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Show me another »Are Catholic practices based on previous Pagan practices?
Can you give examples?
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10 months ago
BuddyLe: LMAO!! That's the way it is! Don't ask any questions! LOL
by Buddy_Le...
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Naw, it's all by coincidence. For example, Easter. It's just coincidence that Ishtar's symbols of fertility (the egg and rabbit) are in Easter of course. Christmas is also just a coincidence. The fact that it falls on the old holiday of Saturnia which worships the sun God and celebrates the winter solstice is just another coincidence. Jesus wanted these holidays because the Pope can trump whatever God says. God said not to observe Pagan customs (he killed Aaron's sons because of this) but the Pope can change God's laws because that's the way it is. It's also just coincidence that in Egypt, every Friday the religious leaders would wear a large fish on their heads and everyone would eat fish on Fridays. The Pope now wears a fish on his head (look closely and you'll see the symbolism on his hat) and Catholics eat fish on Fridays. Obviously, this is all by coincidence. It's also by coincidence that the Catholic church abandoned the Sabbath and started worshipping on Sundays. Sundays (the day for worshipping the sun) is the new holy day by coincidence. It's also coincidence that the Catholic church observes Easter and Ash wednesday with accordance to Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras (a.k.a. Carnival) originally was a holiday meant to observe the pleasures of the flesh. For days people would pig out and explore their sexual pleasures. Now you know why carne (meat) is in the word carnival. The Catholic church came up with a holiday that always happens at the end of Mardi Gras. That's Ash Wednesday. It's when God forgives you for your sins on Mardi Gras. The bigger the sin, the bigger God's grace will be on you. This is all of course, coincidence. The Catholic church has every right to change God's word and ignore his written laws in the Bible because Jesus said in the Bible that he has appointed Peter the first Pope. He thus declared that Peter could change the laws as he saw fit. This coincidentally is not in the Bible and the only mention of the Catholic (Catholic mean universal) church in the Bible is Simon Magus, a high priest of a church called the "Universal Church". He had magical powers that he claimed were divine. However when he was baptised by the apostles, he lost his power. He was obsessed with trying to purchase God's power. It is absolute coincidence that this church was mentioned and that the Catholic church has often accepted money in exchange for prayers. Remember, this is all by coincidence. God answers to the Pope.
Slash: Remember that the verses you cite are just a coincidence. Nothing more. Besides, God was probably just talking to the Jews because Christians are special and supreme and can do whatever they want.
Slash: Remember that the verses you cite are just a coincidence. Nothing more. Besides, God was probably just talking to the Jews because Christians are special and supreme and can do whatever they want.
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Other Answers (15)
- No they are based on the traditions(Oral and Scriptural) of the holy Apostles and those who succeeded them.
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by Ũniνέгsäl Рдnтs™
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So much is based on Paganism in Christianity that it can be stunning. If your interested in seeing the comparisons, in depth, there's a breif video here that does the job nicely. Ignore his little rant about having the video deleted... it's very brief...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aW2N46vf... - ONE that isn't a pagan ritual.
on our knees
and the communion service.
the lighting of candle that new to me..not yet seen of this in the screipture
maybe??? it fits with the jewish oil burning lamp?
GOD said, if ye are in Christ, ask what ye will
believe i heard you
and you will have it.
so we don't need to ask a person on earth to pray for you..when you can go to the father yourself.
YET..if a person is weak
go ahead asking a LIVING person to pray for you.
not the dead saints on vacation in heaven. - If you look hard enough, you can find paganism in just about everything. It's the intention that matters.
- Yep, the Pagans always made a cross on their chest when entering their Catholic churches and used holy water blessed by a priest extensively.
- Well one of the Catholic practices that is based on previous Pagan practices is Christmas that is a heathen practice,along with others.
Jer 10:2 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
Jer 10:3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
Jer 10:4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
Jer 10:5 They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
P.S. ( Buddy_Lee_Hombre_de_accion's ) : "Christians are special and supreme and can do whatever they want" … LOL’s -
by Don H
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Paul was getting no where fast getting converts in Tarsus.
The people there were mostly followers of Mithra. They believed that blood sacrifices washed away sins.
Paul blended this idea into his ever-changing version of Christianity. Only he supercharged it with the blood of Jesus (Son of God) washes away the sins of the world. Prior to this it had no part in Christian teachings. Jesus never said anything about it. It worked like a charm. Paul had a deluge of converts because He gave them something that they could relate to.
Constantine and his gang did not overlook this success Paul had with this blood sacrifices idea. They were trying to maneuver them selves into the control seat of the Christian faith. They adopted Paul's version of Christianity and the idea of God/Jesus dying for your sins. It was very effective because of the guilt it induced. They also took another hint from Paul's book of tricks and came up with a very similar version of Paul's conversion for Constantine. He too had a vision where the Christian Figure head came to him and converted him.
The rest is history. After the council of nicea all competing scripture was ordered destroyed and all true versions of the teachings of Jesus were labeled heresy.
All we were left with was what became known as the bible.
Love and blessings Don - Yes. For example, all the "saints" that they pray to are actually Roman gods that have been simply given Christian names. At St. Paul's Cathedral, the statue of Paul is actually an old statue of Jupiter, that has been renamed. All the halos above the heads of "saints" in Roman Catholic statues and paintings are really "sun discs" - they represent the Sun that the pagan Romans worshipped.
