"Is it Possible to Christianize
Modern Holidays"?
by
Lani W. Finley
There is only one similarity that Satan has in common
with Jesus Christ. It is that he is the same today,
yesterday and forever. The scriptures tell us that the
devil is a murderer and a liar.
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts
of your father ye will do. He was a murderer
from the beginning, and abode not in the truth,
because there is no truth in him. When he
speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he
is a liar, and the father of it. (John 8:44)
The
Bible also informs us that he has deceived the whole
world (Rev. 12:9).
And the great dragon was cast out, that old
serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which
deceiveth the whole world:
he was cast out into the earth, and his angels
were cast out with him Rev 12:9. (Emphasis on
scripture is mine throughout).
Satan will never repent, nor cease from this evil
conduct. It is as natural to him, as breathing is to a
human being. He will always remain the same. One
of his goals is to twist, pervert and misrepresent the
truth of God, as revealed in the Holy Scriptures. He has
managed to steal the truth regarding God's Holy Days
from the majority of mankind and has deceived them into
believing fables. The apostle Paul warned the body of
Christ that sound doctrine would be replaced with fables
of men.
"For the time will come when they will not
endure sound doctrine;
but after their own lusts shall they heap to
themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4And
they shall turn away their ears from the truth,
and shall be turned unto fables
(2 Tim 4:3-4)."
The Cunning Deception
Satan has deceived most of the Christian community into
accepting the erroneous belief that man can create
doctrines and days of worship outside of the scriptures
and use them to honor God. This is predicated upon the
belief, that it is somehow possible to
Christianize something that is evil and an
abomination to God. Is it possible for pagan feast days
and symbols, that were used in the evil worship of the
devil, to be cleaned-up and used for the worship of
God? Most learned Christian pastors will admit that
holidays like: Christmas, Easter, Halloween and
Valentines Day have a pagan origin. Nevertheless, they
reason, that if Christ's name and the person of Jesus,
is incorporated into the day, that it is somehow
Christianized and can be used to worship a Holy God. Is
this true? There is a way that seems right to man, but
ends in death (Prov. 14:122). What does God have to say
about something that has its origin in pagan worship? In
addition, how does He feel about pagan symbols and
artifacts? We should let the Word of God answer this
question for us.
The graven images of their gods shall ye burn
with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or
gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee,
lest thou be snared therein: for it is an
abomination to the LORD thy God).
26
Neither shalt thou bring an abomination
into thine house, lest
thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt
utterly detest it, and
thou shalt utterly abhor it;
for it is a cursed thing (Deut 7:25-26).
When thou art come into the land which the LORD
thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do
after the abominations of those nations.
10There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through
the fire, or that useth divination,
or an observer of times,
or an enchanter, or
a witch.
11Or
a charmer, or a
consulter with familiar spirits,
or a wizard, or a
necromancer.
12
For all that do these things are an
abomination unto the LORD: and
because of these abominations the LORD thy God
doth drive them out from before thee Deut
18:9-12.
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. (Jer 10:2).
Please notice how many times God uses the word
abomination in these verses. The word
abomination means, "a hateful thing, disgusting, an
abhorrence." Does this sound as if God could ever
approve of the pagan practices, symbols and customs of
the heathens? We are instructed by God not to bring any
of these things into our homes and we are commanded to
detest and abhor
them. We are warned, "not to learn the way of the
heathen". God did not say for us to learn their ways,
Christianize them and use them to worship Him.
Anything that is evil and an abhorrence to God, cannot
have Christ's name attached to it and made holy. Can one
attach the name of Jesus to the act of adultery, incest,
lies or murder and then make the act acceptable to God?
Of course not, because there can be no fellowship
between good and evil. The Word of God confirms this.
Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For
what do righteousness
and wickedness have in
common? Or what fellowship can light have with
darkness?
15
What harmony is there
between Christ and Belial? What
does a believer have in common with an
unbeliever?
16What agreement is there between
the temple of God and idols?
For we are the temple of the living God. As God
has said: "I will live with them and walk among
them, and I will be their God, and they will be
my people".
