]." - p. 615, An Encyclopedia of Religion, Ferm (ed.), 1945 edition.
"With the exception of occasional and temporary reforms ... Judah was always idolatrous, always reflecting the fetichism of surrounding nations. The exhortations of such prophets as Elijah, Elisha, ... Isaiah, Zephaniah, Jeremiah, and others, were of no more avail with Judah than with Israel, so that [after finally exhausting the patience of a very patient God] Jerusalem was razed to the ground, the temple destroyed and the people [killed or] taken captives to Babylonia." - Encyclopedia Americana, p. 65, Vol. 16, 1944.
Yes, even way back then the many who believed they were God's saved people turned out to be on the broad easy road to destruction, and only a relative few stayed on that difficult narrow road that led to life! The issue was always one of obedience versus selfish "reasoning" or rationalizing.
* * * *
Consider how Jesus (and his God) is being "honored" by these "holy-days." (That's supposed to be their purpose, isn't it: honoring Jesus and honoring God?) Things that are detestable to Jesus and his God are done "in his name" to "praise him" (and his God).
Think how "pleased" you would be if your employees held a dinner party in your name where your worst enemies were the honored guests. You are well-known for your fight against (and absolute hatred of) illegal drugs, but part of the festivities this night require repeated use of such drugs ("in your honor" of course) by everyone present! It's certainly a good thing you are not present for these festivities which are loudly and publicly declared to be done for you and in your honor! But what will happen when you do return? ("Then I will tell them plainly, `I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" - Mt 7:22, NIV)
Yes, it might have been acceptable if your employees held a dinner party in your honor while you were away, if they had truly done the things they knew you actually stood for. But it would certainly have been better for them to have had no party at all than one that `profaned' or `polluted' your name!
Think about it carefully. If the author of "I'm Celebrating!" and the hundreds of millions like her are correct and I am wrong, will I be condemned by God for not having celebrated these pagan-inspired "holy-days"? Has he commanded anywhere that his people must celebrate such things? Of course not! I might be mistaken in such a case, but I certainly would not be committing a sin against my God!
On the other hand, if I am correct that God has condemned such things strongly throughout the Bible, what may be the fate of those who continue to celebrate them in spite of the Biblical commands against such things? Which is the course of wisdom? Which is the only course that will positively not put us in opposition to the Lord? If we truly loved God and his Christ, would we not bend over backward to avoid disobeying their word? Would we not completely eliminate any traces of such paganism from our worship - in effect "pulverize" it and remove it completely and irrevocably? - Deut. 9:21.
* * * *
"You must not worship the LORD your God in their [pagans'] way." - Deut. 12:3, 30, 31, NIVSB.
"What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? .... `Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you...says the Lord Almighty.' Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." - 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1, NIVSB.
"`You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!'" - Mark 7:6-9, NIV, JB.
"Not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, `Lord, Lord, ....' Then I will tell them plainly, `I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" - Matt. 7:21-22, NIVSB.
"He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But ... those who practice magic arts, the idolaters, and all liars - their place will be in the fiery lake .... the second death." - Rev. 21:7-8, NIVSB. Cf. Rev. 22:14-15, NIVSB.
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Note: Although Watchtower Society (WTS) research and scholarship is usually at least the equal of (and often superior to) that of other sources, I have tried to rely most heavily on other sources or my own independent research to provide evidence disproving the reasoning of most of Christendom discussed in this paper. The reason is, of course, that this paper is meant to provide evidence needed by non-Witnesses, and many of them will not accept anything written by the WTS. They truly believe it is false, even dishonest. Therefore some of the information in this paper may be in disagreement with current WTS teachings in some specifics. Jehovah's Witnesses should research the most recent WTS literature on the subject in question before using this information with others. – RDB.
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NOTES
[1] The highly-respected New Bible Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1984, Tyndale House Publ. tells us that this golden calf was intended to either actually represent Jehovah or, possibly, to act as "a pedestal over which he [Jehovah] was enthroned." - p. 504.
A Dictionary of the Bible confirms this:
" `a molten calf' is fashioned ... before which an altar is built, and to which, as a symbol of [Jehovah] ... divine honours are paid." - Vol. 1, p. 341, Hastings (ed.), Hendrickson Publishers, 1988 printing.
[2] `Easter' is the North European (and American) name of the same pagan goddess also known as Asherah & Astarte (Canaanite) and Ishtar (Babylonian & Assyrian).
"ASHERAH and pl. Asherim in Revised Version, instead of "grove" and "groves" of the Authorized Version [KJV]. This was the name of a sensual Canaanitish goddess Astarte, the feminine of the Assyrian Ishtar. Its symbol was the stem of a tree deprived of its boughs, and rudely shaped into an image, and planted in the ground. Such religious symbols ("groves") are frequently alluded to in Scripture (Exodus 34:13; Judges 6:25; 2 Kings 23:6; 1 Kings 16:33, etc.). These images were also sometimes made of silver or of carved stone (2 Kings 21:7; "the graven image of Asherah," R.V.). (See GROVE [1].). – Easton's Bible Dictionary, Thomas Nelson Publ.
"ISHTAR, principal Babylonian and Assyrian goddess, equivalent to the Sumerian Innin and the Phoenician Astarte .... intimately concerned with the giving or spilling of life, was goddess both of sexual activities and of war." - p. 440, Vol. 9, Encyclopedia International, Grolier, 1966.
The Rev. Alexander Hislop in his The Two Babylons proved that the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre (or Eastre) was none other than the infamous Ishtar of Babylon, the Queen of the Heavens, and, he tells us, those two names (Eastre and Ishtar) were even pronounced the same: `Ee-star'. He informs us that the worship of Bel and Ishtar was introduced into Britain at a very early date by the Druids.
So we see that the Bible's commands and dire warnings about Asherah must certainly include her other names: Astarte, Ishtar, and Easter!
[3] Easter Buns (or "Cakes of Bread") and Easter Fires. The Rev. Alexander Hislop in his The Two Babylons proved that the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre (or Eastre) was none other than the infamous Ishtar of Babylon, the Queen of the Heavens, and those two names (Eastre and Ishtar) were even pronounced the same: `Ee-star.' He informs us that the worship of Bel and Ishtar[5] was introduced into Britain at a very early date by the Druids. From Bel comes the name of the pagan festival Beltane. Hislop tells us that even as late as the 19th century Beltane was celebrated every year in Britain as follows: The people assemble in a circle and light a fire in the center. Each person places a small piece of oat-cake in a hat. They all sit and draw from the hat. Whoever draws the blackened piece of oat-cake (you'd expect it to be a straw or stick or stone, wouldn't you?) has to jump through the fire in the center of the circle, and pay a penalty fee.
"This is," says Hislop, "in fact, a part of the ancient worship of Baal [Bel], and the person on whom the lot fell was [in earlier times] burnt as a sacrifice. Now, the passing through the fire represents that [earlier human sacrifice]...."Hislop continues, "If Baal [Bel] was thus worshipped in Britain, it will not be difficult to believe that his consort [Ishtar also known as Astarte] was also added by our ancestors, and that from ... Ishtar, the religious solemnities of April ... are [now] called by the name of Easter." Hislop further tells us that the entire month of April (including the last day when the evening Beltane Fires were usually kindled) was called "Easter-monath". - p. 104.
Weiser also tells us that such bonfires were originally banned by the church as being a pagan symbolism (Synod of Mainz, 742 A. D.). However, "Saint" Patrick introduced the practice in Ireland "to supplant the Druidic pagan spring fires with a Christian [?] and religious fire symbol of Christ... This tolerated custom became so popular eventually that the popes incorporated it into the liturgy of the Western Church in the latter part of the ninth century." And so it became popular in much of Western Europe. - The Easter Book, Francis Weiser, S. J.
"In spite of the thin cloak of Christianity thrown over these customs [Easter Fires] we can hardly doubt that they are really of pagan origin." - p. 703, The New Golden Bough by Sir James G. Frazer as revised and edited by Dr. Theodor Gaster, A Mentor Book, 1964 printing.
Frazer relates many accounts of Beltane Fires and "May" Fires in Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Sweden, and other northern European countries in the relatively recent past. They often have these things in common: Large fires are kindled (usually on hills) in late April or early May. Sacrificial cakes (often of oats - sometimes with eggs) are used - sometimes ceremonially eaten, sometimes used in other rituals. People (most often children) are "sacrificed" in the fires: Some are actually dragged up to the fire and seemingly about to be thrown in before being stopped; some are actually spread on the ground as though to be cut into quarters before being "thrown into" the fire; and, more often, children and young people jump over the fires often passing through the flames. (These purely pagan customs were still very popular in many places of northern Europe even as late as the mid-1800's.
For example, Frazer tells us: "On the first of May, 1837 the Baal fires were, as usual on that day, so numerous as to give the [Isle of Man] the appearance of a general conflagration." And, "On the Hemlock Stone, a natural pillar of sandstone standing on Stapleford Hill in Nottinghamshire, a fire used to be solemnly kindled every year [up into the 1800's] on Beltane Eve." - p. 708, #531, The New Golden Bough.)
The "cakes of bread" have become "hot cross buns" at Easter and the Beltane fires have become Easter Fires, but both clearly betray their pagan-inspired origins in which they, together, honored false gods, notably Ishtar (Easter) and Bel (Baal or Molech).
Yes, the "hot cross bun" commemorates a ritual honoring Ishtar (and Eastre), and the Easter Fires commemorate the ritual fires and terrible human sacrifices that were an essential part of worshipping the god Bel (Baal or Molech) Ishtar's consort.
Now notice how this very same double custom was condemned by God.
In Jeremiah 7 Jehovah tells that he will destroy "his people" of the southern kingdom of Judah (including Jerusalem and the Temple) because of their disobedience. They honor other gods and then come and stand in God's house which bears his sacred name and say, `We are safe' - - safe to do all these detestable things. And how will it end for them?
"I will thrust you from my presence, just as I did all your brothers [the northern 10 tribes of Israel who had been destroyed or taken away as slaves]."
Why?
"Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes of bread for the Queen of Heaven [The NIV Study Bible footnote for this verse says: `Queen of Heaven. A Babylonian title for Ishtar']."
And,
"The people of Judah have built the high places of Topheth [NIVSB footnote: `place of child sacrifice'] in the valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire." - Jeremiah 7:9, 10, 13-15, 30, 31, NIVSB.
"The heathen practice of making children `pass through the fire' was occasionally practiced by the Israelites ... and was included in the condemnations of the prophets."
