Holidays, Feasts, and Celebrations
For
some time now, our family has become more aware of the emptiness the holidays
bring for many people. Consumers buying
more and more gifts, “black Friday” starting earlier each year, the frantic
shopping, the materialistic hunger for more “stuff,” and the need to keep up
with the neighbors are all painful reminders that few people remember the
“reason for the season.” Sure, we have
all grown up celebrating the regular holidays, but after learning the origins
of some of the traditions we have observed, we decided to take another look at
the holidays that Jesus Himself celebrated, in an effort to follow Him more
closely. Our family had fun learning
about the Seven Feasts of the Lord and plan to gradually implement them into
our calendar and phase out the holidays that mean little or nothing to the Lord.
Holidays Begin at Sundown
on the Evening of the Previous Day
The seven feast days
were given primarily to Israel, yet they are a beautiful panorama of the death,
burial, and resurrection of Christ, as well as the Christian experience. The
feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits were fulfilled by Christ
in His death, burial, and resurrection. The Feast of Pentecost, which occurred
fifty days later, prefigured the Holy Spirit's coming in Acts chapter 2 (written
approximately 64 A.D.). Between these four feasts and the
Feast of Trumpets was a long interval (four months) in which the harvest was
gathered in. This period represents the church age during which the body of Christ
will be completed (Rom. 11:25). The next three feasts after this period are the
Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashana), Day of Atonement (Yom Kipper), and the Feast
of Tabernacles (Succoth). When the trumpet sounds the church will be caught up
(1 Thess. 4:16-18; 1 Cor. 15:51-52) and Israel regathered fulfilling the Feast
of Trumpets. The Day of Atonement for Israel will be fulfilled when, at the end
of the seven-year Tribulation, Christ returns and Israel accepts Him as their
Messiah.
Are we required to
celebrate the feasts? No. Are we permitted to celebrate them? Yes!
We are free to observe the Feasts and there is nothing wrong with doing
so. In fact, there is great benefit to
observing the Feasts because they remind us of God’s plan of redemption and the
timeline.
“Because That’s How
I Was Raised!”
As I began to pore
over the information and a multitude of historical documents, I uncovered
things that made me not just reconsider, but uneasy about Santa and the way we
used to celebrate Christmas. While typing that word, “Christmas,” MS Word
kept capitalizing it. Why is that? Is it because it begins with Christ or is it
because it is a national holiday? Well,
where in the world did Christmas come from anyway? I doubt many people know the origins simply
because they grew up celebrating with a Christmas tree on December 25th,
with presents, mistletoe, holly, ornaments, ham, and several other symbols that
we see every year.
First of all-December 25th? 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. To say that Jesus was born on
December 25th is a complete untruth. His
actual birth took place sometime in September according to the Scriptures,
astronomy, and several historical references.
Where did Christmas come from then?
Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the
Church. Irenaeus and Tertullian omitted
it from their lists of feasts; Origen, glancing perhaps at the discreditable
imperial Natalitia, asserts in the Scriptures sinners alone, not saints,
celebrate their birthday. Think for a
moment about who celebrated their birthdays in Scriptures. Pharaoh, (Genesis 40:1-23 (written 1440-1400
B.C.)), King Herod (Matthew 14:3-11(written 40-45A.D.)), and the sons of Job
(Job chapters 1-3). In each instance,
something terrible happened! The Lord
never spoke of commemorating His birth but rather commanded us to remember the
sacrifice of His suffering and death, which purchased our salvation.
Let’s look a little closer:
In the 4th
century CE, Christianity imported the ‘Saturnalia festival along with its fury
tree’ hoping to take the pagan masses in with it and convert them to
Christianity. As a result, Christian
leaders (Bishops and priests) succeeded in converting large numbers of pagans to
Christianity by promising them that they could continue to celebrate the
Saturnalia as Christians.
Christmas tree: The evergreen tree was a symbol of
the essence of life and was regarded as a phallic symbol in fertility
worship. In Germany, the evergreen tree
was used in worship and celebration of the yule god, also in observance of the
resurrected sun god.
gift-giving: 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.
holly: Witches and other pagans regarded the red
holly as a symbol of the menstrual blood of the queen of heaven, also known as
Diana.
mistletoe: 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.
