ROME.....the influence of pagan practices?
Pagan Holidays From Saturnalia to Christmas By: Minister Charles A. Johnson III Deuteronomy 12:29-32
29. When he destroys the nations in the land where you will live,
30. don't follow their example in worshiping their gods. Do not ask, `How do these nations worship their gods?' and then go and worship as they do!
31. You must not insult the Lord your God like that! These nations have done horrible things that he hates, all in the name of their religion. They have even roasted their sons and daughters in front of their gods.
32. Obey all the commandments I give you. Do not add to or subtract from them.
Jeremiah 10:1-5 (King James Version)
1 Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel : 2 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. 3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. 4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. 5 They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good. It should be very clear from reading the above Sacred texts that our Lord God hates the religious customs of the heathen. The Lord God calls their religious practices abominations on many occasions throughout the Bible. God hates the religious worship of the heathen so much, that He commanded the children of Israel to purge the promised land of all traces of their religious worship when Israel came to take that land. The seven nations that the Lord drove out of the land of Canaan before Israel had to have their idolatrous religious systems completely destroyed. This included the destruction of their altars, the breaking down of their images, the burning of their graven images with fire, and the cutting down of their groves. (Sacred trees) This record is found in Deuteronomy 7:1-6.
The point here is that the Lord hates the religious customs of the heathen, and commanded His People not to adopt these practices in worship of the One True God. The Lord gave His commandments, and these were not to be added to. These were not to be taken from. As we all know this will of God is not always obeyed. Throughout history, this will of God was ignored.
That willful disobedience is very obvious when we examine Christmas celebration and its history. From the date selection of December 25, to the decorated trees, Santa Claus, the hanging of wreaths, mistletoe, gift giving, merry making, commercialism, drinking and wild parties (revelry), several of the songs and carols, the Yule log, the decoration lights, the holly, etc., Christmas celebration is the modern day incarnation of ancient sun worship. None of the above religious superstitions are found anywhere in your Bible.
This Bible study will prove that Christmas has pagan origins. This is a fact admitted by everyone who has ever studied the history of the holiday and studied the Bible. This minister will quote historical sources, sources from the Roman Catholic Church, and most important of all, quote the Bible, to prove that Christmas is a pagan holiday and all Spiritual Christians should abstain from pagan religious celebrations. They are the sin of idolatry.
Most Bible students already know that Christmas has pagan roots. They have read Jeremiah 10:1-5 and have seen a mirror of the Christmas tree condemned as a pagan custom in that text. They have read in the Old Testament about the pagan worship of the groves, groups of sacred trees planted around an altar, which were decorated to honor the gods they represented. Many of these know and still celebrate Christmas.
They do so because it is their opinion that there is nothing wrong with adopting pagan religious celebrations and christianizing them to worship God with. These believe that if they dont think that an idol is an idol in their own mind, then it is fine to bring that idol into the house, decorate it, sing songs about it, all the while praising God for the birth of Jesus!
What do we make of such warped logic, people of God? Well it is the effort of this Bible study to prove that the Church of Jesus Christ is to abstain from all pagan religious celebrations. The Bible will show you that we are not to christianize customs invented by the heathen to worship devils, and then use these same customs to worship the One True God. This is what God was trying to communicate to His People in Deut. 12:29-32.
CHRISTMAS IS AN INVENTION OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
The first error in Christmas celebration has to do with the word Christmas itself. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the word Christmas is composed of two words, Christ and mass, and it is in fact a word for the holy day which is the celebration of the mass of Christ. Did you get that?
The word for Christmas in late Old English is Cristes Maesse, the Mass of Christ, first found in 1038, and Cristes-messe, in 1131.
(The Catholic Encyclopedia, Christmas, The origin of the word)
The word Christma itself is an attempt to join the Holy Name of Christ with mass, a false doctrine of the Catholic Church! Now maybe you can understand why I prefer to write X-mas instead of Christmas. The holy and the profane must be separated, as the Lord also says. The Name of Christ should never be attached to a false doctrine. His Name is holy!
An honest student of church history will admit that the Catholic Church made many compromises with the pagan religions of Rome. Christmas was only one of her unholy fusions, combining Bible Truth with Pagan lies and mysteries. The Scripture teaches that light has no fellowship with darkness.