And,
"The OT often speaks of the fact that Israelites at times of apostasy made their children `go through the fire to Molech' (2 Kings 23:10; cf. Jeremiah 7:31; 19:5). In some passages the reference is clearly to a deity to whom human sacrifice was made...." - pp. 377, 789, New Bible Dictionary, Second edition, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1982.
So how should we react to the "deceptive words" of those who tell us we can make a pagan ritual into something pleasing to God? Were God's chosen people ever able to do that?
"This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD [Jehovah]: `Stand at the gate of [Jehovah's] house and there proclaim this message: "Hear the word of [Jehovah], all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship [Jehovah]. [These people really firmly believe they are God's saved people and that they are worshiping him in an acceptable manner.] This is what [Jehovah] Almighty, the God of Israel, says: `Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. Do not trust in deceptive words and say "This is the temple of the LORD [so we are automatically saved no matter what]...."'"'" - Jeremiah 7:1-4, 8, NIVSB
[4] We are even left to argue about the year of his birth! Respected scholars and historians still debate this issue with claims ranging from 2 B.C. to 7 B.C (or more). Jehovah's Witnesses decided many years ago (from scriptural & historical evidence) that it was probably in 2 B.C.E. (B.C.). They have been attacked for this belief by some, but a number of "orthodox" scholars now agree with them.
"The date of 3/2 B.C.E. was universally held by the early church fathers and has been embraced again by Ernest Martin, W. F. Filmer and others who place the death of Herod in 1 B.C.E. Their position has now been accepted by Jack Finegan in the latest revised edition of his Handbook of Biblical Chronology, [Peabody, MA, Hendrickson Publishers, 1998], pp. 291-301." - p. 45, Bible Review, Dec. 1999.
Biblical Archaeology Review included this information concerning the book The Star that astonished the World by Dr. Ernest L. Martin: "For the first time in 50 years, the respected Griffith Observatory altered its annual planetarium show to include this compelling case for a 2-3 B.C. birth date of Christ." - p. 11, July/August 2000.
[5] Remember, the mere association of a custom or ritual with paganistic worship was enough to make it abominable to God! The "sacred evergreen" tree is no exception!
"The asherah was wooden, as we learn from its usual destruction by burning (Deut. 12:3; 2 Ki 23:6), and probably originated from the sacred evergreen .... The association of these with Canaanite fertility practice sufficed to make them abominable to [God]." - New Bible Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1984, p. 504, Tyndale House Publ.
"For it is not to be believed that these [early Greek and Roman pagan ceremonies] have no origin, are practiced without reason or meaning, and have no causes connected with their first beginnings. That pine which is regularly born into the sanctuary of the Great Mother, is it not in imitation of that tree beneath which Attis mutilated and unmanned himself, which also, they relate, the goddess consecrated to relieve her grief?" - Arnobius (4th cent. Christian writer), The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 6, p. 504, Eerdmans.
"BEL, the supreme god, or one of the chief gods, of the Babylonians (Isa. 46). The word is the Chaldaic form of Baal, and Bel is believed by some to be identical with that god." - p. 769, Vol. 3, The Universal Standard Encyclopedia, 1955.
"Mythologists who regarded Baal as synonymous with the Sun-god associated his worship as having prevailed through ancient Scandinavia, and it is supposed to have been general in the British Isles." - p. 2, Vol. 3, The Encyclopedia Americana, 1957.
"ISHTAR, principal Babylonian and Assyrian goddess, equivalent to the Sumerian Innin and the Phoenician Astarte .... intimately concerned with the giving or spilling of life, was goddess both of sexual activities and of war." - p. 440, Vol. 9, Encyclopedia International, Grolier, 1966.
"ASHERAH and pl. Asherim in Revised Version, instead of "grove" and "groves" of the Authorized Version [KJV]. This was the name of a sensual Canaanitish goddess Astarte, the feminine of the Assyrian Ishtar. Its symbol was the stem of a tree deprived of its boughs, and rudely shaped into an image, and planted in the ground. Such religious symbols ("groves") are frequently alluded to in Scripture (Exodus 34:13; Judges 6:25; 2 Kings 23:6; 1 Kings 16:33, etc.). These images were also sometimes made of silver or of carved stone (2 Kings 21:7; "the graven image of Asherah," R.V.). (See GROVE [1].). – Easton's Bible Dictionary, Thomas Nelson Publ.
And An Encyclopedia of Religion, Ferm (editor), 1945:
"Baalism: Designation of a nature religion, the main emphasis of which is on fertility. Fertility religion assumed various forms in the Near East, but was most highly developed in Canaanite (Phoenician) religion, and played a major role in the OT by way of stimulus for syncretism [partially or wholly absorbing aspects of other religions into your own] and prophetic reaction. From various sources ... the basic concepts are clear. El was the father of the gods ..., and Asherah was the mother-goddess. Chief among their progeny was the familiar god who controlled the weather and vegetation, known as Baal [or Bel] ... His consort was the goddess of fertility, Astarte (OT Ashtaroth ...) [Also known as Ishtar].
"To understand the story it is necessary to understand the climate of Syria and Palestine. In March-April the rains cease, and do not begin again until October-November. During the dry season, therefore, there is little vegetation which can grow, whereas in the spring as a result of the winter rains the whole country is covered temporarily with verdure. The Canaanite personified the forces responsible for this climatic cycle. The reason the rains stopped and the vegetation dried up was that the god of weather and vegetation, Baal [Bel], had been killed in a fierce struggle with Mot, `Death.' The rains returned in the fall because friends, especially the sun [represented by Beltane fires in Britain] and Fertility (Astarte [or Ishtar, Eastre]), brought Baal [Bel] back to life. The earth flowered in the spring because of the copulation of Baal [Bel] and Astarte [Eastre].
....
"This religion had a great influence upon Israel in various ways, until the religion of the majority of the common people, especially in North Israel, became highly syncretistic [full of borrowed paganisms added to the true religion - - exactly as found in the majority of Christendom today]. This occasioned the strong prophetic reaction and the posing of the question by Elijah and his successors as to whether Yahweh [Jehovah] or Baal was to be Israel's God. Coupled with this was the denunciation of the symbols and acts of Canaanite religion, including Asherah (whose symbol was the sacred tree, grove, or post), pillar (perhaps the symbol of Baal...), and the teraphim..." - p. 51.
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(This paper is written for those few who are willing to examine both sides of an issue and (in spite of the inclination of their hearts to follow enjoyable traditions) truly desire to follow God's word as expressed in the Bible.)
I received the following magazine article (in blue) from my Lutheran relatives in 1991. A handwritten notation on the article said "Taken from The Lutheran Standard."
I'm Celebrating!
"We don't exchange gifts at Christmas, and we don't celebrate Halloween," the Christian preschool principal informed us. "Nor Valentine's Day. Last year, some little rascal brought Valentine cards!" I said nothing, but I realized her theology and mine differed greatly.
"I understand the basis for her comments. I also know the `origins' of those holidays and of the Christmas tree, Cupid and St. Nick. I know these things are often attributed to paganism or fairy tales. I know, too, that eating black-eyed peas on New Years Day won't bring good luck - just as my daughter knows the tooth fairy really doesn't put the prize under the pillow. So am I wrong to join so heartily in these celebrations? I don't think so. As Paul wrote to the Romans, `He who regards one day as special does so to the Lord' (Romans 14:6). I feel these holidays and traditions can likewise be observed for the Lord.
"Pagans started some of these holidays and celebrations, and they may have corrupted some customs. But a believer can make the holidays Christian. I do not honor anything evil when I send valentines and hang hearts on my refrigerator. I celebrate love, friendship and kindness. I share the joy Christ has made my heart to know.
"The Christmas celebration is loaded with controversy, but again I see Christian symbolism. The lights at Christmas - they are God's idea! That first special night he threw a light show so spectacular people are still talking about it. So my tree will twinkle again this Christmas. I want my home to say to passers-by that love lives here and that I care enough to decorate for Christ's birthday more lavishly than I do for my child's. I will join the "commercialized" rush and buy gifts for my family because I care about these people. If we don't set aside times to let them know we love them, we too easily forget to express it.
"Recently I read of a woman who said her family now uses an artificial tree at Christmas in hopes that this adjustment will later make it easier to do without that `plastic piece of paganism.' In my mind, God had the first claims on the evergreen, and God created it for our enjoyment, both inside and outside the house.
"Easter, too, belongs wholeheartedly to Christ, and I marvel that spring comes at the same time. Everyone thinks of new life at springtime - what a perfect analogy to what Christ does in people! Lambs, lilies and chicks have nothing to do with Christ's resurrection, but in each is a symbol of newness and purity. The Trinity is often made more understandable by looking at the egg's three parts. So I will dye eggs with my children and hide them - just for the sheer joy of it. And I will marvel in the power that produces a bloom from a bulb and the power that raised Christ from the dead.
"We hear more against Halloween than perhaps any holiday, and for good reason. But again, I don't intend to relinquish to the devil one inch of our celebration. I hate ghouls, evil and ugliness that are associated with this day. Instead, my family bakes cookies, dresses the kids in cute costumes (angels, bunnies) and go visit the elderly, the lonely. We make it our chance to treat, to bring laughter.
"I am not conforming to the world and its customs. My perspective gives these holidays a godly purpose. Pagans may have offered these holidays to their idols, but I offer them to my God and, therefore, they are God's days.
"I need celebration in my life. Holidays mark the passage of time, focus my mind on loved ones and turn my thoughts to Christ the baby, Christ the love-giver, Christ the originator of new life and of harvest. In this day of forces that fragment the family, I'm convinced we need rituals, traditions and excuses to gather. We need reasons for our children to say, "Our family always ...." So I'll mark these days on my calendar. I'm celebrating!" [Emphasis added.]
* * * *
All of this may be very appealing to those of us who have enjoyed the traditions of Christmas, Easter, Halloween, etc. Those who, even though they may be totally unaware of it, are willing to accept any reasoning to keep these enjoyable traditions will find this emotional appeal very convincing. Most of these people will find a reason to keep on doing what their hearts desire no matter what evidence or Bible proofs are provided for them (Jer. 17:9; Mark 7:20-23; Prov. 28:26, KJV, NASB).
This paper, however, is written for those few who are willing to examine both sides of an issue and (in spite of the inclination of their hearts to follow enjoyable traditions) truly desire to follow God's word as expressed in the Bible.
