Lesson 29
What does the Bible say about THE DAYS YOU OBSERVE? Halloween, Easter, Christmas
AMBASSADOR CHRISTIAN COLLEGE‐ Dr. Keith Slough
INTRODUCTION Greetings diligent Bible students! You are now well on your way to finishing the Bible study course. But I must warn you. And this is a serious warning, not to be taken lightly. So many people say they want the deeper things of God, the “strong meat” of God’s Word. But once they learn the strong meat of the Truth of God they sometimes will reject what God shows them! Peter said it is better not to have known the way of righteousness than to learn the truth and then turn away from what God has shown you (II Peter 2:21). Understand: The world does not know the truth of God! They have been blinded. God however is calling out a people –calling them OUT of the world and into the Truth! Since you are taking this Bible Study Course, it is possible God is calling you! But what is He calling you to? First He is calling you to sincere repentance in accepting Jesus as Lord of your life (John 6:44). Many have “come forward” and even been baptized, but have not truly repented of sin which is the transgression of the Law of God as revealed in the Bible (I John 3:4). God is showing you what sin is, by teaching you His Law. For where there is no law there obviously can be no sin –no transgression of a law (Romans 4:15). Perhaps God is giving you a chance to really understand His will for your life –to understand the need to truly repent of the sins that the whole world is committing including the vast majority of our churches, so that you can understand His True Religion. Second, God calls people to embrace His TRUTH, to a deeper understanding of His Word and calls us to grow both in grace and in knowledge of the truth (II Peter 3:18). Third, God calls people to a higher reward in His kingdom, if they will both obey (even the least of His commandments) and teach others so (Matthew 5:19). One of the greatest and most prevalent sins in modern churchianity (the Babylon of Revelation consisting of mother and daughter churches in the last days) is the observance of pagan customs –heathen holidays, which they have supposedly “sanitized” and “Christianized” to use in the worship of God. Holidays such as Halloween a pagan druid festival, has now been officially sanctioned as a “Christian” holiday by the Roman Catholic Church. While there is nothing wrong with celebrating Thanksgiving (which has a non pagan American origin and was originally dedicated to God), it is nevertheless wrong to take any holiday originally associated with PAGAN worship and use that day to worship the true God. I want to encourage each of you to look up the following websites after finishing this lesson to document what you are reading –“Prove all things.” http://www.ucgstp.org/lit/gn/gn002/gn002f03.htm http://www.antipas.org/books/xmas/xmas.html http://www.abcog.org/nh/idol.htm http://www.reformedonline.com/view/reformedonline/xmas4.html
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The REAL TRUTH ABOUT
CHRISTMAS Few Roman Catholics and Protestants seem to know the real truth about this very ancient holiday. The truth is December 25th is NOT the Birthday of Jesus Christ but the primary winter holiday of ancient heathen sun worship. Why did the Roman church insist on adopting this ancient pagan holiday into the professing "Christian" church of that day and call it "Christian"? The REAL truth about Christmas may surprise you! It is well known that Christmas is not the birthday of Christ! Scholars know that Christ was not born on or anywhere near December 25th. Why then has this "Christian" myth been perpetuated generation after generation? Why did the Roman Catholic Church, which had left the true Faith of the early First Century Church of God, adopt this pagan custom into their denomination? And why did the Protestant Reformers continue to perpetuate this myth? Some reformers of course refused to celebrate the December 25th celebration. The puritans who came to this country in the 1600s not only did not celebrate this pagan festival but passed laws against the observance. There were laws against the observance of Christmas in New England until just after the Civil War! It has been well known for nearly 2000 years that December 25th was the winter festival for sun worshippers and is NOT a true Christian festival (From the Bible!) It is indeed a Roman festival, perpetuated by the apostate Roman church, but it was never a Biblical festival nor did the early true Church of God ever sanction or observe it! What is "Pagan"?
