Did the ancient Mystery Religions get picked up as 'tradition'?

Here is more I came across...
Lets compare some of the pagan sun god beliefs of Baal with what has been picked up and 'christianized' by the Catholic church and some pagan beliefs and doctrines even allowed into Protestant churches.

PAGAN BELIEFS- The nativity of the Sun, the birth of Tammuz Dec. 25
CATHOLIC DOCTRINES- The nativity of Jesus, Christmas Dec 25

PAGAN BELIEFS- The Midsummer festival held Jun 24
CATHOLIC DOCTRINES- The Nativity of St. John held June 24

PAGAN BELIEFS- The assumption of Semiramus who became the mother godess
CATHOLIC DOCTRINES- The assumption of Mary, who became the mother of God

PAGAN BELIEFS- The mother goddess was worshipped as the Queen of Heaven. Jer. 7:18
CATHOLIC DOCTRINES- The Virgin Mary worshipped as the Queen of Heaven.

PAGAN BELIEFS-Cakes decorated to the goddess with a "+" drawn on it. Jer. 44:17,19 CATHOLIC DOCTRINES- Hot cross buns

PAGAN BELIEFS- 40 days fasting for Tammuz, Ezek. 8:14
CATHOLIC DOCTRINES- 40 days of Lent

PAGAN BELIEFS- Pagan festival of Easter. Ezek 8:16
CATHOLIC DOCTRINES- The festival of Easter

PAGAN BELIEFS- The resurrection of Tammuz at Easter and the procession of graven images during holy week
CATHOLIC DOCTRINES- The procession of graven images of Jesus, Mary, and Peter, and of the saints

PAGAN BELIEFS- Veneration of graven images of Baal, Ishtar, Tammuz and lesser gods in the heavens
CATHOLIC DOCTRINES- Veneration of graven images of Jesus, Mary, Peter, and of the "lesser" saints in the heavens

PAGAN BELIEFS- The belief of immortality of the soul and burning place of torment.
CATHOLIC DOCTRINES- The belief of immortality of the soul and burning place of torment.

PAGAN BELIEFS- The doctrine of purgatory
CATHOLIC DOCTRINES- The doctrine of purgatory

PAGAN BELIEFS- The belief of the dead visiting the living, feast held for all in November, (All souls day)
CATHOLIC DOCTRINES- The festival of all souls day held Nov. 2, and all saints day held Nov. 1 (All souls day)

PAGAN BELIEFS- Burning incense and candles Jer 11:17; Ezek 8:11
CATHOLIC DOCTRINES- The burning of incense and candles

PAGAN BELIEFS- Chants and repetative prayers. Beaded prayer chains.
CATHOLIC DOCTRINES- Gregorian chants and the Rosary

PAGAN BELIEFS- Infant baptism, and sprinkling of holy water
CATHOLIC DOCTRINES- Infant baptism, and sprinkling of holy water

PAGAN BELIEFS- The Pagan high priest king believed to be the incarnate of the Sun god
CATHOLIC DOCTRINES- The Pope proclaims to be Christ's Vicar (replacement) here on Earth. It is also recorded in numerous documents that the pope believes he is god on earth.

PAGAN BELIEFS- Phallic symbol of the male sex organ placed on roofs as a sign of allegiance with Baal
CATHOLIC DOCTRINES- Largest phallic symbol in center of St. Peter's square.

PAGAN BELIEFS- Solar wheel as symbol for Baal worship can be found carved into ancient as well as modern Buddhist temples,, carved into ancient ornament representing Osiris. Stone carvings showing a whell to represent and Assyrio Babylonian altar.
CATHOLIC DOCTRINES- St Peter's square has largest solar wheel on planet. ALL Catholic churches have numerous solar wheels in stain glass windows as well as many other areas of the church. Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris sports a very huge one on it's face. There is a great one in ceiling as well as the floor tiles of the monastery of St. Ignatius Loyola in Spain. Numerous paintings, statues, ornaments, and letterheads of all Catholic churches have one or more "solar wheels" depicted upon them.

PAGAN BELIEFS- Alternating rays of the sun burst used to represent unity of "man and woman" common in all aspects of Paganism. (Curved ray = female "yonic" Straight ray = male "phallic")

CATHOLIC DOCTRINES- Monstrance of Catholicism as well as many paintings and sculptures all depict same rays of both the "phallic and yonic" symbolism can be found literally all over the Roman Catholic church

PAGAN BELIEFS- Statues of a "Madonna" found in all Pagan cults as well as Egyptian Madonna Isis with her son Horus, or Hindu cults with Divaki and her son Krishna.
CATHOLIC DOCTRINES- Statues of Mary can be found in all Catholic churches holding baby Jesus.