Trees, wreaths, holly, mistletoe and the like are
strictly forbidden as pagan and heathen!
To say that these are Christian or that they can be made Christian is a lie.
But where’d we get Santa’s elves?
One “elf” that we don’t often hear about, but is now
making an appearance on the scene is the Krampus: a half-goat, half-demon, horrific beast who
literally beats people into being nice and not naughty.
Krampus isn't exactly the stuff of dreams: Bearing
horns, dark hair, and fangs, the anti-St. Nicholas comes with a chain and bells
that he lashes about, along with a bundle of birch sticks meant to swat naughty
children. He then hauls the bad kids
down to the underworld.
We wondered: What are the origins of this
"Christmas Devil"?
Krampus, whose name is derived from the German word krampen, meaning claw, is said to be the
son of Hel in Norse mythology. The
legendary beast also shares characteristics with other scary, demonic creatures
in Greek mythology, including satyrs and fauns.
The legend is part of a centuries-old Christmas
tradition in Germany, where Christmas celebrations begin in early December.
Krampus was created as a counterpart to kindly St.
Nicholas, who rewarded children with sweets.
Krampus, in contrast, would swat "wicked" children and take
them away to his lair.
According to folklore, Krampus purportedly shows up
in towns the night before December 6, known as Krampusnacht, or Krampus Night.
December 6 also happens to be Nikolaustag, or St. Nicholas Day, when
German children look outside their door to see if the shoe or boot they'd left
out the night before contains either presents (a reward for good behavior) or a
rod (bad behavior).
A more modern take on the tradition in Austria,
Germany, Hungary, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic involves drunken men dressed
as devils, who take over the streets for a Krampuslauf—a
Krampus Run of sorts, when people are chased through the streets by the
"devils."
Why scare children with a demonic, pagan
monster? Maybe it's a way for humans to
get in touch with their animalistic side.
There’s SO MUCH more to see! I may have just whetted your interest, so
please research for yourself. Now that
we’ve discussed Christmas, let’s take a look at Easter!
Easter and Lent
The Easter ham, and most other "Easter"
traditions actually have their roots in Paganism and have nothing to do with
Christian commemorations of the Resurrection of Jesus. Although Christianity observes Easter to
acknowledge the Resurrection, most know it is not the actual day of this event.
Still,
Paganistic rituals infiltrated the Christian Church and have become
intermingled to the point of misconceptions.
The word Easter is in the Bible only once and is used Acts chapter 12
(written approximately 64 A.D.). There
it tells that King Herod (an evil pagan) was preparing to participate in Easter
rituals at the time of Peter's arrest.
So Herod delayed bringing Peter forth for sentencing until the pagan
rituals were over. (You can read this
miraculous story in verses 1-19)
What were
these rituals and where did they begin?
Noah's grandson (Cush) and his wife Semiramis had a son named
Nimrod. Reports say that after Cush's
death, Nimrod married his own mother and became a mighty king. He too was eventually killed. His mother then began the deceit of deifying
her son/husband, claiming he had become a "sun-god" (the origin of
"Easter Sunrise services), and he was then to be called Baal. (Baal was worshipped as a god of fertility
and promoted sexual sin.)
She proclaimed
that the people of Babylon should worship him and that he was with them in the
form of a flame. This wicked Queen,
doing the work of Satan, was creating a new religion and set herself up as the
goddess called "Ishtar.” Hence the
root of the pronunciation "Easter."
After she
became pregnant, she bore a son named Tammuz claiming he was the product of a
sunray, which caused her to conceive.
But Tammuz grew to be a hunter and was later killed by a wild pig. "Ishtar" then designated a forty-day
period (the source of Lent) to mark the anniversary of Tammuz's death.
During this time, no meat was to be eaten. Every year, on the first Sunday after the
first full moon after the spring equinox, a celebration was made. Ishtar also proclaimed that because a pig
killed Tammuz, that a pig must be eaten on that Sunday.
