| HERALD MINISTRIES EDITORIAL PAGES FROM THE DESK OF THE FOUNDER AND EDITOR OF HERALD MINISTRIES : 11/11/2005 "Why Do We Do the Things We Do To Honor Christ?"
Did you know that these three major holidays --Christmas, Easter and Halloween -- are all of pagan origin, used by the heathen to worship their gods? If we look into the names of these holidays, perhaps we can identify who brought them into Christianity. The very word Christmas means the ‘mass of Christ’. Only one church conducts a mass as its worship service. The word Easter comes from the words Astarte, Venus and Ishtar, who was worshipped as the goddess of fertility. Small wonder that we see Easter bunnies that lay colored eggs play such a prominent, yet unchristian, part in this holiday. Then there is Halloween which is a shortened word for All Hallows-Ev’n, which is also called all saints day. This, too, is of pagan origin. The day was concocted to honor saints who weren’t quite up to having their own day of honor. Let’s take a quick look into some of the trappings used in these holidays, did you know that Jesus was not born on December 25th, but rather was born in the fall, probably during God’s annual fall holy days in the 7th month of Tishri (our Sept/Oct). First look at Christ’s birth, we find it being announced by the angels to shepherds in the fields in Luke 2. It was these shepherds who came to the stable where the infant child was lying. If you look at the typical manger scene on people’s front lawns, you will see Mary, Joseph and the Christ child and 3 wise men, sometimes with or without their camels. Nowhere in scripture does it speak of 3 wise men, that number is arrived at because of the 3 types of gifts presented to the child (a King); those being gold, frankincense and myrrh. The wise men in Matthew 2:11 “were come into the house, they saw the young child.” They did not appear at the stable. The word child is the Greek word ‘paidion’, which translated means a little or small child probably about 2 years old. If Jesus were still an infant the Greek word used would have been ‘brephos’, meaning an infant. It can even mean an unborn fetus. By the way, Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth. We also know that in Palestine (Judea) shepherds would have taken their flocks into the barns, as December was the rainy season and could be very cold for the lambs which are usually born in the winter. We see the Christmas scenes in the yards and in the front lawns of churches, as well as on the Christmas cards simply are not valid or actual to what; when; where these things happened. Next we have Easter or Ishtar, the pagan goddess of fertility. Yet, Christians celebrate the supposed resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday. (Try to get 3 days and 3 nights from Friday afternoon to Sunday morning.) Did you know that the word Easter in the King James Version in Acts 12:4 is a flagrant mistranslation of the Greek word ‘Pascha”, meaning Passover? In every other scripture where this word is found in the King James New Testament it is translated ‘Passover”. It is also translated Passover in nearly all modern translations. At no time did the Apostles ever celebrate Easter, since most of them observed God’s 7 annual Holy Days. Did you know that the Bible does not tell us to celebrate Christ’s resurrection, but rather in I Corinthians 11:24 it states that we are to observe His death? Halloween, the Hallows een or the “saints day” cannot be found in your Bible, again nowhere does it tell us that there are days that honor ‘dead saints’, and how can this be done with witches, goblins, black cats and demons? There are many books in public libraries that tell of the pagan origin of most of the Christian customs. Stop and think, what does a Christmas tree have to do with the birth of Christ? Actually, the fir tree was used by the pagans to symbolize the re-birth of Nimrod. The Christmas tree, wreaths, yule logs, mistletoe all have their meaning with the pagan holiday called the Saturnalia, after the god Saturn (a type of Nimrod). We know that Santa Claus is a fairly recent addition to the Christmas folklore, as a corruption of a 5th century bishop named Saint Nicholas. We can also ask ourselves where do reindeer, especially a recent addition with a red nose, have their part in the birth of Christ? One thing most wives can’t understand is ‘why do their husbands come home drunk on Christmas Eve…and what happens at those office Christmas parties?” You’d be surprised. So we ask ourselves over and over again, why do Christians use these days to honor Christ? Even the holy Sunday morning Easter Sunrise Service is a throw back to honoring the sun god. (See Ezekiel 8:16) In Deuteronomy 12:30-32 God tells Israel “Take heed to thyself that thou not be snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee. And that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? Even so will I do likewise. V. 31- Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God; for every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods, for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fires to their gods. V. 32- What thing soever I command you, observe to do it; thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.” For more information on these holidays, read the latest article on this website by Rod England entitled “The Reason for the Season”. In closing, God gives us a warning in Revelation 18:4 “ ...come out of her (Babylon) my people that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues.” We
need to ask again, “Why do we do the things we do to honor
Christ?” Harold E. Cormany |
