Anglicans!
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The Origin Of ChristmasOriginally posted by SingaporeMacross:The Orthodox celebrate Christmas on the 'correct day'.
Don't celebrate Christmas?! My friend said exactly the same thing..
/faints
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Christmas is a holiday shared and celebrated by many religions.
It is a day that has an effect on the entire world.
To many people, it is a favorite time of the year involving gift giving, parties and feasting. Christmas is a holiday that unifies almost all of professing Christendom.
The spirit of Christmas causes people to decorate their homes and churches, cut down trees and bring them into their homes, decking them with silver and gold.
In the light of that tree, families make merry and give gifts one to another.
When the sun goes down on December 24th, and darkness covers the land, families and churches prepare for participation in customs such as burning the yule log, singing around the decorated tree, kissing under the mistletoe and holly, and attending a late night service or midnight mass.
What is the meaning of Christmas? Where did the customs and traditions originate?
You, as a Christian, would want to worship the Lord in Spirit and in truth, discerning good from evil.
The truth is that all of the customs of Christmas pre-date the birth of Jesus Christ, and a study of this would reveal that
Christmas in our day is a collection of traditions and practices taken from many cultures and nations.
The date of December 25th comes from Rome and was a celebration of the Italic god, Saturn, and the rebirth of the sun god.
This was done long before the birth of Jesus.
It was noted by the pre-Christian Romans and other pagans, that daylight began to increase after December 22nd, when they assumed that the sun god died.
These ancients believed that the sun god rose from the dead three days later as the new-born and venerable sun.
Thus, they figured that to be the reason for increasing daylight.
This was a cause for much wild excitement and celebration. Gift giving and merriment filled the temples of ancient Rome, as sacred priests of Saturn, called dendrophori, carried wreaths of evergreen boughs in procession.
In Germany, the evergreen tree was used in worship and celebration of the yule god, also in observance of the resurrected sun god.
The evergreen tree was a symbol of the essence of life and was regarded as a phallic symbol in fertility worship.
Witches and other pagans regarded the red holly as a symbol of the menstrual blood of the queen of heaven, also known as Diana.
The holly wood was used by witches to make wands.
The white berries of mistletoe were believed by pagans to represent droplets of the semen of the sun god.
Both holly and mistletoe were hung in doorways of temples and homes to invoke powers of fertility in those who stood beneath and kissed, causing the spirits of the god and goddess to enter them.
These customs transcended the borders of Rome and Germany to the far reaches of the known world.
The question now arises: How did all of these customs find their way into contemporary Christianity, ranging from Catholicism to Protestantism to fundamentalist churches?
The word "Christmas"itself reveals who married paganism to Christianity.
The word "Christmas" is a combination of the words "Christ" and "Mass.
The word "Mass" means death and was coined originally by the Roman Catholic Church, and belongs exclusively to the church of Rome.
The ritual of the Mass involves the death of Christ, and the distribution of the "Host", a word taken from the Latin word "hostiall" meaning victim!
In short, Christmas is strictly a Roman Catholic word.
A simple study of the tactics of the Romish Church reveals that in every case, the church absorbed the customs, traditions and general paganism of every tribe, culture and nation in their efforts to increase the number of people under their control.
In short, the Romish church told all of these pagan cultures, "Bring your gods, goddesses, rituals and rites, and we will assign Christian sounding titles and names to them.
When Martin Luther started the reformation on October 31st, 1517, and other reformers followed his lead, all of them took with them the paganism that was so firmly imbedded in Rome.
These reformers left Christmas intact.
In England, as the authorized Bible became available to the common people by the decree of King James the II in 1611, people began to discover the pagan roots of Christmas, which are clearly revealed in Scripture.
The Puritans in England, and later in Massachusetts Colony, outlawed this holiday as witchcraft.
Near the end of the nineteenth century, when other Bible versions began to appear, there was a revival of the celebration of Christmas.
We are now seeing ever-increasing celebrating of Christmas or Yule, its true name, as we draw closer to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ!
