Why satan LOVES Christmas

[TomorrowsWorld]

This is no new understanding! But the churches of the world hide or ignore this truth! The Catholic Encyclopediareveals: "Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church. Irenaeus and Tertullian omit it from their lists of feasts…" (vol. 3, pp. 724, 728). Christmas was even briefly outlawed in Massachusetts in 1659 and in England in the mid 1600s as being unbiblical.

Understand. Before Christmas was the Roman Saturnalia, upon which Christmas is founded. Tertullian, considered an early Catholic church father, wrote that during the Saturnalia, presents were exchanged and "every pomp of the devil is frequented" (On Idolatry, circa 200–206ad).

But the Saturnalia was also simply an adaptation of something earlier—Persian Mithraism. As the Catholic Encyclopedia records: "In Mithraism, the highest god was Aion, Kronos, or Saturnus. Saturnus, the name popularized by the Roman world, was no other than the ancient Iranian [Persian] god, Zervan" (Mithraism).

The Romans eagerly adopted Mithraism in the form of the Saturnalia. Emperor Diocletian built a temple to Mithra in Carnuntum, and "The 25 December was observed as his birthday, the natalis invicti, the rebirth of the winter-sun" (ibid).

In Mithraism, the mid-winter festivals began with worship of Zervan, whose celebrations ended on December 24. The celebrations then transitioned to worship the reborn Zervan as the newborn Mithras, the new Saturn, born on December 25 who brought back the sun after the winter-solstice (Mithras, the Secret God, M.J. Vermaseren).

The pagan god Zervan was depicted as a winged, part-human, part-lion figure. Thus, we see that Zervan depicts angelic cherubim characteristics (2 Chronicles 3:13; Ezekiel 10:14). Further, Zervan was typically accompanied by snakes wrapped around his legs, arms or body (The Mysteries of Mithra, by Franz Cumont, 1903, page 93). Scripture reveals that Satan (formerly Lucifer) is a fallen cherub (Ezekiel 28:14–16), and is associated with the snake (Genesis 3:1–14; Revelation 20:2).

A righteous angel will not permit himself to be worshipped (Revelation 19:10; 22:9). And Revelation 9:20 warns that idolaters are actually worshipping demons. Clearly, the cherub who demands his worship at the winter-solstice is no righteous angel. Whether calling himself Zervan, Saturn or another eponym, this deity is a proxy for no other than Satan, the fallen cherub!

But even the Roman Saturnalia and Persian Mithraism were adaptions of an even earlier mystery religion—the Babylonian mystery cult. The ancient Babylonians celebrated the reborn Nimrod as the newborn Tammuz by worshipping an evergreen tree (now the common Christmas tree). The Babylonians also celebrated this rebirth during the winter solstice. Jeremiah condemns ancient Israel for copying this terrible paganism, and even specifically mentions the decorated evergreen tree in Jeremiah 3:13.

Regardless of fond memories or whether "everyone does it," a true Christian will reject Christmas, not only because of the commercialism, the pagan influence, and the impossibility of Jesus being born mid-winter, but more fundamentally because Christ refuses to have any part with idolatry (2 Corinthians 6:15–16). Christ was never part of Christmas and He will not be "put back" in Christmas.

God commands us to "learn not the way of the heathen" (Jeremiah 10:2, KJV), reveals that pagan celebrations are abominations to Him (Jeremiah 10:3–4; Ezekiel 8:13–14), and tells us not to change what was taught through Christ and the Apostles (2 Thessalonians 2:15). Once this truth is understood, a true Christian will shudder at the idea of celebrating Christmas, realizing that these winter solstice celebrations are indeed Satan's celebrations.

[staff edited]

 

[John Hyperspace]

But how does satan feel about Labor Day?

 

[Gnarwhal]

But how does satan feel about Labor Day?

He's cool with it as long as those darn kids stay out of his pool. Now Arbor Day... don't get him started on Arbor Day.

 

[DennisTate]

I am a former member of the Worldwide Church of God so your opening post makes me somewhat
nostalgic.

Although all that you write in the OP is technically true.......
I do find that around this time of year people are more open to
discussions regarding God and spirituality so
I enjoy trying my best to answer their questions as
well as I can.

The "soul sleep" doctrine was the one that caused me to separate from the WWCG back
in 1991.


The being of light of NDE fame, G-d or Satan?

Poll: The being of light of NDE fame, G-d or Satan?

 

[SnowyMacie]

But how does satan feel about Labor Day?

It's his favorite day to barbecue.

 

[Paul Yohannan]

This is no new understanding! But the churches of the world hide or ignore this truth! The Catholic Encyclopediareveals: "Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church. Irenaeus and Tertullian omit it from their lists of feasts…" (vol. 3, pp. 724, 728). Christmas was even briefly outlawed in Massachusetts in 1659 and in England in the mid 1600s as being unbiblical.