PAGAN BELIEFS- Dagon, which was the God of Babylon and Philistia and is mentioned several times in scripture in Judges 16:23, 1 Samuel 5:2-7, and 1 Chronicles 1:10. Babylonian fish-god (half man half fish) was depicted by Pagan high priests by wearing a fish head mitre (head dress) upon a mans head to symbolize man and fish joining when "sun god" set into the ocean. (Neptune = case in point. Half man half fish) One particular Biblical diety = "Dagon" Dag=fish On=sun. In Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, this is the definition for Dagon: 1712. Dagown, daw-gohn'; from H1709; the fish-god; Dagon, a Philistine deity: - According to Ugaritic and other documents link Baal as the son of El, or Dagon.
CATHOLIC DOCTRINES- Mitres are worn by all Popes of Catholcism
http://www.tofm.org/papacy/pope_mitre.htm

PAGAN BELIEFS- The Roman sun-god with the alternating yonic and phallic symbols surrounding his head was found carved in excavated Roman bath houses in England. It is alos found as "Apollo" on the facade of the Pergamum Museum in East Berlin.
CATHOLIC DOCTRINES- Almost all Catholic churches have the exact same carving above their pulpits, pillars, on statues, as well as carved into ceilings above altars. Some Catholic churches actually have it carved into the Eucharist itself.

PAGAN BELIEFS- Persian sun-god Mithra is also depicted with the globe in hand as a sign ruler of the Universe.
CATHOLIC DOCTRINES- The Vatican has a solid gold statues of Jesus with the globe in hand, plus a black marble statue called "the black virgin of Montserrat" and a statue of a "child Jesus" with globe in hand.

PAGAN BELIEFS- The first day of the week kept sacred to honor the Persian sun god Mithra. "SUN"day
CATHOLIC DOCTRINES- The admitted change of 7th day Sabbath to "SUN"day...

It just goes on and on.....

The harlot of Babylon

The Sabbatarian Network

http://www.symbianize.com/showthread.php?p=969890

Now here are some interesting quotes from not just one source but a wide variety with the sources noted for anyone to check the context, but I dont think it will be necessary once you read them....

The penetration of the religion of Babylon became so general and well known that Rome was called the "New Babylon." -Faith of our fathers 1917 ed. Cardinal Gibbons, p. 106

"Confiding then in the power of Christianity to resist the infection of evil, and to transmute the instruments and appendages of demon worship to an evangelical use... the rulers of the church from early times were prepared should occasion arise, to adopt, or imitate, or sanction the existing rites and customs of the (Pagan) populace." -Development of Christian Doctrine, Cardinal Newman. p. 372

Cardinal Newman lists many examples of things of "pagan origin" which the papacy brought into the church "in order to recommend the new religion to the heathen: He stated, "in order to recommend the new religion to the heathen:" "The use of temples, and these dedicated to particular saints, and ornamented on occasions with branches of trees; incense, lamps, and candles; holy water; asylums [hermitages, monasteries and convents]; [pagan] holy-days, processions, sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure, the ring in marriage, turning to the East, images, . . . and the Kyrie Eleison."--Cardinal J. H. Newman, An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, 1920 edition, p.373 [Roman Catholic].

Cardinal Newman admits in his book that; the "The use of temples, and these dedicated to particular saints, and ornamented on occasions with branches of trees; incense, lamps, and candles; votive offerings on recovery from illness; holy water; asylums; holydays and seasons, use of calendars, processions, blessings on the fields; sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure, the ring in marriage, turning to the East, images at a later date, ...the ecclesiastical chant, and the Kyrie Eleison, are all of pagan origin, and sanctified by their adoption into the Church. {374}" -An Essay on the The Development of the Christian Doctrine John Henry "Cardinal Newman" p.359 (Also see According to Dr. E. D. Clarke, Travels, vol. i. p. 352.)