Taken from http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org/tracts/tract3.html
See also this other site... http://www.simpletoremember.com/vitals/Christmas_TheRealStory.htm
in fact, just do a simple google search on the origins of Christmas and read for yourself. -
Ok lor. Then you slowly wait for your church to be transformed into a Catholic one.Originally posted by vince69:Icemoon,
thought you had the answer aready what... Its not about church practice, its about Jesus..
Let's see how you can stomach that. -
SgMacross,Originally posted by SingaporeMacross:In case some people don't know what I'm talking about, let me explain a bit.
Basically the 'High Church' is Anglicanism leaning towards Catholic tradition, but the 'Low Church' is Anglicanism leans more towards the Protestant side.
Thanks for the explaination. -
i "celebrate" christmas for one and only reason..to show that he was born as man on earth..though its not the correct day but by not "celebrating" that day is to mean that out of the 365 days on earth,he was never borned but he descened into earth as a holy spirit. and not born out of the virgin's mary womb..
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Though I agree that technically Christmas is a pagan festival, we must not forget the purpose of festivals. It is like CNY .. pagan festival but we still celebrate.Originally posted by breytonhartge:It is go and do some reseach for yourself. Christmas is not even the correct day for when Christ was born.
I am highly disturbed that you think it is a Christian one.
Where in the bible does it say for us to celebrate christmas?
Face it .. Christians need a day to reflect on the birth of the Messiah - the day that God gave His Son to the world. The day that the prophecy in Isaiah rings true. -
Really? Where in the bible is that stated? Why do we need to celebrate the birth of the Messiah? Where in the bible does it say to do so? It is not Christ's birth that gives us life, but His death and ressurection.Originally posted by Icemoon:Though I agree that technically Christmas is a pagan festival, we must not forget the purpose of festivals. It is like CNY .. pagan festival but we still celebrate.
Face it .. Christians need a day to reflect on the birth of the Messiah - the day that God gave His Son to the world. The day that the prophecy in Isaiah rings true.
Why do we need one specific day to reflect on the birth of the messiah? Why can't we do it everyday? -
so sorry... pai sei, ah lau did call me this before...Originally posted by Icemoon:Wasn't talking about you la .. pls lor .. you think I'd capitalize the 'D' just for you?
Since you mentioned Prince, I was referring to somebody else.
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I have to agree with you that Good Friday and Easter Sunday are more important.Originally posted by breytonhartge:Really? Where in the bible is that stated? Why do we need to celebrate the birth of the Messiah? Where in the bible does it say to do so? It is not Christ's birth that gives us life, but His death and ressurection.
Wait .. but you said Easter is pagan also..
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it is ok.Originally posted by breytonhartge:so sorry... pai sei, ah lau did call me this before...
I gather you know who I was referring to? -
That is why we don't celebrate easter or good friday as well.. we celebrate passover. The proper festival to celebrate.Originally posted by Icemoon:I have to agree with you that Good Friday and Easter Sunday are more important.
Wait .. but you said Easter is pagan also.. -
yes and he has even less depth... sorry.Originally posted by Icemoon:it is ok.
I gather you know who I was referring to? -
Brey:
You refuse to celebrate the Lord's Incarnation on Christmas.
And now you refuse to celebrate the Lord's rising on Easter Sunday?
What is important then? -
Let's just say Christmas is worth celebrating 'cos even the angels rejoice when He was born.Originally posted by breytonhartge:Really? Where in the bible is that stated? Why do we need to celebrate the birth of the Messiah? Where in the bible does it say to do so?
Also in line with orthodox protestant thinkings .. just look at the wonderful hymns composed by protestant composers like Charles Wesley. -
my sentiments!Originally posted by breytonhartge:yes and he has even less depth... sorry.
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And you refuse to remember on Good Friday that Christ had to die for you?
O that today you would listen to His word, harden not your hearts! -
SURE OR NOT?Originally posted by breytonhartge:That is why we don't celebrate easter or good friday as well.. we celebrate passover. The proper festival to celebrate.
Let's do a poll. How many Christians here celebrate Passover?
Not that I dislike Passover .. hey it is a Jewish festival after all.
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His proper festivals.Originally posted by SingaporeMacross:Brey:
You refuse to celebrate the Lord's Incarnation on Christmas.