What does this word "pagan" mean? According to Webster's New World College Dictionary, second edition, this word "pagan" means: "a person who is not a Christian...a person who has no religion...SYN: pagan and heathen are both applied to non‐monotheistic peoples, but pagan specifically refers to one of the ancient polytheistic peoples, esp. the Greeks and Romans” Page 1019. Notice "pagans" (or "heathen") are specifically polytheistic peoples those who worship many "gods" and is specifically CONDEMNED in the Bible! According to Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, second edition, the word "pagan" refers to "one of the ancient polytheistic peoples" (page 1284). The Encyclopedia Britannica, Volume 20, Eleventh Edition, defines this word "pagan" as: "a HEATHEN, one who worships a false god or false gods, or one who belongs to a race or nation
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which practices IDOLATROUS rites and professes polytheism" (page 449). The term "Pagan" then refers to FALSE RELIGION ‐ idolatrous, heathen worship involving the "practices" (notice the British spelling) and customs of non Christian peoples. Such pagan customs and celebrations were strictly condemned in the Bible as we shall see quoted! It is well known that December 25th is not the actual date nor is it anywhere near the time of the birth of Christ and that His actual birth did in fact occur in early autumn and not the dead of winter! But what is not generally known by most professing Christians is that the Bible, the Word of God, forbids the MIXING of pagan customs with Biblical or true Christian worship! God specifically states we are not to learn the ways of the heathen and then use those practices to worship Him. The Roman church admits the truth of this article concerning this holiday! Notice this statement from The New Catholic Encyclopedia. It states that the December 25th date was assigned to be the birthday of Christ "because on this day, as the sun began its return to the northern skies, the pagan devotees of Mithra celebrated the dies natalis Solis Invicti (birthday of the invincible sun)." This blend of rank paganism with organized churchianity (now apostate) is called syncretism and is strictly forbidden in the Bible! The New Encyclopedia Britannica states: "December 25, the birthday of Mithra, the Iranian god of light and the day devoted to the invincible sun, as well as the day after Saturnalia, was adopted by the [Roman Catholic] church as Christmas " Notice this December 25th date was originally devoted to the pagan god Mithra and not to Christ! December 25th is not the birthday of Christ! Another authority states: "The ancient [pagan] Romans held year‐end celebrations to honor Saturn, their harvest god, and Mithras, the god of light As part of these celebrations, the people prepared special foods, decorated their homes with greenery, and joined in singing and gift giving" (World Book Encyclopedia, page 528). Not much has really changed has it? Christmas is Pagan! "Christmas has its roots in ... pagan festivals incorporated as [Roman] Christianity spread across Europe and the world" (The Mystical Year, Time‐Life Books, pg. 120). "Many of the pagan customs became part of the Christmas celebrations"(New Standard Encyclopedia page 320). "In early times this day [December 25th, called the "Saturnalia"] was not one of the feasts of the [true] Christian Church. In fact, the church fathers frowned upon the celebration of birth‐ days and thought them a heathen custom" (The New Book of Knowledge, pg. 289 emphasis added). While the Bible does not condemn the celebration of one's personal birthday, it does condemn using pagan festivals in the WORSHIP OF GOD! God forbids the transforming, or con‐ version, of PAGAN customs into "Christian" festivals used in the worship of the true God!
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Notice this quotation from another authority: "It was the policy of the early [Roman Catholic] Church to transform pagan festivals wherever possible instead of trying to abolish them [as God commanded to be done!!], and by giving ancient practices a Christian significance In the yet‐unconverted world of the fourth century, December 25 was already a sacred day for thousands of [heathen] people throughout the Roman Empire. It was Dies Invicti Solis, the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun," (From Christina Hole's Christmas and its Customs, 1942, London, pg 9). Notice several scriptures on this from the Word of God. God commanded that the PAGAN influences be utterly destroyed when His people entered the land! (Numbers 33:52,55). In the books of Kings we read that God was angry even with the kings of Judah and Israel when they allowed pagan influence to be mixed with the true religion of God. Solomon started this practice when he, for political expedience, began to allow altars to pagan gods to be erected in Jerusalem! (See I Kings 11:4‐8). Other kings followed his example, blending paganism with the true worship of God and because of this God was angry and allowed punishment to come upon them. God FORBIDS Paganism! God thunders His command to His people: "Thus saith the ETERNAL, Learn not the way of the heathen ... 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. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not"! (Jeremiah 10:2‐6). Sound familiar? Most people care more for their own human traditions learned from the world, than for the things of God. Jesus said God's Word is truth (John 1 7: 1 7). We are commanded to come out of the "world" with its paganism and wrong traditions of men and be separate from them! (II Corinthians 6:17‐18). To continue observing the customs of this world which are not found in the Word of God, to continue to keep its pagan celebrations and then call them "Christian" thus perpetuating a myth ‐ a LIE ‐ is to be unequally yoked to this world which God forbids!! Such a mixture of the true Worship of God with paganism, which God calls IDOLATRY ‐ is strictly forbid‐ den!! (See verses 14‐16). To celebrate pagan customs and then "transform" them into something supposedly that worships Christ is to worship Him in VAIN! Notice the words of Christ Himself! "In VAIN do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men.... "And He said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own TRADITION ... making the Word of God of none effect through your tradition"!! (Mark 7:7‐9, and 13). This is precisely what the apostate Roman church did with the pagan holidays of Europe.