We must accept God's word over the desires of our hearts and the traditions of men. The very first lesson in the Bible concerns the disastrous results of man following his heart's desire (and his own "reasoning") instead of obedience to God's word. Adam knew God's word concerning the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He knew absolutely that he was not to touch it at this time - this was God's command to him. And yet, the desires of his heart allowed false reasoning to convince him that this forbidden knowledge was in his best interests. (Gen. 2:15; 3:1-6)
Think about it. This fruit apparently has the power to give you the knowledge to discern for yourself what is good for you and what is not. What a valuable thing! How could anyone who truly loves you and wants what's best for you deny you such a wonderful thing? The conclusion you might jump to (especially if you crave this thing in your heart) is that God has lied to you. He doesn't want you to be strong and free. He wants you to be dependent upon him forever (Gen. 3:4, 5). Or else, you might reason, instead of a test of obedience, this is a test to see if you are ready to assume your place at his side by showing that you really can think and act independently and logically.
Either way, your heart tells you that you must do what you feel is right, not what God has literally said (especially since it seems so clearly "wrong" to you in this case).
Well, we may understand why Adam disobeyed God's clear commandment, but we must not condone it! (Cf. 1 Samuel 15:17-23)
Another example of "reasoned" disobedience to God's word: Moses was up on Mount Sinai for so many days that the Israelites feared that he must have died. So they made an idol in the shape of the golden calf that they had known all their lives during their Egyptian slavery. They made sacrifices to it and called it the very same God who had brought them out of Egypt. Even Aaron built an altar in front of the calf in order to have a festival to Jehovah.
Now God had commanded them to have only one God, Jehovah. So this festival and idol were really intended in His honor (or so they reasoned in their hearts). They were taking pagan religious customs and "making them clean and holy"! The only problem is, worshipers of the true God don't decide for themselves what is right or wrong in God's eyes. This is exactly the same terrible sin that Adam and Eve committed. Imagine the triumphant laughter that must have erupted from Satan when the Israelites fell into his hands as easily and completely as Adam and Eve had!
On the next day during the festival (to "Jehovah") God's wrath against such disobedient ones was partially fulfilled and thousands died. (Ex. 32.)
We may well understand the reasoning of the Israelites and their desire to fall back on customs and ceremonies that they had grown up with in Egypt and felt secure and comfortable with. But the whole point of this example is that they expressly disobeyed Jehovah's clear commandment (Ex. 20:4) and reasoned in their own self-deceiving hearts that they could make this action "clean and holy to God" by giving the pagan idol Jehovah's name and making the pagan celebration solely in HIS honor. Compromise, then, should have brought them the best of both worlds. Instead it brought the wrath of the only true God and death!
"The whole narrative of the golden calf (Ex. 32) reveals the extent of the contrast between the religion which stemmed from Mt. Sinai and the form of religion congenial to the unregenerate heart. These religions, we learn are incompatible .... it is a most significant thing that when Israel turned to idolatry it was always necessary to borrow the trappings from the pagan environment .... whenever the kings of Israel and Judah lapsed into idolatry, it was by means of borrowing and syncretism." - New Bible Dictionary, p. 504, Tyndale House Publ., 1984.
So Israelites didn't reject their God openly, but continued to "worship" him by adding (or reverting to) pagan customs in God's name. They "made" these customs, celebrations, etc. clean and holy to the one true God (or so they reasoned). But it was never acceptable to Jehovah who demanded pure, untainted worship.
Notice what the leaders of the only true religious organization on earth at the time of Jesus were doing. Jesus said to them:
"`Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men." You have let go the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.' And he [Jesus] said to them: `You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!'" - Mark 7:6-9, NIV.
The writer of the "I'm Celebrating" letter above has told us how she (and hundreds of millions of other like-minded members of Christendom) can "make" pagan celebrations and customs pleasing to God. I understand the emotional attachment to celebrations and customs we have grown up with. I understand the strong desire to keep observing such things that have delighted us for so long and have provided feelings of security and bonding to loved ones all our lives.
Certainly the Israelites in their terrible hour of need at Mt. Sinai, when all seemed lost, understandably yearned for such things. And yet their reasoning is identical to that of the author of `I'm Celebrating!':
"My perspective gives these ceremonies a godly purpose. Pagans may have offered these ceremonies to their idols, but I offer them to my God and, therefore, they are God's days." But the only real consideration must be: Is it pleasing to God? Is it truly in line with his Word? We can know only by examining his word, the Bible! Obviously the Israelites learned that such reasoning was terribly wrong and worthy of death. They learned the hard way what Jesus emphasized to those religious leaders of his time who were also "setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!" - These later Israelites would lose the opportunity for eternal life also, because of their reasoning and traditions of men.
Martin Luther wrote,
"Thus we, although having the right faith, fall into new disbeliefs. This is what the devil brought about in olden times when he misled the children of Israel from the temple at Jerusalem to innumerable other places. It was all done in God's name, and with every appearance of sanctity; all the prophets preached against it, and were martyred for doing so. But, nowadays, no one preaches against it...!" - p. 458, Martin Luther, Selections From His Writings, Dr. John Dillenberger, Anchor Books, Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1961.
Does the author of "I'm Celebrating!" really examine God's word to come to her conclusion of what is pleasing to God? Well, I see only one scripture referred to (Ro. 14:6)! The other 95% of her letter concerns her own feelings and conclusions about what must be acceptable to God according to her reasoning. ("My perspective gives these holidays a godly purpose. Pagans may have offered these holidays to their idols, but I offer them to my God and, therefore, they are God's days.") Doesn't this sound familiar?
Let's examine the single reference to God's word in her letter. Romans 14:6 is partially quoted by her: "He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord." This is a quote from one of Christendom's most highly-regarded Bible translations: The NIV Study Bible. Let's continue to use this same study Bible to analyze what Paul was telling us in Romans 14.
Romans 14:1, 5, 6 in this Bible says:
"Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters .... One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord." - NIVSB.
The footnote for Romans 14:1 tells us Paul is probably writing this about
"Jewish Christians at Rome who were unwilling to give up the observance of certain requirements of the [Mosaic] law, such as dietary restrictions and the keeping of the Sabbath and other special days [given to the Jews by Jehovah].... They were not yet clear as to the status of OT [Old Testament] regulations under the new covenant inaugurated by the coming of Christ... Fellowship among Christians is not to be based on everyone's agreement on disputable questions. Christians do not agree on all matters pertaining to the Christian life, nor do they need to." - NIVSB.
The footnote for Ro. 14:5 in the NIVSB tells us:
"Some feel that this refers primarily to the Sabbath, but it is probably a reference to all the special days of the [Old Testament] ceremonial law."
Obviously, Paul is saying, according to this mainstream study Bible, that it was no longer necessary to observe the special days that were given to God's people in the Mosaic law. However, Paul didn't think it was wrong for some of the Jewish Christians (at that time) to continue to observe special days that Jehovah himself had previously given them if they wished to.
So Paul is telling us that the man who considers a special day (of the Old Testament as given by Jehovah to the Israelites) more sacred than another is still acceptable to the Lord. (I believe Paul is specifically referring to Sabbath days here.) This in no way contradicts other commandments in the Bible to strictly avoid pagan customs; don't even touch the unclean things!
Even Martin Luther didn't feel it was wrong for Christians to observe special days given by Jehovah in the Old Testament. He wrote,
"Neither is it true that the Old Testament [Law] was abolished in such a way that ... it would be wrong for anyone to keep it in full.... It is indeed abolished in the sense that we are free to keep it or not keep it, and it is no longer necessary to keep it on penalty of one's soul, as was formerly the case." - Martin Luther, p. 376.
So we are free to observe or not many of the things of the Mosaic Law. We can circumcise our sons. We can rest on the Sabbath. We can do things that were once required in the Mosaic Law and not be condemned for it. But we cannot do things that God considers an abomination to him. We cannot include foreign gods in our worship. We cannot embrace pagan religious customs.
"Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah [also known as Astarte, Ishtar, or Eastre – see note 2 below] poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places....be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, `How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.' You must not worship the LORD your God in their way." - Deut. 12:3, 4, 30, 31, NIVSB. The footnote for Deut. 12:4 says, "The rituals and accessories of idolatrous worship were not to be used to worship the Lord, the one true God."
Moses concluded with this clear warning by Jehovah: "See that you do all that I command you; do not add to it or take away from it." - Deut. 12:32. In other words, we are not to decide what is good and evil in God's "food" for us! We must, unlike Adam, the Israelites, and the writer of "I'm Celebrating" above, obey all of God's word in spite of what we want in our hearts or what seems "reasonable" to us.
"The pillars and the asherah were both forbidden to Israel [and they were both frequently returned to time and again by the Israelites] .... The asherah was wooden, as we learn from its usual destruction by burning (Dt. 12:3; 2 Ki. 23:6), and probably originated from the sacred evergreen, the symbol of life. The association of these with Canaanite fertility practice sufficed to make them abominable to Yahweh [Jehovah]." - New Bible Dictionary, p. 504.
Notice how exclusive the worship of God must be: "Be careful to do everything I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips." - Exodus 23:13, NIVSB.
Yes, idolatry includes anything even associated with pagan gods. This would even include merely speaking their names in a conciliatory manner or raising an asherah pole, symbol of the sacred evergreen, (even if you "cleansed" it by using it in a ceremony "honoring" Christ and calling it a "Christmas Pole," for example).
"In the New Testament the word ... (idololatria), afterwards shortened occasionally to ... (idolatria) [`idolatry'], occurs in all four times, viz., in 1 Cor. 10:14; Gal. 5:20; 1 Pet. 4:3; Col. 3:5. In the last of these passages it is used to describe the sin of covetousness or 'mammon-worship'. In the other places it indicates with the utmost generality all the rites and practices of those special forms of paganism with which Christianity first came into collision." - Encyclopedia Britannica, p.71, v.12, 14th ed.
Notice how strongly this idolatry (which includes "all the rites and practices of ... paganism") is condemned in the NT: Rev. 21:8; Gal. 5:20, 21.
Even in the first century of Christianity many of those who believed themselves to be Christians let their hearts and "reason" seduce them into making certain pagan practices "clean" for Christians. Notice this quote from the Roman Catholic Bible The New American Bible (1970), St. Joseph edition: footnote for Rev. 2:14-15 -
"Like Balaam, the biblical prototype of religious compromisers..., the Nicolaitans in Pergamum and Ephesus accommodated their Christian faith to paganism."
And notice how strongly this was condemned by Jesus: He would come and "fight against them with the sword of [his] mouth"! (Rev. 2:16)
So are the few Christians who say "we must keep our religion unspotted from the world and worship God in truth with the pure worship He has commanded" correct in not mixing any paganisms into their religion? Or are the many who say "I can `make' pagan customs and ceremonies into acceptable Christian offerings on the altar of true worship" really correct?