This is of
course a condensed version of all pagan beliefs originating Easter. Satan is a master deceiver, and has filled
the world with idolatries, lies, and misconceptions. The Easter Ham and all else promoting the
ancient pagan religion of Mystery Babylon (per "Ishtar") are customs
of the false god, Baal.
Biblically speaking, there is absolutely no
connection between the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the common modern
traditions related to Easter Sunday.
Essentially, what occurred is that in order to make Christianity more
attractive to non-Christians, the ancient Roman Catholic Church mixed the
celebration of Jesus' resurrection with celebrations that involved spring
fertility rituals. These spring
fertility rituals are the source of the egg and bunny traditions.
The Bible
makes it clear that Jesus was resurrected on the first day of the week, Sunday
(Matthew 28:1 (written
40-45 A.D.) “Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the
first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave;”
Mark 16:2
(written approximately 65A.D.) “Very early on the
first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.” Mark 16:9 (written
approximately 65A.D.) “Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week,
He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons.” Luke 24:1 (written 58-65A.D.) “But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came
to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.” John 20:1 (written 58-65A.D.) “Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene *came
early to the tomb, while it *was still dark, and *saw the stone already taken
away from the tomb.” John 20:19 (written 58-65A.D.) “So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the
week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the
Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and *said to them, “Peace be with
you.”).”
Jesus' resurrection is most worthy of being celebrated (see 1
Corinthians 15 (written 55 A.D.)). While
it is appropriate for Jesus' resurrection to be celebrated on a Sunday, the day
on which Jesus' resurrection is celebrated should not be referred to as
Easter. Easter has nothing to do with
Jesus' resurrection on a Sunday.
Easter is filled with detestable practices, including
the slaughter of innocent babies.
The Saturnalia originated as the birth date of
Tammuz, the bastard son of Semiramis, the widow of Nimrod of biblical evil
fame. After Shem cut Nimrod in pieces,
Babylonian legend insists that he ascended into the heavens and became the sun
god himself. The rays of the sun
implanted the seed into his widow and presto!
The son of the sun god was miraculously conceived, as was the adoration
of the mother and child evident in every culture on the earth. On the winter solstice Tammuz was born; as
were most of the traditions surrounding “the child-mass” season. Tammuz, the reincarnation of the sun god –
Nimrod, was killed in a hunting accident when he was gored to death by a wild
boar in his 40th year. Those who
worshipped the son of “the sun god” then set aside 40 days of weeping for
Tammuz. They celebrated “Lent” one day
for each year of his incarnation - in which they would deny a worldly pleasure
for his pleasure in the afterworld (see Ezekiel 8 (written 593-560 B.C.)).
After many years, his mother Semiramis died. The gods looked favorably on “the mother of
god” and sent her back to earth as the spring fertility goddess – always
depicted as an exaggeratedly endowed bare breasted queen of sexual desire. Semiramis, the queen of heaven, was “born
again” as the goddess Easter (Ashtarte) as she emerged from a giant egg that
landed in the Euphrates river at sunrise on the “sun” day after the vernal
equinox. To proclaim her divine
authority, she changed a bird into an egg laying rabbit. As the cult developed, the priests of Easter
would impregnate young virgins on the altar of the goddess of fertility at
sunrise on Easter Sunday. A year later
the priests of Easter would sacrifice those three-month-old babies on the altar
at the front of the Sanctuary and dye Easter eggs in the blood of the
sacrificed infants.
The forty days of Lent - or weeping for Tammuz,
starts the Easter fertility season. The
festivities culminate on Easter Sunday, when the priests of Easter slaughtered
the “wild boar that killed Tammuz” and the entire congregation would eat the
“ham” on Easter Sunday (John Michael Rood, The Mystery of Iniquity, Chapter 8).
God told His followers that worship of this kind was
completely unacceptable with Him (Ezekiel 8 (written 593-560 B.C.)). Yet, all of Christianity is caught up in the
celebration of the resurrection of the son on Easter day. Little do most Christians know that the son,
whose resurrection is celebrated on Easter, is Tammuz, not the Messiah of
Scripture.