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They "transformed" them into Catholic (supposedly "Christian") holidays with which to worship Christ. SUCH WORSHIP IS IN VAIN!!! Scholars are in Agreement In The Christmas Book published in London by Robert Hale, the author writes: "We now celebrate Christmas every year, with a little bit of pagan superstition" (pg 9). "The name Christmas unites the name or title of our glorious God and Savior with the idolatrous, blasphemous Mass of Popedom. Christ‐Mass is a mixture of Pagan idolatry and Popish invention. That millions of Bible‐believing Protestants are observing a Roman Catholic holy day [so‐called] that has not been commanded anywhere in God's Word reveals the sad state of modern Evangelicalism" (From Why A Christian Must Not Celebrate Christmas, by Alan Sharpe, pages 1‐2). "Many of our Christmas customs have their roots in pagan ceremonies that were already hoary [ancient] with age in the fourth century A.D." (Christmas and its Customs, page 9). Christmas is not really the celebration of the birth of Christ at all! Rather it is a continuation of ancient pagan sun worship, condemned in the Word of God! Of course over the centuries this December 25th pagan holiday added other heathen elements as it progressed through Europe. "Christmas incorporated many other pagan customs. Holly and ivy, for instance, sacred to the ancient [pagan] gods Saturn and Dionysus, were believed to have magic power against evil" (from The Mystical Year, Time‐Life Books, page 121). Eventually the Christmas tree was added ‐ also from paganism. "Some authorities maintain that its [the Christmas tree's] origins lay in the pagan worship of vegetation (from Muir, Frank and Jamie's A Treasury of Christmas, page 64). "The use of evergreens to decorate homes at Christmas has an unmistakable pre‐Christian [pagan, or heathen] origin"! (Collier's Encyclopedia, pg 404). "The practice of decorating houses and churches [near December 25th], is pagan in its origin" (Everyman's Encyclopedia, pg. 1,672). "The ceremony of the Yule log, like so many of the oldest Christmas traditions, was thoroughly pagan in origin" (A Treasury of Christmas, page 59). Even the gift‐giving tradition goes back to ancient pagan, pre‐Christian customs in honor of pagan gods! In the book, Christmas and its Customs the authors state: "Because gift giving was so essential a part of the pagan celebrations [of Saturnalia] the early Church frowned upon it as sternly as upon other and more questionable New Year celebrations" (page 25). Notice that the New Year immediately followed the pagan Saturnalia in December, culminating on the 25th of the month. Why did the early Church frown on gift‐giving in December? Because they knew that it displeased God to borrow customs from the pagans. Christ has called us out of this world! We are forbidden to participate in any of its so‐called
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"Christian" customs that originated in ancient pagan ‐ or heathen worship! Notice God's command in Deuteronomy 12. "Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them ... and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, HOW did these nations serve their gods? Even so will I do likewise. "Thou shalt NOT do so unto the Lord THY God"! (Verses 30‐31). Notice these people are not attempting to follow other gods! Rather they are asking "How" did these other nations; pagan and heathen peoples ‐serve their gods. What practices and customs and celebrations did they use in worshipping their gods? And then they decide, "even so will I do likewise"! That is, they will take the same customs, practices and festivals originally used to worship PAGAN gods, and "Christianize" them and use them to worship the true God! This is a capital SIN in Scripture! God determines how we are to worship Him. Christ strictly forbids us to lay aside the COMMANDMENTS of God in our worship of Him, preferring instead, the traditions that come from men! (See Mark 7:7‐9, 13). Yet this is exactly what the Roman Catholic Church has done!!! (And later the Protestant DAUGHTER churches continued these pagan practices which are forbidden by the Bible). God continues in verse 31: "for every ABOMINATION to the Lord, which He hateth, have they done unto their gods…" We are not to use their customs to worship God. We are to go to the BIBLE to find which customs and which festivals are appropriate with which to worship God! God concludes His instruction to us in true worship by adding: "What thing soever I COMMAND you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish [take away] from it"! (verse 32). How plain! We are only to do what God COMMANDED. Nothing more! Nothing less! The fact is that modern day Roman "Christianity" (Catholic and Protestant religion) has added many customs directly from PAGAN RELIGIONS and at the same time NEGLECTED the very days God commands His people to use to worship Him! Remember Christ's own words: "In VAIN do they worship Me,"‐why? Notice: "teaching for doctrines, the commandments of men"! (Mark 7:7). No where are we commanded to celebrate the birth of Christ by observing an ancient sun worshipping PAGAN festival! Rather such worship is strictly FORBIDDEN! Instead God commanded that days given to His Church, such as Pentecost, be observed "forever" (See Leviticus 23:21). In the Old Testament when God's Law (which the Jews called the Law of Moses) was given, the name of this festival was "The Feast of First Fruits" ‐also called the Feast of Weeks. The Greeks called it Pentecost. We see the early true Church of God observing these OLD TESTAMENT Holydays or festivals of God. But they never borrowed ancient pagan festivals for their worship of Christ! It wasn't until a huge Apostasy developed at the capitol of the Empire, Rome, that a large "falling away" from truth occurred. Not even the Reformation in the middle ages was successful in reforming the Roman church. It was impossible to get the now pagan Roman Catholic church to "contend for the Faith once delivered to the saints" (Jude 3). This apostasy that was