"The [Catholic] Church took the pagan philosophy and made it the buckler of faith against the heathen. She took the pagan Roman Pantheon, temple of all the gods, and made it sacred to all the martyrs; so it stands to this day. She took the pagan Sunday and made it the Christian Sunday. She took the pagan Easter and made it the feast we celebrate during this season . . . The Sun was a foremost god with heathendom . . . The sun has worshipers at this hour in Persia and other lands . . . Hence the Church would seem to say, 'Keep that old pagan name [Sunday]. It shall remain consecrated, sanctified.' And thus the pagan Sunday, dedicated to Balder, became the Christian Sunday, sacred to Jesus"--William L. Gildea, "Paschale Gaudium," in The Catholic World, 58, March, 1894, p. 809 [A Roman Catholic weekly].

"The mighty Catholic Church was little more then the Roman Empire baptized."-- A. C, Flick, The Rise of the Mediaeval Church, 1909 edition, p. 148.

From ancient Babylon came the cult of the virgin mother-goddess, who was worshiped as the highest of gods--see S. H. Langdon, Semitic Mythology, 1931 edition.

This worship was taken over as Mary-worship by Rome. Heathen sun-worship on Sunday was likewise adopted by the Roman apostasy.

"In order to attach to Christianity great attraction in the eyes of the nobility, the priests adopted the outer garments and adornments which were used in pagan cults." -Life of Constantine, Eusabius, cited in Altai-Nimalaya, p. 94

"The Church did everything it could to stamp out such 'pagan' rites, but had to capitualet and allow the rites to continue with only the name of the local diety changed to some Christian saint's name." -Religious Tradition and Myth. Dr. Edwin Goodenough, Professor of Religion, Harvard University. p. 56, 57

"From the foregoing, which treats merely of the more important solar festivals, it is clear that these products of paganism are as much in force at present ... as they ever were, and that Christianity countenances, and in many cases has actually adopted and practiced, pagan rites whose heathen significance is merely lost sight of because attention is not called tot the source whence these rites have sprung. So heavy was this infiltration that Sir Samuel Dill exclaims: "Christianity is only a sect of the Mithraists." -Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius, p. VII

Actually, it would befar more accurate if he said, "Catholicism is only a sect of the Mithraists." The true Remnant Christians of today would never do such things as this. As Revelation 14:4 puts it, the true Church of Christ is not defiled by these women (churches)

"We know that Mithraism was a state religion of Rome at the time that the Christian church was established there. Evidently tenants of Mithraism such as Sunday worship and eating the wafer in the mass were adopted into Christianity at that time" -Jim Arrabito "666 & the Mark"

In Stanley's History, page 40: "The popes filled the place of the vacant emperors at Rome, inheriting their power, their prestige, and their titles from PAGANISM."

"In short, sun worship, symbolically speaking, lies at the very heart of the great festivals which the Christian Church celebrates today, and these relics of heathen religion have, through the medium of their sacred rites, curiously enough blended with practices and beliefs utterly antagonistic to the spirit which prompted them." -Sun Lore of All Ages, Olcott, p. 248

"Yet the cross itself is the oldest of phallic emblems, and the lozenge-shaped windows of cathedrals are proof that the yonic symbols have survived the destructions of the pagan Mysteries. The very structure of the church itself is permeated with phallicism. (sexual symbolism) Remove from the Christian Church all emblems of Priapic origin and nothing is left..." -The secret teaching of all ages by Manley P. Hall

"When the zealots of the primitave Christian Church sought to Christianize paganism, the pagan initiates retorted with a powerful effort to paganize Christianity. The Christians failed but the pagans succeeded. With the decline of paganism the initiated pagan hierophants transferred their base of operations to the new vehicle of primitive Christianity, adopting the symbols of the new cult to conceal those eternal verities which are ever the priceless possession of the wise." -The secret teachings of all ages, Manley P. Hall p. CLXXXV

The Christians failed because Christ would have no agreement with such error. He would never sanction mixing truth with error. Deuteronomy 12:29-32 confirms that perfectly!