Understand. Before Christmas was the Roman Saturnalia, upon which Christmas is founded. Tertullian, considered an early Catholic church father, wrote that during the Saturnalia, presents were exchanged and "every pomp of the devil is frequented" (On Idolatry, circa 200–206ad).

But the Saturnalia was also simply an adaptation of something earlier—Persian Mithraism. As the Catholic Encyclopedia records: "In Mithraism, the highest god was Aion, Kronos, or Saturnus. Saturnus, the name popularized by the Roman world, was no other than the ancient Iranian [Persian] god, Zervan" (Mithraism).

The Romans eagerly adopted Mithraism in the form of the Saturnalia. Emperor Diocletian built a temple to Mithra in Carnuntum, and "The 25 December was observed as his birthday, the natalis invicti, the rebirth of the winter-sun" (ibid).

In Mithraism, the mid-winter festivals began with worship of Zervan, whose celebrations ended on December 24. The celebrations then transitioned to worship the reborn Zervan as the newborn Mithras, the new Saturn, born on December 25 who brought back the sun after the winter-solstice (Mithras, the Secret God, M.J. Vermaseren).

The pagan god Zervan was depicted as a winged, part-human, part-lion figure. Thus, we see that Zervan depicts angelic cherubim characteristics (2 Chronicles 3:13; Ezekiel 10:14). Further, Zervan was typically accompanied by snakes wrapped around his legs, arms or body (The Mysteries of Mithra, by Franz Cumont, 1903, page 93). Scripture reveals that Satan (formerly Lucifer) is a fallen cherub (Ezekiel 28:14–16), and is associated with the snake (Genesis 3:1–14; Revelation 20:2).

A righteous angel will not permit himself to be worshipped (Revelation 19:10; 22:9). And Revelation 9:20 warns that idolaters are actually worshipping demons. Clearly, the cherub who demands his worship at the winter-solstice is no righteous angel. Whether calling himself Zervan, Saturn or another eponym, this deity is a proxy for no other than Satan, the fallen cherub!

But even the Roman Saturnalia and Persian Mithraism were adaptions of an even earlier mystery religion—the Babylonian mystery cult. The ancient Babylonians celebrated the reborn Nimrod as the newborn Tammuz by worshipping an evergreen tree (now the common Christmas tree). The Babylonians also celebrated this rebirth during the winter solstice. Jeremiah condemns ancient Israel for copying this terrible paganism, and even specifically mentions the decorated evergreen tree in Jeremiah 3:13.

Regardless of fond memories or whether "everyone does it," a true Christian will reject Christmas, not only because of the commercialism, the pagan influence, and the impossibility of Jesus being born mid-winter, but more fundamentally because Christ refuses to have any part with idolatry (2 Corinthians 6:15–16). Christ was never part of Christmas and He will not be "put back" in Christmas.

God commands us to "learn not the way of the heathen" (Jeremiah 10:2, KJV), reveals that pagan celebrations are abominations to Him (Jeremiah 10:3–4; Ezekiel 8:13–14), and tells us not to change what was taught through Christ and the Apostles (2 Thessalonians 2:15). Once this truth is understood, a true Christian will shudder at the idea of celebrating Christmas, realizing that these winter solstice celebrations are indeed Satan's celebrations.

To learn more, watch the powerful www.TomorrowsWorld.org telecasts, "Christmas: The Missing Message" and "Insight into Christmas," or read the insightful article "Should Christians Keep Christmas?"

This is of course entirely inaccurate as I, @SteveCaruso, @~Anastasia~, @Root of Jesse, @ViaCrucis and others have pointed out ad nauseum ad infintum.

These fora are filled with threads in which every single argument contained in this polemic has been refuted, usually repeatedly and in different directions.

Even your description of Zurvanism and Mithraism is entirely inaccurate and contrary to the actual knowledge we have about Zoroastrianism and the related Mithras mysteries, which were unconnected to Saturnalia or Greco-Roman Paganism.

 

[Norbert L]

The biggest problem of the widespread message of "Christmas" is the lack of acknowledging that this little baby Jesus is actually the creator of the universe, the God of Israel who gave up His glory to be born as a 100% human.

Saturnalia is a rabbit trial, it's a side issue that confuses people who are genuinely trying to figure things out PRESENTLY. Yes, historically there are concerns about it, but don't make it divide people who repent and want to follow this baby Jesus who grew up and informed us of His plan for creation.

 

[Shane R]

This is no new understanding. . .

You're right: that was all old news. And less than half of it was even relevant to the topic at hand. But, I don't think Satan loves anything that draws attention to Christ. Moreover, did you know that even the serpent was once redeemed as a symbol of healing? Look it up: the bronze serpent in the wilderness. St. John even applies the symbol to Christ's crucifixion.