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gradually getting started in the first century was full blown in nearly 100 years in the west where Rome was influential. But in the eastern Churches, most of them still kept to the primitive New Testament Faith which was once delivered by God's apostles. The eastern churches ruled by the Jerusalem Headquarters Church (which later was forced to move to Pella in A.D. 69 due to persecution ‐ see the Encyclopedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, article Nazarenes, page 319), continued to adhere "as far as possible to the Mosaic economy as regarded... Sabbaths, foods and the like [the whole Law of God!] they did not refuse to recognize the apostolicity of Paul" (Nazarenes, page 319). Notice the early true Church of God in the eastern part of the Roman Empire which was now looked upon as being a "sect" and nicknamed "Nazarenes" by the world (See Acts 24:5), continued to observe God's "Sabbaths." They continued to obey the "food" laws of the clean and unclean (See Leviticus 11). In Acts 1 0: 14, after having been taught personally by Jesus Christ for three and one‐half years to keep God's Law, was able to say, "I have never eaten anything that is common or UNCLEAN"! In this vision, unclean animals were presented to Peter representing unclean Gentiles being cleansed by Christ ‐ not the unclean animals themselves! (See Acts 1 0:28). At no time did Peter eat unclean meats. We see from the Encyclopedia that the early true Church, still thriving in the eastern part of the Roman Empire, now called "Nazarenes" continued to obey the Faith which was once delivered to the early Church! (Jude 3). Apostasy at Rome Meanwhile, what was happening in the western part of the empire? The apostasy by the middle of the second century was now well under way in ROME! And even at that time, the Roman Christians did not observe Christmas! It wasn't until the fifth century after Christ, believe it or not, that Christmas was first ordered to be celebrated. It was NEVER celebrated by the early true Church of God! Notice: "In the fifth century the Western Church ordered it [Christmas] to be celebrated forever on the day of the old Roman feast of the birth of Sol" [the sun god] (The Encyclopedia Americana, 1944 edition). Notice December 25th was NOT the Birth of Christ but rather the birth of a supposed PAGAN deity!! Now you know what you have been worshipping. And as a result, your worship of Christ ‐according to Christ HIMSELF ‐has been in VAIN! (Mark 7:7). Alan Sharpe in his research article published on the Internet entitled Why a Christian Must Not Celebrate Christmas states: "The compromised, apostatizing Roman church took what was pagan and attempted to Christianize it. When the church has something relating to worship and religion in common with the unbelieving pagan world, the church, in that area, is bound
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together with unbelievers. The church has no business celebrating a pagan holiday with the pagan world. What hypocrisy! What wickedness!"(pages 10‐11). When Christ returns He will enforce the religious observance of His festivals found in Leviticus 23 (See Zechariah 14:1,4,9,16‐19. Isaiah 66:23, etc.). He will not return until the times of the "restitution" (or restoration) of all things! (Acts 3:21). What will Christ restore? He will restore GOD'S LAW which the world is deceived into believing has been "done away." He will abolish the pagan days of Halloween, Easter, and Christmas. God is calling out a people today to obey Him (John 6:44, I Cor. 1:26). He is calling us to come OUT of the Babylonian false religious system (Rome, the mother of abominations; See Revelation 17:5 and 18:4). He is calling us to SEPARATE ourselves from the deceptions of this world and from those religious organizations, churches, etc. anyone who has fallen into the PAGAN PRACTICES of this world. (II Cor. 6: 17). I have presented the truth to you in this article. It is different than what the world teaches. The ways of God appear "strange" to the world and to anyone not familiar with God's Law (Hosea 8: 12). People have sinned. Churches have sinned. All have sinned due to ignorance. God has "winked at" or overlooked our ignorance for a time. But now God commands all men everywhere to repent! (Acts 17:30). Will you repent of worshipping Christ with PAGAN customs and holidays? Will you now turn from this deceived world and the Roman apostasy and COME OUT of her and obey only the commandments of God? You have now been shown the truth! The choice is yours.
Editors Note: if you would like to read more about the real origin of the Christmas celebration, you may do so on the Internet. You are greatly encouraged to read Al Sharpe’s article entitled, “Why a Christian Must Not Celebrate Christmas” part of which can be found at: http://www.wcnet.org/~dshomody/break fast.html
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Who was
EASTER? Don't be too sure you know! The TRUTH is, the Easter celebration does NOT commemorate the resurrection of Jesus at all. Rather this festival, like Christmas, was borrowed from the heathen, converted over to the worship of Christ and brought into the Roman Catholic Church. Should you indulge in Easter worship? What does the Bible say? DOES "EASTER" commemorate the resurrection of Jesus? What does "Easter" mean and why is the celebration of His resurrection called Easter? Believe it or not, the early true New Testament Church of God never celebrated a holiday known as Easter. However this holiday did exist in the days of the Apostles. The Easter holiday was named after Ishtar, the "fertility goddess" of Babylon. The Romans had borrowed the Ishtar celebration from Babylon. Originally it had absolutely nothing to do with Christianity. It wasn't until the fourth century when a pagan, sun‐worshipping emperor named Constantine got control of the church in Rome that he set up the congregation at Rome as the headquarters of all Christianity, making the bishop (or pastor) or Rome the chief bishop of all Christians. The vast majority of true Christians never recognized the bishop of Rome as their leader. The entire Christian Church by the fourth century realized that Rome had long since apostatized from God's Truth. In the early second century, a true apostle of Jesus Christ named Polycarp, who was himself ordained by the apostle John before his death around A.D. 100, had journeyed to Rome to discuss the apostasy of that congregation with the bishop there. The leader of the Roman congregation refused to submit to the authority of Poly carp. The chief doctrinal issue was the observance of the Biblical Passover. Due to the deep‐seated hatred of the Jews, the Romans (even those professing to be Christians) had dropped the New Testament observance of the Passover in favor of the Roman festival known as "Easter," (or Ishtar) in commemoration of the fertility rites of spring borrowed from ancient pagan Babylon. Remember, Jesus Christ had called John to be one of His 12 apostles. We find in the book of Acts that James, the physical brother of Jesus Christ, was acting president, or chief apostle, over the entire Christian church in the early first century. At that time Jerusalem was still the headquarters congregation of the Church of God (see Acts 15). After James death, John had assumed the presidency of the true Church. He lived in Ephesus and gave spiritual direction to all the congregations of God's church from there. Before John's death from old age, he apparently was led to ordain Polycarp, who was made the bishop (or pastor) of a neighboring city called Smyrna (mentioned in Revelation 2). When Polycarp became the next president over all the churches around A.D. 100 he had to deal with the rising apostasy which had already begun in his day.