The Catholic Church absorbed many of the Roman pagan religious holy days and festivals, such as the Saturnalia, into Christianity in the form of several new holy days for Christians to celebrate. It is admitted that these holy days (holidays) were not in the Bible. Nevertheless they were added.
There was the Roman Saturnalia, celebrated from December 17th to December 23rd, in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture and sowing. Then there was December 25th, the birthday of the sun god Mithras (Persian), or Sol Invictus (Roman). This holy day corresponded to the winter solstice on the Julian calendar. This feast was known as Natalis Invicti. Here is a quote from the Catholic Encyclopedia about this December 25th pagan feast.
Natalis InvictiThe well-known solar feast, however, of Natalis Invicti, celebrated on 25 December, has a strong claim on the responsibility for our December date.
(The Catholic Encyclopedia, Christmas, The origin of the date)
The pagan religious customs of the Roman Saturnalia are the origin of almost all of the traditional Christmas celebration. The date itself is taken from the sun gods birthday celebration on December 25. The Roman Catholic Church made this merger of religions, and out came this Christmas, a mixture of good and evil. Here are some sources on the historical development of Christmas and its relationship to the Roman Saturnalia.
In fact, the winter solstice or Brumalia, by now the feast of Mithras and the Unconquered Sun (Sol Invictus), had been associated with the birth of Jesus in 354 AD by Bishop Liberius of Rome. This move had been made to accommodate the new doctrine the new feast of Christs mass at the winter solstice was exported to Constantinople in 379 AD, and in 506 AD the Law Book of Alarich designated it as a public holiday. As we have seen, in the time of Constantine, the new faith of Christianity was taken to be similar to that of the Unconquered Sun, whose feast day, together with that of Mithras, was also at the winter solstice.
The name of Saturnalia died out, but its celebrations, such as decking houses with evergreens, giving presents and feasting, were attached to Christmas.
(A History of Pagan Europe, The Roman Empire, The Legacy, p. 76)
The Roman Saturnalia was one of the most popular holiday seasons in the history of the great empire. The businesses were closed and the schools let out in honor of this occasion. The legal courts let out and criminal punishments were postponed. Wars ceased for this season.
It was a time of merry making, and doing good deeds toward people. It was a time of gift giving. It was a time to visit friends. Reads a lot like the Christmas spirit of today, does it not? You can now see the true origin of the Christmas spirit. The Christmas spirit has its origin in paganism!
Though the Romans celebrated the Saturnalia festival annually for many years, eventually it was absorbed into Christianity as the Catholic holiday of Christmas. Many of the festivities and customs of the Roman Saturnalia, such as the celebrations, cheerfulness, lighting of the candles and giving of gifts, prove that Christmas is a pagan invention of the Catholic Church.
THE FIRST RECORDED PAGAN HOLIDAY UNTO THE LORD
Believe it or not, something very similar to the Christmas compromise occurred in the Scripture. The Apostle Paul had some thoughts about this pagan holiday that the nation of Israel celebrated in ancient times. This is the first recorded pagan holiday celebrated unto the Lord. We will read the Lords reaction to this event, as well as the Apostle Pauls teaching on it.
5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
(1 Corinthians 10:5-7 KJV)
Pauls admonition for Christians not to be idolaters is based on a direct quote from the Old Testament. Paul teaches that these things were written for our learning, as our examples. The Old Testament is a schoolmaster, designed to bring us to Christ (Galatians 3:24). Here it is in the O.T. Scripture.
Exodus 32:6 - And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.
Here in Exodus it is recorded that the Israelites had a pagan holiday in honor of the golden calf. History records that the sacrifice, feast, and subsequent merry making were customs of the pagan Egyptians in worshipping this calf idol. Moses was upon the mount receiving Gods commandments at this time. Aaron the high priest, and brother of Moses, was in charge.
Aaron was the first person in a leadership position among the people of God recorded to make a compromise with a pagan holiday. Aaron saw the idolatry of the children of IsraelI. Aaron no doubt realized that the people had gone back to Egypt and celebrated one of its pagan holidays. Aaron made the idol from the gold of the people. Then Aaron makes a compromise, and attempts to declare the holiday feast unto the LORD.