The statues of "Mary and baby Jesus" are actually statues of Semiramis and Tammuz. The celebration of Easter is actually taken from "Ishtar", which is a pagan demigoddess, who is also Semiramis. The 40-day period of Lent which goes from Mardi Gras until Easter was a period of grieving for Tammuz, the son of Semiramis, who was a great hunter but was killed by a wild boar. This is why they celebrate "Ishtar" by eating a ham. The traditions of chicks, bunnies and eggs are all fertility icons. The pagans would have fertility rituals in which a baby would be sacrificed, and eggs would be dipped in its blood, which is where we get the "fun" tradition of coloring easter eggs.
Christmas is another example. This celebration on December 25 celebrates the Winter Solstice; it has nothing to do with the birth of Christ (who was likely born in the Fall). Santa Claus is the personification of "Old Man Winter", an old pagan god of Winter. The traditions of bringing presents to put under the tree hail from the "Nimrod" tree, (Nimrod was the supposed father of Tammuz) where people would bring their offerings to their god and place them under the decorated tree. The balls on the tree are phallic symbols, as well as the tree itself.
In fact, in the early days of America, in certain Puritanical villages and towns, it was actually illegal to celebrate Christmas, because they knew it was pagan.
Even the Pope's hat, which is shaped like an open-mouthed fish, is taken from Dagon-worshippers who lived in Palestine. (The god "Dagon" was a fish-god.)
There are other examples, such as the use of censers (the thing with the incense that they swing back and forth) and candles that are pagan. - When Christianity was newly taking over, the leaders were shrewd. They realized people would obey better if they still got to keep some of their customs.
Thus, holidays such as Christmas and Easter were placed near traditional pagan festivals....customs such as the Christmas tree, Easter bunny, Easter eggs, etc. were incorporated....sacred wells and springs were re-named and re-storied to be "saint so-and-so's".....certain local deities were re-storied with a Christian slant, and named "Saint". (One good example is the goddess Brigid being Christianized into "St. Bridgid."
IMHO, the church leaders thought people would cooperate better if the church didn't take away all their fun right away. Later, when Puritanism started, those dudes REALLY started taking away the fun, pagan vestiges from Christianity. Saints, celebrations, festivals, Mary, artwork in churches....it all had to go. - Just as Jesus Christ came into the world to make it holy, so too has the Church sanctified human culture to make it holy for the greater glory of God.
Peace be with your spirit. - If you consider Egypt pagan..yes.
- Don't confuse "Catholic" practices with holiday traditions. For example the easter bunny is not a decoration in a 'Traditional' Catholic Church. Possibly in a modern fake Catholic Church, but not in a 'true' Catholic Church. Most of the current supposed Catholic Churches are not even close to being "Catholic." Most people who 'think' thay are Catholic, do not realize that there is no current apostolic authority currently coming from Rome. Many of us 'true' Catholics do not recognize Benedict, nor JP II before him...... as true "Popes." Just ONE 'proof' is that the ancient form (words) used for the Consecration of the wine in the Roman Rite, as used in the Traditional Latin Mass, are: HIC EST ENIM CALIX SANGUINIS MEI, NOVI ET AETERNI TESTAMENTI, MYSTERIUM FIDEI, QUI PRO VOBIS ET PRO MULTIS EFFUNDETUR IN REMISSIONEM PECCATORUM. These words of Sacred Tradition were untouched for essentially
2000 years, until they were changed in four respects in the New Mass -- some in the official Latin version, more in the vernacular versions. In particular, in the "authorized" English version used in parishes throughout the English-speaking world, the words PRO MULTIS ("for many") have been erroneously rendered as "for all." Even a person with little knowledge of the Catholic Faith (or of the English language) will immediately realize that there is a considerable difference in meaning between the two.
More informantion at www.tradio.com - Yep.
At the candle lighting altar that you use to pray for someone, that is simialar to the Pagan request altar. Romans used to go to the pantheon of whatever God they believed covered their need and would leave an offering or light a candle.
The orb of incense in the prosession to the altar for the priest is Pagan. It is to cleanse the area of "evil" and to bring a sweet or aromatic scent before the deity. (It also helped make the church smell better back then because people did not bathe regularly in the beginning of the religion). Also, the ringing of the bell was a Pagan symbol as well. It is to call upon the good spirits and to ring out negative energies or demons that may harm the "ritual".
All religions and beliefs had a high altar predominantly in the front or the middle of the worship center.
The rosary is another form of Paganism. The different beads represent a refrain or prayer to honor a god or goddess. The color of the "chain" of beads would be a specific color or shape or design to honor that deity or deities and were used as talismans for the early pagans. (Very few had a large figure at the end like the Christian Cross. Most of them would have the symbol of the main deity they worshipped if they belonged to a certain group.
The partaking of wine and the bread wafers at communion is an old Pagan tradition even before the ancient greeks. To share a communal cup for everyone to signify they are of one with their deity and the wafer of today (the mana or unlevened bread or even the herb and fruit -ambrosia or a nectar of a god) was to resemble that the Gods smiled upon the harvest and/or thanked the Gods for the harvests of the year and they would lay out offerings from the harvest to the Gods. The catholics in the beginning, used to accept offerings to God during the year in the name of "God" and say a benediction for the ones that brought it. The food was actually meant for the priests and the "holy men" since they were seen as those that could talk directly to the new god.
There are so many but these are just a few of the common ones. - Yes some but I forget the extant. It comes down to when Christians merged with Romans and for the most part had a vote. I have a feeling due to history and the manner of Christians at the time that they didn't object to some smaller things.
Shabbat was bumped to Sunday
Early Christians that observed all laws accepted a book stating laws are bondage and ritual circumcision should never be done. I believe this book cam out of Rome.
I am sure the list goes on. If you think what Christians wanted and needed most of that time was a nation and power than I bet some cheeks were turned to get there. - Easter and Christmas
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