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The bishop of Rome was a minister by the name of Anicetus who refused to go back to keeping the New Testament ordinance of the Passover, preferring instead the pagan customs of Rome. Later after Polycarp's martyrdom in A.D. 154 where he was burned at the stake by the imperial Roman government, the next God‐ordained leader of the true Churches of God was Polycrates, who had to fight a growing apostasy in his day, especially in Rome. In A.D. 197 Polycrates also went to Rome to try to turn the apostate bishop there back to the truth of God. Polycrates' famous epistle has been preserved in the Ante‐Nicene Fathers, Volume VIII, entitled, "Epistle to Victor and the Roman Church concerning the Day of Keeping the Passover." The preface written by the editors to this ancient letter reads: "The long survival of St. John [the Apostle John, one of the original 12 apostles] among Jewish Christians led them to prolong this usage [of keeping the Passover], no doubt, as sanctioned by his example." Notice even these historians admit that the apostle John continued to keep the Passover and being the leading bishop (or chief apostle) over the entire Church, all the congregations in the eastern part of the Roman Empire followed his example, including his successors, Polycarp and Polycrates! The preface to this ancient document continues: "Our author [meaning Polycrates] ... presided over the church of Ephesus, in which the traditions of St. John were yet fresh in men's minds at the date of his birth. He had doubtless known Polycarp and Irenaeus also. He seems to have presided over a synod of Asiatic bishops (A.D. 196) which came together to consider this matter of the Paschal [Passover] feast. It is surely noteworthy that nobody doubted that it was kept by a Christian and APOSTOLIC ORDINANCE . The Christian hallowing of Pentecost [another Old Testament Feast day] connects with the Paschal [Passover] argument. The Christian Sabbath hinges on these points" [end of preface]. In the actual letter itself written approximately 19 centuries ago before apostasy had nearly taken over the whole church, Polycrates writes: "As for us, then, we scrupulously observe the exact day [the Passover on the 14th day of the month], neither adding nor taking away. For in Asia great luminaries have gone to their rest, who shall rise again in the day of the coming of the Lord, when He cometh with glory from heaven and shall raise again all the saints. I speak of Philip, one of the twelve apostles ... John, moreover, who reclined on the Lord's bosom. Then there is Polycarp, both bishop and martyr at Smyrna; and Thraseas... Sagaris... Papirius... Melito ... These all KEPT THE PASSOVER on the fourteenth day of the month, in accordance with the Gospel, without ever deviated from it, but keeping to the rule of faith." What an incredible letter! Notice. Jesus Christ had observed the Passover in accordance with the Law of God which had never "destroyed" or "abolished." John imitated the example of Christ and continued to keep the Passover (as he had done with Christ), having learned the truth directly from Him in person. The early true Church of God followed John's example and his immediate successors, in imitating Jesus Christ in keeping the Passover.
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But did they also keep Easter? The answer is no. For Easter was a non Christian, pagan ROMAN holiday observed only by pagans until the apostate Roman Catholic Church forced its observance upon the whole world. The Origin of "Easter" Listen to what historians have to say about the Roman Easter, which the apostles and the early true church (before the apostasy) never observed. You may research the worldwide web for additional information. Some of what you are about to read was taken from the web site: http://www.geocities.com/ lavenderwater37/holidays.html. "Vernal or Spring Equinox, the Rites of Spring, Lady Day, Alban Eiber and Bacchanalia. The Spring Equinox occurs between March 19th and 21st. Ostara marks the day when night and day are equal and balanced. The Sun God's strength increases. The Maiden celebrates her fertility. Ostara, her symbol the egg and her animal the rabbit, is the Norse Goddess of fertility, and it is Ostara that is honored this day." But is this spring festival the same as our "Easter" today? Notice further from this same web site. "OSTARA, March 21: The celebration of the Vernal (spring) Equinox, Day & Night are equal length. It is a time for planting and celebrating the first signs of fertility and rebirth. Symbols of Ostara like EGGS, CHICKS, and RABBITS have been adopted by Christians in their Easter holiday. The word Easter is from the goddess Eostra, ISHTAR or Astarte... End of quotation. What the Catholics Say From the website www.locksley.com/6696/easter.htm we read: "Easter is apparently named after the PAGAN GODDESS Eostre (Latin: Oestre), an Anglo‐Saxon maiden goddess of fertility. Some might link her to ISHTAR/Astarte, the Middle Eastern goddess. Those who rail against this holiday spend a lot of time attacking the outward symbols as being pagan and they are right. These symbols ARE PAGAN in origin." What an amazing admission! Remember, God's Law is very plain and easy to understand. In Deuteronomy 12:30‐32 we are commanded not to take the customs originally used to worship pagan (heathen) gods, and convert them into worship of the true God! This is STRICTLY FORBIDDEN by God! Yet this is the very thing the Roman Catholic Church did!!! Notice that “Easter" is merely the anglicized spelling of the ancient fertility (or sex) goddess of Babylon, spelled originally as Ishtar: From another website comes this enlightening information about the origin of this Roman holiday: "Part of this spring festival centered around Phallic Rites [the male sex organ]. Collier's