Even Martin Luther tells us,
"The world and the masses are and always will be unChristian, although they are all baptized and are nominally Christian. [True] Christians, however, are few and far between, as the saying is. .... [True] Christians are always in the minority and are in the midst of non-Christians." - Martin Luther, p. 371.
"Wide is the gate and broad [easy-going, appealing] is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow [not so easy-going, not always appealing to the heart of many - Jer. 17:9] the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." - Matt. 7:13-14, NIVSB.
The `many' spoken of here are actually self-deceived "Christians":
"Not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he [the `few' above] who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, `I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" - Matt. 7:21-22, NIVSB.
Yes, these are people who really believe they are Christians. They believe they have taught God's truth in Jesus' name to others. (Footnote for Matt. 7:22 in NIVSB: "prophesy. In the NT this verb primarily means to give a message from God, not necessarily to predict.") They call Jesus "Lord" and did many things in his name. But these many "Christians" have deceived themselves and have not truly done the will of Jesus' Father in heaven. They are rejected by Jesus Christ: "Away from me, you evildoers!"
Many rejected the pure religion of Jehovah in OT times by mixing in various paganisms and "making" them clean to Jehovah. Only a relative few of them kept their religion as pure as Jehovah had commanded.
The same thing has occurred, as predicted in the NT above, in the Christian religion down to today. In spite of the Bible's clear counsel, only a few of those who believe they are Christians are actually on the Narrow Road that leads to eternal life. Many others think they can do it their own way - they, like Adam and Eve, want to decide for themselves what is good and what is evil. The results must be, as for Adam and Eve, what is at the end of the Broad Road: Destruction.
"Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them [f.n. in NIVSB says `In spite of the remarkable privileges given to Israel, they failed to obey God, thus incurring his displeasure. Of the adults who came out of Egypt, only Caleb and Joshua were allowed to enter Canaan.']; their bodies were scattered over the desert. Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: `The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry.'" - 1 Cor. 10:5-7, NIVSB.
The NIVSB f.n. for 10:7 tells us the last sentence by Paul is a quote that refers to the golden calf incident of Ex. 32. So here the Apostle Paul also uses the example of the golden calf to warn Christians about mixing paganisms with true religion!
But Paul continues - "Therefore, my dear friends [Christians in the first century Corinth congregation] flee from idolatry." And the NIVSB adds in its footnote for this verse: "flee from idolatry. Like that described in Ex. 32:1-6." Paul concludes with, "You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons. Are we trying to arouse the Lord's jealousy? Are we stronger than he?" Footnote in NIVSB: "arouse the Lord's jealousy. By sharing in pagan idolatry and worship." - 1 Cor 10:14, 21-22.
And in his second letter to these Christian Corinthians Paul again warns against ANY compromise with pagans and paganisms:
"Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial [`Satan' - f.n.] .... What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? .... `Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you...says the Lord Almighty.' Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." - 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1, NIVSB.
The footnote for 6:16 says,
"agreement ... between the temple of God and idols. There can be no reversion or compromise with the idolatry they have forsaken for the gospel."
So, how is it that the pure "unleavened" Christianity of Paul's time has deteriorated into the pagan-saturated religion of Christendom today?
"If Paganism was conquered by Christianity, it is equally true that Christianity was corrupted by paganism." - The History of Christianity, Eckler.
"Christianity did not destroy Paganism; it adopted it" - The Story of Civilization: Part III, Will Durant.
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Yes, God has always demanded that our "sacrifice" to him, no matter how small, must be pure and untainted. The principal was laid down repeatedly in the OT. E.g., "Do not sacrifice to the LORD [Jehovah] your God an ox or a sheep that has any defect or flaw in it, for that would be detestable to him." - Deut. 17:1, NIVSB, (Cf. Lev. 1:3,10; 3:1). Even in "grain offerings" when the grain was made into flour and baked before it was offered, there was to be absolutely no leaven or "yeast" in that offering. The leaven, then, was figurative of an impurity, comparable to a defect or flaw found in an impure animal sacrifice, and made such a flawed sacrifice detestable to God.
So, can we get away with a tiny bit of "leaven" in our "sacrifices" to God today? No more than we can get away with a tiny drop of cyanide in a glass of pure drinking water. Paul tells us of a saying that makes that very point:
"Have you never heard the saying, `A little leaven leavens all the dough'? The old leaven of corruption is working among you. Purge it out, and then you will be bread of a new baking. As Christians you are unleavened Passover bread .... So we who observe the festival must not use the old leaven, the leaven of corruption and wickedness, but only the unleavened bread which is sincerity and truth." Further explaining, Paul says: "you must have nothing to do with any so-called Christian who leads a loose life, or is grasping, or idolatrous.... You should not even eat with any such person." - 1 Cor. 5:6-8, 11, New English Bible.
No, God still tolerates absolutely no "leaven" mixed into the Christian "sacrifice" of true worship. "I the LORD do not change." - Malachi 3:6, NIVSB.
Note the example of the golden calf. It was made from the gold jewelry of the Israelites themselves. Obviously the Israelites were not allowed to keep that pagan image of the calf no matter how they "cleansed" it or "gave it a Godly purpose"! But surely they could recast that extremely valuable gold back into jewelry or even into utensils properly used in the worship of Jehovah!! But no, in spite of its great material value, it must never be used again by God's people in any form, for any purpose! - Deut. 9:21. What could be a more obvious demonstration of the exclusive devotion required by God and the lengths God's people must go to to ensure pure worship? We must not knowingly "purify" and "reuse" anything that has been made for paganistic false worship!
So, if pagan ceremonies, customs, god names, etc. are really mixed in with ceremonies, customs, etc. that we use to honor God and Christ, they are not merely unacceptable - - - they are detestable to God! We must completely get away from these unclean things and not even "touch" them! "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you." - 2 Cor. 6:17.
The writer of "I'm Celebrating!" (and the hundreds of millions of those she represents) is clearly, tragically, terribly wrong when she says: "My perspective gives these holidays a godly purpose. Pagans may have offered these holidays to their idols, but I offer them to my God and, therefore, they are God's days." If a holiday or custom is being deliberately participated in by a Christian, it must have absolutely no known pagan religion associations!
part of the Christian festival, and decorated the trees with gilded nuts, candles (a carry-over from sun worship), and apples to stand for the stars, moon, and sun." - pp. 1429, 1425, The World Book Encyclopedia, 1958 ed.
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Therefore, let's see if there really are any known pagan religion associations with the many holidays (from "Holy Days") that most people calling themselves Christians participate in. .... The custom, in fact, was practically universal, and the early Church adroitly adopted the practice, grafting it on to the Eucharist and so giving us the hot-cross-bun." - The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1959, Vol. 4, p. 381.
EASTER
What do the name "Easter," colored eggs, hot-cross buns, and bunnies have to do with honoring Jesus and Jehovah?
The very name of this celebration in English ("Easter") is the name of a pagan goddess! Many of the customs originally used in worshiping this ancient European goddess are the same ones used today in celebrating Easter!
"East'er ..., n. [AS. eastre, pl. eastron, from name of old Teutonic goddess of spring, AS. Eastre.]" - Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, 1953.
"... Eastre was the goddess of spring in the religion of the ancient Angles and Saxons. Every April a festival was celebrated in her honor. .... The festival [eventually] was celebrated in honor of the resurrection of Christ but was still known as Easter after the old goddess." p. 215, v. 5, Britannica Junior, 1957.
"(the word Easter is derived from the [Anglo-Saxon] name of Eastre, the Spring-goddess….)" – p. 240, An Encyclopedia of Religion, Virgilius Ferm, The Philosophical Library, 1945.
Easter was
"originally the spring festival in honor of the Teutonic goddess of light and spring known in Anglo-Saxon as Eastre. As early as the 8th century the name was transferred by the Anglo-Saxons to the Christian Festival designed to celebrate the resurrection of Christ." - The Westminster Dictionary of the Bible.
"Rooted in ancient veneration, the date of Easter was long regarded as symbolizing the rebirth of living things that had passed through the death of winter. Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess who presided over the vernal equinox, eventually gave her name to the Christian [?] festival." - How It Started, Garrison, copyright 1972 by Abingdon Press, pp. 49-50. for the moon
"Amongst the Anglo-Saxons the month of April was dedicated to Eostre or Ostara, Goddess of Spring; and her great feast has given its name to our Easter. Here again the Church was quite frank about it, and Bede states that the feast in England was simply `the old [pagan] festival observed with the gladness of a new solemnity.'" - Paganism in our Christianity, Weigall, p. 261, Gordon Press, 1974 (Reprint of the edition published by Putnam, New York.)
So how did the name of a pagan European goddess come to be in the KJV translation of Acts 12:4 ?
"EASTER - originally a Saxon word (Eostre), denoting a goddess of the Saxons, in honour of whom sacrifices were offered about the time of the Passover. Hence the name came to be given to the festival of the Resurrection of Christ, which occured at the time of the Passover. In the early English versions this word [Easter] was frequently used as the translation of the Greek pascha (the Passover). When the Authorized Version [KJV] (1611) was formed, the word `passover' was used in all passages in which this word pascha occurred, except in Acts 12:4. In the Revised Version the proper word, "passover," is always used." – Easton's Bible Dictionary, Thomas Nelson Publ.
"Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard [in a respectful, or even tolerating, manner] on your lips." Exodus 23:13, NIVSB. [2]"Eating special buns at the festival of the pagan goddess Eostre has long been an established custom among the natives of Britain. Early Christian missionaries who tried to stop this practice got nowhere. Eventually.... converts ... were permitted to continue eating buns at the time of the spring festival...." - How It Started, p. 50.
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"Like the Greeks, the [pagan] Romans ate bread marked with a cross ... at public sacrifices, such bread being usually purchased at the doors of the temple and then taken in with them - a custom alluded to by St. Paul in 1 Cor. x. 28. The cross-bread was eaten by pagan Saxons in honour of Easter, their goddess of light.[3]
"Long before the Christian festival of Easter was established, persons of many cultures exchanged eggs at the time of the year when nature wakes up from sleep. Wealthy persons used to cover their gift eggs with gilt or even gold leaf; ordinary persons usually colored them red. Today's [Easter] egg hunt, involving a dozen or hundreds or thousands of decorated or candy eggs, is so gay that it conceals the reverence with which many ancients [pagans] regarded this symbol of `life and death.'" - How It Started, p. 51.