 

[Paul Yohannan]

The above disclosure properly considered, a disposition for the truth compels me to deconstruct the OP on an itemized basis.

This is no new understanding! But the churches of the world hide or ignore this truth! The Catholic Encyclopediareveals: "Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church. Irenaeus and Tertullian omit it from their lists of feasts…"

There is no work more frequently quoted out of context than the 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia (which by the way, is often inaccurate with regards to questions of anything not related to Roman Catholicism, for example, the history of the eastern churches not under Rome, and does not represent official RC doctrine, not being an official publication of the Roman church).

That said, had you read on, even in it, you would have noted that the feast of Nativity was originally combined with that of the Baptism of our Lord on January 6th, according to the Julian Calendar.

(vol. 3, pp. 724, 728). Christmas was even briefly outlawed in Massachusetts in 1659 and in England in the mid 1600s as being unbiblical.

This is one of the most compelling reasons to celebrate Christmas given how spectacularly wrong and genuinely diabolical the Puritans were. I can think of few persons in the history of America as profoundly unpleasant as Increase Mather, the evil architect of the Salem witch trials, in which innocents were executed brutally and without evidence even of the non-crime to which they were prejudged guilty.

Across the pond, Oliver Cromwell was even worse. There is a reason why the British monarchy made a comeback, and that was the pure terror of the Protectorate.

Understand. Before Christmas was the Roman Saturnalia, upon which Christmas is founded. Tertullian, considered an early Catholic church father,

Nay, Tertullian was an anathematized schismatic heretic, an adherent of Montanism.

wrote that during the Saturnalia, presents were exchanged and "every pomp of the devil is frequented" (On Idolatry, circa 200–206ad).

This has of course nothing to do with the liturgical celebration of Christmas. At best you offer moral condemnation of the secularization of Christmas.

But the Saturnalia was also simply an adaptation of something earlier—Persian Mithraism. As the Catholic Encyclopedia records: "In Mithraism, the highest god was Aion, Kronos, or Saturnus. Saturnus, the name popularized by the Roman world, was no other than the ancient Iranian [Persian] god, Zervan" (Mithraism).

Now on this point, it would have been helpful had you actually bothered to read the Catholic Encyclopedia's treatment of Zoroastrianism.

Zurvanism was a heresy within Zoroastrianism in which in an attempt to get around the dualist conflict between the beneficient Ahura Mazda and the malevolent Angra Mainyu, some of the Mobeds, or Magi, proposed a solution wherein Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu were generated of an indifferent higher order deity.

This faith paralleled some aspects of Chronus, and from there a vague parallel can be formed, but Saturnalia was not by any stretch a product of Zoroastrianism.

If anything, Zoroastrianism looks more like Christianity or other monotheistic religions, and indeed some say Judaism was heavily influenced by it after the Persian conquest of Babylon.

The Romans eagerly adopted Mithraism in the form of the Saturnalia. Emperor Diocletian built a temple to Mithra in Carnuntum, and "The 25 December was observed as his birthday, the natalis invicti, the rebirth of the winter-sun" (ibid).

Alas, Sol Invictus was something else.

In Mithraism, the mid-winter festivals began with worship of Zervan, whose celebrations ended on December 24. The celebrations then transitioned to worship the reborn Zervan as the newborn Mithras, the new Saturn, born on December 25 who brought back the sun after the winter-solstice (Mithras, the Secret God, M.J. Vermaseren).

These dates have been shown to be mere urban legends.

The pagan god Zervan was depicted as a winged, part-human, part-lion figure.

This rather more approximately refers to the generic winged figures one of which all entities in Zoroastrianism have. This relates to Zoroastrianism having a sort of Platonic concept of a world of ideals, embodied by these winged figures, which in turn corresponds to this actualized reality.

Its a bit philosophical and complex and I do not expect a person of modest education to be able to grasp it; suffice it to say the figures in question are not depictions of Satan. Nor are they even angels; Zoroastrianism also has those.

Scripture reveals that Satan (formerly Lucifer) is a fallen cherub (Ezekiel 28:14–16), and is associated with the snake (Genesis 3:1–14; Revelation 20:2).

Indeed, but none of this has anything to do with the birth of our Lord as described in Matthew and Luke. It is merely an irrelevant tangent, an attempt via the most unconvincing of arguments to somehow connect Christmas to Satan via an irrelevant and illiterate misrepresentation of a Roman secret society loosely influenced by a Persian religion which probably either influenced Judaism or represents a variant form of some ancient Asian monotheism.

A righteous angel will not permit himself to be worshipped (Revelation 19:10; 22:9). And Revelation 9:20 warns that idolaters are actually worshipping demons. Clearly, the cherub who demands his worship at the winter-solstice is no righteous angel.
Whether calling himself Zervan, Saturn or another eponym, this deity is a proxy for no other than Satan, the fallen cherub!