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Encyclopedia, 1980, Volume 9, page 622, tells us of the Babylonian ISHTAR Festival Phallic Rites: "The Ishtar Festivals were symbolical of Ishtar as the goddess of love or generation. As the daughter of Sin, the moon god, she was the Mother Goddess who presided over child birth; and women, in her honor, sacrificed their virginity on the feast day or became temple prostitutes, their earnings being a source of revenue for the temple priests and servants. "We learn about these Temple Prostitutes from The Interpreter's Dictionary of The Bible, Volume 3, pages 933‐934: a. The roll of the sacred prostitute in the fertility cult. The prostitute who was an official of the cult in ancient Palestine and nearby lands of biblical times exercised an important function. This religion was predicated upon the belief that the processes of nature were controlled by the relations between gods and goddesses. Projecting their understanding of their own sexual activities, the worshipers of these deities, through the use of imitative magic, engaged in sexual intercourse with devotees of the shrine in the belief that this would encourage the gods and goddesses to do likewise. Only by sexual relations among the deities could man's desire for increase in herds and fields, as well as in his own family be realized. In Palestine the gods Baal and Asherah were especially prominent (see BAAL; ASHERAH; FERTILITY CULTS). These competed with Yahweh the God of Israel and, in some cases, may have produced hybrid Yahweh‐Baal cults. Attached to the shrines of these cults were priests as well as prostitutes, both male and female. Their chief service was sexual in nature‐the offering of their bodies for ritual purposes." End of quotation. There is so much more. Space does not permit quotations from the many thousands of websites dealing with the heathen origin of Ishtar (Easter) worship. One web site quotes from the well documented history entitled The Two Babylons. Notice: "Reading on page 103 of The Two Babylons, by Alexander Hislop, 1959, we find that Easter and Ishtar is the same: Then look at Easter. What means the term Easter itself? It bears its Chaldean origin on its very forehead. Easter is nothing else than "Astarte", one of the titles of Beltis. "The Queen of Heaven" whose name, as "pronounced" by the people of Nineveh, was evidently identical with that now in common use in this country. That 'name', as found by Layard on the Assyrian monuments, is "Ishtar". The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop tells us of the doctrines of Semiramis: "She (Semiramis) taught that he (Nimrod the Babe) was a god‐child; that he was Nimrod, their leader reborn; that she and her child were divine. This story was widely known in ancient Babylon and developed into a well established worship‐The Worship of The Mother and Child! Numerous monuments of Babylon show the Goddess Mother Semiramis with her child Tammuz in her arms." More about EASTER "ISHTAR (pronounced EASTER) of Assyria was worshiped in Pagan Antiquity during her spring festival! Collier's Encyclopedia, 1980, Volume 15, page 748, gives us this information:
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"Ishtar, goddess of love and war, the most important goddess of the SumeroAkkadian pantheon. Her name in Sumerian is Inanna (lady of heaven). She was sister of the sun god Shamash and daughter of the moon god Sin. Ishtar was equated with the planet Venus. Her symbol was a star inscribed in a circle. As goddess of war, she was often represented sitting upon a lion, as goddess of physical love, she was patron of the temple prostitutes. She was also considered the merciful mother who intercedes with the gods on behalf of her worshipers [compare the Catholic concept of Mary as intercessor or mediator between men and God]. Throughout Mesopotamian history she was worshiped under various names in many cities; one of the chief centers of her cult was Uruk. Astarte of Phoenicia was the offshoot of Ishtar of Assyria. To the Hebrews, this abomination was known as Ashtoreth‐Ashtoroth. From Collier's Encyclopedia, Volume 3, page 13, we read: ASHTAROTH [Æterath] the plural of the Hebrew 'Ashto‐reth, the Phoenician‐Canaanite goddess Astarte deity of fertility, reproduction, and war. The use of the plural form probably indicates a general designation for the collective female deities of the Canaanites, just as the plural Balaam refer to the male deities. Watson's Biblical and Archaeological Dictionary, 1833, tells us more about this mother goddess, Ashtoreth: "ASHTAROTH, or ASTARTE, a goddess of the Zidonians. The word Ashtoreth properly signifies flocks of sheep, or goats; and sometimes, the grove, or woods, because she was goddess of woods, and groves were her temples. In groves consecrated to her, such lasciviousness was committed as rendered her worship infamous. She was also called the queen of heaven rain. Compare "Mary worship" in the Roman Catholic Church where Mary is called the "Queen of heaven": and sometimes her worship is said to be that of "the host of heaven." She was certainly represented in the same manner as Isis with cow's horns on her head to denote the increase and decrease of the moon. Cicero calls her the fourth Venus of the Syrians. She is almost always joined with Baal, and is called a god, the scriptures having no particular word to express a goddess. We find this information about Ashtoreth from The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 1979, Volume I, pages 319‐320: "ASHTORETH ash'te‐reth [Heb. 'astoret. pI. 'astaret; Gk. Astarte]. A goddess of Canaan and Phoenicia, whose name and cult were derived from Babylonia where ISHTAR represented the evening and morning stars and was accordingly androgynous in origin. Under Semitic influence, however, she became solely female, although retaining a trace of her original character by standing on equal footing with the male divinities. From Babylonia the worship of the goddess was carried to the Semites of the West, and in most instances the feminine suffix was attached to her name; where this was not the case the deity was regarded as a male. On the Moabite Stone, for example, 'Ashtar is identified with Chemosh and in the inscriptions of southern Arabia' Athtar is a god. On the other hand, in the name Atargatis (2 Macc. 12:26), 'Atar, without the feminine suffix, is identified with the goddess 'Athah or 'Athi (Gk. Gatfs). The cult of the Greek Aphrodite in Cyprus was borrowed from that of Ashtoreth; that the Greek name also is a modification of Ashtoreth is doubtful. It is maintained, however, that the vowels of Hebrew 'astoret were borrowed from boset ("shame") in order to indicate the abhorrence the Hebrew scribes felt toward paganism and idolatry. In Babylonia and Assyria Ishtar was the goddess of
