A question for all open-minded Christians?

Question

Please do not read if you are not willing to discuss the subject of the establishment of Christianity.

I was just wondering what feelings it evoked in you when one considers that a lot of the practices of the church are based on pagan beliefs and rituals that long pre-date the arrival of Christianity; for example the east/west alignment of a body in a Christian burial and so many more that I could not mention them here in any great length.

I was just wondering whether or not this (proven, for those of you who are just here to cause trouble) recycling of religious beliefs and ceremony has any impact upon your perception of the church or whether it matters little.

NOTE: I say Church, the establishment, as opposed to Christianity, the faith.

This question is not meant to offend and I thnak you for honest, open-minded answers.

Answer 1

I like the fact that you make a difference between the church and Christianity. Christianity is all about your personal relationship with Jesus. The church is all about one-upping the other. Some of them will do whatever it takes to have more members, a bigger building etc. I would imagine that the founders of churches felt the same way and did what they thought was the best to get people involved in their churches. I would like to believe that their motivation was to get people to know Christ, but I can't say that for sure.

Answer 2

Because the first believers in Christ ( after the disciples)realised that the new religion would not be accepted by most of the population unless it retained at least some of the old ideas, festivals, superstitions etcetera and probably also because the old beliefs had allowed a 'rake off', whereas Christianity in it's pure unadulterated form would have left the money grabbers with no way of making a profit, many of the pagan things were incorporated into the new religion.
Unfortunately the same attitude still persists in organised religion today, possibly the attitude of some Bishops etc is even more cynical than a couple of thousand years ago; I think we all know of Church dignitaries who have even said that they doubt the existence of God.
I believe that those who wish to believe the truth are in the unfortunate position of having to do considerable research in order to discover just exactly what that truth is: on the other hand, if one believes in the existence of God and believes that he is more kind, more generous and more patient than any human father, it should be fairly easy to sort out what teachings make sense and which are illogical. I think that the distinction that you make between the establishment and the faith is a very valid one and should be recognised and considered as such by all believers, or would be believers.
There are several mentions in non religious history books of the new faith and it's followers, so one may perhaps gain an unbiased insight into what and when and why things happened, instead of relying on the deliberately misleading reports of interested parties in the round about two thousand years that have passed since.
How many people realise that several of the original books of the bible have been deliberately suppressed by the R C church because they did not 'fit in' with what it was profitable to the church for the people to believe?
.Considering the ilogicality of some of the things that have been accepted as true for centuries, one of the most obvious examples is I believe, the guilt of Judas: I include here my poem " Another View" just to make readers think.

"ANOTHER VIEW" (Acrostic)

Jealousy of him was my reason they say
(Understanding nothing of that supper scene)
death must come to him, and against my dear Lord
another path I could not take on that day:
service to His will would, I knew, His death mean;
instructing me to betray with kiss and word;
singling me out and telling me what must be,
casting me in men’s eyes in this turncoat’s role,
always to be remembered as the traitor;
reviled, hated and loathed through all history.
I was the tool used to reach His Father’s goal;
on that night I was God’s collaborator
to give my Lord as the Lamb of sacrifice,
so fulfilling all of the old prophecies:
victory over death, souls dying never:
I was an essential part of the device:
eternal life was one of the promises;
with my Lord, duty done, I live forever.


Copyright G V Lewis 2006-01-08

Answer 3

This Earth was created for Man, according to "The Word", and before Jesus was sent for a New Covenant for Man, there were probably many many customs which celebrated the "Mother" Earth.
The bible does not teach those customs as being wrong or right, nor does it teach they are in any fashion associated with the term "Christianity". I think over the years we have come to associate the pagan beliefs into a religious experience.

The feelings I have is one of regret that we have almost totally destroyed the one thing God gave to Man that even with all the hope, love and peace we can never replace and that is the Earth

We are at war over the resources this planet provides for all mankind. And instead of working together to improve the environment for humanity we destroy a little more each day. We cannot even agree as a species on how we came to be here. But on thing is quite clear, we are here now and we have no where else to go when we fully deplete the Earth. All we have is hope that something better is waiting for us.
And just so you know, I believe in Christ, not necessarily any one particular religion, or faith.

Answer 4

I agree, the "church" has changed it's position and aligned itself to various practices throughout it's existence. There are many reasons, most being benevolent. That is the problem with "religion", man's interpretation of how we should live. Christianity is more than all that, it's core truth being Jesus Christ alone; who He is and what He has done. It's not who we are or what we do that makes us any more or less acceptable in God's eyes. It's when the dogmas and doctrines overrun this act of God's love, and our heartfelt response to that love, that causes much of the strife within the "church". Christianity is about a way of living our individual lives with God and His guidance, and not with the established "religions".

Answer 5

" a lot of the practices of the church are based on pagan beliefs "
Which Church? Which establishment ? This is what the reformation was/is all about. Almost all mainstream Church's today have lost the concept of bible reformation. Its paganism in disguise.

Answer 6

You make a good point - the established church overwrote older pagan festivals and beliefs in order to supplant them. For myself I am a Quaker and Quakers of old were anti-pagan to the point of using numbered days of the week in place of the pagan-derived ones, so I'm not overly concerned.

Answer 7

the Christian Holiday of Easter is based on a pagan celebration of Spring in which the goddess Eostre would come in the form of a rabbit to replenish the earth. That's where the name Easter came from and also the Easter Bunny.

Answer 8

Lets modify Brad's answer.
The Church allowed pagan practices to be accepted into the rituals used by the church to cause it to have appeal to more people so as to fill their coffers with cash.
They were building huge Churches all over Europe, actually in competition with each other. 'My church is bigger, better and has room for more, than yours does.

Answer 9

Would the peace of your mind be better if Christianity changed everything? I don't have a problem with pre-dating rituals, practices and religious symbols.

Answer 10

Yes you are right satan has deceived the whole world by us believing that we have put Christ into these pagan holidays. we must come out of this world and keep Gods laws as he has written them in His word.
a very good place for you to start to see the truth is at
www.cgi.org