Blog Search Results

Does Christmas have pagan origins?

...oday as a sacrifice or in honour of Caesar or one of the Roman gods. This is why such festivals (and those who frequented them—Christians included) were spoken against so much by early Christian leaders, as their intent was a completely different focus. What less of a defamation does he incur on that ground than does a business … that is publicly consecrated to an idol? The Minervalia are as much Minerva’s as the Saturnalia is Saturn’s … likewise, New Year’s gifts must be caught at. The Septimontium must be kept. And all the presents of Midwinter and the Feast of Dear Kinsmanship must be exacted … The same thing takes place on an idol’s birthd...

The Coming of Jesus: Our Future Hope - What Now?

...in by the sacrifice of himself.   Hebrews 10:37For yet “in a very little while, the one who is coming will come and will not delay   James 5:8-9You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors!   1 Peter 4:7The end of all things is near; therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers.   1 John 2:18Children, it is the last hour! As you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. From this we know that it is the last hour.   Revelation 1:1,...

The Eighth Day

...offering sacrifices specifically on the eighth day (Numbers 6, Leviticus 8:33ff). The apostles pick up on these themes, like with the eight people, including Noah, who were “saved through water” (1 Peter 3:20) and how we now have a spiritual circumcision of the heart instead of a physical procedure (Romans 2:29). But if we look back at the gospel in John 7:37-38 and also John 8:12, we can see that during the festival of booths Jesus used the symbols of that festival (water and light) to declare that he himself is the true fulfillment of that! You can read a more in depth explanation of that at jewsforjesus.org. After Barnabas, we find scattered references...

Jesus, Mithras and Ancient Roman Cults: Separating Fact from Fiction

...the blood sacrifice of the bull feeding the earth also played a role in the minds of the soldiers shedding their own blood on the battlefields. The earliest literary references we have to Mithraism are between AD 80–100 from Latin poet Statius, and also from Plutarch, a Greek philosopher and priest. Ulansey’s hypothesis (The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries: Cosmology and Salvation in the Ancient World.) suggests that Mithraism was introduced around 60 BC by captured pirates from Asia Minor, where it was associated with the Perseus myth. This idea highlights the idea that Mithraism was a fusion of numerous diverse beliefs and symbols. Birth Stories The b...

Great Lent: The Season of Fasting

...spiritual sacrifice in worship to God, as of Romans 12:1 and 1 Peter 2:5-6, as we humble ourselves and learn humility and self-control through physical fasting; putting to death the flesh so that we may be made alive in the Spirit! Amen. Further Reading: Redeeming Holy Days from Pagan Lies — Ash Wednesday and Lent History of Lent — Catholic Education Resource Center Creedal Christians: The Nicene Creed Philip Schaff: NPNF2–04. Athanasius: Select Works and Letters February 2023 — Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America A Tale of Two Easters ~The Didache~ CHURCH FATHERS: Apostolic Constitutions, Book VII https://www.buzzsprout.com/...

Great is the Mystery of Faith!

...much of a sacrifice it was: He that hung up the earth in space was Himself hanged up; He that fixed the heavens was fixed with nails; He that bore up the earth was born up on a tree; the Lord of all was subjected to ignominy in a naked body—God put to death!...[I]n order that He might not be seen, the luminaries turned away, and the day became darkened—because they slew God, who hung naked on the tree...This is He who made the heaven and the earth, and in the beginning, together with the Father, fashioned man; who was announced by means of the law and the prophets; who put on a bodily form in the Virgin; who was hanged upon the tree; who was buried in the...