The Lord's Day

[wil]

Interesting opinion, care to give a concrete example of how the essential elements of Christianity are pagan?

I would.say it is mostly the trappings that are used to draw folks.in...the extra parts that commercial enterpris.(and churches) capitalize on to increase revenue.

So we have Christmas! The big one...the date (not his birthday) selected to male people choose between bachanalian fests or the church...of course for most lay folk.christmas has returned to the party, eggnog for all!

Then of course yule logs, christmas.trees, Santa clause, flying reindeer delivering gifts

Easter another one eh? Fertility, spring, eggs, bunnies, and astrology?

For many the only 2 days they go to church....and if you wiped out the pagan trappings...you would lose easily 50% of them and 50% of the non church going believers....and so many kids...and we know for a fact if you don't plant the seed young ya barely have a chance.

Again...this stuff is like CRT to me. If you aren't willing to discuss without raising your blood pressure it is evidence it needs to be discussed openly.

Without the pagan rituals that they lay people love....you are gonna lose a lot of them.

Then of course when Christianity entered other areas of the world the missionaries accepted a little mixing of voodoo or whatever...as long as they accepted Jesus n Mary too...

It's all a mixed blessing...more "believers" by upping acceptable fun rituals....and watering down the message...but here we are.

Me? I sort of drive around on the side road of most of these religious hiways, I am sure I have a lot wrong and missed a lot more...but you get the jist....it's the marketing material, not the core.

 

[Thinking required]

Mankind doesn't need religion to do evil. We're quite capable of doing evil without it. Politics and religion go hand in hand in this world. The King of this world loves that fact I'm sure.

You need to be careful, you are starting to sound like me or I am starting to sound like you. "Mankind is evil"

 

[Thinking required]

Evil is the absence of G!d.

Not sure how you came to this conclusion, the Bible does not support that statement. Was not God in the Garden when Eve committed her evil act.

 

[Thinking required]

I respectfully decline your offer. It would only lead to hard feelings between us.

Heaven forbid that, we are all playing in the same sandbox.

 

[Thinking required]

I would.say it is mostly the trappings that are used to draw folks.in...the extra parts that commercial enterpris.(and churches) capitalize on to increase revenue.

Please to not lump the Protestant and Catholic churches together, they are very different! You got burnt somewhere! The Catholic church has always done this. I have not seen it in the 4 different denominations that I have been a part of.

 

[Thinking required]

If you aren't willing to discuss without raising your blood pressure it is evidence it needs to be discussed openly.

Applause

 

[Thinking required]

accepted Jesus n Mary too...

Once again a Catholic teaching. It seems that everyone who dislikes Christianity really only dislikes the Catholic Church, which I consider a cult.

 

[wil]

Once again a Catholic teaching. It seems that everyone who dislikes Christianity really only dislikes the Catholic Church, which I consider a cult.

Your prejudice is showing....I should have just said Jesus...I knew someone with issues would capitalize on it.

Just a heads up...these kind of remarks are an issue...in the back room some folks think you are coming around and learning to play nice in our sandbox...if you wish to make it the majority of us, you may wish to change your tune or curb you r tongue.

The scales of justice are tipped by your words.

 

[Faithfulservant]

Your prejudice is showing....I should have just said Jesus...I knew someone with issues would capitalize on it.

Just a heads up...these kind of remarks are an issue...in the back room some folks think you are coming around and learning to play mice in our sandbox...if you wish to make it the majority of us, you may wish to change your tune or curb you r tongue.

The scales of justice are tipped by your words.

I just have to say in light of posts made in other threads... You can't really point someone else's prejudice out without looking like an a**.

Just my 2cents.

 

[Thinking required]

your prejudice is showing....I should have just said Jesus...I knew someone with issues would capitalize on it.

Athanasius verses Arian - We have been here before in a different life. You are not willing to let God be God. Gotta tell Him what He can and cannot do.

Yes, I dislike the Catholic church or should I say the Roman Catholic Church. Too much evil came out of that man made movement.

 

[Thinking required]

The scales of justice are tipped by your words.

The "scales of justice" have been broken for a long time now, you should know this.

 

[Thinking required]

The scales of justice are tipped by your words.