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love and war. An old Babylonian legend relates how the descent of Ishtar into Hades in search of her dead husband Tarnmuz was followed by the cessation of marriage and birth in both earth and heaven; and the temples of the goddess at Nineveh and Arbela, around which the two cities afterward grew, were dedicated to her as the goddess of war. As such she appeared to one of Ashurbanipal's seers and encouraged the Assyrian king to march against Elam. The other goddesses of Babylonia, who were little more than reflections of a god, tended to merge into Ishtar, who thus became a type of the female divinity, a personification of the productive principle in nature, and more especially the mother and creator‐ess of mankind. Easter was a PROSTITUTE! In Babylonia Ishtar [Easter] was identified with Venus. Like Venus, Ishtar was the goddess of erotic love and fertility. Her chief seat of worship was Uruk (Erech), where prostitution was practiced in her name and she was served with immoral rites by bands of men and women. In Assyria, where the warlike side of the goddess was predominant, no such rites seem to have been practiced, and instead prophetesses to whom she delivered oracles were attached to her temples." End of quotation. Then there is the Ishtar egg. It too is of pagan, heathen origin. "From The Two Babylons, by Hislop on page 109, we learn about the Mystic Egg of Astarte: "'From Egypt these sacred eggs can be distinctly traced to the banks of the Euphrates. The classic poets are full of the fable of the mystic egg of the Babylonians; and thus its tale is told by Hyginus, the Egyptian, the learned keeper of the Palatine library at Rome, in the time of Augustus, who was skilled in all the wisdom of his native country: "An egg of wondrous size is said to have fallen from heaven into the river Euphrates. The fishes rolled it to the bank, where the doves having settled upon it, hatched it, and out came Venus, who afterwards was called the Syrian Goddess"‐ that is, Astarte. Hence the egg became one of the symbols of Astarte or Easter; and accordingly, in Cyprus, one of the chosen seats of the worship of Venus, or Astarte, the egg of wondrous size was represented on a grand scale. (See Fig. 32). End of quotation. You have now seen the proof! You now have seen God's condemnation in the Bible against religious customs and heathen worship observances that originated in honor of pagan "gods." And you have seen that both CHRISTMAS and EASTER (as well as Halloween and other supposed Christian festivals) originated in rank paganism in honor and worship of pagan gods! Even the seemingly benign Valentine's Day has its real origin in the worship of a pagan god. We must come to realize that nearly every single "worship" observance inherited from the Catholic Church (especially in holidays and festivals) comes from PAGAN Rome and actually dishonors Jesus Christ!
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What Will You Decide? Prayerfully study Jeremiah 10:1‐3 and Deuteronomy 12:30‐32. These are the primary scriptures that denounce pagan practices, and most especially converting those same practices into "Christian" worship of Christ. That is exactly what the apostate Roman Catholic Church did with the December 25th Saturnalia. Originally it was the birth day of Mithras, the "unconquered sun god." Since millions of heathen throughout the Roman Empire already observed it, rather than forcing the heathen to forsake "the world" as the Bible teaches, the Catholic Church (Babylon the Great, the "Mother of Harlots and abominations of the Earth" Revelation 17:5) just brought the "world" into the church! That is astonishing! They did the same thing with "Easter" ‐the "Ishtar" of Babylon, the sex goddess of the heathen. Since she represented sex and her emblems were eggs, representing new life, the Roman Catholic Church appropriated this abominable and immoral pagan prostitute goddess and her holiday to represent the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is nothing short of blasphemy! Why didn't Luther, and other would be reformers "protest" these things as well? The answer is quite simple. By Luther's day in the 16th century, these patently pagan celebrations were already so firmly entrenched into the consciousness of professing Christians that he (and other reformers) thought it better left alone ‐ that they did not change the status quo, but as long as they could get Catholics to leave Rome and follow their movement, that was enough. Politics. Not earnestly contending for the true Faith once delivered. Carnal human nature being what it is; we should not be surprised. And so today you and I grew up in a world that is immersed in rank paganism ‐ in heathen idolatry but going under the guise of "Christianity"! No wonder Jesus Christ commands His true people to COME OUT of Babylon and be separate from them so that we will not suffer of the punishment that He will give those in this religious system in the Last Days! Understand! It is a SIN to celebrate Christmas! It is a SIN to celebrate Easter, Halloween, and especially so to take these PAGAN customs and call them "Christian" and use them to worship Christ! God condemns such worship! These traditions of men make your worship vain (Mark 7:7‐9, 13). Will you repent? Will you come out of this world's Babylon of pagan traditions before it is too late? Will you now seek God's TRUE RELIGION before the coming Great Tribulation ‐ before the plagues mentioned in Revelation 18:4 fall on the "Whore"? Will you obey Jesus and "come out of her"? You have a choice to make. Don't wait too long to make it.
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Did Jesus Rise from the Dead at
Easter Sunrise?
The world's churches do NOT believe Jesus Christ's own promise made in Matthew 12:40. The truth is He did not rise on SUNDAY! The Bible nowhere says He did. This Easter sunrise religious tradition is yet one more pagan tradition inherited from "Mother Rome" the mother of religious "harlots" who continue in the traditions of the "mother church."