There is no angel being worshipped on Christmas! Far less the devil. To even accuse the majority of Christians of devil-worship is scurrilous to an intolerable degree.

But even the Roman Saturnalia and Persian Mithraism were adaptions of an even earlier mystery religion—the Babylonian mystery cult. The ancient Babylonians celebrated the reborn Nimrod as the newborn Tammuz by worshipping an evergreen tree (now the common Christmas tree). The Babylonians also celebrated this rebirth during the winter solstice. Jeremiah condemns ancient Israel for copying this terrible paganism, and even specifically mentions the decorated evergreen tree in Jeremiah 3:13.

Now this is utterly ridiculous in that you, on the basis of the sacred groves of Semitic, more specifically West Semitic, paganism, accuse Christians of this form of idolatry, when many Christians who celebrate the feast of the nativity do so from cultures without Christmas trees, and where furthermore as has been pointed out by @SteveCaruso, there is no evidence of a link between this West Semitic practice and our practice.

Regardless of fond memories or whether "everyone does it," a true Christian will reject Christmas, not only because of the commercialism, the pagan influence, and the impossibility of Jesus being born mid-winter,

9 months from 25 March is 25 December, but if its any consolation, on the correct Julian calendar this works out to be...6 January.

but more fundamentally because Christ refuses to have any part with idolatry (2 Corinthians 6:15–16).

A good thing we are not idolaters then eh.

Christ was never part of Christmas

Try reading Matthew or Luke some time. I noticed their conspicuous absence from your quotations in this polemic. For example, you fail to mention the Magi, whose giving of gifts to our Lord offers an alternative intepreration of the whole affair.

God commands us to "learn not the way of the heathen" (Jeremiah 10:2, KJV), reveals that pagan celebrations are abominations to Him (Jeremiah 10:3–4; Ezekiel 8:13–14), and tells us not to change what was taught through Christ and the Apostles (2 Thessalonians 2:15).

He also promises, in what I suppose is a book you must like, to protect the church from falling astray, in Matthew 16:18. Ergo, since the whole church celebrates the Nativity, the celebration is not an error.

Once this truth is understood, a true Christian will shudder at the idea of celebrating Christmas, realizing that these winter solstice celebrations are indeed Satan's celebrations.

No they are not, and I think you should retract this scurrilous accusation rather than trying to promote your blog.

 

[TomorrowsWorld]

I am a former member of the Worldwide Church of God so your opening post makes me somewhat
nostalgic.

Although all that you write in the OP is technically true.......
I do find that around this time of year people are more open to
discussions regarding God and spirituality so
I enjoy trying my best to answer their questions as
well as I can.

The "soul sleep" doctrine was the one that caused me to separate from the WWCG back
in 1991.


The being of light of NDE fame, G-d or Satan?

Poll: The being of light of NDE fame, G-d or Satan?

My Friend, you have found the work started by Mr. Herbert W Armstrong, which is now being continued by Dr. Roderick C Meredith, Mr. Gerald Weston, Mr. Richard Aimes and others.

The work God used Mr. Armstrong to do, is still alive and strong. The gates of hades have NOT prevailed against it. There are many like you who have returned.

Tomorrow's World

 

[Paul Yohannan]

My Friend, you have found the work started by Mr. Herbert W Armstrong, which is now being continued by Dr. Roderick C Meredith, Mr. Gerald Weston, Mr. Richard Aimes and others.

The work God used Mr. Armstrong to do, is still alive and strong. The gates of hades have NOT prevailed against it. There are many like you who have returned.

Tomorrow's World

Ah so you have memorized Matthew 16:18, which has the effect of rendering the OP argument even more unconvincing, in that I cannot understand how you could commit that verse to memory, while apparently ignoring Matthew 1-3 and also ignoring the fact that all Christians historically celebrated the Nativity, which means that if your argument were correct our Lord lied, which of course He did not do.

 

[DennisTate]

My Friend, you have found the work started by Mr. Herbert W Armstrong, which is now being continued by Dr. Roderick C Meredith, Mr. Gerald Weston, Mr. Richard Aimes and others.

The work God used Mr. Armstrong to do, is still alive and strong. The gates of hades have NOT prevailed against it. There are many like you who have returned.

Tomorrow's World

Yes... I am so very glad that
Mr. Garner Ted Armstrong got me researching so many
questions related to world news and how they fit with Biblical Prophecy.


The Isaiah 35 response to climate change and saving Florida and New Orleans and....

The Isaiah 35 response to climate change and saving Florida and New Orleans and....

A biologist from New Mexico believes that we can indeed do something constructive regarding climate change:


Carl Cantrell:

"So how is our problem of continental drying causing global warming? It all has to do with vegetation and sunlight. When sun light hits a plant, it causes a process which we call photosynthesis where the energy from the sun light creates oxygen for us to breathe, water for us to drink, and is stored as sugar for plants and animals to use. When the same sun light hits the soil, all of its energy turns into heat and is radiated back into the atmosphere.. ."