Exodus 32:5 - And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD.
In Exodus 32:10, the Lord reacts. His reaction is one of extreme anger. The Lord at that time was going to kill them all. The Lord God was going to destroy those idolaters from the Earth, and start over with Moses, to make of Moses a great nation.
It was bad enough that they were celebrating a pagan holiday in the honor of an idol calf god, but it was especially an abomination when Aaron declared the pagan holiday festivities unto the LORD.
The punishment was for the calf to be burned in fire, ground to powder, strawed upon the water, and for the children of Israel to be made to drink it. Now that was not the extreme severity of the punishment. Many of them died who were not on the Lords side. 3,000 Israelite men fell by the sword.
The Lord also plagued the people because of the calf (Exodus 32:35).
The punishment fell upon Aaron as well. Though he was not killed, apparently identified as being on the Lords side, we can assume that he did drink and thus did partake in that aspect of the punishment. This is because the children of Israel were made to drink it, and Aaron is one of these children of Israel. Aaron acknowledged God and still had to drink! Moses recounts this dark day in Israel's history, and says that God was just as angry with Aaron as he was with the other people, and that Moses prayed for Aaron too. Deuteronomy 9:20 - And the LORD was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him: and I prayed for Aaron also the same time. So even though Aaron dedicated the celebration of the pagan god 'unto the LORD,' he still displeased God.
My point here is that just because you put the Lords Name on a pagan religious holiday celebration, does not make celebrating it okay. God does not accept strange fire. Read about the strange fire in the Old Testament that two sons of Aaron offered up to the Lord that He did not command.
Numbers 26:61 - And Nadab and Abihu died, when they offered strange fire before the LORD.
The Lord never commanded us to take the pagan religious customs of the heathen and offer them up to Him. In fact, the Lord strictly forbade this in Deuteronomy 12:29-32 and Jeremiah 10:2. Learn not the way of the heathen, is the idea here. God has His own holy days in the Word. Whose holy days you observed let it be known who your God was in Old time.
Though the pagan holidays and feasts were going on around them, the Israel of God was commanded by her Lord to remain separate and holy, set apart for her Lord alone. We can take example from this, and abstain from pagan holidays also, just like the true Israel of God in the Old times did. Regardless of whether or not you are worshipping the idol or worshipping the Lord, the fact remains that the Church of Jesus Christ should not celebrate pagan religious customs. We should abstain from paganism.
THE NATIVITY SCENE LIE?
The next point is very disturbing, especially for churchgoers. The Christmas season makes liars out of preachers and churches every year. We know that God hates liars, so He could not possibly be pleased with lies in church!
Now my language is very strong here, and for good reason. Take the traditional nativity scene, for an example of my point. We will see that Christmas is such a lie, that even the little truth about Jesus birth that it tries to put forth has been twisted into a falsehood. We will compare the traditional nativity scene with the Scriptures to see its inconsistencies.
The traditional nativity scene pictures three wise men (magi) coming to Jesus in the manger and offering Him their gifts. First of all, the Scripture never says three wise men. Maybe three are in the traditional nativity scene because three gifts were given to Jesus. However, this could mean that each wise man gave those three gifts to the young child Jesus.
Anyway, the Scriptures declare that it was not the wise men that came to Jesus when He was laid in a manger, but it was the shepherds who came to the baby Jesus. The number of these shepherds is not told. The Scriptures also do not record them offering Jesus any gifts. They were told about the birth of Christ by an angel, and they went with haste to see this thing for themselves. Read the true story as it is written in Luke 2:7-20.
Now the Matthew account does testify of the wise men. The number of these is not given. However, in direct contradiction to the traditional nativity scene, these wise men came and found Jesus in a house! They did not come and find Jesus in a manger. Now a manger is a feeding trough. There is a big difference in a feeding trough and a house! Here is the text.
And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him:
(Matthew 2:11 KJV Abridged)
So we can see that the traditional nativity scene is a misrepresentation of Scripture. Given the pagan lies and superstition that are the root of the Christmas celebration, it should come to no surprise that the little truth Christmas does seek to put forth has also been twisted into a falsehood.