"… the symbol of the egg generated not from Christian observances, but from pagan rituals. From earliest times, the egg has been a symbol of fertility and immortality. During the rites of spring, the pagan nations included it as a symbol of celebrating for the new life promised during the season of planting. The Church only took this ancient sign and applied it as a visual lesson to the resurrection of Christ." – p. 232, The Christian Book of Why, J. C. McCollister (Lutheran pastor and university professor), Jonathan David Publishers, 1983.
"Like the egg, the rabbit has been a symbol of fertility, the observance of which was a part of the Anglo-Saxon mythology and the pagan's celebration of spring, In a blend of Christian and pagan traditions, the rabbit was adopted as part of the festival of Jesus' resurrection celebrated during the spring each year." – pp. 233-234, McCollister.
"A great many pagan customs, celebrating the return of spring, gravitated to Easter. The egg is the emblem of the germinating life of early spring.... The rabbit is a pagan symbol and has always been an emblem of fertility." - The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913, Vol. V, p. 227.
So when children hunt for Easter eggs (left by the `Easter Bunny'),
"This is not mere child's play, but the vestige of a [pagan] fertility rite." - Funk and Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend, Vol. 1, p. 335.
Encyclopædia Britannica, eleventh edition, volume 8, page 828:
"There is no indication of the observance of the Easter festival in the New Testament, or in the writings of the apostolic Fathers. The sanctity of special times was an idea absent from the minds of the first Christians. . . . The ecclesiastical historian Socrates (Hist. Eccl. v. 22) states, with perfect truth, that neither the Lord nor his apostles enjoined the keeping of this or any other festival . . . and he attributes the observance of Easter by the church to the perpetuation of an old usage, `just as many other customs have been established.'"
"What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? .... `Therefore come out from them and be separate,' says the Lord. `Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you ...' says the Lord Almighty." - 2 Cor. 6:16, 17, NIVSB. [NIVSB f.n.: "agreement...between the temple of God and idols. There can be no reversion to or compromise with the idolatry they have forsaken for the gospel (cf. 1 Th. 1:9)."]
The `old usage' was the practice by pagans of having a festival in honor of their goddess of spring.
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CHRISTMAS
"DECEMBER 25 - Neither scripture nor secular history records the date of Jesus' birth; even the season of the year is not stipulated.[4] Some evidence points to spring, but it is not conclusive. The only thing reasonably certain about the coming of the Christ Child is that his birth did not take place in winter. .... In A. D. 350 Pope Julius I formally designated December 25 as Christmas. He chose that date because it coincided with important pagan festivals. These, in turn, were linked with the winter solstice [the shortest day of the year]." - How it Started, p. 54.
"It was noted later that this date [Dec. 25] would fall within the rainy season in Palestine, so that the shepherds would hardly have been in the fields as they were when Jesus was born." - p. 1425, The World Book Encyclopedia, 1958.
Isaac Asimov in an article for Saturday Review tells us that the ancient pagan Romans celebrated
"a week-long Saturnalia [honoring the Roman god Saturn] from Dec. 17 to 24. It was a time of unrelieved merriment and joy.... gifts were given all around." Asimov continues, "the worship of Mithra, a sun-god of Persia, was becoming popular, especially among the soldiers. The Mithraists celebrated the birth of Mithra at the winter solstice, a natural time, and fixed on the day December 25 so that the popular Roman Saturnalia could build up to the Mithraist `Day of the Sun' as a climax.
"At that time, Christianity was locked in a great duel with the Mithraists for the hearts and minds of the people of the Roman Empire. .... Sometime after 300, Christianity managed the final coup of absorbing the Saturnalia, and with it scored its final victory over Mithraism. December 25 was established as the day of the birth of Jesus and the great festival was made Christian. There is absolutely no Biblical authority for Dec. 25 as having been the day of the Nativity." (Cf. "Sol Invictus", p. 725, An Encyclopedia of Religion, 1945 ed.)
"December 25 was already a major festival in the pagan Roman world, the Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, or `Birthday of the Unconquered Sun,' a feast honoring the renewal of the sun at the winter solstice. Pagan celebrations on December 25 had included feasting, dancing, lighting bonfires, decorating homes with greens, and giving gifts. So when this became a Christian [?] festival, the customs continued, but with a Christian [?] meaning imparted to them. Throughout the [Catholic] Middle Ages, Christmas was a richly varied religious holiday. However, during the Commonwealth, the English Puritans, repelled by both the pagan practices and the religious ceremonies, forbade any religious or secular celebration of Christmas. The English celebration returned with the return of the Stuarts ["near-Catholic" Church of England monarchs], but Christmas observances were still outlawed in Puritan New England for many years; and not until the 19th century did Christmas become a legal holiday in America." - p. 414, Vol. 4, Encyclopedia International, Grolier, Inc., 1966.
JESUS' BIRTHDAY -
"Early Christians [from time of Christ until the 4th century] frowned on [celebrating anyone's birthday], which was too closely linked with pagan customs to be given the approval of the church." - How It Started, p. 213.
The Christian Book of Why, by Dr. John C. McCollister (Lutheran minister and university professor, graduate of Trinity Lutheran Seminary), Jonathan David Publishers, Inc., 1983, tells us on p. 205:
"Christians of the first century did not celebrate the festival honoring the birth of Jesus - for the same reason they honored no other birthday anniversary. It was the feeling at that time by ALL Christians that the celebration of all birthdays (even the Lord's) was a custom of the PAGANS. In an effort to divorce themselves from ALL pagan practices, the early Christians refused to set aside a date marking Jesus' birth. As a result, the first celebration of Christmas by Christians [?] did not take place until the fourth century."
Think about it for a moment. Exactly who were included in "ALL Christians of the first century" (1 A. D. - 100 A. D.)?
Yes, the Jews themselves never celebrated birthdays until long after the death of Jesus. They considered it a purely pagan custom and detestable to the God they worshiped. Jesus and his Apostles continued this belief and so did their followers for centuries!
"As late as 245 [A. D.] Origen (hom. viii. on Leviticus) repudiated the idea of keeping the birthday of Christ, `as if he were a king Pharaoh [Gen. 4:19-22].'" - Encyclopedia Britannica, 14th ed., p. 642, Vol. 5.
GIFT-GIVING, FEASTING, MERRY-MAKING -
The Saturnalia, a pagan Roman festival honoring the Roman god Saturn, has supplied many of the elements found in Christmas."Most of the Christmas customs now prevailing in Europe [and America] ... are not genuine Christian customs, but heathen customs which have been absorbed or tolerated by the Church... The Saturnalia in Rome provided the model for most of the merry customs of the Christmas time.... Christmas inherited the general merriment in a more restrained form (excessive only in eating and drinking) [but see 1 Pet. 4:3, 4]: games, giving of gifts (especially to children), abundance of sweet meats and, as more ceremonious elements, burning of candles..." - Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, Hastings, Vol. III, pp. 608, 609.
"Saturnalia presents included wax dolls, given to children. A charming custom, no doubt, by times of record, but with a macabre past: even contemporaries thought this probably a vestige of human sacrifice, of children, to aid sowing." - History Today, as quoted in 22 Dec. 1992 Awake!
"The early Church in Rome had a particularly hard battle against two other great pagan festivals, the week-long Saturnalia, which began Dec. 17, and the Kalends, which greeted the New Year. The first festival was a time of licensed misrule, often presided over by a lord of merriment, not so much Santa as fat Saturn himself, the orgiast of eating, drinking and other kinds of naughtiness. It was during Kalends, when the year changed, however, that gifts were ritually exchanged, often tied to the boughs of greenery that decorated houses during the festivities.
"The attitude of the early church toward all this indecent jollity was predictably frosty. Its fathers, notably the fulminating St. John Chrysostom, urged no compromise with heathen abominations." - Simon Schama, professor of history at Harvard University, in a feature article of the 24 Dec. 1991 issue of The New York Times.
"CHRISTMAS TREES - Many countries claim the distinction of having launched the custom of erecting Christmas trees, but it may have begun independently in several parts of Europe. Ceremonial worship of trees in ancient pagan rites almost certainly led to the decoration of trees at the time of the winter solstice. German emigrants [coming to the U.S.] brought with them the custom of setting up trees in their houses at Christmas." - How It Started, pp. 52, 53.
"It is believed that the custom is a survival of the tree worship of ancient German tribes." -- "Tree worship was common in Scandinavian countries.... When the pagans of Northern Europe became Christians [?], they made their sacred evergreen trees
"I will stretch out my hand against [those worshiping me falsely in] Judah and against all who live in Jerusalem. I will cut off from this place every remnant of Baal, the names of the pagan and the idolatrous priests - those who bow down on the roofs to worship the starry host, those who bow down and swear by the LORD [Jehovah] and who also swear by Molech, those who turn back from following [Jehovah] and neither seek [Jehovah] nor inquire of him." - Zephaniah 1:4-6, NIVSB. The footnote for verse 1:5 reads: "swear by the LORD ... by Molech. Syncretism (worship of one's own god along with other gods)."
So again we see God's absolute hatred of "every remnant" of pagan worship mixed in with his true worship. Obviously this includes remnants of sacred tree worship and pagan worship of "the starry host" (stars, moon and sun)! But what were the decorations on the sacred evergreen tree intended to represent? "decorated the trees with gilded nuts, candles [electric lights today] (a carry-over from sun worship), and apples to stand for the stars, moon, and sun." We can see from the examples given in the Bible that births, weddings, and baptisms, at least, were celebrated by God's people. There were many religious festivals, but they were either commanded by God himself or celebrations of events that truly honored the God of the Bible and were completely unleavened by pagan origins or connections! The Bible shows time and time again that when the people went beyond these limits they were condemned, not only by the faithful prophets, but by God himself!
"From the earliest times the worship of trees has played an important part in the religious life of European peoples.... tree-worship is well attested for all the great European families of the Aryan stock. Amongst the Celts the oak-worship of the Druids is familiar to everyone. Sacred groves were common among the ancient Germans, and tree-worship is hardly extinct amongst their descendants at the present day. How serious that worship was in former times may be gathered from the ferocious penalty appointed by the old German laws for such as dared to peel the bark of a standing tree. [In times of famine starving peoples subsisted on the inner bark of certain trees.] The culprit's navel was to be cut out and nailed to the part of the tree which he had peeled, and he was to be driven round and round the tree till all his guts were wound about its trunk. The intention of the punishment clearly was to replace the dead bark by a living substitute taken from the culprit.... Proofs of the prevalence of tree-worship in ancient Greece and Italy [including Rome itself] are abundant." - pp. 106, 107, 108, The New Golden Bough, Sir James Frazer, Revised and edited by Dr. Theodor H. Gaster, Mentor Book, 1964 printing.