"Therefore, the less vegetation you have on the planet, the more sunlight is being turned into heat and the warmer the planet becomes...."

"Just take a look at any satellite picture of the earth showing heat and you will see that our deserts are the warmest spots on the planet by far. More heat is being generated by just one of the top four or five deserts than by all of our cities combined.... "

"The truth is that you can do more to decrease global warming by just reducing the average temperature for the Sahara Desert by one or two degrees than if we humans completely quit using fossil fuels and returned to the cave…."

"So, how would you start working to resolve this problem? Easy, cool the deserts and get some vegetation growing on them as soon as possible. But the method is much more complex than that. You have to use the prevailing trade winds in relation to the deserts to get the best results as quickly as possible and it will be extremely expensive…."

"Then we build desalination plants along the coast near these water sheds and pipe water to the tops or ridges of the water sheds…"

"We need to start working on this as soon as possible because, if the planet reaches a point to where it is warming faster than our technology can possibly stop or reverse this warming trend, then our planet is lost and all life will cease to exist on this planet within a relatively short period of time. We will need to start with the largest and hottest deserts because cooling them will have the greatest benefit in the least time (Global Warming II by biologist Carl Cantrell)."

Soon... humanity will realize that the fastest way to stabilize the climate.....
was given in Isaiah chapter 35.

 

[Unit 11]

So you hate Christmas? (Or rather, you're simply channeling the views of a Christmas-hating organization, which is even worse?)

All that info you related--did you gather it yourself, or did you take it right from LCG, passing it on without checking it out?

I see that some who've replied, did check it out. I hope you're considering their responses.

I've never been taught to regard anything pagan at Christmastime. On the other hand, I've always been taught that Christmas is the celebration of Jesus' arrival on Earth.

All my life I've heard the wonderful carols like "Hark the Herald Angels Sing," "O Holy Night" and "O Come All Ye Faithful," that beautifully present the message of salvation. Why on earth not celebrate that with Christmas trees, lights, tinsel and bulbs, pumpkin pie and sleighrides, and gift exchanges?

Since this LCG bans Christmas, I assume they also ban giving presents to less-fortunate children, providing holiday dinners to the homeless, and contributing to the Salvation Army bell-ringers outside the stores so they can do these things. How Christian is that?

 

[Unit 11]

Now about this Living Church of God. Did they sweep you off your feet, get you swearing by them before you knew what happened? It's all right. It's been done to me, too, by a different organization. You adore the leaders, you know in your heart their way is the right way, and you accept as gospel everything they teach. If you're like I was, when someone tries to patiently explain why they're wrong, you reject it out of hand; listening to this is unthinkable. Except this person turned out to be right.

Looking LCG up, I found this:

What Happens if I Join Roderick Meredith's Living Church of God?

Here's what broke my organization's spell on me. I used to listen to their radio broadcast every day, no matter what. I may or may not have read my Bible that day, but I never missed their broadcast. Then my city canceled their show, so I could no longer get my daily dose. But I did go on reading my Bible.

And after a while, my head cleared.

Life will always be difficult enough, no matter what. Frankly, you don't need charlatans loading still more burdens onto your shoulders, especially if those burdens are needless. (Acts 15 and the whole book of Galatians comes to mind.)

Wishing you a sincere Merry Christmas and happy New Year.

 

[Steve Petersen]

You're right: that was all old news. And less than half of it was even relevant to the topic at hand. But, I don't think Satan loves anything that draws attention to Christ. Moreover, did you know that even the serpent was once redeemed as a symbol of healing? Look it up: the bronze serpent in the wilderness. St. John even applies the symbol to Christ's crucifixion.

In Greek mythology, intertwined serpents are associated with the god of healing, Aesclepius.

Asclepius - Wikipedia

 

[JackRT]

On the other hand:

A funny thing overheard on the way to the forum

What’s this empire coming to? Now they want us to stop greeting people with "Io Saturnalia!? "We have all these different cultures in Rome" they tell us, "We shouldn’t offend anyone" they tell us, "We’ve got to be inclusive".

We’ve got the barbarians from the north with their tree decorations and their fire rituals. And the weirdos from Gaul, cutting mistletoe with a golden sickle. And the Mithraists, the Zoroastrians, the Isis cults, and, of course, those characters who hang out in the catacombs. "Hail, Winter!" we’re supposed to say. I ask you, what next: we lose the feast? We stop the Solstice parties? No more honoring Ops, goddess of abundance?

