Blog Search Results

Does Easter Have Pagan Origins?

...r Eastern fertility goddess, but just because the names sound somewhat similar in English, it doesn’t mean there is any etymological connection at all. Ishtar is also originally Akkadian, which was a language spoken in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq and Syria) between about 2,800 BC and 500 AD, and was also the goddess of war and sexual love. Not really anything there to do with “rebirth”, rabbits or Spring, nor even a historical connection to ancient Britain. Eostre, on the other hand, actually does originate in ancient Britain from the Anglo-Saxons, and there is one (yes, only one) historical mention of a supposed Anglo-Saxon goddess by this name. The onl...

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

...Welcome to the next instalment of my series looking at the ancient mythological gods and how they compare to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Mithras is yet another popular ancient god that people like to compare with Jesus and make wild claims about, proposing that they are the same deities with different names. But is this even remotely true? This article has ended up being a bit longer than anticipated as it’s one of the few ancient religions that was contemporary to the birth of Christianity which was seen as somewhat of a rival belief system, so there’s a lot of interesting things to cover! The Origins Mithras has his roots in ancient Persi...

Great Lent: The Season of Fasting

...anism and fertility goddesses. So with that said, let's take a look at the practice of fasting. It seems to be a spiritual discipline which has been pushed aside in many churches today, with prayer, worship and bible reading taking more precedence in a Christian's life instead (not that those are bad things to do!). Why fast? Fasting is participation in the Gospel. It is the ‘death’ of the flesh through denial, so that we can enjoy the resurrection of Christ in the spirit (Rom 8:13, Col 3:5). It’s pure discipline and obedience. It’s putting to death the body – killing the flesh in order to live by the Spirit. (Gal 5:17) It’s training you in s...

The Two Babylons Exposed: The Book That Misled Millions

...Over the years, I’ve encountered many Christians who’ve quoted from Alexander Hislop’s The Two Babylons as if it were a solid historical resource. The book claims that the Roman Catholic Church is not truly Christian but rather a continuation of ancient Babylonian religion. It’s self-assured and sweeping, and for many people, it seems to explain everything, from Marian devotion to Lent and Easter, to Christmas, as rooted in paganism. But is it accurate? In short: no, it really isn’t. Hislop’s work is a classic example of 19th-century pseudohistory — a polemical piece, written to prove a point, not to explore any historical truth. Flawed Meth...

"Communion Bread" from the 7th–8th Century A.D. Unearthed in Ermenek

...Excavations at Topraktepe (the ancient city of Eirenopolis) in Turkey's Ermenek district have brought to light five carbonised loaves of bread dating to the 7th–8th century A.D. One of them bears an image of Jesus Christ, together with a Greek inscription. Epigraphic analysis shows the inscription reads: "With Our Gratitude to the Blessed Jesus." The figure itself is really interesting. It is not the familiar Pantokrator, the Christ who reigns as ruler of all. Instead, Jesus appears as the "Sower" or "Farmer". Scholars read this as a sign of how much fertility and labour mattered to the religious imagination of the time. It also echoes the...

On the Feast of the Nativity, a sermon by Leo the Great

...In the days leading up to Christmas, I wanted to share a sermon from a man known as Leo the Great (aka Pope Leo I), who was a Pope from 440-61 AD. He was one of the most significant and important men in Christian antiquity, as he tried to combat the heresies which seriously threatened church unity in the West, such as Pelagianism. This sermon of his about the incarnation of Christ and what it means for us has always stuck with me since I first read it last April when writing my own book on the Early Church Fathers. It's not that long, so take the time to read it through and let the words sink in as we prepare for Christmas to remember and celebrate the birth...