Elohim described the abominations that were going on
by the priests and in the temple of those who worshiped Tammuz. The prophet Ezekiel was brought, in vision,
into the temple of Yahuwah and was shown what abominable things were happening
there:
Ezekiel 8:13-15 (written 593-560 B.C.) “And He said to me,
“Yet you will see still greater abominations which they are committing.” 14 Then He brought me to the entrance of the
gate of the Lord’s house which was toward the north; and behold, women were
sitting there weeping for Tammuz. 15 He
said to me, “Do you see this, son of man?
Yet you will see still greater abominations than these.” The whole modern day
season of Lent is the carry-over of the 40 days of weeping for Tammuz. And Yahuwah hates this. God hates all that is associated with the
Easter season, especially when we try to pass it off as legitimate worship of
the Messiah.
The Fish (Dagon It!)
Another aspect of the Easter season is the so-called
"Good Friday." This is
believed by Christians to be the day that Christ died on the cross and was
buried. Theologians do a lot of
interpretive gymnastics to arrive at a Friday death of Messiah, followed by a
Sunday morning resurrection. This flatly
contradicts what the Messiah himself said about the length of time he would be
in the grave. He specifically and
repeatedly instructed his disciples that he would be in the tomb for three days
and three nights.
So Friday was not, in fact, the day Messiah
died. But it fits in really nicely with
the activities which were traditionally practiced by the pagans on Friday. Thus, it's convenient for Christians to force
fit the death of Messiah into a "Friday" frame, because Friday and
Sunday were significant days when the pagans practiced the worship of their
god-idols.
Friday was the pagan day honoring the fish god,
Dagon. Scripture speaks of Dagon, the
fish god:
Both in Judges 16:23 (written 1374-1129 B.C.) “Now the lords of the
Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to
rejoice, for they said, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hands.” And in the Torah at Shoftim
16:23 “Then the lords of
the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto
Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson
our enemy into our hand.)”
And again,
The Philistines took the ark of Elohim and brought it
to the temple of Dagon, where they positioned it beside Dagon. When the residents of Ashdod got up early the
next day, Dagon was lying on the ground before the ark of Yahuwah. So they took Dagon and set him back in his
place. But when they got up early the
next day, Dagon was again lying on the ground before the ark of Yahuwah. The head of Dagon and his two hands were
sheared off and were lying at the threshold.
Only Dagon's body was left intact.
For this reason to this very day neither Dagon's priests nor anyone else
who enters Dagon's temple step on Dagon's threshold in Ashdod. (1 Samuel 5:2-5 (1043-1011 B.C.) “Then the
Philistines took the ark of God and brought it to the house of Dagon and set it
by Dagon. 3 When the Ashdodites arose early the next morning, behold, Dagon had
fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and set him in his place
again. 4 But when they arose early the
next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark
of the Lord. And the head of Dagon and
both the palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold; only the trunk of
Dagon was left to him. 5Therefore
neither the priests of Dagon nor all who enter Dagon’s house tread on the
threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.”
Michael Rood continues his terse explanation of the
Easter season by describing for us the pagan practice surrounding Dagon:
In later years “Good Friday”, the day that the
Philistines sacrificed to Dagon, the Philistine fish god, also became an
integral part of the Easter pageantry (if you are over 40 years of age, you
will recall eating fish on Friday in the public school system in America). This entire menagerie of satanic festivities
is the pinnacle of the abominations that God had pronounced to the Children of
Israel before they entered the Promised Land (John Michael Rood, The Mystery of
Iniquity, Chapter 8).
During the time of the Messiah and afterward, Friday
was well known in pagan circles to be a celebration of Dagon. And so, as the Scriptural practices of
appointed times were being abandoned and the pagan sun-god and other deity
worship began to get melded into the worship practices of followers of the
Messiah, too, the blending of Dagon\fish-god worship into worship of the
Messiah proceeded.