And now you refuse to celebrate the Lord's rising on Easter Sunday?
What is important then?
The Lord did not command us to celebrate christmas. The RC chuch did.
I celebrate passover.
The Lord has clearly in the bible commanded us to keep His feasts, and not our feasts which we have created with our own minds. Yet we are stubbornly keeping man made feasts and not the Lords for what reason?
See Leviticus 23.
Have you even read any of what I posted?
Some more reading for you FYI.
The Pagan Origin Of Easter
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Easter is a day that is honered by nearly all of contemporary Christianity and is used to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The holiday often involves a church service at sunrise, a feast which includes an "Easter Ham", decorated eggs and stories about rabbits.
Those who love truth learn to ask questions, and many questions must be asked regarding the holiday of Easter.
Is it truly the day when Jesus arose from the dead? Where did all of the strange customs come from, which have nothing to do with the resurrection of our Saviour?
The purpose of this tract is to help answer those questions, and to help those who seek truth to draw their own conclusions.
The first thing we must understand is that professing Christians were not the only ones who celebrated a festival called "Easter."
"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.
In those ancient times, there was a man named Nimrod, who was the grandson of one of Noah's son named Ham.
Ham had a son named Cush who married a woman named Semiramis.Cush and Semiramis then had a son named him "Nimrod."
After the death of his father, Nimrod married his own mother and became a powerful King.
The Bible tells of of this man, Nimrod, in Genesis 10:8-10 as follows: "And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad,and Calneh, in the land of Shinar."
Nimrod became a god-man to the people and Semiramis, his wife and mother, became the powerful Queen of ancient Babylon.
Nimrod was eventually killed by an enemy, and his body was cut in pieces and sent to various parts of his kingdom.
Semiramis had all of the parts gathered, except for one part that could not be found.
That missing part was his reproductive organ. Semiramis claimed that Nimrod could not come back to life without it and told the people of Babylon that Nimrod had ascended to the sun and was now to be called "Baal", the sun god.
Queen Semiramis also proclaimed that Baal would be present on earth in the form of a flame, whether candle or lamp, when used in worship.
Semiramis was creating a mystery religion, and with the help of Satan, she set herself up as a goddess.
Semiramis claimed that she was immaculately conceived.
She taught that the moon was a goddess that went through a 28 day cycle and ovulated when full.
She further claimed that she came down from the moon in a giant moon egg that fell into the Euphrates River.
This was to have happened at the time of the first full moon after the spring equinox.
Semiramis became known as "Ishtar" which is pronounced "Easter", and her moon egg became known as "Ishtar's" egg."
Ishtar soon became pregnant and claimed that it was the rays of the sun-god Baal that caused her to conceive.
The son that she brought forth was named Tammuz.
Tammuz was noted to be especially fond of rabbits, and they became sacred in the ancient religion, because Tammuz was believed to be the son of the sun-god, Baal. Tammuz, like his supposed father, became a hunter.
The day came when Tammuz was killed by a wild pig.
Queen Ishtar told the people that Tammuz was now ascended to his father, Baal, and that the two of them would be with the worshippers in the sacred candle or lamp flame as Father, Son and Spirit.
Ishtar, who was now worshipped as the "Mother of God and Queen of Heaven", continued to build her mystery religion.
The queen told the worshippers that when Tammuz was killed by the wild pig, some of his blood fell on the stump of an evergreen tree, and the stump grew into a full new tree overnight. This made the evergreen tree sacred by the blood of Tammuz.
She also proclaimed a forty day period of time of sorrow each year prior to the anniversary of the death of Tammuz.
During this time, no meat was to be eaten.
Worshippers were to meditate upon the sacred mysteries of Baal and Tammuz, and to make the sign of the "T" in front of their hearts as they worshipped.
They also ate sacred cakes with the marking of a "T" or cross on the top.
Every year, on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox, a celebration was made.
It was Ishtar's Sunday and was celebrated with rabbits and eggs.
Ishtar also proclaimed that because Tammuz was killed by a pig, that a pig must be eaten on that Sunday.
By now, the readers of this tract should have made the connection that paganism has infiltrated the contemporary "Christian" churches, and further study indicates that this paganism came in by way of the Roman Catholic System.
