Why did christians take pagen traditions?

Question

Christians are always going on about halloween is evil, harry potter is going to hell, the easter bunny is the devil- but painting easter eggs, christmas trees, caroling, the yulie (did I spell that right?) log- its all pagen. Why didn't christians come up with their own tradishions?

Vanessa C: but I know how to spell :) most words. (And yes a sect of christians are against harry potter they tried to get it off American book shelves)

Yes I am talking about the crazy christians, not your everyday say a prayer before meals christians.

Answer 1

Easier to assimalate a group of people if you let them keep their usual customs but givr them a new different significance.

Answer 2

The reason why that the early Christians took pagan traditions is that is the quickest way to absorb other cultures into your faith. It is a lot easier to adopt symbols that are already in place than to force new symbols on people. The reason that Christmas is when it is, is because the worship of the sun falls right around the Christmas holiday. If you look into the Bible, you can see that the birth of Jesus actually took place in the spring. What a lot of churches are going to is the strictest believe in the Bible only and that all of the traditions that were absorbed from the pagan roots and made into Christian ones are now evil. Halloween got it's start in reflecting on the live of the deceased especially the loved ones who passed away in the last year.

Answer 3

Don't listen to the Da Vinci code people- it's silly and over-simplified. What really went down was the Edict of Northumbria. In the 5th century the Church was trying to convert Brittish pagans and they weren't having any of it. The Catholics of England were desperate and sent a monk (from Northumbria, hence the name) to the Pope. He begged the pope to make allowances to let the people keep worshiping some of the pagan things if they would convert to Christianity. The Pope thought this comprimise was fair enough and issued the edict. The Christians had their own traditions and so did the Pagans. This just allowed them to coexist (albeit in a way that favored the Christians' faith and the Pagan's traditions). The common Christian sentiment that Halloween, etc. are evil is a rebellion against their own mingled pagan traditions.

Answer 4

Christians came after the Roman Pagans and so when they were starting out, they were in the minority. Smart of them to celebrate their own holidays at the same time as the current Majority, so as not to raise any unnecessary trouble. Remember when Christians were fed to the lions - much nicer to have your christmas tree and tell neighbors that it's the biggest Yule Log they ever saw.

Of course the Druids in the North had more of a Christian Invasion to deal with, but as another answerer said, assimilating a new group is often easier if you allow for their current customs. I heard someone say a long time ago that there was no virgin mary in the Christ story until they tried to conquer the French - that the french had such an ingrained "Mother" image in their customs that they had to add it. True? I don't know. Interesting? Certainly.

Answer 5

they did come up with their own traditions but when Christianity spreed throughout Europe they replaced the traditions with Christianity and keep some things they thought at the time was harmless. some traditions started out as Christian traditions but over time became secularized like Mardi Gra. It is suppose to be a celebration for Christ and prayer. but today its all about drinking.

beside i think are talking to some extreme Christians who call the Easter bunny the devil. for many Christians we hold no pagan meanings to the Easter bunny, Christmas tree, and other...but the good thing about Christianity, it can take something meant for evil and change it into something good. like peoples hearts.

Answer 6

Well like most sides that win battles they take old myths and rewrite them into their own histories and take ownership of them with changes to make them more to their liking and to have more control over the populace who was basically an unwashed rabble. Early sects of Christianity, beginning with the Holy Roman Empire headed by Constantine ( who did not convert until he was on his death bed ) didn't want conflicting stories that would cause dissension in the ranks and withheld their teachings and refused to teach people to read so that the so called populace could not interpret or question what they were being told. The Gospel according to Thomas the Gnostic was eliminated because it basically said that people did not need to congregate in a church as he said that Jesus said that "If you split a piece of would you will find me, lift a rock and I will be there". This concept was intorlerable because it basically said that churches and priests were superfluous to the worship of God. I personally follow those tenets and believe fully in a greater power that holds the Universe together and ties us all in the unity of love and understanding. The idea was to rise above your animistic instincts and realize that you are a spiritual being and you can behave with love and understanding. He also claimed that "My Father's Kingdom is here before us, and yet you cannot see it unless you believe that to live in this existence is to live in the Grace of God"
The Christians also "Took Over" these pagan holidays to control them as those who practiced them where having way too much fun, and as you know, only those at the top of the church are allowed that, not the minions who worship and tythe their wages to the church so the priests and accolytes can live like kings while everyone suffers, and is supposed to be thankful that the church is willing to consider them.
Please note that this is my opinion gleaned over my 49 years of studying Mythologies of the Past through Joseph Campbell's works and observing the violence and hatred perpetrated against those who disagree and dissent. Even amongst so-called Christians of different sects will fight to the death because they have a slightly different way of seeing things and are claimed to be heretics.
The violence and hatred perpetrated in the name of Jesus and other Prophets is a moral disgrace and sometimes I even feel ashamed that I am related to all Humans as we all are.

Answer 7

The pagen traditions were strong, so Emperor Constantine (I think) made certain holidays on the pagen holidays to wipe out the non-Christian religion. But the traditions stayed.

Answer 8

It was the early church in Rome. Romans tended to do a lot of cultural pilferring back then, especially when it came to mythology, which they stole from the Greek. Maybe 3/4 of Christianity today is taken from very ancient traditions from other cultures.

Answer 9

In the Middle Ages Christianity blended with pagan beliefs in many ways giving us days such as Holloween, the eve of All Saint's Day.

Answer 10

It was not "Christians" - it was the Catholic church and they did it to get more members. The word "catholic" means universal. It was their goal early on to be the only church so they could hold sway over the minds of people of all nationalities. That would be impossible as the ruler of a nation but "religion" goes beyond national boundaries.

Answer 11

Christians did come up with a lot of original ideas. The sad fact is, most people only become christians on the most superficial of levels.