Please go and read Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) chapter 10. Do you not
know the origins of chirstmas??
The
Catholic Encyclopedia tells us: "Christmas was not among
the earliest festivals of the Church. Irenaeus and Tertullian omit
it from their lists of feasts;
Historians acknowledge
that the earliest December 25 celebration of Christ’s birth "took
place at Rome about the middle of the fourth century… The
first mention of a Nativity feast on December 25 is found in a
Roman document known as the Philocalian Calendar, dating from the
year 354 [ad]… From Rome, Christmas spread throughout the
West, with the conversion of the barbarians" (Miles, pp. 20–21).
The Bible, of course, does not mention the date of Jesus’ birth.
"The real reason for the choice of the day [December 25]
most probably was, that upon it fell the pagan festival" that
celebrated the rebirth of the sun (ibid., p. 23).
Hoping to encourage pagans to embrace
the Roman Catholic faith, clerics sought to adapt pagan customs
into their religion by giving them new names. Pope Gregory I,
writing in 601ad, urged Augustine of Canterbury to allow the pagan
Anglo-Saxons to retain the outward forms of their old festivals,
but to practice them with a new meaning (Miles, p. 179). As one
author concludes, reflecting on the Pope’s letter, "We see here
very plainly the mind of the ecclesiastical compromiser"
(ibid.).
Catholic
historian Will Durant acknowledged this plainly when he wrote,
"Christianity did not destroy paganism; it adopted it… the Greek
mysteries passed down into the impressive mystery of the Mass.
Other pagan cultures contributed to the syncretist result. From
Egypt came the idea of the Trinity… the adoration of the Mother and
Child, and the mystic theosophy that made Neoplatonism and
Gnosticism and obscured the Christian creed… From Phrygia came the
worship of the Great Mother… Christianity was the last great
creation of the ancient pagan world" (Caesar and
Christ, p. 595).
"Ishtar", which is pronounced "Easter" was a day that
commemorated the resurrection of one of their gods that they called
"Tammuz", who was believed to be the only begotten son of the
moon-goddess and the sun-god. Easter is the worship of Ishtar the
fertility goddess...it has and will never have anything to do with
the ressurection of Yeshua. Does the bible tell you to celebrate
easter??
When Aaron made the golden calf for the Israelites at Mount
Sinai, he had still proclaimed the celebration that attended its
inauguration the “feast of the Lord.” (Exodus 32:5). Yet, this did
not prevent the wrath of God from falling upon them. This is
exactly what the church is doing...
Whatever I command you,
be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take
away from it" (Deuteronomy 12:29–32).Yet the church has not
obeyed...
Sorry, I still don't see how the origins of a particular
practice leads to pagan practice today. For 2000 years, I'm sure
practices will develop (not change) to a certain degree,
especially when cultural influences are absorbed along
the way. So if people worship in English today instead of
Hebrew / Greek and build churches that look more local
rather than those in the early church, are they pagan??
But the most ironic part here is that despite all
these 'paganisation' as you call it, the Catholic church today
still most closely resembles the beliefs and the way the early
Christians worshipped, especially as seen in the book of Acts
and in the writings of the early church fathers.
For the facts on Easter's origins, pls read http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/1999/9903chap.asp, so
please stop this illogical reasoning that "this
sounds like that, so everything about this
is equal to that".
About the Jeremiah passage, how do you know Jeremiah was
referring to Christmas trees and not a hundred other
possibilities? You mean Christmas trees existed in
Jeremiah's time and he was dutifully warning them against the
trees??
And about the Israelites at Mt Sinai, of course they brought
down the wrath of God because it's a golden calf! Again,
Catholics don't worship Christmas trees, Easter bunnies,
the sun, the moon or whatever else, except our Heavenly Father.