The Christian Church had adopted the pagan symbol of
the fish. We all know how the third
century "believers" took the symbol of the fish and used it as a
representation of faith in Messiah (whom they called "Christ"). The justification goes something like
this: The Greek word for fish, (ikhthýs)
represents Christ because the letters which spell it also are the beginning
letters of these words: the iota begins the Greek name of the Christ, Iaysous;
the chi is the first letter in the Greek Christos (Xristos or
"Christ"); the theta begins the word "theos" or
"God"; the upsilon begins the word hwee-os ("son"); and the
sigma represents "sotayr" or Savior.
Thus, the reasoning goes, ichthus ("fish") represents
"Iaysous Xristos theos huee-os sotayr" - or "Jesus Christ God ('s)
son, (and) Savior."
Of course, this is pure pig slop at its finest. The fish symbol really has nothing to do with
the Messiah of Scripture. But in order
to make palatable the fish god Dagon in "Christian" circles, the word
"fish" had to be given a Christian meaning! And thus was born the adoption of the very
pagan fish symbol and fish god into the worship practices of those who follow
the Savior of the world.
Through the remainder of this chapter, I’ve left with
you some information that I’ve found helpful in my study of the Truth…some
things for you to consider from a few other sources.
Making the Sign of The Cross
There are yet more things that
the Christian churches do which are detestable to Elohim. From a human point of view, these things we
do in the name of the Messiah are perfectly fine and honor God. But God has made it clear that when we try to
worship him the way the pagan nations worship their gods, this is an
abomination to him. Take, for example,
something like the sign of the cross.
The death of the Messiah is
such a fundamentally
critical event for true faith in God, it seems that the very symbol of the
cross represents the death that the Messiah died for humanity. By displaying the cross, aren't we praising
and honoring the one who died for each of us on the tree?
When we examine the
origins of the symbol of the cross, we just may need to reconsider our
thinking. Ponder the following:
The cross ... did
not originate at the time of the crucifixion of Christ. It has been a pagan symbol used by sun
worshipers since the time of Babel. The
symbol of the cross was used by the ancient mystery religions. It has been identified as being the letter T
- the initials of the sun god Tammuz.
Remember that, in the book of Ezekiel, the women were “weeping for
Tammuz"?
Tertullian, the
"church" historian, who lived some one hundred years after Christ,
gives us great insight into the use of the cross by the Romans. The Romans, knew that the symbol of the cross
was one of pagan origin. They saw the
use of it by those calling themselves Christians as proof that what was being
called Christianity in Tertullian's time was no more than re-hashed
paganism. In debating with the Romans
about the symbol of the cross being only superstition, he states:
"......if any of you think we render superstitious adoration to the cross,
in that adoration he is sharer with us.
We have shown before that your deities are derived from shapes modelled
from the cross. In your trophies the
cross is the heart of the trophy.......The camp religion of the Romans is all
through a worship of the standards, a setting the standards above all gods. Well, ...those images decking out the
standards are ornaments of crosses. And
if my memory still serves me, Mithra there, (in the kingdom of Satan,) sets his
marks on the foreheads of his soldiers.”
(Richard Rives, Too Long in the Sun)
The last letter of the Greek
alphabet, tau, which corresponds to our letter "T", forms the shape
of the cross. This is the symbol for
Tammuz worship - which is an affront to the living Elohim. The meaning of the letter tau is
"mark" or "signature."
This letter tau is the "mark" of the beast Tammuz. Thus, Tammuz worship is the worship of the
beast and is connected directly with the "Beast system." Worshipping that symbol - that of the cross -
is tantamount to worshipping the Beast.
Although this is not denominational specific, I included this study by Rich Deem, as I found it quite interesting and pertinent to the upcoming season. Often, Christians are accused of child abuse by simply avoiding some of the pagan rituals and events that other children are allowed AND because we teach them our religion.
Is the Teaching of
Religion Really a Form of Child Abuse?
by Rich Deem
Religion as Child
Abuse?
In his book, The God
Delusion, Richard Dawkins claims that teaching children about religion amounts
to a form of child abuse. If this is true,
shouldn't the data show that religious youth are more prone to having more
problems with parents, their peers, and authorities (like those who experience
physical child abuse) than those who are non-religious?
