Sunday service, a worldwide tradition, is another church doctrine tied to sun-worship. Sunday is "the day of the sun," on which the Romans worshiped the sun god. Constantine, a Roman emperor, instituted Sunday as the day of rest and worship in 321 A.D., as follows:
"All judges, city-people and craftsmen shall rest on the venerable day of the Sun. But countrymen may without hindrance attend to agriculture, since it often happens that this is the most suitable day for sowing grain or planting vines, so that the opportunity afforded by divine providence may not be lost, for the right season is short." (7 March 321)
1) Considering the fact that Constantine called Sunday "the venerable day of the Sun," Sunday must be the day to worship the sun god. In the Bible, there is not a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday.
In regard to this, Christian history testifies:
"The first day of the week was proclaimed as a day of rest and worship, and its observance soon became general throughout the empire. In 321 A.D. Constantine forbade the courts to be held on Sunday, except for the purpose of giving freedom to slaves; and on that day soldiers were commanded to omit their daily military exercises. But the public games were continued on Sunday, tending to make it more a holiday than a holy-day." (The Story of the Christian Church by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut, pp. 60-61.)
2) Daniel already prophesied, in a revelation, that Satan would speak against God and would try to change God’s set times and laws.
Dan. 7:25 『He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time.』
God warns that He will bring severe punishment, without compassion, upon those who replace the laws of truth with their own rules, who rationalize false logic, and who change God’s sacred laws into those of the Romans—the sun-worshipers. On the other hand, God said that He would put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all of the detestable things which are done, including sun-worship.
When God’s judgment comes upon those who have worshiped the sun god—even though they have professed that they believe in God—this mark will bring redemption to God’s true people.
Ezek. 9:4-6 『..."Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it." As I listened, he said to the others, "Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. Slaughter old men, young men and maidens, women and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary." So they began with the elders who were in front of the temple.』
Isa. 9:13-16 『But the people have not returned to him who struck them, nor have they sought the LORD Almighty. So the LORD will cut off from Israel both head and tail, both palm branch and reed in a single day; the elders and prominent men are the head, the prophets who teach lies are the tail. Those who guide this people mislead them, and those who are guided are led by astray.』
As stated above, Sunday service and Christmas—December 25th—are the weapons Satan uses to resist God. By sending many false prophets, Satan has taken many souls captive under hollow and deceptive philosophies. What does not come from the Bible cannot be considered God’s teaching, even if it seems extremely plausible. The preachers, who teach a different gospel, and their followers will be punished.
Now, the time of God’s Judgment is near. All of us must follow God’s teachings, the truth which will lead us to eternal life in heaven, and we must turn away from Satan’s deception of Sunday service and Christmas.
Luke 6:46 『"Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?"』
Keeping Christ’s words in our minds, we shall be God’s faithful people who will follow the truth and will obey only what God has commanded.
Heresy
Evidence From Dictionaries and Newspapers
Dictionaries and newspapers also testify that December 25th was not the birthday of Jesus, but of the sun god.
■ Encyclopedia BRITANNICA, p. 704.
"Christmas/December 25 was the date of a pagan festival in Rome, chosen in A.D. 274 by the emperor Aurelian as the birthday of the unconquered sun (natalis solis invicti), which at the winter solstice begins again to show an increase of light. At some point before A.D. 336 the church at Rome established the commemoration of the birthday of Christ, the sun of righteousness, on this same date."
■ Encyclopedia AMERICANA, p. 666.
"This date [December 25] was not set in the West until about the middle of the 4th century and in the East until about a century later...The reason for establishing December 25 as Christmas is somewhat obscure, but it is usually held that the day was chosen to correspond to pagan festivals that took place around the time of the winter solstice, when the days begin to lengthen, to celebrate the "rebirth of the sun." Northern European tribes celebrate their chief festival of Yule at the winter solstice to commemorate the rebirth of the sun as the giver of light and warmth. The Roman Saturnalia (a festival dedicated to Saturn, the god of agriculture, and to the renewed power of the sun), also took place at this time and some Christmas customs are thought to be rooted in this ancient pagan celebration."
■ "TODAY" (a newspaper published in Singapore) Tuesday, December 21, 2004"
Two thousand years ago, this [Christmas] was the very kind of celebration that alarmed the early Christian Church, which was disgusted with the cheer and merriment that marked the pagan festivals of their new converts. At first, the Church forbade this kind of celebration. But it was to no avail....The 25th was not only sacred to the Romans, but also to the Persians—whose religion, Mithraism, was one of Christianity’s main rivals then. The Church was successful eventually in taking the merriment, lights and gifts from the pagan festival and bringing them to the celebration of Christmas. The history of celebrating the end of the year or of a cycle dates back to more than 4,000 years. Many of the Christmas traditions were celebrated centuries before Jesus Christ was born...As the winter solstice approached, with its long cold nights and short days, many people feared the sun would not return. Special rituals and celebrations were held to welcome back the sun..."
