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Originally Posted by Evangelical
Consider Mystery Babylon. The church went from Judaism, to a period of normality to paganism. The church that receives the pagan teachings. The book Pagan Christianity by Frank Viola Author and George Barna, makes this clear. Every group that celebrates Easter and Christmas has received the pagan teachings. As far as I know this is the majority of denominations.
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Have you ever stopped to consider as to whether or not the so-called "pagan teachings" are the problem that you think that they are? I once lived in fear of anything 'pagan'. Then one day, I realized that it was nothing more than a boogeyman.
I didn't even know what pagan was - I wouldn't know it if I saw it.
Another poster here who hasn't posted in a while previous mentioned a book titled
Babylon Mystery Religion by Ralph Woodrow, which pulled strongly from Alexander Hislop's
The Two Babylons (A book which Lee liked). Woodrow later published a book recanting his previous book. Here is a statement he has on his website. He says it better than I could say it. Any obsession of 'pagan' things is senseless:
Quote:
Some claim that round objects, such as round communion wafers, are symbols of the Sun-god. But they fail to mention that the very manna given by God was round! (Exod. 16:14). Some are ready to condemn all pillars and historical monuments as pagan. But they fail to take into account that the Lord himself appeared as a pillar of fire; and, in front of his temple, there were two large pillars (Exod. 13:21,22; 2 Chron. 3:17).
Because Babylon had a tower (Gen. 11:4), some suppose this must be why there are church buildings with towers or steeples: they are copying Babylon! A newspaper reporter in Columbus, Ohio, wrote to me about this. In that city, and numerous other places, this claim has been made. Let me say it quite clearly: No church ever included a steeple or tower on their house of worship to copy the tower of Babel! Why discredit thousands of born-again Christians by promoting ideas that have no connection? If a tower in itself is pagan, God would be pagan, for David described him as “my high tower” (2 Sam. 22:3; cf. Prov. 18:10).
No Christian who puts a bumper sticker with a fish symbol on the back of his car has ever done so to honor the fish-god Dagon. No congregation has ever put a cross on a church building for the purpose of honoring Tammuz. No Christian has ever gone to an Easter sunrise service to worship Baal. No Christian has ever worshipped a Christmas tree as an idol. Claims that imply “all these things started in Babylon,” are not only divisive and fruitless, they are untrue.
The concern about not wanting anything pagan in our lives can be likened to a ship crossing a vast ocean. This concern has taken us in the right direction, but as we come to a better understanding as to what is actually pagan and what is not, a correction of the course is necessary in our journey. This is not a going back, but a correction of the course as we follow “the shining light, that shines more and more unto the perfect day” (Prov. 4:18).
http://www.ralphwoodrow.org/books/pa...n-mystery.html
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