I was buying some greenery down by the Forum the other day, and there’s old Macrobius with some Visigoth chick, and she goes, "Gut Jule." And I go, "Hey! In this country, we say, 'Io, Saturnalia' Maybe you should go back to where you came from? "Then Macrobius goes, "She can’t, she’s a slave." Whatever. At this time of year, the Visigoths sacrifice a pig and burn a special log that they dance around, instead of acting like normal people and going to the temple of Saturn.

I swear, I was at this party over at Septima Commodia’s house the other day. She always has a Saturnalia party. Anyway, she decorated the place with prickly green leaves. "It’s holly" she said, "The latest fashion from Brittania. They all do it in Londinium." It gets worse.

She had this statue of some goddess from Ultima Thule or somewhere, name of Frigga, sitting right there on the dining room mensa. I mean, this is darned near blasphemous. I’d be scared about what the lares and penates would do if I put that thing in my house. But Septima Commodia just said, "Oh get over it! We’re cosmopolitan around here." Cosmopolitan. That’s what they call it. Well by Jupiter, I live in Latium. I’m a Roman. And this empire was founded on the principle that the gods, our gods, must be honored at the appropriate time and in the appropriate way. None of this foreign heretical nonsense or these strange customs from Germania or Hibernia or Palestine. I say, "Io, Saturnalia!" and if you don’t like it, you can leave.

Thanks to "Witch" from wondercafe.ca

 

[Light of the East]

He's cool with it as long as those darn kids stay out of his pool. Now Arbor Day... don't get him started on Arbor Day.

GET OFF MY GRASS, YOU MISERABLE LITTLE BRATS!!!!

 

[Light of the East]

My Friend, you have found the work started by Mr. Herbert W Armstrong, which is now being continued by Dr. Roderick C Meredith, Mr. Gerald Weston, Mr. Richard Aimes and others.

The work God used Mr. Armstrong to do, is still alive and strong. The gates of hades have NOT prevailed against it. There are many like you who have returned.

Tomorrow's World

Just another heretical devil throwing darts at the Church. **YAWN**

 

[BeStill&Know]

This is no new understanding! But the churches of the world hide or ignore this truth! The Catholic Encyclopediareveals: "Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church. Irenaeus and Tertullian omit it from their lists of feasts…" (vol. 3, pp. 724, 728). Christmas was even briefly outlawed in Massachusetts in 1659 and in England in the mid 1600s as being unbiblical.

Understand. Before Christmas was the Roman Saturnalia, upon which Christmas is founded. Tertullian, considered an early Catholic church father, wrote that during the Saturnalia, presents were exchanged and "every pomp of the devil is frequented" (On Idolatry, circa 200–206ad).

But the Saturnalia was also simply an adaptation of something earlier—Persian Mithraism. As the Catholic Encyclopedia records: "In Mithraism, the highest god was Aion, Kronos, or Saturnus. Saturnus, the name popularized by the Roman world, was no other than the ancient Iranian [Persian] god, Zervan" (Mithraism).

The Romans eagerly adopted Mithraism in the form of the Saturnalia. Emperor Diocletian built a temple to Mithra in Carnuntum, and "The 25 December was observed as his birthday, the natalis invicti, the rebirth of the winter-sun" (ibid).

In Mithraism, the mid-winter festivals began with worship of Zervan, whose celebrations ended on December 24. The celebrations then transitioned to worship the reborn Zervan as the newborn Mithras, the new Saturn, born on December 25 who brought back the sun after the winter-solstice (Mithras, the Secret God, M.J. Vermaseren).

The pagan god Zervan was depicted as a winged, part-human, part-lion figure. Thus, we see that Zervan depicts angelic cherubim characteristics (2 Chronicles 3:13; Ezekiel 10:14). Further, Zervan was typically accompanied by snakes wrapped around his legs, arms or body (The Mysteries of Mithra, by Franz Cumont, 1903, page 93). Scripture reveals that Satan (formerly Lucifer) is a fallen cherub (Ezekiel 28:14–16), and is associated with the snake (Genesis 3:1–14; Revelation 20:2).

A righteous angel will not permit himself to be worshipped (Revelation 19:10; 22:9). And Revelation 9:20 warns that idolaters are actually worshipping demons. Clearly, the cherub who demands his worship at the winter-solstice is no righteous angel. Whether calling himself Zervan, Saturn or another eponym, this deity is a proxy for no other than Satan, the fallen cherub!

But even the Roman Saturnalia and Persian Mithraism were adaptions of an even earlier mystery religion—the Babylonian mystery cult. The ancient Babylonians celebrated the reborn Nimrod as the newborn Tammuz by worshipping an evergreen tree (now the common Christmas tree). The Babylonians also celebrated this rebirth during the winter solstice. Jeremiah condemns ancient Israel for copying this terrible paganism, and even specifically mentions the decorated evergreen tree in Jeremiah 3:13.