And in a book entitled World Government and 666 it is written that the birthday of Nimrod—the first model of the Antichrist, historically—was celebrated on the 25th of December as the Roman festival, Saturnalia.
The Franklin Institute, in America, also researched this subject, concluding that Jesus Christ was born in March or April. While at a midnight mass on Christmas Eve, in Korea’s Myongdong Cathedral, a reporter asked a Catholic reverend about the origin of Christmas. The reverend replied by quoting historical evidence, "This day [Christmas] originated with the custom of pagans who worshiped the sun god." In spite of such reports, many people do not realize if they are worshiping God or the sun god, because they have been deceived by Satan and have become spiritually deaf and blind.
(continuation)
작성자: ♥Spirit-Bride♥ 위치 08:21 1 개의 덧글
레이블: Christ Ahnsahnghong, Christmas, Church of God, Heresy
2008/07/14
Evidence From Christian History
Christian history testifies that Christmas originated in pagan customs—from those who worshiped idols—and that it was not until much later that the festival became "Christianized."
■ HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH by Philip Schaff, Hendrickson Publishers, pp. 396-397.
"The Christmas festival was probably the Christian transformation or regeneration of a series of kindred heathen festivals—the Saturnalia, Sigillaria, Juvenalia, and Brumalia—which were kept in Rome in the month of December, in commemoration of the golden age of universal freedom and equality, and in honor of the unconquered sun, and which were great holidays, especially for slaves and children. This connection accounts for many custom of the Christmas season, like the giving of presents to children and to the poor, the lighting of wax tapers, perhaps also the erection of Christmas trees...Finally, the church fathers themselves confirm the symbolical reference of the feast of the birth of Christ, the Sun of righteousness, the Light of the world, to the birth-festival of the unconquered sun, which on the twenty-fifth of December, after the winter solstice, breaks the growing power of darkness, and begins anew his heroic career."
■ THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY A Lion Handbook,
p. 141. "The Christian church took over many pagan ideas and images. From sun-worship, for example, came the celebration of Christ’s birth on the twenty-fifth of December, the birthday of the Sun."
■ A BRIEF HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY by Bamber Gascoigne, Robinson,
p. 16."In 274 Aurelian believed that the sun-god had brought him victory in Syria. He set up a state cult to Sol Invictus, the unconquered sun: and announced that the birthday of the sun, a day of special festivity, was December 25th. The sun’s halo, as well as the date of his birthday, would later be borrowed by Christianity."
Judging by historical evidence, we can easily conclude that there is no relationship between Christmas and Jesus’ birth. Christmas is merely a Roman festival—for the sun god—that was Christianized later.
Christmas is a popular festival which is celebrated throughout the world. When the Christmas season arrives, in December, everyone gets into the festive spirit. Most people are under the impression that Christmas is Jesus’ birthday, the day when He came into the world to give blessings and eternal hope to mankind; however, the Church of God—believing in the Second Coming Christ—does not celebrate Christmas, ,b>because it is not the birthday of Jesus.
In fact, within Christmas is hidden a deceitful trick of Satan.
The devil has tricked many people into worshiping the sun god by allowing them to fall into the illusion that they are sincerely worshiping God in the proper way. Actually, Christmas is a festival to the sun god, Baal, and thus, those who keep the festival are rebelling against God. Satan has deceived people into mistaking Christmas for the birthday of Jesus, and by this cunning deception, Satan has come to be unwittingly served by all the people of the world. Many people try to justify themselves, saying, "We celebrate Christmas because it is the birthday of Jesus." However, Christmas—December 25th—is the birthday of the sun god, Nimrod, who was the first model of the Antichrist.
Christmas originated in the festival of Saturnalia, and is a subtle scheme—devised by Satan—to destroy our souls. Satan always tries to turn us away from the way that God has commanded us to follow: "You shall have no other gods before me," "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything." Today, Satan is prowling around, like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. In order to resist him, we should be alert, standing firm in our faith. In today’s world, lies are prevalent—and most consider these lies to be the truth—because this generation does not hesitate in following the ways that are against God.
We need to be able to discern the truth from all of the falsehood. By examining numerous sources of evidence, we can clearly understand that December 25th was not the birthday of Jesus, but the birthday of the sun god. Now, let’s look carefully at various materials which testify that the date of Jesus’ birth was not December 25th, and that this date was the birthday of the sun god, as it had been celebrated in ancient Rome. Even though all of the people living in this age believe that lies and falsehood are the truth,