The truth is that Easter has nothing whatsoever to do with the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We also know that Easter can be as much as three weeks away from the Passover, because the pagan holiday is always set as the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox.
Some have wondered why the word "Easter" is in the the King James Bible.
It is because Acts, chapter 12, tells us that it was the evil King Herod, who was planning to celebrate Easter, and not the Christians.
The true Passover and pagan Easter sometimes coincide, but in some years, they are a great distance apart.
So much more could be said, and we have much more information for you, if you are a seeker of the truth.
We know that the Bible tells us in John 4:24, "God is a spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."
The truth is that the forty days of Lent, eggs, rabbits,hot cross buns and the Easter ham have everything to do with the ancient pagan religion of Mystery Babylon.These are all antichrist activities!
Satan is a master deceiver, and has filled the lives of well-meaning, professing Christians with idolatry.
These things bring the wrath of God upon children of disobedience, who try to make pagan customs of Baal worship Christian.
You must answer for your activities and for what you teach your children.
These customs of Easter honor Baal, who is also Satan, and is still worshipped as the "Rising Sun" and his house is the "House of the Rising Sun."
How many churches have "sunrise services" on Ishtar's day and face the rising sun in the East?
How many will use colored eggs and rabbit stories, as they did in ancient Babylon.
These things are no joke, any more than Judgement day is a joke.
I pray to God that this tract will cause you to search for more truth.
We will be glad to help you by providing more information and by praying for you.
These are the last days, and it is time to repent, come out and be separate.
David J. Meyer
Taken again from http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org/tracts/tract1.html
See also http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-t020.html -
This in the bible is called passover and not easter. I am not saying that I do not remember that Christ died for me, I am saying I am not going to celebrate the wrong festival.Originally posted by SingaporeMacross:And you refuse to remember on Good Friday that Christ had to die for you?
O that today you would listen to His word, harden not your hearts!
Maybe you should apply this to yourself and not harden your heart? -
Actually, the passover was insituted for the Jews to remember the day the mightly hand of God that deliver them from the angel of death who passover their house and spare their first born, and also Him bringing them out of Egypt.Originally posted by breytonhartge:That is why we don't celebrate easter or good friday as well.. we celebrate passover. The proper festival to celebrate.
For us, Jesus insituted the Holy Communion, where we remember His death and resurrection.
cheers -
up to you, to each his own. But I would say that even some of the greats were decieved...Originally posted by Icemoon:Let's just say Christmas is worth celebrating 'cos even the angels rejoice when He was born.
Also in line with orthodox protestant thinkings .. just look at the wonderful hymns composed by protestant composers like Charles Wesley. -
This is the best answer so far.Originally posted by vince69:For us, Jesus insituted the Holy Communion, where we remember His death and resurrection. -
But the angels were not deceived.Originally posted by breytonhartge:up to you, to each his own. But I would say that even some of the greats were decieved...
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The passover is an allusion to Christ's death for us.Originally posted by vince69:Actually, the passover was insituted for the Jews to remember the day the mightly hand of God that deliver them from the angel of death who passover their house and spare their first born, and also Him bringing them out of Egypt.
For us, Jesus insituted the Holy Communion, where we remember His death and resurrection.
cheers
Jesus is the passover lamb. In the OT, during passover, a lamb was slain and the lamb's blood was put on the posts of the door and this caused the angel of death to passover all the houses with the blood on it.
In like manner, in the OT it says that Jesus is led as a lamb to the slaughter so because He is the passover lamb, His blood causes the angel of death to passover us. That is why we have salvation. Because of His blood death passes over us and we are not longer held by death.
Holy Communion is exactly the passover. -
I say I celebrate passover, but I doubt whether the christians here would have an understanding and whether they can see that easter is pagan?Originally posted by Icemoon:SURE OR NOT?
Let's do a poll. How many Christians here celebrate Passover?
Not that I dislike Passover .. hey it is a Jewish festival after all. -
I'm reeling in shock... off to bed I go..
really, such fundamentalism is appalling.... i cannot take this..
if Christmas is pagan, why do we complain that it is becoming too commercialised?