Rich Deem
In The God Delusion
and other writings, (Dawkins, ??)
Richard Dawkins claims that teaching children about religion (specifically, the
doctrine of hell) is a form of child abuse that scars children for life. Accordingly, Dawkins states, "Priestly
groping of child bodies is disgusting.
But it may be less harmful in the long run than priestly subversion of
child minds.” (Dawkins, ??)
Conspicuously absent in his writings are any published studies documenting that
teaching children religious principles might adversely affect them. Since Dawkins claims to always rely upon
science as the basis for his beliefs, why didn't he cite any science in support
of his claims?
Effects of physical
child abuse
Child abuse is a
serious charge, and the physical abuse of children impacts their lives
adversely in many different ways.
Published studies show that physical abuse negatively impacts their
mental health, (Johnson, Kotch, Catellier, & Winsor, 2002) providing additional
risks for psychopathology, (Kaplan, et al., 1998) increased suicidal
behaviors, (Kaplan, et al., 1999) eating disorders, (Ackard, Neumark-Sztainer, Hannan, French, &
Story, 2001)
depression, (Holmes & Sammel, 2005) delinquency and
criminal behaviors, (Lansford, et al., 2007) and alcohol abuse. (Afifi, Brownridge, Cox, & Sareen, 2006) Impairment cause by
child abuse produces life-long consequences for the individual and for society
as a whole, which must deal with these unfortunate people.
Religion as child
abuse
In one of the
largest studies of its kind, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
examined the role of religion in the lives of nearly 2500 adolescents (Smith & Faris, 2002) . The adolescents indicated the level of their indoctrination
(i.e., frequency of church attendance) and importance of religion, along with a
number of activities that they have or have not participated in. Listed below are graphs of behaviors that
would generally be considered to be unfavorable.
These data show that
religiously indoctrinated youth are much less involved with illegal substances,
alcohol abuse, criminal and violent activities, and have fewer problems in
school. Dawkins's hypothesis that religious
indoctrination is bad for children has been soundly falsified. In fact, those who never attend church or
feel that religion is not important display far more symptoms of real child
abuse than those who are subject to frequent religious indoctrination.
Below are some
positive behaviors plotted as a function of church attendance and importance of
religion.
These
graphs show that those whose minds have been "subverted" by the
"evils" of religion exercise more frequently and volunteer more to
help in their communities. It would
indeed be a strange outcome that "child abuse" would cause youths to
behave in this manner.
Religion
and happiness
Not
only do children of religious people behave better than their irreligious
peers, but they are also happier. A
study from the University of British Columbia found, "Children who were
more spiritual were happier.
Spirituality accounted for between 3 and 26% of the unique variance in
children’s happiness depending on the measures” (Holder,
Coleman, & Wallace, 2008) .
Does
theism lead to real child abuse?
Within the last few years there have been
numerous reports of child molestation committed by clergy of the Roman Catholic
Church. The complaints have been so
numerous that many people assume that religious people commit child abuse at a
higher rate than the population at large.
When I was growing up there were numerous newspaper articles about
molestations within the Boy Scouts.
Let's face it, if you want to molest boys, what better place to go? However, the Boy Scouts changed their
policies so that adult leaders are never allowed to be alone with the
boys. Leadership in the Boy Scouts must
always be at least two deep. Since they
instituted that policy, there have been almost no cases of molestation. Did being a Boy Scout leader cause one to
want to molest boys? Or was it just a
good venue for getting access? The Roman
Catholic Church hasn't quite figured it out yet. If they instituted the two deep leadership
policy for all adult/child interactions, their problem would almost completely
disappear, as well. Molesters will go
where their targets are easily accessible - it has nothing to do with
religion. I used to be an atheist. Now that I am a Christian, I don't suddenly
feel drawn to molest boys!