Regardless of fond memories or whether "everyone does it," a true Christian will reject Christmas, not only because of the commercialism, the pagan influence, and the impossibility of Jesus being born mid-winter, but more fundamentally because Christ refuses to have any part with idolatry (2 Corinthians 6:15–16). Christ was never part of Christmas and He will not be "put back" in Christmas.

God commands us to "learn not the way of the heathen" (Jeremiah 10:2, KJV), reveals that pagan celebrations are abominations to Him (Jeremiah 10:3–4; Ezekiel 8:13–14), and tells us not to change what was taught through Christ and the Apostles (2 Thessalonians 2:15). Once this truth is understood, a true Christian will shudder at the idea of celebrating Christmas, realizing that these winter solstice celebrations are indeed Satan's celebrations.

To learn more, watch the powerful www.TomorrowsWorld.org telecasts, "Christmas: The Missing Message" and "Insight into Christmas," or read the insightful article "Should Christians Keep Christmas?"

The origins of Christmas? A believer can use this pagan based holiday to be loving and kind, and very patient, and being led by the Holy Spirit within them present Yeshua, instead.

 

[Light of the East]

This is no new understanding! But the churches of the world hide or ignore this truth! The Catholic Encyclopediareveals: "Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church. Irenaeus and Tertullian omit it from their lists of feasts…" (vol. 3, pp. 724, 728). Christmas was even briefly outlawed in Massachusetts in 1659 and in England in the mid 1600s as being unbiblical.

Yes, that's right, because the really great feast in the Early Church was EPIPHANY, where Jesus Christ is revealed to be the God/man.

I always find it humorous to read people who will cherry-pick the Early Fathers and dig out what they want to support their invented doctrines, while ignoring the rest which points to the Catholic faith.

Understand. Before Christmas was the Roman Saturnalia, upon which Christmas is founded. Tertullian, considered an early Catholic church father, wrote that during the Saturnalia, presents were exchanged and "every pomp of the devil is frequented" (On Idolatry, circa 200–206ad).

Yes, that's talking about SATURNALIA. Of course, you have no proof other than the bigoted, anti-Catholic writings of the Puritans and Protestants that Christmas is based on Saturnalia, do you?

But the Saturnalia was also simply an adaptation of something earlier—Persian Mithraism. As the Catholic Encyclopedia records: "In Mithraism, the highest god was Aion, Kronos, or Saturnus. Saturnus, the name popularized by the Roman world, was no other than the ancient Iranian [Persian] god, Zervan" (Mithraism).

The Romans eagerly adopted Mithraism in the form of the Saturnalia. Emperor Diocletian built a temple to Mithra in Carnuntum, and "The 25 December was observed as his birthday, the natalis invicti, the rebirth of the winter-sun" (ibid).

In Mithraism, the mid-winter festivals began with worship of Zervan, whose celebrations ended on December 24. The celebrations then transitioned to worship the reborn Zervan as the newborn Mithras, the new Saturn, born on December 25 who brought back the sun after the winter-solstice (Mithras, the Secret God, M.J. Vermaseren).

The notion that Christmas had pagan origins began to spread in the 17th century with the English Puritans and Scottish Presbyterians, who hated all Catholic things. They abhorred the feast days and in particular, they detested the Christmas feast with its joyous ceremonies, celebrations and customs. Since the Bible gave no specific date of Christ’s birth, the Puritans argued that it was a sinful contrivance of the Roman Catholic Church that should be abolished.

Later, Protestant preachers like the German Paul Ernst Jablonski tried to demonstrate in pseudo-scholarly works that December 25 was actually a pagan Roman feast, and that Christmas was yet another instance of how the medieval Catholic Church ‘paganized’ and corrupted ‘pure’ early Christianity.

There are two principal claims for Christmas having pagan origins. The first says that the early Church chose December 25 in order to divert Catholics from Roman pagan festival days. This first claim pretends that it replaced the ancient Roman holiday of Saturnalia, a time of feasting and raucous merry-making held in December in honor of the pagan god Saturn.

Now, the Saturnalia festival always ended on December 23 at the latest. Why would the Catholic Church, to diverge the attention of her faithful from a pagan celebration, choose a date two days after that party had already ended and whoever wanted had already overindulged? It makes no sense. No serious scholar believes this claim.

It's just a pack of lies.

The pagan god Zervan was depicted as a winged, part-human, part-lion figure. Thus, we see that Zervan depicts angelic cherubim characteristics (2 Chronicles 3:13; Ezekiel 10:14). Further, Zervan was typically accompanied by snakes wrapped around his legs, arms or body (The Mysteries of Mithra, by Franz Cumont, 1903, page 93). Scripture reveals that Satan (formerly Lucifer) is a fallen cherub (Ezekiel 28:14–16), and is associated with the snake (Genesis 3:1–14; Revelation 20:2).

