Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!usc!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: gross@dg-rtp.dg.com (Gene Gross) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Pagans and Christ (was Re: Christians abetting Satan?) Message-ID: Date: 21 Oct 90 05:19:23 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Data General Corporation, Research Triangle Park, NC Lines: 89 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu [Rick Yazwinski) wrote commands about "don't be yoked with unbelievers", suggesting that attempts to avoid things with pagan backgrounds don't work. It leads to banning Christmas tree, Easter, St. Patrick, the Kabbalistic traditions. --clh] Would it surprise you to know that there are many Christians who do not celebrate in this fashion? I'm not speaking of Jehovah's Witnesses. In my home, Christmas and Easter are not celebrated in the usual manner. I do not take any of my brothers and sisters to task for so doing, but I simply cannot honor the foreign gods in this manner. I believe that it is a matter between each individual Christian and our Father. As for St. Patrick's Day, I've never celebrated that day--now that I'm no longer in the Army, I only own a couple of items of clothing that are green, none of which are worn on that day. As my children grew up, we never taught them that there was a Santa Claus or Easter bunny. Honestly is still the best policy--even with the wee ones. >I do not consider pagans/heathens to be enemies of Christ. It doesn't make >sense. If person A doesn't believe that person B exists how could person A >be person B's enemy? It doesn't scan. Well, scan this one, Jesus says that those that are not for Him are against Him. Jesus seems to make it very plain that those who do not follow Him are His enemies. Paul also makes it clear that no one has an excuse not to believe for God has made Himself known. >I haven't read this group frequently, but I was curious, so please excuse me >if this has already been brought up, but... Is it not possible that... >All beliefs all over the world - pagan/heathen/Christian/Buddist/etc.... all >worship the same superiour being (whatever/whoever that may be) and that they >do it in a way that works most effictively for them. No Christian that I've >ever met would disagree with the statement that "God is in this tree." or "God >is in this animal." For Christians believe that everything is of the God. >Twisting the concept slightly you can see that panthism makes sense. Religions >that have more than one God/dess figure - easily explained in this context, >the different Gods/Goddesses are different aspects of the one greater being and >are easier to conceptualize. Think about it, if you have an open mind and >are willing to think it makes a lot of sense. The Luciferian concepts contained in many of the New Age groups, and to which some pagans lay claim, have their roots in the ancient mystery schools. They hold that the God of the Christians is the actual enemy, but Lucifer is the true god of peace and light. The Buddhist come out of Hinduism. Buddhist do not recognize the existence of one true God. In fact the Buddha said that such teachings tended not toward edification. The Hindus have a multitude of gods and semi-divine beings. They generally seem to have this concept of an impersonal deity called Bramha. Those that practice primitive or ethnic religions also have some form of an impersonal deity out there somewhere, but tend to pray to local deities. None of these are in anyway related to the God of the Bible. That God is not impersonal. He has reached out to mankind through Jesus Christ. Further, He revealed His name to Moses as YHWH, which we pronounce today as Jehovah. As for you statement concerning pantheism, I'm a Christian and disagree with the pantheistic view. Yes, I agree that God is in all of creation in the sense that He created it and sustains it by His common grace. But that is a far cry from saying that God is in everything and everything is God. Let me leave you with this thought. Jehovah God says that He is the only God, there is none other. He reached out to us through Jesus Christ. If you want true spiritual enlightenment, ask Jesus in to your life and repent of your sin toward Him. You will, without a doubt, have enlightenment to talk about. Because He lives, Gene Gross [When you say you "cannot honor the foreign gods in this manner", I trust you are not implying that those who celebrate Christmas or Easter are honoring foreign gods. From my past readings of you, I assume not, but the accusation has been made by others. For most of us, there is no more connection between Yule logs and whatever god was involved than between use of the word Thursday and worship of the god Thor. Indeed one can make a case that groups who dredge up pagan backgrounds from the dim past are actually creating pagan associations for people who would not have had them at all. The more serious issues of Christmas and Easter seem to me preserving the Christian meaning against all the secular and commercial influences. Of course those who would associate celebrations with other gods should certainly abstain from them. --clh]