Conclusion
Richard
Dawkins's hypothesis that religious teaching of children is a form of child
abuse is shown to be scientifically unsupported. In fact, the scientific data shows that
exactly the opposite - that adolescents who receive frequent religious
instruction behave more appropriately and are better adjusted to adult life in
society compared to their non-religious peers.
In addition, those children are also happier. Richard Dawkins's own writings indicate that
he himself was the victim of sexual abuse from a priest. (Dawkins, ??) Of course he would be angry at the
religious authority who abused his power for evil purposes. Maybe this is why Dawkins is so adamant in
his opposition to religious belief. However,
making up the obviously failed hypothesis that religious instruction amounts to
child abuse is not going to convince any except the extremely naive. Scientific data shows that teaching children
the moral principles of religion has a positive impact on their behavior, as
would be expected intuitively.
Train up
a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from
it. Proverbs 22:6
Colossians 2:3 in whom are hidden all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Many insights
place the Bible far above every manmade theory and all other so-called inspired
books. In contrast, the Koran states
that the sun sets in a muddy pond (Surah 18:86). The Hadith contains many myths. The Book of Mormon declares that Native
Americans descended from Jews - which has been disproven by DNA research. The Eastern writings also contradict true
science.
Well, in a nutshell the main ideas are as follows:
Theism-God made
all
Pantheism-God
is all
Atheism-No God
at all
Theists say
that the universe had a beginning
Atheists and
pantheists say that it did not
Christians:
Jesus rose from the dead
Muslims: Jesus
never even died
This chart may be a little more difficult to see. However, these are the Christian denominational differences:
A Few Major Differences between Jehovah's Witnesses
and Christianity
-Jehovah's Witnesses
teach that there is no Holy Trinity.
-Christianity
teaches that there is the Holy Trinity, i.e., the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit.
-Jehovah's Witnesses
teach that the Holy Spirit is only “a force” and not a real person.
-Christianity
teaches that the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person, i.e., the third Person of the
Trinity.
-Jehovah's Witnesses
teach that Jesus Christ is not God, and that he is in fact only a creation of
God.
-Christianity
teaches that Jesus is God, and He is in fact the Creator of all things.
-Jehovah's Witnesses
teach that Jesus Christ was Michael the archangel who became a man.
-Christianity
teaches that Jesus is almighty God who created Michael the archangel.
-Jehovah's Witnesses
teach that Jesus Christ was only a perfect man.
-Christianity
teaches that Jesus Christ was God in flesh.
-Jehovah's Witnesses
teach that Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead in his physical body.
-Christianity
teaches that Jesus Christ did rise from the dead in his physical (though
glorified) body.
-Jehovah's Witnesses
teach that they are the only true church, all others are going to hell.
-Christianity
teaches that any church who believes in proper Christian theology is a true
church.
-Jehovah's Witnesses
teach that only their church members will be saved.
-Christianity
teaches that any person who believes in Jesus Christ as his/her savior will be
saved.
-Jehovah's Witnesses
teach that good works are necessary for salvation.
-Christianity
teaches that faith in Jesus Christ's sacrifice alone is necessary for salvation.
-Jehovah's Witnesses
teach that the soul ceases to exist after death.
-Christianity
teaches that the soul goes on in the afterlife to either be with God in heaven
or to hell (if the person has never accepted Jesus Christ as his savior).
-Jehovah's Witnesses
teach that only 144,000 Jehovah's Witness will actually go to heaven.
-Christianity
teaches that any person who believes in Jesus Christ as his/her savior will go
to heaven.
-Jehovah's Witnesses
teach that medical blood transfusions are a sin.
-Christianity
teaches no such thing.
-Also, Jehovah's
Witnesses refuse to vote, salute the flag, sing the "Star Spangled
Banner," or celebrate Christmas or birthdays, and they are not allowed to
serve in the armed forces.
All Christians must
remember, however, that while they need to know these significant differences
so as to be forewarned, and to warn others, our goal is also to reach members
of the cults with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Evangelism, not conquest, should be our aim.
When someone tries to convince you that Jesus is not God, ask them to read the following
Scriptures:
1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus,
Titus 2:13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great
God and Savior, Christ Jesus,
Isaiah 43:11 “I, even I, am the
Lord, And there is no savior besides Me.