Is it any wonder that any trace of pagan worship is abhorrent to God?
"MISTLETOE - Why mistletoe [for Christmas decoration] instead of some other plant? Because this parasite which draws its nurture from oaks and other trees was regarded by the Druids of ancient Britain as endowed with supernatural power. .... Christians tried for centuries to discourage any use of mistletoe at any season of the year. The deeply ingrained practices rooted in [pagan] festivals around the time of the modern Christmas proved too stubborn to be eliminated, however." - How It Started, pp. 53, 54.
"Mistletoe is the famous Golden Bough, honored in Norse legend and worshiped by the Druids." - p. 337, Celebrations - The Complete Book of American Holidays, Robert J. Myers, Doubleday & Co., 1972.
HOLLY -
"The Druids of prehistoric Britain revered the plant we know as holly. .... It was all but inevitable that the use of the semi - sacred plant should become linked with the Christian [?] celebration that supplanted the older pagan one. Many scholars even think that `holly' is an adaptation of an early form of the word holy." - How It Started, p. 56.
YULE -
"In most of Europe [Christmas] is known as `Christ's Birthday.' Scandinavian countries still use the pagan name `Yule Day.' .... The Druids blessed [the Yule log] with great ceremony at the winter feast. (See Druid.)" - pp. 1425, 1426, The World Book Encyclopedia, 1958 ed.
"Yule (yool) n. Christmas. ¦< OE geol, originally a twelve-day heathen feast" - The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 1973, Dell.
"The burning of a huge log in the fireplace on Christmas day is a tradition followed by many European Christians that was borrowed from the Norsemen who burned a huge oak log called the Juul (pronounced `Yool' or `Yule') in honor of Thor, the God of thunder. After Christianity became the accepted faith of many Norsemen, they retained this custom as a part of their Christmas celebration. Later, the Scandinavians adopted the practice and even referred to the season as the `Yule season' or `Yuletide'." England and other European countries later adopted the tradition. - The Christian Book of Why, Dr. John C. McCollister (pastor and university professor, graduate of Trinity Lutheran Seminary), p. 215, Jonathan David Publishers, Inc., 1983.
"What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? .... `Therefore come out from them and be separate,' says the Lord. `Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you ...' says the Lord Almighty." - 2 Cor. 6:16, 17, NIVSB. [NIVSB f.n.: "agreement...between the temple of God and idols. There can be no reversion to or compromise with the idolatry they have forsaken for the gospel (cf. 1 Th. 1:9)."]
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SAINT VALENTINE'S DAY
"Ancient Romans placed great stress upon holidays that fell about the middle of the shortest month of the year. Dedicated to the goddess Juno, who was the wife of Jupiter, these festivals stressed love, courtship, and marriage.
"That was appropriate since Juno, queen of heaven, was regarded as the special protector of women in `critical times of life.'
....
"When Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire by edict of Emperor Constantine, religious leaders immediately started trying to do away with pagan festivals. Many of them had been observed for so many centuries that they resisted all frontal attacks, so there were many efforts to bring about change in a more subtle fashion. One of the most effective was a substitution of a Christian [?] observance for a pagan one, with special ceremonies held on or near the date of the long-established holiday.
"Since the martyrdom of St. Valentine was celebrated on February 14, it made sense to stress homage to the man who was said to have been stoned to death on that day in A. D. 269. For that reason the name of a man about whom no written records exist came to be attached to the day formerly dedicated to Juno." - How It Started, pp. 46-47.
"Valentine's Day comes on the feast of two different Christian martyrs named Valentine. But the customs connected with the day ... probably came from an ancient Roman festival called Lupercalia which took place every February 15. The festival honored Juno, the Roman goddess of women and marriage, and Pan, the god of nature." - The World Book Encyclopedia, p. 204, Vol. 20, 1973 ed.
Some would say that it's wrong to pay such homage to dead men, whether Catholic "Saints" or not, but certainly it's incredibly wrong to mix in pagan ceremonies honoring pagan gods in the process.
Martin Luther wrote,
"The pity is that we are so blind that we do not leave the devil alone to play his tricks in his own way; rather, we support him and multiply them. I wish people would leave the saints in peace, and not mislead humble folk. What spirit was it that gave the pope authority to canonize saints? Who tells him whether they are holy or not? .... God is just in judging us with His wrath and in allowing the devil to lead us hither and thither, to institute pilgrimages, ... to set about canonizing saints and other foolish things." - p. 458, Martin Luther, Selections From His Writings, Dr. John Dillenberger, Anchor Books, Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1961.
"What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? .... `Therefore come out from them and be separate,' says the Lord. `Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you ...' says the Lord Almighty." - 2 Cor. 6:16, 17, NIVSB. [NIVSB f.n.: "agreement...between the temple of God and idols. There can be no reversion to or compromise with the idolatry they have forsaken for the gospel (cf. 1 Th. 1:9)."]* * * *
SAINT PATRICK'S DAY
Luther's criticism above concerning the reverence of Roman Catholic Saints, of course, is equally applicable to St. Patrick. In addition we find the following concerning the great symbol of St. Patrick and St. Patrick's Day.
"The doctrine of Three Gods in One, each separate and distinct, yet each totally God, is claimed by Christians to be a mystery and is accepted on faith. In trying to teach his converts about the Trinity St. Patrick held up a shamrock explaining that the three leaves represented the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, while the stem was the Godhead itself from which they proceeded. This is said to be the origin of the use of the shamrock which is customarily worn on St. Patrick's Day.
"Scholars have discovered that the shamrock, or trefoil, was initially used in ancient Celtic fertility rites. It represented a triad of goddesses..." - pp. 79-80, Celebrations - The Complete Book of American Holidays, Robert J. Myers, Doubleday & Co., 1972.
"What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? .... `Therefore come out from them and be separate,' says the Lord. `Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you ...' says the Lord Almighty." - 2 Cor. 6:16, 17, NIVSB. [NIVSB f.n.: "agreement...between the temple of God and idols. There can be no reversion to or compromise with the idolatry they have forsaken for the gospel (cf. 1 Th. 1:9)."]
* * * *
HALLOWEEN
"Its name means hallowed or holy evening." - The World Book Encyclopedia, 1952, Vol. 8, pp. 3245-6.
To really understand this "holy evening" you must realize that Halloween, as we know it today, has grown from several different sources. The main source has been traced back to religious ceremonies of the ancient Babylonians. - The New Golden Bough, Sir James Frazer, edited by Dr. T. H. Gaster, p. 468, Mentor Book, 1964; and Funk and Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend, 1949, p. 38.
From Babylon this pagan religious celebration spread throughout much of the world.
The Druids of ancient Britain also borrowed this Babylonian festival and celebrated it to honor Samhain, Lord of the Dead, whose festival fell on November 1. - Halloween Through the Centuries, Linton, p. 4. They believed this pagan god called together "certain wicked souls on Halloween" - Encyclopedia Britannica, 14th ed., Vol. 11, p. 103. In honoring this pagan god his supplicators hoped to be protected from these "wicked souls." Therefore, many of the things done in celebrating this "holy evening" are in honor of the false gods of the Druids. For example, "When you light a candle inside the jeering pumpkin face, you are in a small way imitating the Celtic Druids" who lit "great bonfires on hilltops to honor the sun god" and thereby help keep away winter and the evil spirits. - The Book of Holidays, McSpadden, 1958 ed., pp. 149-153; and All About American Holidays, Krythe, 1962, pp. 214-215.
Since the "Mother" Church (which was established in Rome about 200 years after the death of the last Apostle) embarked on a course of adopting and adapting pagan religious ceremonies into the Church, it is not surprising that elements of ancient Roman false worship were also added to the "Holy Evening" celebration. For example, "when you duck for apples ... you are doing as the Romans did - - honoring Pomona, the Roman goddess of orchards." - The Book of Holidays, pp. 149-153 and Collier's Encyclopedia, 1975, Vol. 2, p. 192.
The real religion celebrated by the "Holy Evening" of Halloween is still a living religion. What is sometimes called "witchcraft" has had its ups and downs but is still practiced as a religion in nearly every country of the world.
"It began in the shadowy darkness of man's early religion. It lived and flourished through the ages and it is by no means wiped out even yet. Witchcraft in the Middle Ages was the `art' of controlling natural forces by power obtained from the Devil. Witches were people who made agreements with the Evil One." - Britannica Jr., 1957 ed., Vol. 15, pp. 131-132.
Whether deluded or not, these "witches" were (and are) making a public declaration: a demonstration of their faith and a defiance of the God of the Bible. They continued to practice their religion (in many different, varying sects) in spite of great persecution. This religion of the Middle Ages actually grew out of the earlier pagan Druid religion.
"These rites did not die .... When a monk or knight swore that in a clearing of the woods he had seen witches dancing around the devil, he did not lie. What he saw was ... people worshiping with a priest of the heathen religion. The prayer meetings of the witches were called witches' Sabbaths. .... Two nights especially were set aside - October 31, called Halloween and the eve of May Day, called Walpurgis." - Britannica Jr., pp. 131-132.
"Though the Church was able to destroy the temples and outward forms of worship of these heathen religions, it could not completely eradicate the faith and beliefs of their priests and worshipers. These found an outlet during the Middle Ages in witchcraft which was devoted to the worship of Satan. This cult included periodic meetings, known as witches' sabbaths, which were given over to feasting and revelry. One of the most important sabbaths was held on Halloween." - Encyclopedia Britannica, 1956, Vol. 11, pp. 106-107.
"The witches' sabbat [sabbath], or Black Mass, was a mockery of the religious one. It began with the assembly of the witches' covens, always at night, in forests, open fields, at crossroads, and even secretly in churches.... The name `sabbats' for these meetings is believed to have come from the Old Hebrew Sabbath - the seventh day." - A Cauldron of Witches, Alderman, 1973, p. 9.
The Ketchikan Daily News (Alaska) interviewed a modern follower of one local sect of this religion in its October 31, 1979 edition. The witch, Genevieve, said:
"Witchcraft is really a religion. It's actually called Wicca.... A coven of witches is made up of men and women from every profession to worship the universal godheads. ...this religion's principal deities [gods] are Diana [goddess of the moon] and Cernunos (Celtic gods). Cernunos is represented as having ... antlers and hooves." - pp. 1, 2.
"Halloween, of course, is the red letter day for witches. A Sabbat it's called, and it's one of the 7 major festivals observed yearly." - p. 2.