I
T MAY COME AS A SURPRISE to most of you. It will certainly contradict what you were taught in Sunday school, in the world's churches. But while the Bible does teach that Jesus rose from the dead after being crucified, the truth is no where does the Bible teach that Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday morning! Will you believe what your Bible teaches? Or would you prefer to be lulled to sleep by false religious traditions which Protestant daughter churches inherited from "Mother Rome"? You need to see the truth! It is time to "come out" of Babylon and believe only those doctrines you can see proved from the Bible! And you cannot prove an "Easter sunrise" Sunday morning resurrection. There is no scripture in the entire Authorized King James Version of your Bible that teaches that Christ rose on Sunday morning! Study it for yourself. Three Days and Three Nights Here is a scripture almost no church on earth believes. They tell us that Jesus did not really mean He said! They tell us that what Jesus said simply wasn't true! That scripture is Matthew 12:40. Here in red letters are Jesus Christ's own words in answer to a question from the Jews about a "sign" proving He really was the long‐awaited Messiah! (Matthew 12:38). Read it. Jesus said no sign will be given to prove He was the Messiah (or, Christ) except this ONE SIGN! And yet the whole professing Christian world (those still in "Babylon") reject this one and only sign Jesus gave to His church! Why? Could Satan be an influence? Could Satan have blinded the minds of those associated with Babylon (mother and daughter churches of this world)? Notice Jesus' own words. He promised He would be in the heart of the Earth only three days and three nights. He promised to rise from the dead after a specific period of time! Any church or tradition that rejects the specific period of time Jesus said he would be in the grave is rejecting the ONLY SIGN He gave of His Messiah‐ship ‐ that He is truly the Son of God and Saviour of the world! This "sign" of His Messiah‐ship really has two parts: 1) that He would be raised from the
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dead, and 2) that it would be limited to the SPECIFIED PERIOD OF TIME. But why is this latter part important? Simply because the Bible teaches that all that are in the graves will someday be resurrected!! (John 5:28). Even you will one day be raised from the dead. But that doesn't mean you are the Messiah! No, but a major part of this sign is that Jesus would not remain dead any longer ‐OR any less time ‐than the specified period of time which He gave: three days and three nights! Jesus said a "day" is twelve hours (John 11:9). Three "days" (according to Jesus Himself) therefore would be 36 hours. But He also said three nights. If the "day" part of the solar day is 12 hours then the night is also 12 hours for a total of 36 hours. Thus 36 hours (three days) and 36 hours (three nights) equal a total of 72 hours at least that Jesus was to be in the grave before His resurrection. "Mother Rome" and her daughter churches have perpetuated the tradition that Jesus died on so‐called "good Friday." How many nights do you count from the traditional "good Friday" crucifixion day until so‐called "Easter" sunrise Sunday morning? Can you find three nights? Of course not! More and more Christians are beginning to grow in knowledge (ll Peter 3: 18) and accept new truth as it is now being revealed in the last days (Daniel 12:4). Will you accept this so simple a truth? Or will you continue to be DECEIVED by false religious traditions? Jesus Died on the Passover The Bible plainly teaches that Christ died on the Passover day ‐the 14th of the first Hebrew month (our April). This annual day on the Hebrew calendar was called the "Preparation Day" as it was the 14th day which immediately preceded the annual Passover FEAST DAY (also called a "Sabbath" day or "high day" ‐John 19:31) which always fell on the 15th day of the month but could fall on any day of the week. Since Jesus Christ was born in 4 B.C. (see E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible in the appendixes, and many other scholarly references) and therefore died in A.D. 31 (which is now proved from a correct understanding of the 70 weeks prophecy) then what day did the Passover fall on that year? It is very simple for astronomers to determine what day of the week a particular day of the month falls going back many centuries ‐ even before the birth of Christ. The 14th of that first Hebrew month (counting from the new crescent of the moon) fell on WEDNESDAY! The 15th (the annual "high day" ‐or annual Sabbath day) fell that year on THURSDAY! Thus Jesus did not die on so‐called "good Friday." Rather He died on Wednesday and was buried as the Bible teaches, at sunset. Three days and three nights later Jesus arose ‐ at least 72 hours later on what you and I would call Saturday evening! NOT SUNDAY MORNING!! John 20: 1 says when the women came on Sunday morning to embalm His body (thinking He
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was still dead) "it was yet dark"! The stone was rolled away so she could look inside and see Jesus had already risen from the dead hours before sunrise! Thus the Bible proves that Jesus did not rise on Sunday morning contrary to nearly all modern day churches which came out of Mother Rome! Jesus did NOT rise on Sunday!! ‐but on Saturday evening! Why then do churches observe sunrise services at the pagan festival named after the Babylonian sex goddess called "Easter"? This worship service at sunrise was practiced among the heathen and condemned by God as an ABOMINATION! (see Ezekiel 8). All churches that continue to have a religious observance at sunrise on a day called "Easter" are still very much a part of pagan Babylon ‐still very much a part of the WHORE of Babylon which Jesus commands His people to come out of it!! Will you come out? Will you REPENT of participating in the pagan practices that the daughter churches of the whore (called "Protestant") are engaged in? Remember Jesus knows that many ‐ perhaps most ‐ of His people are still in Babylon in the last days. Christ lovingly calls His true people those who truly love Him and His Word, ‐His truth ‐to COME OUT!'" (Revelation 18:4). He is calling those who love Him to come out of the paganism that they are in ‐to come out of the daughters of the whore, who themselves continue the whorish practices of the mother church of all apostasy and abominations of the Earth (Revelation 17:5). The choice before you is clear. And your answer will determine how much you really love your Lord and Saviour. Some of you will leave all daughter church organizations that teach these practices inherited from Mother Rome. But some of you may not because of social issues. It is hard to "come out" of the world and be separate, isn't it? (ll Corinthians 6: 17). It may be a sacrifice. But Jesus sacrificed Himself for you. How much will you sacrifice for Him?
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