Just think about how much fun you have had since I have been here

 

[Faithfulservant]

Just think about how much fun you have had since I have been here

You've made it rather lively.

 

[juantoo3]

Not sure how you came to this conclusion, the Bible does not support that statement. Was not God in the Garden when Eve committed her evil act.

No, He wasn't. You may wish to reread that passage

 

[juantoo3]

Once again a Catholic teaching. It seems that everyone who dislikes Christianity really only dislikes the Catholic Church, which I consider a cult.

By your assessment...ALL of the Protestant denominations, as Daughter Churches, are splinter cults.

 

[Thinking required]

No, He wasn't. You may wish to reread that passage

I have read it hundreds of times. God is everywhere all the time. At times just not in a body. “And then God called out to Adam, where are you?“ Do you really think that God did not know where Adam was or did not see Eve sin.

 

[moralorel]

Interesting opinion, care to give a concrete example of how the essential elements of Christianity are pagan?

Or what the Christianity was that you think no longer exists?

Heads up: Not necessarily going to argue, it's just for my own enlightenment.

Concrete? Your definition of concrete changes drastically based on if you agree with it or not. But here are some examples:

Christmas

In the Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911 edition, under the heading “Christmas,” you will find: “Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church. … The first evidence of the feast is from Egypt.” And: “Pagan customs centering around the January calends [the first day of the month in the ancient Roman calendar] gravitated to Christmas.”

The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1946 edition, has this: “Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the church. It was not instituted by Christ or the apostles, or by Bible authority. It was picked up afterward from paganism.”

Encyclopedia Americana, 1944 edition, says: “Christmas, according to many authorities, was not celebrated in the first centuries of the Christian church, as 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 it to be celebrated forever on the day of the old Roman feast of the birth of Sol, as no certain knowledge of the day of Christ’s birth existed.”

Easter

“The word Easter, which comes from the Anglo-Saxon, is a term derived from the pagan goddess of the dawn” (The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1987, p. 177).
“Etym. Anglo-Saxon Eastre, Teutonic goddess of dawn and spring” (Modern Catholic Dictionary, 1980, p. 175).

“The word Easter is of Saxon origin, Eastra, the goddess of spring, in whose honor sacrifices were offered about Passover time each year. By the 8th century Anglo-Saxons had adopted the name to designate the celebration of Christ’s resurrection” (Unger’s Bible Dictionary, 1966, p. 283).

“The term Easter was derived from the Anglo-Saxon ‘Eostre,’ the name of the goddess of spring. In her honor sacrifices were offered at the time of the vernal equinox. By the 8th cent. the term came to be applied to the anniversary of Christ’s resurrection” (The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 1982, Vol. 2, p. 6).

 

[Thinking required]

By your assessment...ALL of the Protestant denominations, as Daughter Churches, are splinter cults

You may believe that, But there was a protestant church that was always around. Why do you think people were killed by the Catholic Church.

 

[moralorel]

As a corollary to the above –

I do not accept that the celebration of the Lord's Day is of pagan derivation.

It's founded on Scripture (the Resurrection), it's argued from Scripture (the 'new creation' and 'new covenant' theologies), and even Christ's own words ... but we've been over this before.

Speaking of concrete, still looking for that verse where the apostles or Jesus decreed that Sunday was now the Lord's Day. You would think it would have caused quite a stir amongst the Jews. Breaking bread on a Sunday doesn't make a day into a holy day.

 

[moralorel]

Human nature is convoluted and complex.

I could list examples to support your premise...all it would do is serve to piss people off, but the history is there for anybody to see if they look.

Evil is the absence of G!d. Much evil has been done for religious reasons, that does not mean G!d sanctioned it (Old Testament notwithstanding).

You suggested the Guatemalan government does not support the Mayan religion...I can comfortably guarantee they don't impede that religion either, and odds are strong that many in the government practice the Mayan religion. That provides a large degree of government sanction and protection. If this were not so, and the government decided to do away with the Mayan religion...there are a lot of nasty things that can be done, and historically have been done elsewhere to eradicate a faith that a government wants to disappear.

Actually the Guatemalan government, until recently, was trying to extinguish the Mayan people. Mass graves have been found of thousands of Mayans, men women and children who the government executed. This went on from 1960 to 1996. How comfortable are you about the Guatemalan government not impeding the Mayans?