how is it that you're christian at all?
almost every bit of christianity stems from paganism, including the story of jesus.
it makes me think about people who have an ancestor of a different race, who are slightly racist and want to deny their roots, but when it come right down to it, they can't.
2007-10-23 03:59:44 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
batgirl - i'm not sure of the percentages, but i know there are many people who don't celebrate those
2007-10-23 04:09:19 · update #1
((((confirmed))))
ya, don't ever leave me baby!
2007-10-23 04:09:50 · update #2
They've never been told the roots, they think the ideology stems from elsewhere. We really can't be mad at them for not knowing because they've been spoon fed what to believe and what not to believe, but we can fault them for not looking into it to find out if there's any validity to the claims of others.
(((((Riegan))))) Thanks for giving me a reason to stay, btw.
Edit: rayneshowers, if you are truly interested, you can start here: http://www.messiahtruth.com/response.html#mythos and here: http://www.whatjewsbelieve.org/ be sure to check out the link explaining the Jewish Roots of Christianity.
2007-10-23 04:04:37 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 4⤋
Farsight's answer is correct. The pagan festival at Christmas would be the winter solstice (shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere) and Easter would be a spring festival. Oddly enough Easter eggs predate Christianity - the word Easter has the same root as that in oestrogen the female hormone and is related to 'egg' which symbolises new life, the start of the new season etc. Similarly the 'Easter bunny' which in other countries is the hare (Paas Haas in Dutch for example) is another symbol of spring. So no Christians are not celebrating pagan deities or festivals - they've just made their dates coincide.
2016-04-09 23:45:43 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't really want to get into the technicalities of it - there're lots of books written on the subject.
Christmas may not have been the exact time of year Jesus was born but His conception in the womb of Mary could have happened at that time.
As for easter, well, I'm not too keen on the term myself because of it's direct associations with Ishtar the pagan fertility goddess, but the date for celebrating the death and resurrection is accurate. The church I worship at chooses to call Easter Sunday as Resurrection Sunday. There's no burning reason why we should not remember and celebrate the reason why we're christians.
Anyway, when is a good time to reflect on Christianity if not on these two pivotal dates on the calendar? It serves to unite all Christians all over the world in celebration of our faith and bears testimony of the faith to others as well. That's a good thing to me...
2007-10-23 04:21:49 · answer #3 · answered by founteterne 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well, I celebrate the holidays, but the story of Jesus doesn't have pagan roots. There may be themes or motifs that parallel it in pagan religions, but the actual root isn't pagan; rather, it's an fulfillment of Jewish prophecy.
And not "every bit" of Christianity stems from paganism. Remember, paganism was in Europe, Christianity arose in the Middle East and spread to Europe. Some traditions of the church have pagan roots, especially those in the Catholic church.
2007-10-23 04:05:58 · answer #4 · answered by ndrw3987 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Don't believe everything Zeitgeist throws at you. It's a crap movie.
People can call their deity whatever they want and still mean the same guy as their neighbor. English speakers call Yeshua Jesus, and they mean the same person. If one celebrates Christmas as remembrance of the birth of Jesus, that's what they do. Tinsel and candy canes aren't going to change that.
2007-10-23 04:04:54 · answer #5 · answered by 雅威的烤面包机 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Good question. I know this question isn't mine to answer since I celebrate them, paying homage to their pagan roots. Christians need to realize they do not have the "corner" on spirituality.
2007-10-23 04:11:00 · answer #6 · answered by awayforabit 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
what, who wouldn't want to celebrate christmas or easter... just the food alone is worth it. Not to mention the presents and at easter the basket full of candy... oops I got off topic didn't I???
2007-10-24 02:14:52 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Never heard of a Christian who didn't celebrate Christmas.....
what are the percentages of those who don't?
2007-10-23 04:07:39 · answer #8 · answered by batgirl2good 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I'm am thankful that the Pagans brought to me the Yule time festivities. Riegan, what do I get for Yule? ;-)
2007-10-23 04:15:58 · answer #9 · answered by Emperor Insania Says Bye! 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
If they don't want to celebrate Christmas, more power to them, but they really should inform Bill OhReally?! that they, not Pagans, secularists and/or atheists. were the people who campaigned for calling things "holiday trees."
2007-10-23 04:10:34 · answer #10 · answered by LabGrrl 7 · 4⤊ 1⤋