SAYING MERRY CHRISTMAS
What are people actually saying to each other, when they say the greeting merry Christmas? Earlier it was proven that Christmas is actually a compound word, the joining together of Christ and mass. The mass doctrine is a falsehood of the Roman Catholic Church. The mass is a corruption of the Lord�s Passover, which Jesus observed with His Apostles.
It is based on the doctrine of transubstantiation, the belief that the bread and wine of the Lords Supper ACTUALLY BECOME THE LITERAL body of Jesus and the blood of Jesus. That doctrine is indeed akin to cannibalism in some respects! Mass is supposed to be in remembrance of Christs death, not His birth! Therefore when people say to each other merry Christmas, they are actually saying merry mass of Christ or merry death of Christ, whether they realize it or not! People should really study the words that they use before they use them. If Christmas is supposed to be about the birth of Jesus, then why does the word Christmas itself refer to His death?
As I stated earlier, I dont believe that the Name of Christ should be attached to a false doctrine of the Catholic Church, mass. Mass is actually referred to as the Sacrifice of the Mass in Catholicism.
It is believed that Christ is actually re-crucified many times daily as each sacrifice of the mass is offered. The logic is that since the bread is His actual literal body, then when the priest breaks it, that is Jesus body being actually broken again. The Scripture records Jesus being crucified only once, and when we eat the bread and drink the wine in the Lords Passover Memorial, we do show forth the Lords death till he come, as it is written in 1 Corinthians 11:26. This is of course symbolic and not literal.
The bread is a symbol of His body, and the wine is a symbol of His blood. Those of us, who know the Truth, know that the wine in the cup did not transform into blood in the hands of Jesus when His Apostles drank. How could literal blood be in the cup, when the blood of Jesus had not yet been shed when He served His Apostles the Lords Passover in the Gospels?
The daily sacrifice of Jesus in the mass is a worldwide falsehood of the Catholic Church. The holy Name of Christ should not be joined to mass.
OBJECTIONS AGAINST THIS BIBLE STUDY
In my opinion, it is truly a sad thing when Christians will try to use Scripture to justify their celebration of and participation in pagan religious festivals. Im sure that it really sorrows the heart of God. Nevertheless it does happen, sad as it may be. Therefore I have to be ready to defend the Truth, and rest assured that I am ready. Let the Elect read on, and strengthen their faith.
One minister friend of mine quoted Pauls doctrine on eating meat sacrificed to idols as found in 1 Corinthians 8. His belief was, since the idol is nothing, and it is not a sin if I eat meat sacrificed to idols as long as I bless it in Jesus Name, then I can celebrate pagan traditions made to honor their idols as long as I bless them. What an abuse of Scripture, and that coming from a man who is supposed to be a minister of the Truth of God!
First of all, eating meat sacrificed to idols CAN BE A SIN, if it causes a brother or sister to stumble. You can read that in 1 Corinthians 8:9-13. Secondly, there is a difference in blessing meat in Jesus Name and eating, and blessing pagan holidays in Jesus Name and celebrating. Let me explain.
All meat, first of all, belongs to the Most High God. He alone created the beasts of the field, the fowls of the air, and the fish of the sea. He alone created all animals which meat comes from. Creation rights and authority are not transferred from God to the idol just because some pagan is lost in devil worship. My God is too mighty to have His authority transferred!
When I bless meat in the Name of my God that came from an animal that my God made, then that meat is sanctified to enter my body, which is the temple of my God. All meat blessed in the Name of Jesus is fit for Christian consumption, whether idolaters, atheists, or any other sinner cooks it!
Now trying to bless pagan religious festivals in the Name of Jesus, like the Roman Catholic Church did hundreds of years ago to create Christmas, is a totally different action. My God made the animal, which the meat was taken from, but my God did not make the pagan religious festivals. Praise Jesus, my Lord God had HIS OWN RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS in the Bible!
Remember the feasts of Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles, and the rest? Sacrifices were offered in Old Time, and the people of God praised Him with dancing and music. There were specific things that were to be done. All of them are outlined in Scripture. These events were memorials, holidays (holy days) given by God and intended to place the nation of Israel in remembrance of her deliverance in the past as well as to demonstrate in shadow what God was going to do for them in Christ, when that Light came.