17
"Therefore come out
from them and be separate, says
the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will
receive you (2 Cor 6:14-17 NIV).
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 (1 Cor
10: 21 NIV).
Paul
is warning Christians not to have any fellowship with
things that originated in the deceived heart of man and
inspired by the devil. We are commanded to
come out and be separated
from these evil and corrupt beliefs and customs.
The Fables
We have investigated several scriptures that clearly
condemn combining pagan doctrines with Christian
worship. God has plainly stated that this is not
acceptable to Him. However, the world has chosen to
adopt and teach fables,
instead of truth. Although,
most pastors know that these fables are derived from
pagan origins; they try to justify them by erroneously
attaching Christ's name to them. Most Christians believe
that their holidays (a
deviation from the biblical references to holydays)
honor God and His Son, Jesus Christ. However, reference
materials and Bible historians agree, that it was sheer
paganism, that gave birth to these modern Christian
observances.
(1). Christmas:
The following is a quote from the Encyclopedia
Britannica, Volume 11; page 390 "During the
later periods of Roman history, sun worship
gained in importance and ultimately led to what
has been called a 'solar monotheism.' Nearly all
the gods of the period were possessed of Solar
qualities, and both Christ and Mithra acquired
the traits of solar deities. The feast of Sol
and Victus (open unconquered Sun) on December
25th was celebrated with great joy, and
eventually this date was taken over by the
Christians as Christmas, the birthday of
Christ."
The Encyclopedia Americana,
1956 edition, adds, “Christmas…was not observed
in the first centuries of the Christian church,
since the Christian usage in general was to
celebrate the death of remarkable persons rather
than their birth…a feast was established in
memory of this event [Christ’s birth]
in the fourth century. In the
fifth century the Western Church ordered the
feast to be celebrated forever on
the day of the Mithraic rites of the birth of
the sun and at the close of the Saturnalia,
as no certain knowledge of the day of
Christ’s birth existed.”
Previous quotes introduced the subject of the
Saturnalia. Let’s carefully study just exactly
who Saturn was. Consider the following quote
from another large American newspaper,
The Democrat and Chronicle,
Rochester, New York, December 1984: “The Roman
festival of Saturnalia, Dec. 17-24, moved
citizens to decorate their homes with greens and
lights and give gifts to children and the poor.
The Dec. 25 festival of natalis
solis invicti, the birth of the unconquered sun,
was decreed by the emperor
Aurelian in A.D. 274 as a Winter Solstice
celebration, and sometime (later)…was
Christianized as a date to celebrate the birth
of the Son of Light.”
(2) Easter:
“Easter—the name Easter comes to us from Ostera
or Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring,
for whom a spring festival was held annually, as
it is from this pagan festival
that some of our Easter customs have
come”(Hazeltine,p.53).
“In Babylonia…the goddess of spring was called
Ishtar. She was identified with the planet
Venus, which, because…[it] rises before the
Sun…or sets after it…appears to love the light
[this means Venus loves the sun-god]…In
Phoenecia, she became Astarte; in Greece, Eostre
[related to the Greek word Eos:
“dawn”], and in Germany, Ostara [this comes from
the German word Ost: “east,” which is the
direction of dawn]” (Englehart, p. 4).
The widely-known historian, Will Durant, in his
famous and respected work, Story of
Civilization, pp. 235, 244-245,
writes, “Ishtar [Astarte to the Greeks,
Ashtoreth to the Jews], interests us not only as
analogue of the Egyptian Isis and prototype of
the Grecian Aphrodite and the Roman Venus, but
as the formal beneficiary of one of the
strangest of Babylonian customs…known to us
chiefly from a famous page in Herodotus: Every
native woman is obliged, once in her life, to
sit in the temple of Venus [Easter], and have
intercourse with some stranger.” Is it any
wonder that the Bible speaks of the religious
system that has descended from that ancient city
as, “Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of
Harlots and Abominations of the Earth” (Rev.
17:5)?