"What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? .... `Therefore come out from them and be separate,' says the Lord. `Touch NO unclean thing, and I will receive you ...' says the Lord Almighty." - 2 Cor. 6:16, 17, NIVSB. [NIVSB f.n.: "agreement...between the temple of God and idols. There can be no reversion to or compromise with the idolatry they have forsaken for the gospel (cf. 1 Th. 1:9)."]
* * * *
THANKSGIVING
"Thanksgiving Day, first. `Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors. The four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain and others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty.' As James Deetz and Jay Anderson point out in "The Ethnogastronomy of Thanksgiving" (Saturday Review of Science, Nov. 25, 1972), this sole eyewitness description of the festival we now consider the first Thanksgiving - it's by Edward Winslow - nowhere mentions any giving of thanks. Indeed, it bears little relationship to the image of pious sobriety and heaven-directed gratitude we now assume the `first Thanksgiving' to have been. In Deetz's and Anderson's words, `What took place on that fall day some three-and-a-half centuries ago is best understood as the first harvest festival held on American soil, the acting out of an institution of great antiquity in the England the Pilgrims had left behind. It was a time for joy, celebration, and carousing, far removed from any suggestion of solemn religious concern.'
"As the authors go on to point out, the Pilgrims did not choose `a solemn day of thanksgiving' to `formalize their thanks to God.' Rather, they opted for a day of `revelry, sports, and feasts' long known to them back in England as Harvest Home." - pp. 283-284, The Dictionary of Misinformation ("The World's Number One Conversation Starter And Argument Settler"), Burnam, Ballantine Books, 1977.
"Throughout the world harvest has always been the occasion for many queer customs which all have their origin in the animistic belief in the corn [grain]-spirit or corn [grain]-mother. This personification of the crops has left its impress upon the harvest customs of modern Europe. .... Throughout the world, as Sir J. G. Frazer shows, the semi-worship of the last sheaf is or has been the great feature of the harvest-home. Among harvest customs none is more interesting than harvest cries; the Devonshire reapers go through a ceremony which in its main features is a counterpart of pagan worship." - pp. 231-232, Encyclopedia Britannica, volume 11, 14th edition.
"The Pilgrims, who in 1621 observed our initial Thanksgiving holiday, were not a people especially enthusiastic about the celebration of festivals. In fact these austere and religious settlers of America would have been dismayed had they known of the long and popular history of harvest festivals, of which their Thanksgiving was only the latest. .... The harvest festival, with its attendant rites, seems to have spread out from ... Egypt and Syria and Mesopotamia. The first or the last sheaf of wheat was offered to the `Great Mother' .... Astarte [equivalent to Ishtar and Eastre] was the Earth Mother of the ancient Semites; to the Phrygians she was Semele; under the name of Demeter she was worshiped by the Greeks at the famous Eleusinian Mysteries..." - pp. 271-272, Celebrations - The Complete Book of American Holidays, Robert J. Myers, Doubleday & Co., 1972.
What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? .... `Therefore come out from them and be separate,' says the Lord. `Touch NO unclean thing, and I will receive you ...' says the Lord Almighty." - 2 Cor. 6:16, 17, NIVSB. [NIVSB f.n.: "agreement...between the temple of God and idols. There can be no reversion to or compromise with the idolatry they have forsaken for the gospel (cf. 1 Th. 1:9)."]
"So we must be very careful to discern false reasoning which could lead to our condemnation by the God we wish to honor. When we are told: "If we don't set aside times to let [our loved ones] know we love them, we too easily forget to express it" and "I'm convinced we need rituals, traditions and excuses to gather," we must not be tempted into God-dishonoring conduct because of it. My family has, like those who truly worshiped God in the Bible, set aside celebrations acceptable to God. Wedding anniversaries and other family days are celebrated by us with decorations, dinners, music, even gift-giving! We can establish our own traditions. We also have family days set aside for no purpose other than to express our love for one another. None of these celebrations will borrow from paganism!
The arrogance of those who say they can decide for themselves what is good and acceptable to God should make everyone who truly believes the Bible is the word of God shudder. The Bible is filled with examples of such people from the very beginning. They all were rejected by the God of the Bible.
"The actual society [the Israelites] knew was an uneasy accommodation of Israelite tradition to Canaanite [pagan] mores and institutions, which were based on nature worship .... Yahweh's [Jehovah's] name was honored while his nature was outraged. [Israelite worship] was in all but name the worship of other gods because it sanctioned a way of life abominable to [Jehovah]." - p. 615, An Encyclopedia of Religion, Ferm (ed.), 1945 edition.
"With the exception of occasional and temporary reforms ... Judah was always idolatrous, always reflecting the fetichism of surrounding nations. The exhortations of such prophets as Elijah, Elisha, ... Isaiah, Zephaniah, Jeremiah, and others, were of no more avail with Judah than with Israel, so that [after finally exhausting the patience of a very patient God] Jerusalem was razed to the ground, the temple destroyed and the people [killed or] taken captives to Babylonia." - Encyclopedia Americana, p. 65, Vol. 16, 1944.
Yes, even way back then the many who believed they were God's saved people turned out to be on the broad easy road to destruction, and only a relative few stayed on that difficult narrow road that led to life! The issue was always one of obedience versus selfish "reasoning" or rationalizing.
* * * *
Consider how Jesus (and his God) is being "honored" by these "holy-days." (That's supposed to be their purpose, isn't it: honoring Jesus and honoring God?) Things that are detestable to Jesus and his God are done "in his name" to "praise him" (and his God).
Think how "pleased" you would be if your employees held a dinner party in your name where your worst enemies were the honored guests. You are well-known for your fight against (and absolute hatred of) illegal drugs, but part of the festivities this night require repeated use of such drugs ("in your honor" of course) by everyone present! It's certainly a good thing you are not present for these festivities which are loudly and publicly declared to be done for you and in your honor! But what will happen when you do return? ("Then I will tell them plainly, `I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" - Mt 7:22, NIV)
Yes, it might have been acceptable if your employees held a dinner party in your honor while you were away, if they had truly done the things they knew you actually stood for. But it would certainly have been better for them to have had no party at all than one that `profaned' or `polluted' your name!
Think about it carefully. If the author of "I'm Celebrating!" and the hundreds of millions like her are correct and I am wrong, will I be condemned by God for not having celebrated these pagan-inspired "holy-days"? Has he commanded anywhere that his people must celebrate such things? Of course not! I might be mistaken in such a case, but I certainly would not be committing a sin against my God!
On the other hand, if I am correct that God has condemned such things strongly throughout the Bible, what may be the fate of those who continue to celebrate them in spite of the Biblical commands against such things? Which is the course of wisdom? Which is the only course that will positively not put us in opposition to the Lord? If we truly loved God and his Christ, would we not bend over backward to avoid disobeying their word? Would we not completely eliminate any traces of such paganism from our worship - in effect "pulverize" it and remove it completely and irrevocably? - Deut. 9:21.
* * * *
"You must not worship the LORD your God in their [pagans'] way." - Deut. 12:3, 30, 31, NIVSB.
"What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? .... `Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you...says the Lord Almighty.' Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." - 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1, NIVSB.
"`You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!'" - Mark 7:6-9, NIV, JB.
"Not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, `Lord, Lord, ....' Then I will tell them plainly, `I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" - Matt. 7:21-22, NIVSB.
"He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But ... those who practice magic arts, the idolaters, and all liars - their place will be in the fiery lake .... the second death." - Rev. 21:7-8, NIVSB. Cf. Rev. 22:14-15, NIVSB.
* * * * *
Note: Although Watchtower Society (WTS) research and scholarship is usually at least the equal of (and often superior to) that of other sources, I have tried to rely most heavily on other sources or my own independent research to provide evidence disproving the reasoning of most of Christendom discussed in this paper. The reason is, of course, that this paper is meant to provide evidence needed by non-Witnesses, and many of them will not accept anything written by the WTS. They truly believe it is false, even dishonest. Therefore some of the information in this paper may be in disagreement with current WTS teachings in some specifics. Jehovah's Witnesses should research the most recent WTS literature on the subject in question before using this information with others. – RDB.
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NOTES
[1] The highly-respected New Bible Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1984, Tyndale House Publ. tells us that this golden calf was intended to either actually represent Jehovah or, possibly, to act as "a pedestal over which he [Jehovah] was enthroned." - p. 504.
A Dictionary of the Bible confirms this:
" `a molten calf' is fashioned ... before which an altar is built, and to which, as a symbol of [Jehovah] ... divine honours are paid." - Vol. 1, p. 341, Hastings (ed.), Hendrickson Publishers, 1988 printing.
[2] `Easter' is the North European (and American) name of the same pagan goddess also known as Asherah & Astarte (Canaanite) and Ishtar (Babylonian & Assyrian).
"ASHERAH and pl. Asherim in Revised Version, instead of "grove" and "groves" of the Authorized Version [KJV]. This was the name of a sensual Canaanitish goddess Astarte, the feminine of the Assyrian Ishtar. Its symbol was the stem of a tree deprived of its boughs, and rudely shaped into an image, and planted in the ground. Such religious symbols ("groves") are frequently alluded to in Scripture (Exodus 34:13; Judges 6:25; 2 Kings 23:6; 1 Kings 16:33, etc.). These images were also sometimes made of silver or of carved stone (2 Kings 21:7; "the graven image of Asherah," R.V.). (See GROVE [1].). – Easton's Bible Dictionary, Thomas Nelson Publ.
"ISHTAR, principal Babylonian and Assyrian goddess, equivalent to the Sumerian Innin and the Phoenician Astarte .... intimately concerned with the giving or spilling of life, was goddess both of sexual activities and of war." - p. 440, Vol. 9, Encyclopedia International, Grolier, 1966.
The Rev. Alexander Hislop in his The Two Babylons proved that the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre (or Eastre) was none other than the infamous Ishtar of Babylon, the Queen of the Heavens, and, he tells us, those two names (Eastre and Ishtar) were even pronounced the same: `Ee-star'. He informs us that the worship of Bel and Ishtar was introduced into Britain at a very early date by the Druids.
So we see that the Bible's commands and dire warnings about Asherah must certainly include her other names: Astarte, Ishtar, and Easter!
[3] Easter Buns (or "Cakes of Bread") and Easter Fires. The Rev. Alexander Hislop in his The Two Babylons proved that the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre (or Eastre) was none other than the infamous Ishtar of Babylon, the Queen of the Heavens, and those two names (Eastre and Ishtar) were even pronounced the same: `Ee-star.' He informs us that the worship of Bel and Ishtar[5] was introduced into Britain at a very early date by the Druids. From Bel comes the name of the pagan festival Beltane. Hislop tells us that even as late as the 19th century Beltane was celebrated every year in Britain as follows: The people assemble in a circle and light a fire in the center. Each person places a small piece of oat-cake in a hat. They all sit and draw from the hat. Whoever draws the blackened piece of oat-cake (you'd expect it to be a straw or stick or stone, wouldn't you?) has to jump through the fire in the center of the circle, and pay a penalty fee.