A righteous angel will not permit himself to be worshipped (Revelation 19:10; 22:9). And Revelation 9:20 warns that idolaters are actually worshipping demons. Clearly, the cherub who demands his worship at the winter-solstice is no righteous angel. Whether calling himself Zervan, Saturn or another eponym, this deity is a proxy for no other than Satan, the fallen cherub!

But even the Roman Saturnalia and Persian Mithraism were adaptions of an even earlier mystery religion—the Babylonian mystery cult. The ancient Babylonians celebrated the reborn Nimrod as the newborn Tammuz by worshipping an evergreen tree (now the common Christmas tree). The Babylonians also celebrated this rebirth during the winter solstice. Jeremiah condemns ancient Israel for copying this terrible paganism, and even specifically mentions the decorated evergreen tree in Jeremiah 3:13.

Utter and complete rubbish. This is very reminiscent of two of the great books written to trash the Catholic Church - THE TWO BABYLONS by Alexander Hislop and ROMAN CATHOLICISM by Lorraine Boettner. Both of them were vetted after publication and found to have multiply errors, historic inaccuracies, and outright lies in them. THE TWO BABYLONS was found to be so wretched in its misstatements of truth that the publisher, once so notified, refused to have anything further to do with it.

Regardless of fond memories or whether "everyone does it," a true Christian will reject Christmas, not only because of the commercialism, the pagan influence, and the impossibility of Jesus being born mid-winter, but more fundamentally because Christ refuses to have any part with idolatry (2 Corinthians 6:15–16). Christ was never part of Christmas and He will not be "put back" in Christmas.

Dates based on the Scriptures

But let us leave the realm of conjecture and return to historical records. There is ample evidence to demonstrate that, even though the Christmas date was not made official until 354, clearly it was established long before Aurelian instituted his pagan feast day.

The conception of St. John the Baptist is the historical anchor to know the date of Christmas, based on the detailed and careful calculations on dates made by first Fathers of the Church.

Visitation

The date of St. Elizabeth's conception sets the base for knowing Christ's birth.

The early tractatus De solstitiia records the tradition of the Archangel Gabriel appearing to Zachariah in the High Temple when he was serving as high priest on the Day of Atonement (Lk 1:8). This placed the conception of St. John the Baptist during the feast of Tabernacles in late September, as the Archangel Gabriel said (Lk 1:28) and his birth nine months later at the time of the summer solstice.

Since the Gospel of Luke states that the Archangel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary in the sixth month after John's conception (Lk 1:26), this placed the conception of Christ at about the time of the spring equinox, that is, at the time of the Jewish Passover, in late March. His birth would thus be in late December at the time of the winter solstice.

That these dates, based on Tradition and Scripture, are trustworthy is confirmed by recent evidence taken from the Dead Sea Scrolls, whose authors were very concerned about calendar dates, essential for establishing when the Torah feasts should be celebrated. The data found in the Scrolls make it possible to know the Temple’s rotating assignment of priests during Old Testament times and show definitely that Zachariah served as a Temple priest in September, thus confirming the tradition of the Early Church.

The Catholic Church determined March 25 as the date of Our Lord’s Conception long before Aurelian decided to make his solar feast. For example, around 221 AD, Sexto Julio Africano wrote the Chronographiai in which he affirmed that the Annunciation was March 25. Once the date of the Incarnation was established, it was a simple matter of adding nine months to arrive at the date of Our Lord’s birth - December 25. This date would not be made official until the late fourth century, but it was established long before Aurelian and Constantine. It had nothing to do with pagan festivals.

Let us finish by asking a final question. Knowing that the pagans would celebrate the Feast of the Invincible Sun in December, why would an all-knowing God choose to be incarnate on December 25th and thus allow such nonsensical objections to be made? I think the answer is rather simple - it is precisely because the pagans were offering false, idolatrous worship on that day that God chose that day to become incarnate. You see, the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Trinity shows that the true light has come into the world to receive His due and proper worship. In doing so, the true light comes and conquers that false light of idolatrous creature worship. Falsehood is overcome by and replaced by truth.

God commands us to "learn not the way of the heathen" (Jeremiah 10:2, KJV), reveals that pagan celebrations are abominations to Him (Jeremiah 10:3–4; Ezekiel 8:13–14), and tells us not to change what was taught through Christ and the Apostles (2 Thessalonians 2:15). Once this truth is understood, a true Christian will shudder at the idea of celebrating Christmas, realizing that these winter solstice celebrations are indeed Satan's celebrations.

To learn more, watch the powerful www.TomorrowsWorld.org telecasts, "Christmas: The Missing Message" and "Insight into Christmas," or read the insightful article "Should Christians Keep Christmas?"

This pack of heretics wouldn't know the truth if it walked up to them and slapped them in the face as Nicholas, Bishop of Myra did to Arius.