"...The world, cloaked with a form of righteousness, walked into the church. Now the work of corruption rapidly progressed. Paganism, while appearing to be vanquished, became the conqueror. Her spirit controlled the church. Her doctrines, ceremonies, and superstitions were incorporated into the faith and worship of the professed followers of Christ." Ellen G.White, -The Great Controversy, p. 50

"The belief in miracle-working objects, talismans, amulets, and formulas was dear to Christianity, and they were received from pagan antiquity . . . The vestments of the clergy and the papal title of 'pontifex maximus' were legacies from pagan Rome. The [Catholic] Church found that rural converts still revered certain springs, wells, trees, and stones; she thought it wiser to bless these to Christian use then to break too sharply the customs of sentiment . . . Pagan festivals dear to the people, reappeared as Christian feasts, and pagan rites were transformed into Christian liturgy . . . The Christian calendar of saints replaced the Roman 'fasti' [gods]; ancient divinities dear to the people were allowed to revive under the names of 'Christian saints' . . . Gradually the tenderest features of Astarte, Cybele, Artemis, Diana, and Isis were gathered together in the worship of Mary"--Wil Durant, The Age of Faith, 1950, pp. 745-746.

Langdon tells us that Mary worship came from ancient Babylon where the virgin mother-goddess was worshiped under the name "Ishtar." Elsewhere in the Near East, the mother-goddess was called "Astarte, Ashtoreth, Persephone, Artemis, [Diana] of Ephesus, Venus, and Isis." This goddess, considered to be greater than any god, was called by these heathen the "virgin mother, merciful mother, Queen of Heaven, and my lady" [which is what "Madonna" means in Italian]. Langdon says she was often sculptured in mother-and-infant images, or as a "mater dolorom" [sorrowful mother] interceding for men with a wrathful god. And thus ancient paganism was brought into the churches and lives of Christians.--see S.H. Langdon, Semitic Mythology, 1931 edition, pp. 12-34, 108-111, 341-344.

Laing mentions several other corruptions by which the mother-goddess was worshiped by heathens, that Rome adopted into Christianity: holy water, votive offerings, elevation of sacred objects [lifting of the host], the priest's bells, the decking of images, processions, festivals, prayers for the dead, the worship of relics and the statues of saints.--see Gordon J. Laing, Survivals of Roman Religion, 1931 edition, pp. 92-95, 123-131,238-241.

Two dominant elements brought into Christianity from paganism by Rome were Sun worship symbols and the religious practices of ancient Babylon] "The solar theology of the Chaldaeans [Babylonians], had decisive effect . . . [upon the] final form reached by the religion of the pagan Semites, and following them, by that of the Romans when [the Roman emperor] Aurelian, the conqueror of Palmyra, had raised 'Sol Invictus' [the invincible sun-god] to the rank of supreme divinity in the Empire"--The Cambridge Ancient History, vol. 11, pp. 643, 646-647. From Palmyra he transferred to the new sanctuary the images of Helios [the sun-god] and Bel, the malaise patron god of Babylon--see Cumont, The Oriental Religions In Roman Paganism, 1911 edition, pp. 114-115, 124.

"The removal of the capital of the Empire from Rome to Constantinople in 330, left the Western Church, practically free from imperial power, to develop its own form of organization. The Bishop of Rome, in the seat of the Caesars, was now the greatest man in the West, and was soon [when the barbarians over-ran the empire] forced to become the political as well as the spiritual head."--A.C. Flick, The Rise of the Mediaval Church p. 168.

"Whatever Roman elements the barbarians and Aryans left . . . [came] under the protection of the Bishop of Rome, who was the chief person there after the Emperor's disappearance . . . The Roman Church in this way privily pushed itself into the place of the Roman World-Empire, of which it is the actual continuation; the empire has not perished, but has only undergone a transformation . . . It [the Catholic Church] is a political creation, and as imposing as a World-Empire, because [it is a continuation of] the Roman Empire. The Pope, who calls himself 'King' and 'Pontifex Maximus' [the title of the Roman Emperor in the time of Christ], is Caesar's successor."--Adolf Harnack, What is Christianity? 1963, pp. 269-270.

"Long ages ago, when Rome through the neglect of the Western emperors was left to the mercy of the barbarous hordes, the Romans turned to one figure for aid and protection, and asked him to rule them; and thus, . . . commenced the temporal sovereignty of the popes. And meekly stepping to the throne of Caesar, the vicar of Christ took up the scepter to which the emperors and kings of Europe were to bow in reverence through so many ages."--American Catholic Quarterly Review, April, 1911.

[Speaking of the time, about 500 A.D., when the Roman Empire was crumbling to pieces:] "No, the [Catholic] Church will not descend into the tomb. It will survive the Empire . . . At length a second empire will arise, and of this empire the Pope will be the master--more then this, he will be the master of Europe. He will dictate his orders to kings who will obey them"--Andrea Lagarde, The Latin Church in the Middle Ages, 1915, p. vi.