"This is," says Hislop, "in fact, a part of the ancient worship of Baal [Bel], and the person on whom the lot fell was [in earlier times] burnt as a sacrifice. Now, the passing through the fire represents that [earlier human sacrifice]...."Hislop continues, "If Baal [Bel] was thus worshipped in Britain, it will not be difficult to believe that his consort [Ishtar also known as Astarte] was also added by our ancestors, and that from ... Ishtar, the religious solemnities of April ... are [now] called by the name of Easter." Hislop further tells us that the entire month of April (including the last day when the evening Beltane Fires were usually kindled) was called "Easter-monath". - p. 104.
Weiser also tells us that such bonfires were originally banned by the church as being a pagan symbolism (Synod of Mainz, 742 A. D.). However, "Saint" Patrick introduced the practice in Ireland "to supplant the Druidic pagan spring fires with a Christian [?] and religious fire symbol of Christ... This tolerated custom became so popular eventually that the popes incorporated it into the liturgy of the Western Church in the latter part of the ninth century." And so it became popular in much of Western Europe. - The Easter Book, Francis Weiser, S. J.
"In spite of the thin cloak of Christianity thrown over these customs [Easter Fires] we can hardly doubt that they are really of pagan origin." - p. 703, The New Golden Bough by Sir James G. Frazer as revised and edited by Dr. Theodor Gaster, A Mentor Book, 1964 printing.
Frazer relates many accounts of Beltane Fires and "May" Fires in Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Sweden, and other northern European countries in the relatively recent past. They often have these things in common: Large fires are kindled (usually on hills) in late April or early May. Sacrificial cakes (often of oats - sometimes with eggs) are used - sometimes ceremonially eaten, sometimes used in other rituals. People (most often children) are "sacrificed" in the fires: Some are actually dragged up to the fire and seemingly about to be thrown in before being stopped; some are actually spread on the ground as though to be cut into quarters before being "thrown into" the fire; and, more often, children and young people jump over the fires often passing through the flames. (These purely pagan customs were still very popular in many places of northern Europe even as late as the mid-1800's.
For example, Frazer tells us: "On the first of May, 1837 the Baal fires were, as usual on that day, so numerous as to give the [Isle of Man] the appearance of a general conflagration." And, "On the Hemlock Stone, a natural pillar of sandstone standing on Stapleford Hill in Nottinghamshire, a fire used to be solemnly kindled every year [up into the 1800's] on Beltane Eve." - p. 708, #531, The New Golden Bough.)
The "cakes of bread" have become "hot cross buns" at Easter and the Beltane fires have become Easter Fires, but both clearly betray their pagan-inspired origins in which they, together, honored false gods, notably Ishtar (Easter) and Bel (Baal or Molech).
Yes, the "hot cross bun" commemorates a ritual honoring Ishtar (and Eastre), and the Easter Fires commemorate the ritual fires and terrible human sacrifices that were an essential part of worshipping the god Bel (Baal or Molech) Ishtar's consort.
Now notice how this very same double custom was condemned by God.
In Jeremiah 7 Jehovah tells that he will destroy "his people" of the southern kingdom of Judah (including Jerusalem and the Temple) because of their disobedience. They honor other gods and then come and stand in God's house which bears his sacred name and say, `We are safe' - - safe to do all these detestable things. And how will it end for them?
"I will thrust you from my presence, just as I did all your brothers [the northern 10 tribes of Israel who had been destroyed or taken away as slaves]."
Why?
"Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes of bread for the Queen of Heaven [The NIV Study Bible footnote for this verse says: `Queen of Heaven. A Babylonian title for Ishtar']."
And,
"The people of Judah have built the high places of Topheth [NIVSB footnote: `place of child sacrifice'] in the valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire." - Jeremiah 7:9, 10, 13-15, 30, 31, NIVSB.
"The heathen practice of making children `pass through the fire' was occasionally practiced by the Israelites ... and was included in the condemnations of the prophets."
And,
"The OT often speaks of the fact that Israelites at times of apostasy made their children `go through the fire to Molech' (2 Kings 23:10; cf. Jeremiah 7:31; 19:5). In some passages the reference is clearly to a deity to whom human sacrifice was made...." - pp. 377, 789, New Bible Dictionary, Second edition, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1982.
So how should we react to the "deceptive words" of those who tell us we can make a pagan ritual into something pleasing to God? Were God's chosen people ever able to do that?
"This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD [Jehovah]: `Stand at the gate of [Jehovah's] house and there proclaim this message: "Hear the word of [Jehovah], all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship [Jehovah]. [These people really firmly believe they are God's saved people and that they are worshiping him in an acceptable manner.] This is what [Jehovah] Almighty, the God of Israel, says: `Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. Do not trust in deceptive words and say "This is the temple of the LORD [so we are automatically saved no matter what]...."'"'" - Jeremiah 7:1-4, 8, NIVSB
[4] We are even left to argue about the year of his birth! Respected scholars and historians still debate this issue with claims ranging from 2 B.C. to 7 B.C (or more). Jehovah's Witnesses decided many years ago (from scriptural & historical evidence) that it was probably in 2 B.C.E. (B.C.). They have been attacked for this belief by some, but a number of "orthodox" scholars now agree with them.
"The date of 3/2 B.C.E. was universally held by the early church fathers and has been embraced again by Ernest Martin, W. F. Filmer and others who place the death of Herod in 1 B.C.E. Their position has now been accepted by Jack Finegan in the latest revised edition of his Handbook of Biblical Chronology, [Peabody, MA, Hendrickson Publishers, 1998], pp. 291-301." - p. 45, Bible Review, Dec. 1999.
Biblical Archaeology Review included this information concerning the book The Star that astonished the World by Dr. Ernest L. Martin: "For the first time in 50 years, the respected Griffith Observatory altered its annual planetarium show to include this compelling case for a 2-3 B.C. birth date of Christ." - p. 11, July/August 2000.
[5] Remember, the mere association of a custom or ritual with paganistic worship was enough to make it abominable to God! The "sacred evergreen" tree is no exception!
"The asherah was wooden, as we learn from its usual destruction by burning (Deut. 12:3; 2 Ki 23:6), and probably originated from the sacred evergreen .... The association of these with Canaanite fertility practice sufficed to make them abominable to [God]." - New Bible Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1984, p. 504, Tyndale House Publ.
"For it is not to be believed that these [early Greek and Roman pagan ceremonies] have no origin, are practiced without reason or meaning, and have no causes connected with their first beginnings. That pine which is regularly born into the sanctuary of the Great Mother, is it not in imitation of that tree beneath which Attis mutilated and unmanned himself, which also, they relate, the goddess consecrated to relieve her grief?" - Arnobius (4th cent. Christian writer), The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 6, p. 504, Eerdmans.
"BEL, the supreme god, or one of the chief gods, of the Babylonians (Isa. 46). The word is the Chaldaic form of Baal, and Bel is believed by some to be identical with that god." - p. 769, Vol. 3, The Universal Standard Encyclopedia, 1955.
"Mythologists who regarded Baal as synonymous with the Sun-god associated his worship as having prevailed through ancient Scandinavia, and it is supposed to have been general in the British Isles." - p. 2, Vol. 3, The Encyclopedia Americana, 1957.
"ISHTAR, principal Babylonian and Assyrian goddess, equivalent to the Sumerian Innin and the Phoenician Astarte .... intimately concerned with the giving or spilling of life, was goddess both of sexual activities and of war." - p. 440, Vol. 9, Encyclopedia International, Grolier, 1966.
"ASHERAH and pl. Asherim in Revised Version, instead of "grove" and "groves" of the Authorized Version [KJV]. This was the name of a sensual Canaanitish goddess Astarte, the feminine of the Assyrian Ishtar. Its symbol was the stem of a tree deprived of its boughs, and rudely shaped into an image, and planted in the ground. Such religious symbols ("groves") are frequently alluded to in Scripture (Exodus 34:13; Judges 6:25; 2 Kings 23:6; 1 Kings 16:33, etc.). These images were also sometimes made of silver or of carved stone (2 Kings 21:7; "the graven image of Asherah," R.V.). (See GROVE [1].). – Easton's Bible Dictionary, Thomas Nelson Publ.
And An Encyclopedia of Religion, Ferm (editor), 1945:
"Baalism: Designation of a nature religion, the main emphasis of which is on fertility. Fertility religion assumed various forms in the Near East, but was most highly developed in Canaanite (Phoenician) religion, and played a major role in the OT by way of stimulus for syncretism [partially or wholly absorbing aspects of other religions into your own] and prophetic reaction. From various sources ... the basic concepts are clear. El was the father of the gods ..., and Asherah was the mother-goddess. Chief among their progeny was the familiar god who controlled the weather and vegetation, known as Baal [or Bel] ... His consort was the goddess of fertility, Astarte (OT Ashtaroth ...) [Also known as Ishtar].
"To understand the story it is necessary to understand the climate of Syria and Palestine. In March-April the rains cease, and do not begin again until October-November. During the dry season, therefore, there is little vegetation which can grow, whereas in the spring as a result of the winter rains the whole country is covered temporarily with verdure. The Canaanite personified the forces responsible for this climatic cycle. The reason the rains stopped and the vegetation dried up was that the god of weather and vegetation, Baal [Bel], had been killed in a fierce struggle with Mot, `Death.' The rains returned in the fall because friends, especially the sun [represented by Beltane fires in Britain] and Fertility (Astarte [or Ishtar, Eastre]), brought Baal [Bel] back to life. The earth flowered in the spring because of the copulation of Baal [Bel] and Astarte [Eastre].
....
"This religion had a great influence upon Israel in various ways, until the religion of the majority of the common people, especially in North Israel, became highly syncretistic [full of borrowed paganisms added to the true religion - - exactly as found in the majority of Christendom today]. This occasioned the strong prophetic reaction and the posing of the question by Elijah and his successors as to whether Yahweh [Jehovah] or Baal was to be Israel's God. Coupled with this was the denunciation of the symbols and acts of Canaanite religion, including Asherah (whose symbol was the sacred tree, grove, or post), pillar (perhaps the symbol of Baal...), and the teraphim..." - p. 51.
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