The people of God are never intended to bless and celebrate pagan religious festivals. We are never to mix paganism with doctrines from the Scriptures to create unscriptural new holidays. God hates pagan religious celebrations, making that clear in the Law, our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. These Scriptures were quoted towards the beginning of this bible study.
A pastor friend tried to defend His celebration of the mass of Christ by using another Scripture text of the Apostle Paul. His view was, since Paul says in Romans 14:5-6 that to esteem one day above another is no big deal and to let every man be persuaded in his own mind, then it isnt a big deal if I esteem Christmas above other days and you dont. Just as long as Im observing the day and its celebrations unto the Lord Jesus.
This statement of belief really only deserves a short response. This pastor would really like you and I to believe that Paul was referring to pagan religious festivals when he wrote this? Do you, dear reader, actually think that Paul was telling the Church that it is okay if they celebrate pagan holidays? Why would Paul be telling the Church that celebrating pagan holidays is okay, when he condemns the practice in 1 Corinthians 10:7?
Christmas did not exist at the time of Paul anyway. However, the winter festivals of the pagans did exist in Rome at the time of Paul. Why did Paul not join the winter festivals of the pagans with the birth of Jesus, and create Christmas? Why would Paul be opposed to such action? Why do we have to wait for almost 300 or so more years before the creation of Christmas?
The pastor that tried to give me the above argument, sounded a lot like Aaron in Exodus 32:5. The pagan celebration was going on strong in Exodus 32, my God, the holiday fun was in full swing! The people ate, drank, and rose up to play. What a time of merry making they had!
Aaron in Exodus 32:5 declared that this feast of food, fun, and dancing, was a feast unto the LORD. The compromise here was great. The compromise of Christmas is great. The pastor above is trying to declare the Christmas celebration unto the LORD. He is in the error of Aaron.
CONCLUSION In conclusion on the matter of celebrating the mass of Christ, or Christmas, it is the sincere desire of this minister that all Spiritual Christians have been persuaded to abandon the customs of the pagans. Sadly, not everyone will be persuaded. Some Christians enjoy being pagans for a season. They see nothing wrong with celebrating christianized pagan religious festivals, just as long as they do it in Jesus Name.
Some Christians will still decorate the house with evergreen, lights, and wreaths. They will still bring in the tree, deck it, and adore it. They will still deck the halls with boughs of holly, and shout folla la la la, la la la la, tis is the season to be jolly! These will still tell their children the Santa lie.
Idolatry is a sin that consists of more than worshipping the idol itself. Idolatry also consists of the idols, festivals, customs, priest and priestess orders, and religious superstitions that accompany the worship of the idol.
We as Christians must abstain from it all. We must have no part with darkness. All of paganism is darkness. What fellowship has light with darkness, or righteousness with unrighteousness? The two dont mix!
All Christians who want to be holy unto the Lord, will come out from among Christmas celebration, and be separate. The very Elect will not touch the unclean thing, and the Lord will receive us. You can read where I am gathering these thoughts from in II Corinthians 6:14-18.
If you were alive and in Church leadership at that time, would you also make the great Christmas compromise? If the answer is yes, then I am praying for you right now in Jesus Name! If the answer is no, then ask yourself why you celebrate that same compromise today, if you do celebrate. The birth of Jesus is too holy of an event to be mixed with pagan religious festivals.
There is nothing wrong with remembering the Lords birth, but do it everyday!
The Christmas doctrine is rooted in pagan religion. It tells of and celebrates the death and re-birth of the sun god on the winter solstice, and his subsequent reincarnation into the evergreen tree (symbol of eternal life). The evergreen tree was then an idol of the sun god, and it is decorated to honor and celebrate his reincarnation.
How�s that for your Christmas tree?
It has absolutely nothing to do with Christ, but everything to do with the reincarnate sun god! Get that, Christmas is the doctrine of the death and reincarnation of gods! Celebrating the birth of this SUN god was merged with celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who Catholics believe to be their SON god, the second person in the Catholic holy trinity. Also reader, Jesus was not born on December 25.
According to Jewish history, the winter months were too cold for the shepherds to be keeping watch over the flock by night as it is written in Luke 2:8. The real birth of Jesus was likely in the late summer months or early fall months. I leave you with the admonition from the Apostle John.
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