Patrick Haynes
“I agree with that to an extent. But there are levels. “
Where do you find a teaching about “levels”?
“If we are just eating food that were meant for false God sacrifice, there’s no big issue there. But, doing the practices themselves and celebrating things by name, as Christians, has a very different weight to it. “
Ishtar worship included the following:
-animal sacrifices
-objects made of her sacred stone, lapis lazuli
-temple prostitution
Now if indeed we were engaging in or using these things then we might be worshipping Ishtar. But no one is.
There is no other connection with eggs or rabbits and Ishtar either for that matter. It’s all fake news. The animal of Ishtar was a lion. The Easter bunny is a much younger tradition made by German Lutheran Christians in the late 1600s and the hare was used in medieval art prior to this as it was believed that rabbits were hermaphroditic and able to give birth sans intercourse, which is another thing in itself but regardless it was never used in pagan ritual during Pascha. Though a man named Jacob Grimm speculated that Easter eggs were a part of Ēostre worship, there is no evidence of this aside his musings. The only thing remaining in common with that particular goddess is the use of the name Easter. But etymologists believe the word is an anglicized version of the word Ostern which was a shortened version of auferstehn which means “resurrection”.
Halloween has similar Christian origins but again another thing in and of itself.
“Such as many Christian’s who claim to love and worship Jesus, but they are worshipping a Jesus they make up in their own minds that is okay with certain sins, so they may be able to claim the free gift of salvation without living in true repentance. “
No doubt this is a common problem but not akin to the issue with worship we are talking about. Only those who worship in spirit and truth are worshipping Him at all. All other worship is vain and empty.
“In all sincerity, men and women have gone to great lengths to try to please God. Without seeking His permission, they presume to add things to the worship of God because they are attractive and have a vague attachment to the One whom they look upon as their Savior. They think their sincerity in worship is more important than the truth.”
Both sincerity and truth are important. But by your measure especially using the Deuteronomic Code and Mosaic Law all of our worship is wrong. We do not make sacrifices. We do not journey to the temple for that purpose. We do not have one priest who goes in yearly to make those sacrifices. In the passage that speaks of worshipping in spirit and truth Jesus amends or changes, or in my mind, supersedes the existing form of worship. In speaking to the woman at the well he says “21Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Jesus said they and we will no longer be beholden to the rules and forms of the mosaic law and Deuteronomic Code. They’re VERY much changed in nearly every way.
“But God thinks differently: "Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it" (Deuteronomy 12:32). “
See notes above
“Easter is a festival that has been added.”
Pascha has been celebrated since the original Passover. We now celebrate it as the resurrection of Christ. It also has been superseded.
“It is syncretism, blending a practice from paganism into the stream of Christianity. “
Evidence shows otherwise as best I can tell. Also it’s not as if we are being led to also accept some other god or goddess. We gather to celebrate the resurrection of Christ.
“Only the revelation of God shows how He will be worshipped, and He will not be served in imitation of other gods. God's way cannot be "improved" by human sincerity.”
And what is shown? We do not hold to the new moon festivals and temple sacrifice of the Jewish people. Rather we hold to what Paul says is worship.
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
Romans 12:1 ESV
And he goes on to describe how we might do that
““Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Romans 12:9-21 ESV
One of the reasons of writing the above and what I shared earlier in Romans 14 was to address the worries of the former Jewish believers who were held to a legalistic system or who were judging the new Christian believers and to new believers who were Romans who lived amidst a very pagan culture. These issues were very present then. And Paul says of those things - it’s not a big deal. They’re fake and vain. The old way of things is superseded.
“Deuteronomy 13:1-18 defines the law regarding apostasy. Those who led others to worship other gods or adopt the practices of the nations around them were to be stoned!”
What did Jesus say about stoning people? Rather we see the Pharisees stoning Stephen and later other apostles for worshipping in ways they thought sinful.
“Cities that fell under the sway of corrupt individuals were to be attacked, burned to the ground, and left as rubble! God considers tampering with His truth to be evil that must be eradicated!”
How does this look in light of the New Testament? Jesus says “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”
Paul says “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?”
“God is not to be mocked (Galatians 6:7)!”
Fair enough but where is the mockery here? I’ve had someone tell me that this verse means Christian rock is sinful because people make fun of it.
“In several places in the Bible, He states quite unequivocally that He is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14; Deuteronomy 6:14-15)—He will not be worshipped like any other god (Deuteronomy 12:3-4, 30-31). When He instructed His chosen people Israel in the method of His worship, He warned them neither to add to what He had given them, nor take away from it “(Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32”
See notes above. Unless you are practicing as the Israelites did your worship is a far cry from their methods.
; see Revelation 22:18-19).”
That is about the scroll of Johns only. There was no New Testament compiled at the time. And he did not amend his prophecy to the Old Testament.
“Christmas is no better. When the so-called Christians added Christmas to Christianity, it had nothing to do with true Christianity at all. It was a ploy to win converts from paganism.”
A whole other issue but as regards the last sentence…if it led people to convert…is that bad?
“It was a deliberate grab for power. “
Christianity was the state religion under Constantine but he never forced people to be Christians. He had power enough on his own.
“From the beginning, Christmas, rather than promoting the true God and His way of life, has only led people away from the truth.”
How?
“Peter writes that we are redeemed from these very traditions (I Peter 1:18). “
The traditions Peter is speaking about are the Jewish law and customs (see also the mosaic law and deuteroconic code) ““knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold,”
forefathers and he’s writing to the Jews. Jewish ways. Not pagan.
“These traditions, inherited from our fathers, are a part of our culture. Jesus used His ministry to repudiate every addition, subtraction, and distortion that had attained any kind of specious, "divine" authority, and He did this by clarifying and magnifying the truth. “