Psalm 106:21 They forgot God their Savior, Who had done great things in Egypt,
Isaiah 45:21 “Declare and set forth your case; Indeed, let them consult together. Who has announced this from of old? Who has long since declared it? Is it not I, the Lord? And there is no other God besides Me, A
righteous God and a Savior; There is none except Me.”
The book of Hebrews
So, in light of these
Scriptures, ask them: Do you believe the Bible is accurate and truly the Word
of God? Do you believe Jesus was indeed
the Son of God and our infallible Savior?
If so, why would He lie?
The nature of God, the nature of man,
sin, salvation, heaven, hell, and creation.
Here are a few big differences: Jews, Christians, and Muslims believe in
different versions of a theistic God, while most Hindus and New Agers believe
that everything that exists is part of an impersonal, pantheistic force they
call God. Many Hindus believe that evil
is a complete illusion, while Christians, Muslims, and Jews believe that evil
is real. Christians believe that people
are saved by grace while all other religions, if they believe in salvation at
all, teach some kind of salvation by good works.
The Bible commands Christians to question religious
beliefs:
Deut. 13:1-5 If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you
and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder comes true,
concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods (whom you
have not known) and let us serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of
that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God is testing you to
find out if you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your
soul. 4 You shall follow the Lord your
God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice,
serve Him, and cling to Him. 5 But that
prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has
counseled rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you from the land of
Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in
which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from among you.
1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether
they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Gal. 1:8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel
contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!
2 Cor. 11:13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves
as apostles of Christ.
Since Christians have a religious belief that they
ought to question religious beliefs, then pluralists—according to their own
standard—should accept this Christian belief as well.
Judge Not?
The pluralist’s claim that we ought not question
religious beliefs is a derivative of the false cultural prohibition against
making judgments. The prohibition
against judging is false because it fails to meet its own standard: “you ought
not judge” is itself a judgment!
(Pluralists misinterpret Jesus’ comments on judging [Matt. 7:1-5]. Jesus did not prohibit judging as such, only
judging hypocritically.) Indeed,
everyone—the pluralist, the Christian, the atheist, the agnostic—makes
judgments. So the issue isn’t whether or
not we make judgments, but whether or not we make the right judgments.
Who Do You Think You
Are?
Do you remember the
very first lie ever told? Genesis 3:4-5 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the
woman. 5“For God knows that when you eat
from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and
evil.”
Hmmm… “you will be like God”…that lie is in direct
opposition to Scriptures like:
2 Corinthians 12:9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you,
for power is perfected in weakness.”
Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that
the power of Christ may dwell in me.
Matthew 23:8 Do not be called teacher, for One is your Teacher.
Judges 7 How would
Gideon have ever known who was going to lap water like a dog and who would
kneel to drink? God is the only One who
can choose who is prepared for which battle.
He doesn’t call the equipped, but equips the called.
Philippians 1:29 For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not
only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,
Philippians 2:3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but
with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;
Scientology
(Scientology.org,
2015)
Developed by L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology is a
religion that offers a precise path leading to a complete and certain
understanding of one’s true spiritual nature and one’s relationship to self,
family, groups, Mankind, all life forms, the material universe, the spiritual
universe and the Supreme Being.
Scientology addresses the spirit—not the body or
mind—and believes that Man is far more than a product of his environment, or
his genes.
Scientology comprises a body of knowledge which
extends from certain fundamental truths.
Prime among these are:
Man is an immortal spiritual being.
His experience extends well beyond a single lifetime.
His capabilities are unlimited, even if not presently
realized.
Scientology further holds Man to be basically good,
and that his spiritual salvation depends upon himself, his fellows and his
attainment of brotherhood with the universe.
Scientology is not a dogmatic religion in which one
is asked to accept anything on faith alone.
On the contrary, one discovers for oneself that the principles of
Scientology are true by applying its principles and observing or experiencing
the results.
The ultimate goal of Scientology is true spiritual
enlightenment and freedom for all.