(3). Halloween:
[p. 315] Druidic Element. Unlike the familiar
observance of All Souls, Halloween traditions
have never been connected with Christian
religious celebrations of any kind. Although the
name is taken from a great Christian feast
(Allhallows’ Eve), it has nothing in common with
the Feast of All Saints, and is, instead, a
tradition of pre-Christian times that has
retained its original character in form and
meaning.
Halloween customs are traced back to the ancient
Druids… Halloween fires are kindled in many
places even now, especially in Wales and
Scotland.
Another, and more important, tradition is the
Druidic belief that during the night of November
1 demons, witches, and evil spirits roamed the
earth in wild and furious gambols of joy to
greet the arrival of "their season"—the long
nights and early dark of the winter months. They
had their fun with the poor mortals that night,
frightening, harming them, and playing all kinds
of mean tricks. The only way, it seemed, for
scared humans to escape the persecution of the
demons was to offer them things they liked,
especially dainty food and sweets. Or, in order
to escape the fury of these horrible creatures,
a human could disguise himself as one of them
and join in their roaming. In this way they
would take him for one of their own and he would
not be bothered. That is what people did in
ancient times, and it is in this very form the
custom has come down to us, practically
unaltered, as our familiar Halloween
celebration: …
[p. 316] Roman Element. In those countries that
once belonged to the Roman Empire there is the
custom of eating or giving away fruit,
especially apples, on Halloween. It spread to
neighboring countries: to Ireland and Scotland
from Britain, and to the Slavic countries from
Austria. It is probably based upon a celebration
of the Roman goddess Pomona, to whom gardens and
orchards were dedicated. Since the annual Feast
of Pomona was held on November 1, the relics of
that observance became part of our Halloween
celebration, for instance the familiar tradition
of "ducking" for apples. Source: Francis X.
Weiser, Handbook of Christian Feasts
and Customs (New York: Harcourt,
Brace and World, Inc., 1958), pp. 315, 316.
Copyright 1952
It
is evident that these observances of modern Christianity
had their birth and origin in absolute paganism. How can
Christians justify telling their innocent little
children these satanic lies? The Ten Commandments teach
us it is wrong to lie. The scriptures also tell us that,
no liars, and those who participate in witchcraft, shall
inherit the Kingdom of God" (Gal 5: 19-21 & Rev. 22:15).
Yet, millions of professing Christians will
fill their children with falsehoods about Santa Clause,
flying reindeer, an Easter Bunny that lays eggs,
fairies, wizards and witches. There is something
terribly wrong with this thought process.
Nowhere in the Word of God does it instruct us to
observe these days, or to lie to our children. However,
it does teach us to repent of such practices and to
remove ourselves from anything that has its roots in the
worship of the Satan the devil.
The
Bible instructs us not to substitute the teaching of man
for the truth of God.
Howbeit in vain do they worship me,
teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
9And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the
commandment of God, that ye may keep
your own tradition (Mark 7:7,9).
Most
professing Christians find it difficult to accept these
truths because the observance of the holidays
gives them a warm and fuzzy feeling.
They simply do not understand that the worship of God is
not based upon feelings, but on truth. Christians must
remember that we are to worship God in "spirit and
truth" - not lies and fables (John 4:24). Christians
must also be aware that Satan's ministers are
transformed into ministers of light.
And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed
into an angel of light. 15Therefore it is no
great thing if his ministers also be transformed
as the ministers of righteousness; whose end
shall be according to their works (2 Cor
11:14-15).
Jesus Christ came to "destroy the works of the devil" (1
John 3:8). He did not come to incorporate them into the
worship of Himself and His Heavenly Father. It was the
lies of the devil that brought division within the
Kingdom of God and caused one third of the angels to
rebel. It was his lies that deceived Adam and Eve and
caused the death of all mankind and Jesus Christ, our
Savior. Our Heavenly Father hates the works of Satan -
and so should we. God Almighty is a jealous God, "For
thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose
name is Jealous, is a jealous God" (Exod 34:14). He will
not share the worship of Himself and His Son, Jesus
Christ, with anyone or anything else. To incorporate
pagan teachings into the worship of God, would be the
same as asking God to share His throne with the works of
the devil. That is impossible for God to entertain.
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